The Seven Laws of Life

According to Manly P. Hall, Questions & Answers, Fundamentals of the Esoteric Sciences, © 1965.

1. Evolution - All things are unfolding is the first law of life. Evolution, or more correctly ideation, is a gradual release from within of the divine potency behind form. The growth of bodies and the development of form bear witness to the emergence of inward spiritual forces. Among the axioms of the ancient alchemists is one that says: "There is a sun in every grain of sand. All is in all. One is in all. And all is in one." Evolution is the constant coming outward of the within of things. It is not life growing from one state to another, but life gradually emerging and assuming new appearances at each degree of its emergence.

2. Karma (Cause and Effect) - Next only to evolution in significance. The law of cause and effect decrees that every action in the universe must be followed by an appropriate reaction, and to this there is no exception of any kind. Buddah said, "Effect follows cause as the wheel of the cart follows the foot of the oxen." In human affairs, karma decrees that every individual is individually responsible for his own actions, and that every action will produce a reaction equivalent in every way to the integrity of the action. If karma seems more bad than good, more retribution than reward, it is because their own code of action has been more selfish than intelligent. Do not wait for good karma - make it now.

3. Reincarnation - This is the law of evolution applied to the experience of individualized living things. The law of reincarnation teaches that all the kingdoms of nature are waves of life moving through form, or rather moving through levels of forms. Man, learning the experiences of the physical world, lives here not once, but many times, his life being really measured by the whole span of human evolution. In the search for experience, the human spirit returns to the physical world many times to work out its karma and perfect itself in the consciousness of the life wave.

4. Vibration - This law is the basis of all the differentiation in the universe. Spirit is a rate of vibration; thought is a rate of vibration; the universe is a complex of vibratory rates. Vibration is the first manifestation of life, and is the nearest thing to God that man can conceive. By discipline and effort, man can raise the vibration of the cells of his own body. This is called refinement. Thoughts are vibrations, and therefore are capable of influencing those to whom they are directed. Music is vibration; color is vibration. If man can completely understand vibration, he will be master of most of the secrets of the world.

5. Polarity - All things in nature are dominated by the universal law of polarity and the correlative fact that poles are constantly alternating. The law of polarity in the universe is manifested in the relationship between suns and their plants, and also throughout nature in the principle of male and female. The spiritual principle in all things is androgynous, but in manifestation, it is always polarized. In reincarnation, the sex of the body alternates. Even the earth reverses its poles.

6. Harmony and Rhythm - This law shows that all motions in the cosmos are dominated by a certain flowing order. The universe does everything beautifully. Man, living beautifully, comes into harmony with life and moves with the rhythm of the world. By cultivating harmony and rhythm in himself, man becomes conscious of the universal motion - the "Tao" or ever-flowing Reality. All the Universe sings, and every atom is dancing to the rhythm of the suns.

7. Generation - In the world of form, all things must increase by the law of generation. By this law, only wholeness or completeness can produce. The law of polarity has resulted in a division of forms in order that part of the creative power could be devoted to the building of intellect. The law of generation therefore decrees, everywhere in nature, that the reproduction of any kind of form, emotion, or thought must arise from the union of two polar opposites. We see evidence in the human brain as the two hemispheres that must combine their forces before even a thought can be born.