Side by side

What the great paths actually share.

Choose two, three, or four traditions. They will be laid out on the same rubric so the genuine convergences and divergences become visible at a glance.

Compared on

The Law of One

Modern Esoteric · 1981–1984 (channeled)

Hinduism / Vedanta

Dharmic · ~1500 BCE — present

A Course in Miracles

Modern Revelation · Scribed 1965–1972, published 1976
In a phrase
All is One. The One is Love. Love seeks to know Itself.
Tat tvam asi — Thou art That.
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.
Summary
A five-volume channeled dialogue with an entity called Ra, framing the cosmos as a single Infinite Creator exploring Itself through octaves of consciousness called densities. Each density is a curriculum: awareness, growth, self-awareness, love, wisdom, unity, and return. Free will is paramount; distortion is the price of knowing. Service-to-others and service-to-self are the two valid polarities by which souls graduate.
An immense family of traditions sharing the Vedic-Upanishadic vision: a single ultimate reality (Brahman) appears as the manifold world. Schools differ — Advaita (non-dual: Atman is Brahman), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dual), Dvaita (dualist) — but most accept dharma, karma, samsara, and moksha as the framework of life.
A self-study curriculum that retrains perception. The world we see is a projection of the ego's belief in separation; only love is real, and forgiveness — the recognition that the offense never truly happened in the eternal — is the means of awakening. The text is densely Christian in vocabulary but radically non-dualist in metaphysics.
The Source
Intelligent Infinity — undifferentiated, pre-conceptual unity. Intelligent Energy is its first focusing. The Creator does not stand apart from creation; creation is the Creator examining Itself.
Brahman — sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss); without form (nirguna) and with form (saguna).
God — pure Love, perfect Mind. Christ is God's one Son, of which we are all part.
Cosmology
An Infinite Creator emanates Logoi (sub-creators), each Logos shaping a galaxy or system with its own variations on the octave. Reality is constructed from intelligent infinity focused through intelligent energy into seven densities of light-frequency: 1st mineral/elemental, 2nd plant/animal, 3rd self-aware (humanity), 4th love, 5th wisdom, 6th unity, 7th gateway, 8th the next octave.
Cycles upon cycles: yugas, kalpas, manvantaras. Creation, preservation, dissolution recur eternally — Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva personifying the rhythm. Time is vast and curved.
There is only God and His extension — the Sonship — eternally one. Time, space, the body, and the world are an apparent dream produced by the seeming-detour of the ego. Nothing has actually happened; we are still safe at home in God.
The Self
Each individual is a 'mind/body/spirit complex,' a fragment of the Creator wearing a forgetting (the Veil) so that experience can be genuine. Behind the personality stands the Higher Self, a 6th-density future-self that guides without compelling.
Atman — the deepest self — is, in Advaita, identical with Brahman; in dualist schools, eternally distinct yet dependent. Bound by avidya (ignorance) it transmigrates; freed by jnana, bhakti, or karma yoga.
The true Self is the Christ, identical in all of us, sharing the unified Mind of God. The 'self' you think you are — the body and personality — is the ego, the belief in being separate.
The Path
Balancing the energy centers (chakras), choosing a polarity, and making seeking a daily practice. Catalyst (life experience) is to be metabolized, not avoided.
Four classical yogas: jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion), karma (action), raja (meditation). Devotion to Ishvara (the personal Lord).
365 daily lessons in the Workbook retraining perception. The Holy Spirit is the bridge from ego-mind to right-mind. The miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love.
Suffering / Evil
What seems evil is often unbalanced or service-to-self polarity. Both polarities serve the Creator's self-knowing; only at 6th density do they merge again.
Maya: not evil but the veiling power of Brahman. Adharma (chaos) opposed by dharma (cosmic order).
Evil is impossible — it is the fear-thought of the ego, a mistake to be undone, not a force to be defeated.
What Continues
After bodily death the soul reviews incarnation, consults its Higher Self, and chooses next steps. Graduation between densities follows mastery, not time.
Rebirth conditioned by karma until moksha — release into Brahman or eternal communion with the Lord.
There is no death. Awakening is not after life; it can occur now. What seems like dying is only laying down a body that was never the Self.
Key Texts
The Ra Material (Books I–V) · A Wanderer's Handbook · The Law of One Study Guide
Vedas · Upanishads · Bhagavad Gita · Yoga Sutras (Patanjali) · Brahma Sutras
Text · Workbook for Students · Manual for Teachers · Clarification of Terms
Symbols
Tree of life · Tarot (as cosmic blueprint) · Octave / spiral
Om · Lotus · Shiva-lingam · Nataraja
Lily (forgiveness) · Open hands
Shared concepts
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalLove as the Underlying SubstanceReincarnation / Continuity of the SoulKarma / Sowing and ReapingThe Veil / ForgettingNon-Duality (Oneness)Logos / Word / Christ-PrincipleThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / AtmanForgiveness / AtonementMeditation / Contemplation / PrayerContinuity Beyond DeathEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingSacred Geometry & NumberCosmogenesis — How Worlds Begin
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalNon-Duality (Oneness)Love as the Underlying SubstanceReincarnation / Continuity of the SoulKarma / Sowing and ReapingThe Veil / ForgettingThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / AtmanMaya / IllusionMeditation / Contemplation / PrayerContinuity Beyond DeathEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingSacred Geometry & NumberCosmogenesis — How Worlds BeginLogos / Word / Christ-Principle
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalLove as the Underlying SubstanceNon-Duality (Oneness)Logos / Word / Christ-PrincipleForgiveness / AtonementMaya / IllusionEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingThe Veil / ForgettingThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / Atman

