Skip to main content

Glorian averages 100 donors a month. Are you one of the few who keep Glorian going? Donate now.

What is the Absolute?

Article Contents

"The Light is expanded in the dawn of every creation, and then gathered into the bosom of the Absolute at the end of every creation." - Samael Aun Weor, The Gnostic Bible: The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

The most essential heart of every religion is its depiction of ultimate reality, or the fundamental root from which existence emerges. Every religion has differing terms and philosophies to aid our understanding, but the fact is that the intellect cannot understand it, yet the consciousness can. The practical Gnostic seeks to experience the Reality behind the illusion of existence.

The Absolute is the Being of all Beings. The Absolute is that which is, that which always has been, and which always shall be. The Absolute is expressed as absolute, abstract movement and repose. The Absolute is the cause of the Spirit and of matter, but it is neither Spirit nor matter. It is beyond thought and action, much beyond sound, beyond silence, and beyond the senses. The Absolute is beyond time, number, measurement, weight, and quality. It is beyond form, fire, light, and darkness. Nonetheless, the Absolute is the fire and the uncreated light. The Absolute has three aspects: (1) the unmanifested, (2) the spirit of life that animates every being, and (3) the chaotic, inodorous, atomic seminal, etc., matter. - Samael Aun Weor, Aztec Christic Magic

The ultimate Reality is the Absolute.

In Buddhism, the Absolute is represented as Adi or Adhi Buddha.

In Hinduism, it is called Brahman.

Brahman or the Supreme Self is beyond time and space, causation. He is limitless. He is tranquil. He shines with equal effulgence in all bodies. He cannot be any particular thing. He is Chaitanya or pure consciousness. He is Vastu, Atman or Brahman or the Supreme Self is the hidden treasure. It is the jewel of jewels. It is gem of gems. It is the imperishable, inexhaustible supreme wealth, which no dacoit can rob. It is Chintamani of Chintamanis that will give man whatever he wishes.

Who Himself sees all, Whom no one beholds, Who illumines the intellect, etc., but Whom they cannot illumine—that is Brahman. That is Atman.

The self-shining pure being, Who is the support of this universe, Who is consciousness itself, Who is Bliss Absolute, Who is changeless is Brahman.

A supreme principle exists. It is Atman. It is Para Brahman. It is imperishable, unborn, undecaying and undying. It is ancient. It is one. It is a mass of wisdom and bliss.

Brahman is the biggest ocean of Satchidananda. Brahman is surrounded by an ocean of mind, an ocean of Prana and an ocean of ether and Tanmatras.

That unheard hearer, that unseen seer, that unthought thinker, that unknown knower is Brahman.

That unborn, undecaying, undying, immortal, fearless (Ajam, Ajaram, Amritam, Abhayam) essence is Brahman.

That from which this world has come out, That in which this world exists, That in which it gets dissolved is Brahman.

Atman is eternal (Nitya). It is unchanging (Nirvikara). It is one mass of knowledge (Prajnana Ghana, Chidghana, Vijnanaghana). It is imperishable (Akshara).

Atman or the pure spirit is timeless, spaceless, placeless and endless. It is full of Jnana (Jnana Maya). It is Santa and self-luminous (Svayam Jyoti). It is Jyotirmaya (full of light). All students of Vedanta seek this Atman to get Brahmanubhava. It is called Parama Vastu (supreme thing). It gives immortality.

That in which there is neither East nor West, neither light nor darkness, neither pleasure nor pain, neither hunger nor thirst, neither Harsha nor Soka, neither gain nor loss is Brahman.

- Swami Sivananda, What is Brahman?

Among the Aztecs, the Absolute was called Ipalnemohuani or Ipalnemoani, which means "one by whom the people live." It was symbolized by a radiant sun.

H. P. Blavatsky called it "the Great Breath."

It is the ONE LIFE, eternal, invisible, yet Omnipresent, without beginning or end, yet periodical in its regular manifestations, between which periods reigns the dark mystery of non-Being; unconscious, yet absolute Consciousness; unrealisable, yet the one self-existing reality; truly, "a chaos to the sense, a Kosmos to the reason." Its one absolute attribute, which is ITSELF, eternal, ceaseless Motion, is called in esoteric parlance the "Great Breath,"* which is the perpetual motion of the universe, in the sense of limitless, ever-present SPACE. - The Secret Doctrine (1888)

In Kabbalah, it is seen as having three essential aspects:

Three Aspects of the Absolute

  • 1. Ain: (Hebrew אין)
  • 2. Ain Soph: (Hebrew אין סוף) Alternatively Ein Sof or Ayn Sof.
  • 3. Ain Soph Aur: (Hebrew אין סוף אור)

The Absolute is the Being of all Beings. The Absolute is that which is, which always has been, and which always will be. The Absolute is expressed as absolute abstract movement and repose. The Absolute is the cause of Spirit and of matter, but it is neither Spirit nor matter. The Absolute is beyond the mind; the mind cannot understand It. Therefore, we have to intuitively understand its nature.

The Absolute is beyond conditioned life. It is beyond that which is relative. It is the real Being; It is Non-being because it does not keep any concordance with our concepts, but the Absolute is the “real Being.” This is why we do not intellectually comprehend it, because for us the Absolute is like Non-being; nonetheless, it is the real Being of the Being.

To be is better than to exist, and the reason for the Being to be is to be the Being itself. Our legitimate existence is within the Absolute, which is a non-being, a non-existence to human reasoning.

The Absolute is not a God, neither a divine nor human individual. It would be absurd to give form to that which has no form; it would be nonsense to try to anthropomorphize space.

Indeed, the Absolute is the unconditional and eternal abstract space, far beyond Gods and human beings. The Absolute is the Uncreated Light which does not project a shadow in any place during the profound night of the Great Pralaya.

The Absolute is beyond time, number, measurement, and weight; beyond causality, form, fire, light and darkness. Nonetheless, the Absolute is the Fire and the Uncreated Light.

The Absolute has three aspects:

Ain is the same as Sat in Sanskrit—in other words, the Unmanifested Absolute.

Ain Soph is the second aspect; it is where a certain manifestation already exists. It is the place where all creatures abide when the Great Pralaya (Cosmic Night) arrives, because they do not have the right to enter into the Ain, into the Unmanifested Absolute, which is beyond thought, word, atom, sound, beyond all of that which has form, number, weight, etc.

Ain Soph Aur is the third aspect in accordance with the Hebrew Kabbalah. Here we find the first cosmos, the purely spiritual Protocosmos. It is the Solar Absolute, which is formed by multiple Spiritual Suns. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah

Have Questions?