Hierarchy and development · Lexicon

From the book

The Kybalion

Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordHierarchy is the ordering of degrees from gross matter toward spirit.
In The KybalionV promises future progress beyond the present human level.
In this editionHigher and lower are read as positions in the author's system, not automatically as spatial directions or judgments endorsed by the editor.
A place to readV.17: … “there are regions and planes of life far higher than ours, and beings compared to which” …

Meaning

Hierarchy is the ordering of degrees from gross matter toward spirit. Development is ascent within that order, described as recognition and manifestation of indwelling spirit and as a return home.

Use in the book

V promises future progress beyond the present human level. VII defines spiritual development through realization of the source within oneself, then sets every being on an upward path. VIII gives the hierarchy numerical subdivisions and introduces the Super-Man and Over-Man as higher human stages.

The same chapter depicts advanced helpers who remain to assist others. Its account of a fall shows that development is not simply a list of powers: misuse and selfishness are said to reverse the journey, though return remains possible.

Places to read

V The Mental Universe · Block 17… “there are regions and planes of life far higher than ours, and beings compared to which we earth-bound mortals are as the slimy life-forms that dwell on the ocean's bed when” …
VI The Divine Paradox · Block 12… “effect on the various planes. We overcome the lower laws, by applying still higher ones—and in this way only. But we cannot escape Law or rise above it entirely. Nothing but” …
VII THE ALL in All · Block 7… “spiritual scale of life. This is what spiritual development means—the recognition, realization, and manifestation of the Spirit within us. Try to remember this last definition—that of spiritual development. It contains the” …
VII THE ALL in All · Block 8… “Life, everything is moving. All are on the Path, whose end is THE ALL. All progress is a Returning Home. All is Upward and Onward, in spite of all seemingly contradictory” …
VIII Planes of Correspondence · Block 24… “passed through these degrees, and then on to higher planes. Our own race is the fifth (with stragglers from the fourth) which has set foot upon The Path. And, then there” …
VIII Planes of Correspondence · Block 29… “the race on its upward journey along The Path. But, they belong to the Universe, and are subject to its conditions—they are mortal—and their plane is below that of Absolute Spirit.”

In this edition

Higher and lower are read as positions in the author's system, not automatically as spatial directions or judgments endorsed by the editor.

Reading the argument

The scheme is evaluative as well as classificatory. The text provides no publicly testable measure for assigning people to its ranks. Its language of races and stages belongs to its historical esoteric cosmology and should not be adopted as a verified ranking of actual human populations.

higher

“higher” — 86 occurrences in 48 text blocks: II.13, 22, 25; III.8; IV.6, 10, 19–22; V.5, 14–15, 17–18; VI.1–2, 8, 11–12, 16–17; VII.11, 13; VIII.5, 8, 14–15, 18, 21, 24, 26, 30; IX.7–9; X.4–6, 10; XI.7, 14; XII.12–13; XV.11, 13–15.

lower

“lower” — 36 occurrences in 24 text blocks: II.22; V.12, 15, 17; VI.1–2, 12, 16–17; VII.11; VIII.5, 14, 28; X.4–5, 12; XI.7, 14; XII.12–13; XV.11, 13–15.

development

“development” — 7 occurrences in 6 text blocks: V.9; VII.7; VIII.15, 18–19, 25.

Path

“Path” — 13 occurrences in 13 text blocks: Intro.4, 8; I.11; II.7; III.8; V.18; VI.17; VII.8; VIII.24, 29–30; XIII.6, 8.

Super-Man

“Super-Man” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: VIII.20, 24.

Over-Man

“Over-Man” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: VIII.24.