What Are the Universal Truths?

We are all living in an unprecedented time where we are seeking the Truth. What are the real facts of a situation?  How do we learn what is truthful about a particular scenario?  It can feel daunting to determine what is the best resource to find the facts, to discern what’s real and to believe what is being told to us.
If your Truth is at polar opposites to my Truth, how do we reconcile our differences?  This question raised my curiosity over the weekend on how to look beyond the situation or scenario to what are the greater Truths of the life that we live.  With two years of seminary behind me, you would have thought that I would know how to easily locate the Universal Truths that guide and direct humanity.  Yet, ironically, I found that discovering the Universal Truths was not as easy as simply doing a Google search.

The Golden Rule:

For a society that is garnered by laws and requirements and whose founding fathers held to higher vision for our country, it would seem that we would also all agree to Higher Truths.  And while locating agreed-upon Truths was not easily obtained, there are similarities in all spiritual practices that seem to point to the larger context.   For example, all religions and spiritual traditions seem to agree on “The Golden Rule” of basically “do unto others as you would have do unto you.”

In Judaism, the wording is “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah: all of the rest is commentary.”

In Islam, the wording is “Not one of your truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.”

In Hinduism, it is described as “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.”

And the Buddhist state, “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”

All religions and spiritual practices agree with The Golden Rule.  Yet do all religions and spiritual practices agree on other core absolutes?  In searching, I came across conceptual philosophies or rules such as:  the Ten Commandments, the Buddhist Eightfold Path, the four yogas of Hinduism and the Islamic Five Pillars.  All are full of wisdom on how best to live your life with integrity and truthfulness. Yet, I was seeking something even grander to stretch my consideration and that’s when I came across the Seven Great Hermetic Principles.

Hermetic Principles

Hermetic Principles

The seven Hermetic Principles is thought to have been compiled in a book titled “The Kybalion” around the 1900s but is attributed back to the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece.  Here is an overview of each of the principles.

Seven Great Hermetic Principles:

1. The Principle of Mentalism:  This principle suggests that everything in the Universe is created by thought or mind.  As we now enter into an energetic realm,(remember you send pictures, video and information through the Internet), we must consider if it is all energy, then our thoughts, words and beliefs truly do matter.

2. The Principle of Correspondence:  The phrasing of “as above, so below” and vice versa are related to this principle.  The other correspondence aspect is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.  This principle though also suggests that as we belief so will we manifest in the world around us.

3.  The Principle of Vibration: If we and all things are energy, this principle suggests that every atom and molecule is vibrating at a certain frequency and rate.  That combination then determines what the object becomes due to its frequency and rate of speed.

4.  The Principle of Polarity:  This principle suggests that everything has an opposite.  And further this principle suggests that all opposites are identical in nature but have degrees to them.  Think about some opposites:  light and dark; day and night; positive and negative and so on.  You may be able to detect the common themes with each and it is only a matter of degree that separates them.  If you placed on a spectrum light and dark, it would only be a matter of degree to get from one aspect to its opposite.

5.  The Principle of Rhythm:  Literally, this principle is about life’s ups and downs.  It states that everything has a flow and swings back and forth.  As humans, we often notice the ups and downs of life and emotionally may become tied to those flows.  The key is to understand that everything that goes up, must come down and find your centeredness through the changes.

6. The Principle of Cause and Effect:  Everything happens for a reason. There are no accidents.  If you wish to live in this principle, the practice requires witnessing the story lines developed by the mind, emotions and earth-plane wishes.  And then, it requires releasing these to co-create with the Universe.

7.  The Principle of Gender:  Everything in life has a masculine and feminine aspect. Think for a moment about the various aspects within you that represent the masculine.  And now the feminine.  Each of us has both within our composition.  The masculine and feminine requires a balance of both and its full integration.

So what do you think?  I sent this to my sister to get her reaction and her response was “my head hurts!”  So you too might think “what is all of this!?!”  Yet, I believe that we are all being challenged to seriously consider what are the higher Truths.  With the latest in science recognizing the world of energy, is it possible that ancient Egypt and Greece philosophers grasped the larger concepts at play?

What do you think?  How would you define the Universal Truths?  Let me know as I would love to hear your thoughts.