The Principle of Rhythm, as stated in the Kybalion, is a Hermetic law best explained through the following quote.
“Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”
— The Kybalion
The principle highlights the transience of all phenomena in the Universe.
Much like the Principle of Vibration, it shows how there is always movement between the phenomena of life.
This movement occurs between the different poles of manifestation mentioned in the Principle of Polarity.
Examples of The Principle of Rhythm
“There is always an action and reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and a sinking; manifested in all of the airs and phenomena of the Universe. Suns, worlds, men, animals, plants, minerals, forces, energy, mind and matter, yes, even Spirit, manifests this Principle.”
— The Kybalion
The seasons shift from spring and summer to autumn and winter before returning to spring.
The moon has several phases which can be predicted with accuracy.
A ball thrown up will be brought down by gravity.
The waves have their high tides and low tides.
The earth has colder phases, ‘ice ages’, before returning to warmer climates.
These patterns are not seen in just the natural world, they are also observed in the world of man.
Financial markets have their periods of prosperity (bull markets) and periods of despair (bear markets).
Countries have times of peace and times of war.
There are periods of labour and times of hedonism.
“A nation is born stoic, and dies epicurean.”
— Will Durrant
There are countless examples which show the phenomena of Rhythm.
The Law of Rhythm on Higher Planes
As stated in the Principle of Correspondence, all Hermetic laws operate on all planes of causation.
The three great planes being The Physical, The Mental and The Spiritual.
It is easy to see how rhythm operates on the physical plane, but the principle provides practical application to those who master it on the mental plane.
“Hermetists carry the principle much further, and know that its manifestations and influence extend to the mental activities of Man, and that it accounts for the bewildering succession of moods, feelings and other annoying and perplexing changes that we notice in ourselves.”
— The Kybalion
One of the great and liberating insights into the nature of emotions is understanding the concept of ‘even this will pass’.
Every emotion, regardless of how incredibly painful, pleasurable, depressing or fulfilling it might be, is transient.
Much like the ocean, our emotions follow a rhythm.
We are always in a state of flux.
“There is no such thing as absolute rest.”
You likely remember a time in which you desperately wanted something.
Perhaps it was the success of a business deal, a new car or partner.
You believed with all your heart that the object of your desire would solve whatever negative emotions you were feeling at the time.
You obtained your desire and received temporary relief.
Soon, you fixed your attention on something else and started the process all over again (see the rhythm in the story).
There is a rhythm in your emotions.
Nothing will ever satisfy you.
There is a rhythm in your actions, many of which operate subconsciously and are guided by the subconscious mind.
This pattern of forever chasing has been called the hedonic treadmill.
Luckily for you, you can overcome much suffering of life by learning how to use rhythm for your advantage.
Before diving deeper into the practical tools, it’s important to understand the law of compensation.
The Law of Compensation
“The Law of Compensation is that the swing in one direction determines the swing in the opposite direction.”
— The Kybalion
The Law of Compensation, which is talked about by many mystics including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Napoleon Hill is a powerful concept to understand.
It’s a more universal application to Newton’s third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Everything you do will be compensated in one way or another.
If a pendulum has a big swing to the left, you can rest assured the swing to the right will be just as impressive.
The law is easy to understand on the physical but has interesting applications on the mental and spiritual.
“But the Hermetists carry it still further. They teach that a man’s mental states are subject to the same Law. The man who enjoys keenly, is subject to keen suffering; while he who feels but little pain is capable of feeling but little joy…The rule is that the capacity for pain and pleasure, in each individual, are balanced.”
— The Kybalion
Have you ever noticed that people who tend to get excited and seem very happy can also be thrown into the depths of depression?
You see this with many comedians who often look incredibly happy but harbor incredible traumas inside.
Robin Williams was the quintessential example of this pattern.
On the other side of the spectrum, those who don’t get overly excited about anything are also less likely to lose themselves in times of sadness.
Why is that?
There is a compensation.
“The Law of Compensation plays an important part in the lives of men and women. It will be noticed that one generally “pays the price” of anything he possesses or lacks. If he has one thing, he lacks another the balance is struck. No one can “keep his penny and have the bit of cake” at the same time.”
— The Kybalion
Often, people look at billionaires like Elon Musk with absolute admiration, not knowing that compensation makes us all even.
A billionaire like Musk often loses many hours with their families due to work commitments.
They sometimes lose their ability to trust due to so many people wanting to use them for money.
Billionaires tend to be under enormous stress from the mountain of responsibility in their hands.
For these sacrifices they are compensated by having more money than they know what to do with.
Balance is always struck.
This is why jealousy and envy are illogical.
You can’t have what someone else has without also obtaining the negatives of their lives.
Drugs & Highs
We have all seen the law of compensation at work when people become addicted to drugs.
The enormous high they feel whilst on the drugs takes away the joy from other more mundane pleasures of life.
There are no free lunches and compensation will always be at work.
The more drugs they consume, the more devastating their outside world becomes.
Many athletes have talked about how life becomes somewhat boring after reaching the heights of accomplishment.
People sometimes perform dopamine detoxes in an attempt to put the colour back into their life.
With dopamine detoxes one withdraws from cheap forms of dopamine in order to restore balance.
These people are unconsciously using the law of compensation to their advantage.
How To Use The Principle of Rhythm
They discovered that there were two general planes of Consciousness, the Lower and the Higher, the understanding of which fact enabled them to rise to the higher plane and thus escape the swing of the Rhythmic pendulum which manifested on the lower plane.
— The Kybalion
We mentioned how emotions are transient.
With time, all emotions will dissolve and make way for new ones.
Even people in chronic pain are not in pain at all times. They have periods of respite due to the principle of rhythm.
Masters of the Hermetic arts are able to lessen the level of pain experienced from negative emotions by changing their point of awareness.
The principle is called The Law of Neutralization.
“It is akin to rising above a thing and letting it pass beneath you. The Hermetic Master, or advanced student, polarizes himself at the desired pole, and by a process akin to “refusing” to participate in the backward swing, or, if you prefer, a “denial” of its influence over him, he stands firm in his polarized position, and allows the mental pendulum to swing back along the unconscious plane.”
Rising above a thing is done by mentally viewing it from a different perspective.
When you use mindfulness and change into observer mode, you can detach from negative emotions.
The emotions simply become sensations in the absence of the egoic stories we tell ourselves.
One could also attract a desired pole by choosing to focus on something more pleasant.
This process is explained in more detail in The Principle of Polarity.
Through meditation one can obtain some incredible powers over their moods.
A powerful example of this concept was seen in the death of Thích Quảng Đức who is said to have neither screamed nor moved during his passing by self-immolation.
Don’t try this at home!
The Principle of Rhythm can also be used to overcome addictive behaviors.
When you learn to sit through the discomfort of cravings (for junk food, cigarettes or anything addictive),
You learn to see the sensations as being transient.
With time, you will understand that rhythm will bring you back to a position in which you’re not craving the negative stimuli.
This is a very powerful concept which gets stronger with practice.
Do this, and you will be one step closer to living and dying well.