Mystical systems
The All (Kybalion)
Direct answer
The All (Kybalion): THE ALL is The Kybalion's name for the single, infinite reality that underlies the universe, which the book describes as living mind and declares unknowable in its essence.
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At a glance
- Also called
- the all kybalion, the all hermeticism, what is the all
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- The Kybalion, Principle of Mentalism, Seven Hermetic Principles, Nous
THE ALL is The Kybalion's name for the single, infinite reality that underlies the universe, which the book describes as living mind and declares unknowable in its essence.
A lineage map for books and systems; it avoids presenting symbolic traditions as literal fact.
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What is THE ALL in The Kybalion?
THE ALL, always printed in capitals in the book, is what The Kybalion puts in the place other systems give to God or the Absolute. It is described as that which truly is beneath all changing appearances: infinite, eternal and unchanging. The book reasons that it cannot be matter or blind energy, and concludes that it is best thought of as infinite living mind.
Two statements are balanced against each other. Everything is in THE ALL, since the universe is its mental creation; and THE ALL is in everything, as an author is present in each character. The book also insists that its inner nature is beyond human knowing, and treats confident descriptions of it as presumption.
On the tree of the hidden arts: The Hermetic principles.
What sets The All (Kybalion) apart
The typography is part of the term: the capitals mark it off from any ordinary use of the words and from the lower-case all that means the sum of things. THE ALL is more than that sum, since the universe is said to be inside it as a thought is inside a thinker. The book's refusal to describe its inner nature is a deliberate limit, and separates it from New Thought authors who wrote freely of a personal divine supply.
- Where used: The Kybalion, 1908, throughout, in capitals
- Described as: infinite, eternal, unchanging living mind
- Paired statements: all is in THE ALL, and THE ALL is in all
- Stated limit: its essence is called unknowable
- Greek forerunner: to pan, the all; hen to pan, the all is one
Often mistaken for something else: Nous in the ancient treatises is the divine Mind that reveals itself to the seer; THE ALL is a 1908 term for a reality declared beyond knowing.
The story behind The All (Kybalion)
The term in this form belongs to The Kybalion (1908). It echoes a much older expression: Greek philosophy and the ancient Hermetic treatises speak of to pan, the all, and an early alchemical page, the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra, carries the motto hen to pan, the all is one. The book's reticence about naming a personal God matches the New Thought movement in which it was written.
Why The All (Kybalion) matters
Every one of the seven principles is stated in relation to it, so the book cannot be followed without knowing what the phrase stands for.
How to read The All (Kybalion)
Readers treat it as the book's deliberately impersonal word for the divine, which lets people of different beliefs read along.
The All (Kybalion) in practice: an example
A reader of the book who meets the capitalised phrase can substitute 'the one reality behind everything' and the sentence keeps its sense.
Where readings of The All (Kybalion) go wrong
The All (Kybalion) is one book's philosophical term and should not be presented as the doctrine of the ancient Hermetic writings.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- the all kybalion, the all hermeticism, the all is mind meaning, what is the all
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is THE ALL in The Kybalion?
It is the book's term for the ultimate reality underlying the universe: infinite, eternal, unchanging, and described as living mind in which everything exists.
Is THE ALL the same as God?
The Kybalion says it is what people mean by the names of God, but it avoids religious language and declares that the essential nature of THE ALL cannot be known.
What does 'the all is one' mean?
It translates the Greek hen to pan, a motto found in early alchemy that expresses the unity of all things. The Kybalion's term draws on that long tradition of speaking of the whole as one.
