Page 441

[Alexandr Korol]

World Soul in Hegel’s Philosophy
The World Soul or Absolute Spirit — in Hegel’s philosophy — is that which underlies all (truly!) existing things. Only it, by virtue of its infinity, can attain true self-knowledge. For self-knowledge, manifestation is necessary. The self-revelation of the Absolute Spirit in space (externally) is nature; its self-revelation in time (internally, as a succession of states) is history.

The Unfolding of the Absolute Spirit in History
History is driven by contradictions between national spirits, which are the thoughts and projections of the Absolute Spirit. When the Absolute Spirit’s doubts vanish, it will arrive at the Absolute Idea of itself, history will end, and the Kingdom of Freedom will come. Wars between nations express the intense clash of the thoughts of the Absolute Spirit. In them, Hegel saw a dialectical moment — the antithesis.

Revelation of the Absolute Spirit in Nature
Stages of Revelation
The stages of the Absolute Spirit’s revelation — that is, the stages of understanding the world as its self-knowledge — are:
• Subjective Spirit (Anthropology, Phenomenology, Psychology)
• Objective Spirit (Abstract Law, Morality, Ethical Life)
• Absolute Spirit (Art, Religion, Philosophy)

In metaphysics and alchemy
Theistic metaphysics (for example, Sāṅkhya), as well as alchemy, provide information about such spiritual elements as the soul and the Supreme Soul (World Soul). Further knowledge of the World Soul leads to the distinction of three World Souls: the Supreme Soul in the heart of every living being (Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu), the Supreme Soul of each material universe (brahmāṇḍa — Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu), and the Supreme Soul of all material universes (Mahā-Viṣṇu or Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu). On the other hand, alchemy is closer to understanding the impersonal Absolute, God as spirit or simply as the World Mind, which means the acceptance of only part of the eternal qualities of God or Brahman (Viṣṇu).”