The Kybalion is based heavily on Hermetic philosophies and many, like myself, find them as a useful way of understanding, interpreting, and engaging with the world around us. The Seven Principles it teaches offer perspective teaching that aligns with many religions philosophically, but I tend to think of these principles as a way to understand alchemy and how your mind influences everything that you feel about what happens in your life. As a believer in the Universal Law of Attraction, these principles are a fundamental part of my thinking now and hopefully you find some wisdom or guidance in them and I interpret them adequately.
1.) Principle of Mentalism
I consider "Mentalism" a fundamental component to everything that has ever happened in my life, is happening, or will happen in the future. I don't believe we control what comes to us per say, but how we choose to think about the things that come into our lives is what makes the difference. If we attract things on the same frequency as us, which I believe we do, then we must accept that there is a gift in everything that comes into our life. The gift may be a lesson that we didn't know we wanted or needed, but it's still something that helps us to become the best version of our self if we embrace it and learn everything we can from it. Think positively and embrace change and you get positive change.
2.) Principle of Correspondence
"Correspondence" is a fundamental building black in many religions and a necessary component to have faith of any kind. In essence, if we align ourselves with our "higher self," the true authentic being we are at our core, then we live our true authentic life purpose and follow the path to becoming the best possible version of ourselves. As above, so below, what is internal matches what is external, and in essence what we think and hold true becomes our reality.
3.) Principle of Vibration
The principle of vibration is probably one of the more complicated principles of the seven. I explain it and understand it like so: We are all energy. Everything is energy at its' core. Energy is never created and it never goes away, it simply is and always will be. If we push a ball it rolls until counteracted by another energetic source such as friction or gravity. Vibration is the frequency at which that energy is resonating. If we maintain a high or positive energetic frequency, then in conjunction with the other laws, we attract things on that same frequency. If we have a low or negative energetic frequency, then we are attracting lower frequency lessons, which are usually the less pleasant and harder learned lessons. Our thoughts control our vibration frequency.
4.) Principle of Polarity
Polarity is probably the hardest to grasp and then the most obvious if the Law of Attraction is embraced. Polarity is the understanding that for everything that is there is also an opposite. I think the easiest polarity to know and feel in our own lives is love and fear. They both exist and are opposites. If we choose to manipulate our environment and mind through fear, we have a negative frequency. If we choose to manipulate our own mind and environment through love, we have a positive frequency. There is never a state where these two things do not both exist, but how we choose to process them alters our frequency. I process my fears in my own mind and do my best to release positive loving energy instead of acting on fear.
5.) Principle of Rhythm
Rhythm is the principle of eb and flow, push and pull, and fundamental to the Law of Attraction. It's fundamental to the ability to understand what attracts and what repels. If everything is energy, we cycle through attracting and repelling each other through our thoughts and actions. It's why you can't love someone completely if you don't love yourself completely. The absence of love is fear. If you don't love yourself then you fear yourself due to polarity.
6.) Principle of Cause and Effect
Cause and Effect is pretty fundamental to even the most basic human thought processes. Understanding that doing something makes something happen and that there is a chain of events is pretty easy. The main issue is that most people don't take the time to consider the effects they are causing when they do things. For example, you punch a stranger and they are now fearful of others and there are numerous ways you have negatively impacted another person's existence. If you smile at a stranger, you may have the opposite effect! They may have a much happier disposition and positively impact others lives. We reap what we sow.
7.) Principle of Gender
Personally I found this one easier to embrace than it will probably sound. The Principle of Gender is the understanding that duality or polarity means that everything exists in a "gender" state. It doesn't have anything to do with biological sex. It's about the positive and negative existence and realizing that for harmony to exist we have to balance our positive and negative extremes. It's not saying one sex is positive and the other is negative per say, but it's saying that positivity and negativity are essentially the "gender" of energy and relate to polarity. It's one of the reasons that a perfectly balanced mind can often feel "asexual" in nature. If we are able to manifest what we need and be at peace with ourselves, we still attract others on the same frequency, but we don't "need" them so much as we "want" them.
I hope my interpretations of the Principles will help some out there understand them more easily or perhaps just allow for additional perspective of how they work. I'd be happy to hear how your perspective of these principles differs or however you feel about them. I realize that my beliefs don't necessarily align with everyone's identically and that is what makes us unique. Best wishes everyone. Namaste.