From the book
The Kybalion
Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordBeing indicates what is or abides; becoming indicates production, change, and development.
- In The KybalionIV contrasts the changing appearances of the universe with the underlying reality they are said to manifest.
- In this editionThe source's capitals are preserved where Being and Becoming function as labels.
- A place to readIV.3: … “that nothing really IS, but that everything is BECOMING and CHANGING. Nothing stands still-everything is being” …
Meaning
Being indicates what is or abides; becoming indicates production, change, and development. The author uses the pair both for THE ALL and for aspects of the individual self. It names a contrast within the exposition, not two independently existing ultimate substances.
Use in the book
IV contrasts the changing appearances of the universe with the underlying reality they are said to manifest. VII describes creation as the projection of will from an aspect of Being toward an aspect of Becoming. Near the chapter's end, the laws of becoming are said to merge into a single principle at the ultimate level.
XIV maps the same pair onto the I and Me. The I directs and witnesses, while the Me generates the successive forms of mental life. This is an application of correspondence: the human model repeats the distinction used in cosmic creation.
Places to read
- IV THE ALL · Block 3… “that nothing really IS, but that everything is BECOMING and CHANGING. Nothing stands still-everything is being born, growing, dying-the very instant a thing reaches its height, it begins to decline—the law” …
- VII THE ALL in All · Block 9… “Creative Cycle, THE ALL, in its aspect of Being, projects its Will toward its aspect of "Becoming" and the process of creation begins. It is taught that the process consists of” …
- VII THE ALL in All · Block 18… “Reason; Its Act; is Law; are ONE, all being names for the same thing. In the opinion of those who are giving you these present lessons, the answer is locked up” …
- XIV Mental Gender · Block 9… “Female Principle. The "I" represents the Aspect of Being; the "Me" the Aspect of Becoming. You will notice that the Principle of Correspondence operates on this plane just as it does” …
In this edition
The source's capitals are preserved where Being and Becoming function as labels. Ordinary uses of being, including a living being, are not all instances of this contrast.
Reading the argument
The pair connects metaphysics and introspection, but it should not conceal their difference. An observer's ability to notice changing thoughts does not by itself demonstrate an unchanging cosmic source. The book uses the smaller case to make the larger conceivable.
Being
“Being” — 123 occurrences in 81 text blocks: Intro.8; I.5, 7, 11; II.7, 10, 16, 19, 22; III.2–3, 12; IV.2–3, 6, 8, 18; V.4, 6, 12, 16, 18; VI.2–3, 9–10, 12, 16; VII.2, 4–5, 7–10, 12–13, 17–18; VIII.2, 9–10, 15, 18, 24–26, 28, 30–31; IX.3, 5, 7–8, 11; X.3–8, 11–12; XI.4, 8; XII.4–5, 12; XIII.5, 7; XIV.2, 5–9, 18; XV.11, 14–15, 18.
Becoming
“Becoming” — 9 occurrences in 8 text blocks: IV.3; VII.9, 13, 18; IX.8–10; XIV.9.