Qamar Bashir
For centuries, humanity has treated the visible world as ultimate reality. A table appears solid, the human body seems physical, and mountains, oceans and buildings look independent of whoever observes them. Modern physics, however, has revealed that matter is far more mysterious than ordinary experience suggests. What appears solid consists mostly of space, while its subatomic constituents are described through fields, probabilities and wave-like behaviour.
The quantum physics has decisively challenged the old assumption that reality is simply composed of solid, separate and independently existing objects. It leaves humanity facing profound questions about observation, knowledge and existence.
Max Planck, a founder of quantum theory, reportedly spoke of a conscious and intelligent mind behind the forces sustaining matter. The statement expresses a powerful intuition: the visible universe may not be the whole of reality. What we experience as matter could be the outward manifestation of a deeper order that our senses cannot directly penetrate.
Our beliefs influence what we notice, how we interpret events, how we treat others and which possibilities we pursue. Thoughts can affect stress, behaviour, relationships and health. Change the mind, and one may not instantly change the universe, but one can certainly change one’s participation in it.
The world perceived by a human being is not identical to that perceived by every other creature. A blind person constructs spatial understanding without sight. A bat navigates largely through echolocation. Some animals detect ultraviolet or infrared wavelengths invisible to human eyes. Darkness transforms a familiar landscape, while light restores colours and shapes. The environment remains, yet every organism experiences only the portion its sensory system can receive and its nervous system can interpret.
Our perceived world is therefore a meeting between external reality and internal consciousness. We do not experience existence in its entirety; we experience a biologically filtered and mentally interpreted version of it. This recognition should produce humility. If no individual, culture or species possesses the complete picture, then differences of perception need not automatically become grounds for hatred.
In this context, the seven principles presented in The Kybalion—a modern work published in 1908 and attributed to “Three Initiates”—can be considered philosophical tools such as mentalism, correspondence, vibration, polarity, rhythm, cause and effect, and gender. These principles offer a framework for examining relationships among mind, nature and society. Their relevance lies not in pretending that ancient philosophy and quantum mechanics are identical, but in asking whether these principles can guide humanity toward harmony.
Mentalism reminds us that every human institution begins as an idea. Wars, borders, constitutions, systems of oppression and movements for liberation first take shape in consciousness. Hatred repeatedly cultivated in the mind can become discrimination and violence. Compassion, equally, can become reconciliation, justice and peace. Changing collective consciousness can consequently change political and social structures.
Correspondence—expressed through “as above, so below”—encourages us to see connections between the individual and the larger world. A society cannot expect peace while families are governed by cruelty, institutions by injustice and international relations by humiliation. The values cultivated within people eventually appear in the systems they construct.
Vibration can be interpreted metaphorically as the recognition that nothing remains completely static. Individuals, civilizations and relationships continually change. Despair should therefore never be treated as permanent, nor power as eternal. Humanity can move from hostility toward cooperation when ideas, emotions and institutions are consciously redirected.
Polarity teaches that apparent opposites may belong to a connected spectrum. Heat and cold describe degrees of temperature; light and darkness describe degrees of illumination. Political, religious and cultural conflicts are also frequently intensified by treating differences as absolute divisions. Recognizing gradations does not eliminate moral distinctions, but it creates room for dialogue and transformation.
Rhythm reminds us that life moves through recurring phases—growth and decline, activity and rest, peace and conflict. Understanding cycles helps communities avoid arrogance during prosperity and hopelessness during adversity. Wisdom lies not in denying change but in preparing for it and maintaining balance through it.
Cause and effect restores human responsibility. Thoughts alone do not guarantee outcomes, because circumstances, institutions and other people also exert influence. Yet actions have consequences. Violence generates trauma; injustice produces resentment; generosity builds trust. Harmony cannot be achieved merely through positive thinking. It requires deliberate conduct, fair institutions and accountability.
Gender, in the Hermetic sense, refers to complementary generative principles rather than a rigid scientific division between masculine intellect and feminine emotion. Modern neuroscience does not support reducing the brain’s hemispheres or human abilities to such stereotypes. The valuable lesson is complementarity: reason needs empathy, strength needs care, initiative needs receptivity, and creation requires cooperation.
Human spirituality long predates modern science and many organized religious institutions. Across civilizations, people have prayed, sought forgiveness, honoured the dead and appealed to a power greater than themselves. Different traditions have named and understood that ultimate reality differently, but their persistence reveals humanity’s enduring awareness of mystery, dependence and moral responsibility.
Ancient achievements, including the pyramids, deepen our admiration for earlier civilizations. Their magnificence still teaches an important lesson: technological modernity does not grant us a monopoly over intelligence, wisdom or imagination.
Humanity may never perceive reality exactly as it is in itself. Science continues to investigate the measurable universe, while philosophy and religion address meaning, purpose and moral direction. These paths need not destroy one another. Science can protect spirituality from superstition, and spirituality can remind science that knowledge without compassion may become destructive.
The continuing journey of human learning since The Kybalion was published in 1908 reinforces a timeless truth: harmony depends upon balance. When individuals, families, tribes, societies and nations resist destructive extremes and remain within the boundaries of patience, tolerance, perseverance, justice and compassion, conflict becomes manageable and peaceful coexistence becomes possible.
This middle way does not mean remaining neutral between justice and injustice, tolerating oppression or compromising with cruelty. It means pursuing justice without hatred, exercising power without arrogance, expressing disagreement without dehumanization and defending legitimate interests without destroying innocent human beings, animals or the natural world.
A family can escape the cycle of emotional distress, bitterness and feuds when its members restrain anger, listen to one another and refuse to cross the limits of dignity and mutual respect.
A society can reduce hunger, exclusion and instability when competition is balanced by compassion and individual freedom by collective responsibility.
Nations can avoid wars and atrocities when ambition is restrained by international law, dialogue and recognition of shared humanity.
This principle of balance is also central to religious wisdom. Islam particularly teaches wasatiyyah—the just and balanced path—and describes Muslims as a “middle community.” It discourages excess, commands justice even toward those whom one dislikes, and places mercy, patience and moderation at the centre of human conduct. Similar appeals to balance and compassion appear across the world’s spiritual traditions.
Harmony, therefore, is not passivity, weakness or the absence of disagreement. It is the disciplined ability to keep disagreement from becoming hatred, strength from tyranny, desire from greed and pain from becoming revenge.
If this consciousness is cultivated within individuals and families, it can rise through communities and institutions into national and international life. The world may then witness fewer wars, less hunger, reduced emotional suffering and greater respect for every form of life.
The deepest lesson is not that consciousness magically controls everything, but that consciousness carries immense responsibility. The pictures we hold in our minds influence the world we build together. The ultimate relevance of these principles is therefore practical: by restoring balance within ourselves, we help restore harmony in the world we collectively create.
The writer is Press Secretary to the President (Rtd),Former Press Minister, Embassy of Pakistan to France,Former MD, SRBC. He is living in Michigan, USA.
