The 14 Universal Laws.
A Contemplation on Conscious Evolution.
When we discuss evolution, we often focus on the visible, physical adaptations in the natural world — the thickening of fur for winter or the instinctual migration of birds. These are adaptations written into the body by physical necessity.
However, human evolution presents a different narrative. Our physical bodies have not undergone extraordinary change over the past several thousand years. Instead, the evolution that has occurred is less tangible and more profound: the expansion of our capacity for awareness, self-reflection, and conscious participation in life's unfolding.
If anything, it is not the structure of our bodies that has evolved, but the structure of our consciousness — our ability to observe ourselves, to shape our internal reality, and to engage with the deeper patterns that move through the world. Ancient traditions recognised this long before the modern language of psychology or quantum theory emerged.
Yogic philosophy describes this through the lens of citta vṛtti, the movements of the mind that colour our perception of reality. When these movements are restless or distorted, the world appears fragmented. When the mind becomes steady, clarity naturally arises. In Hermetic philosophy, this insight appears as the Principle of Mentalism — the understanding that the universe is fundamentally a field of consciousness expressing through form. And in modern metaphysical thought, it echoes through teachings on intention, resonance, and the subtle influence of our inner state on external circumstances.
Though these traditions arise from different cultural and historical contexts, they converge on a shared understanding:
Our inner world and outer world are not separate domains; they dance together, each informing the other.
It is from this shared insight that the concept of “Universal Laws” emerges. Not as rigid rules imposed upon reality, but as patterns of relationship — ways of describing how consciousness interacts with experience, how energy moves, how perception shapes meaning, and how intention influences the path ahead.
These laws are best approached not as doctrines to accept, but as contemplations to explore. They offer language for phenomena we intuitively sense but may struggle to articulate: the feeling that life mirrors our inner atmosphere, the way certain choices seem to ripple through our environment, or the subtle shifts that occur when we change our mindset or emotional state.
As you read through the following reflections, I invite you to treat each “law” as a doorway. Not to belief, but to awareness. To pause, consider, feel, and notice how these principles subtly play out in your own life.
1. The Law of Divine Oneness
At the heart of yogic and Hermetic thought is the understanding that everything is interconnected.
Nothing stands alone; nothing is isolated.
In yoga, this is the realisation of Puruša—the shared consciousness that animates all beings.
In Hermetic philosophy, it is the recognition that all things arise from the same mental field.
This law asks us to remember that what we heal within ourselves reverberates beyond us.
Our actions, words, and thoughts ripple outward, subtly shaping the collective field we all share.
2. The Law of Vibration
In Tantra, the universe is described as spanda — a subtle pulsation.
Hermeticism states that nothing rests; everything vibrates.
New Thought expresses this through the idea that “your vibration is your point of attraction.”
This principle suggests that how we feel — our emotional and energetic tone — creates a kind of atmosphere around us. It is not about forcing positivity, but about recognising the living quality of our inner state.
3. The Law of Correspondence
"As within, so without; as above, so below."
This ancient Hermetic axiom articulates something modern psychology also confirms: our perception shapes our world.
In yogic philosophy, the mind is the lens through which life is experienced.
If the lens is clouded, reality appears distorted.
If the lens is clear, reality becomes spacious and intelligible.
This law invites radical self-curiosity:
What is this moment reflecting back to me about my internal landscape?
4. The Law of Attraction
Often oversimplified in popular culture, this principle is not about wishing for outcomes. It is about resonance.
Yogically, it aligns with karma: actions, intentions, and states of being create momentum.
Hermetically, it aligns with Mentalism and Vibration.
In New Thought, it speaks to the way our dominant inner state draws matching experiences.
When we shift our vibration, our environment often shifts with it — sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically.
5. The Law of Inspired Action
Yogis call this kriyā: action arising from clarity rather than impulse.
Hermetic philosophy describes it as applying higher principles to transform lower ones.
New Thought teachers express it as “moving from alignment, not pressure.”
This law reminds us that not all action is equal. Some actions scatter energy; others channel it. Inspired action feels like the path opening, not being forced open.
6. The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy
Energy is fluid. Fear can become courage, confusion can become insight, heaviness can become release.
In yoga, pratipaksha bhavana teaches us to consciously transform the quality of our thoughts. In Hermeticism, this is the art of alchemy — shifting states, not metals.
Modern metaphysics describes it as emotional and energetic transmutation. This law is an invitation to remember that nothing in us is fixed.
7. The Law of Cause and Effect
The movement of energy creates consequences. Not in a punitive sense, but in a rhythmic one.
Karma expresses this elegantly: every action has a ripple, every ripple has a return.
Hermetic philosophy frames this as perfect precision: nothing is random; everything arises from something.
This law asks us to act with intention.
8. The Law of Compensation
Life responds to what we embody. Not to performative gestures, but to genuine states of being.
Yogic teachings emphasise seva—service of the heart.
Hermetic teachings speak of harmony.
New Thought writers describe the natural return of what we give.
Generosity, authenticity, devotion—all of it circulates.
9. The Law of Relativity
All experiences are neutral until compared.
Meaning is added by the mind.
This law encourages perspective.
It asks: “What story am I placing on this moment? How might another story liberate me?”
10. The Law of Polarity
Yoga speaks of Shiva and Shakti, ida and pingala.
Hermeticism teaches that opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree.
Polarity allows us to understand through contrast.
Without shadow, light cannot be known.
Without contraction, expansion has no meaning.
11. The Law of Rhythm
Life moves in cycles — seasons, tides, moon phases, breath.
Yoga mirrors this through the cyclical nature of the gunas.
Hermeticism speaks of ebb and flow.
In lived experience, we feel this as the natural rise and fall of energy.
This law invites us to soften around timing.
12. The Law of Gender
Beyond biological sex, this law refers to the interplay of subtle energies:
the receptive and the active, the intuitive and the structured.
Yoga expresses this through the sacred union of Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti (energy).
Hermeticism describes it as the creative balance necessary for manifestation.
Within us, these energies exist not as opposites but as complements.
13. The Law of Unity Consciousness
Individual and collective awareness are deeply intertwined.
Thoughts ripple.
Healing spreads.
Choices resonate beyond the self.
This law reflects the yogic understanding of Puruša — the shared essence in all beings.
It is also echoed in modern discussions of the quantum field.
14. The Law of Free Will
Perhaps the most essential of all: the ability to choose again.
In yoga, this is svatantrya — the inherent freedom within consciousness.
Hermeticism teaches that by applying higher laws, we transcend lower ones.
New Thought affirms that our choices shape our path.
At any moment, we can shift direction.
A Return to the Thread: Conscious Evolution.
Taken together, these principles reveal a single, elegant truth: Evolution today is not about physical survival but about the refinement of awareness.
It is about learning to navigate life not through force, fear, or reaction, but through presence, coherence, and conscious participation.
These laws are not commandments.
They are contemplations.
They are mirrors.
They are invitations to notice the subtle relationship between your inner state and the world you experience.
Perhaps the deeper question is not
“Are these laws true?” but “What shifts in my life when I live as though consciousness and experience are connected?”
Because the moment we begin to observe the interplay between intention, vibration, action, and perception, we start to see patterns everywhere.
And those patterns — once invisible — become the foundation for what we often call “evolution.”
Human evolution is not happening to us;
it is happening through us.
And every moment offers the possibility to participate more consciously.