The Law of One

Modern Esoteric · 1981–1984 (channeled)
In a phrase
All is One. The One is Love. Love seeks to know Itself.
Summary
A five-volume channeled dialogue with an entity called Ra, framing the cosmos as a single Infinite Creator exploring Itself through octaves of consciousness called densities. Each density is a curriculum: awareness, growth, self-awareness, love, wisdom, unity, and return. Free will is paramount; distortion is the price of knowing. Service-to-others and service-to-self are the two valid polarities by which souls graduate.
The Source
Intelligent Infinity — undifferentiated, pre-conceptual unity. Intelligent Energy is its first focusing. The Creator does not stand apart from creation; creation is the Creator examining Itself.
Cosmology
An Infinite Creator emanates Logoi (sub-creators), each Logos shaping a galaxy or system with its own variations on the octave. Reality is constructed from intelligent infinity focused through intelligent energy into seven densities of light-frequency: 1st mineral/elemental, 2nd plant/animal, 3rd self-aware (humanity), 4th love, 5th wisdom, 6th unity, 7th gateway, 8th the next octave.
The Self
Each individual is a 'mind/body/spirit complex,' a fragment of the Creator wearing a forgetting (the Veil) so that experience can be genuine. Behind the personality stands the Higher Self, a 6th-density future-self that guides without compelling.
The Path
Balancing the energy centers (chakras), choosing a polarity, and making seeking a daily practice. Catalyst (life experience) is to be metabolized, not avoided.
Suffering / Evil
What seems evil is often unbalanced or service-to-self polarity. Both polarities serve the Creator's self-knowing; only at 6th density do they merge again.
What Continues
After bodily death the soul reviews incarnation, consults its Higher Self, and chooses next steps. Graduation between densities follows mastery, not time.
Key Texts
The Ra Material (Books I–V) · A Wanderer's Handbook · The Law of One Study Guide
Symbols
Tree of life · Tarot (as cosmic blueprint) · Octave / spiral
Shared concepts
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalLove as the Underlying SubstanceReincarnation / Continuity of the SoulKarma / Sowing and ReapingThe Veil / ForgettingNon-Duality (Oneness)Logos / Word / Christ-PrincipleThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / AtmanForgiveness / AtonementMeditation / Contemplation / PrayerContinuity Beyond DeathEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingSacred Geometry & NumberCosmogenesis — How Worlds Begin

Hinduism / Vedanta

Dharmic · ~1500 BCE — present
In a phrase
Tat tvam asi — Thou art That.
Summary
An immense family of traditions sharing the Vedic-Upanishadic vision: a single ultimate reality (Brahman) appears as the manifold world. Schools differ — Advaita (non-dual: Atman is Brahman), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dual), Dvaita (dualist) — but most accept dharma, karma, samsara, and moksha as the framework of life.
The Source
Brahman — sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss); without form (nirguna) and with form (saguna).
Cosmology
Cycles upon cycles: yugas, kalpas, manvantaras. Creation, preservation, dissolution recur eternally — Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva personifying the rhythm. Time is vast and curved.
The Self
Atman — the deepest self — is, in Advaita, identical with Brahman; in dualist schools, eternally distinct yet dependent. Bound by avidya (ignorance) it transmigrates; freed by jnana, bhakti, or karma yoga.
The Path
Four classical yogas: jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion), karma (action), raja (meditation). Devotion to Ishvara (the personal Lord).
Suffering / Evil
Maya: not evil but the veiling power of Brahman. Adharma (chaos) opposed by dharma (cosmic order).
What Continues
Rebirth conditioned by karma until moksha — release into Brahman or eternal communion with the Lord.
Key Texts
Vedas · Upanishads · Bhagavad Gita · Yoga Sutras (Patanjali) · Brahma Sutras
Symbols
Om · Lotus · Shiva-lingam · Nataraja
Shared concepts
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalNon-Duality (Oneness)Love as the Underlying SubstanceReincarnation / Continuity of the SoulKarma / Sowing and ReapingThe Veil / ForgettingThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / AtmanMaya / IllusionMeditation / Contemplation / PrayerContinuity Beyond DeathEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingSacred Geometry & NumberCosmogenesis — How Worlds BeginLogos / Word / Christ-Principle

A Course in Miracles

Modern Revelation · Scribed 1965–1972, published 1976
In a phrase
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.
Summary
A self-study curriculum that retrains perception. The world we see is a projection of the ego's belief in separation; only love is real, and forgiveness — the recognition that the offense never truly happened in the eternal — is the means of awakening. The text is densely Christian in vocabulary but radically non-dualist in metaphysics.
The Source
God — pure Love, perfect Mind. Christ is God's one Son, of which we are all part.
Cosmology
There is only God and His extension — the Sonship — eternally one. Time, space, the body, and the world are an apparent dream produced by the seeming-detour of the ego. Nothing has actually happened; we are still safe at home in God.
The Self
The true Self is the Christ, identical in all of us, sharing the unified Mind of God. The 'self' you think you are — the body and personality — is the ego, the belief in being separate.
The Path
365 daily lessons in the Workbook retraining perception. The Holy Spirit is the bridge from ego-mind to right-mind. The miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love.
Suffering / Evil
Evil is impossible — it is the fear-thought of the ego, a mistake to be undone, not a force to be defeated.
What Continues
There is no death. Awakening is not after life; it can occur now. What seems like dying is only laying down a body that was never the Self.
Key Texts
Text · Workbook for Students · Manual for Teachers · Clarification of Terms
Symbols
Lily (forgiveness) · Open hands
Shared concepts
The One SourceConsciousness as FundamentalLove as the Underlying SubstanceNon-Duality (Oneness)Logos / Word / Christ-PrincipleForgiveness / AtonementMaya / IllusionEvil as Privation, Distortion, or ForgettingThe Veil / ForgettingThe Higher Self / Soul-Self / Atman