The process by which the Divine manifests the cosmos, as compared to evolution, which is the process of the creation raising to higher states and states of consciousness. Involution prepares the universe for the Big Bang; evolution continues from that point forward. The term involution comes from the idea that the divine involves itself in creation. After the creation, the Divine (i.e. The Absolute, Brahman, God; all these essentially mean the same thing) is both the One (the Creator) and the Many (that which was created)