On the Origin of the World is a thoughtful essay  about the creation of the world, the formation of humankind, and the end of time. It’s a sort of learned work in which the author makes use of rhetorical devices to treat various aspects of gnosis. This tractate is closely related to the Nature of the Rulers, and to Eugnostos the Blessed.

Lots of references to other Gnostic literature are inserted by the author throughout the text, such as the First Book of Noraia and the First Treatise of Oraia to which the reader is reminded for a useful consultation.

As suggested above, On the Origin of the World is built according to rhetorical rules:

• The exordium or prooimion (97,24 – 98,11) is the prologue in which the author presents a philosophical demonstration for the thesis according to which something existed before the chaos.
• The narratio or diegesis (98,11 – 123,2) constitutes the main part of the text and provides a narrative account of the origin of the world and of humankind.
• The probatio or pistis (123,2 – 123,31) demonstrates how error and ignorance is widespread in the world.
• The peroratio or epilogos (123,31 – 127,17) brings matters to a logical conclusion with a discussion about immortal humanity, the role of Jesus Christ and the church, and the end of time.

In the last part of the text, the author offers a joyful picture of things, since the last generation of humanity will enter the holy place of their Father, and they will reside in rest, in eternal ineffable glory, and ceaseless joy.

Jesus has come to disclose what was hidden and, at the end of time, all that is dark and deficient in the universe will be undone, and the structure of the creation will fall apart together with its creator (the Demiurge).

The time of composition is disputed among scholars but, although a late text (probably late third or early fourth century) is the most probable, much of its content points to an earlier time (probably second century).

Prologue

In the beginning

In this short section the author tries to demonstrate the thesis according to which it’s wrong to believe that nothing existed before chaos.  Chaos is not at the root of matter, that is, at the origin of the world, but came out of a shadow. The shadow comes from something that existed from the beginning. So, it is false to assume that nothing existed before chaos.

Narration

Origin of Sophia and the Powers of the World

The theme of shadow and darkness is resumed at the beginning of this section, since the author suggests that in the world of the immortals, shadows are non-existent. Infinite light permeates everything, but a shadow exists outside the world of the immortals to form a veil between the world from above and the inferior world. This shadow has been called darkness, out of which came the ruling powers and a variety of inferior deities and, at last, the whole world. Matter came out from the shadow, not from the chaos. The author wants to emphasize this concept: when matter came into being, it was in a state of chaos, in a region of chaos, but came out from the shadow.

This concept is important since whoever inhabits the lesser world, being a god or a human, is unaware of the world from above where the higher gods dwell. Moreover, nothing happens in the lower world which is not allowed from the Father.

The appearance of Yaldabaoth out of deep waters is related by the author to the intervention of Pistis/Sophia who realized that what had been created below the shadow was deficient. In other words, the world and all its creatures were just a shadow of the heavens where Pistis/Sophia came from. Yaldabaoth is ignorant of the power of Pistis/Sophia who returned to the heavens after he became the ruler of the world.

What happens next is the narration of the creation of the world by Yaldabaoth and his servants. After having created all the matter, Yaldabaoth created three sons in androgynous form and called them Yao, Eloai, and Astaphaios.

Then, Yaldabaoth created seven powers in androgynous form who had to rule over seven heavens. They were:

• Sambathas, Yaldabaoth’s feminine name
• Yao, while his feminine name is mastery
• Sabaoth’s feminine name is divinity
• Adonaios’ feminine name is kingship
• Eloaios’ feminine name is envy
• Oraios’ feminine name is wealth
• Astaphaios’ feminine name is Sophia

All this was made, the author insists, by the power of Yaldabaoth’s word.

A central point in this account is Yaldabaoth’s wrong belief to be the only existing God in the universe. For this purpose, the author quotes a sentence from Isaiah which runs: ‘I am God, and there is no other but me’ (45:5-6; 21; 46:9). But, unlike the Christian text, the author is quick to add that, after pronouncing it, Yaldabaoth ‘sinned against all the immortals, and they watched him carefully’.

Yaldabaoth’s impiety prompts Pistis/Sophia to issue a prediction about Yaldabaoth’ end. We come to know that an immortal human being (archetypal) exists well before him with the function of bringing Yaldabaoth’s rule to an end. In this way the author wants to distinguish humankind’s fate, ordained up in the heavens, from its deficient ruler’s.

At this point the author focuses his attention on Sabaoth, one of Yaldabaoth’s sons, who condemned his father when he heard Pistis’ account of his father’s deeds. This behavior had an important consequence for Sabaoth since, having been enlightened by Pistis’ words, he received ‘great authority over all of the powers of chaos, and since then he has been called lord of the powers’ (Yahweh Sabaoth).

The other powers of chaos became jealous of Sabaoth’s enlightenment and raged war against him. This act prompted Pistis to intervene to settle the matter.

What follows is the account of Sabaoth’s acts after his acquisition of knowledge (gnosis). They are all beneficial: a congregation of angels, the creation of the archetypal Israel (‘the person who sees God’), the creation of Jesus Christ, and of other creatures inhabiting the heavens.

Sabaoth, together with Zoe, Pistis’ daughter, created seven good androgynous powers.

The sons were:

• The one not jealous
• The blessed
• The joyful
• The true
• The one not envious
• The beloved
• The faithful

The daughters were:

• Peace
• Gladness
• Joyfulness
• Blessedness
• Truth
• Love
• Faith

Sabaoth’s sons and daughters gave birth to a number of children.

In opposition to Sabaoth’s creation, Yaldabaoth, out of jealousy, introduced death over the heavens. The origin of death is Yaldabaoth himself, who produced seven sons and seven daughters. The account is reminiscent of Greek mythology in which Zeus engenders Athena without having sex but delivering her from his head.

The sons were:

• Envy
• Wrath
• Tears
• Sighs
• Grief
• Lament
• Tearful groans

The daughters were:

• Anger
• Pain
• Lust
• Sighs
• Curses
• Bitterness
• Strife

The sons had sex with the daughters who gave birth to seven children each.

At this point, the long account about the creation of the world is left purposefully out, since it resembles many Gnostic texts already tackled. So, I will turn my attention to the other parts of this treatise: probatio or pistis and peroration or epilogos in order to sum up the main themes.

Probatio

The World is in Error and Ignorance

Since the world was filled with angelic and demonic creatures, they taught humankind all sorts of false knowledge, exemplified by the author with the terms ‘error, magic, potions, idolatry, bloodshed, altars, temples, sacrifices, and libations’.

The overall result was to shed humankind into ‘confusion, ignorance, and stupor’.

These few lines are highly illuminating: the author is implying that ancient religion had had the effect to lead humankind on the wrong path. As the terms rightly suggest, ancient religion was based on outer practices, quite detached from an inner spiritual personal growth. The reference to altars and temples points to visible structures in which religious functions were performed, while terms such as sacrifices and libations are a clear reference to the very nature of religious beliefs. All in all, religious practice brought to worship false gods, as exemplified by the terms error, magic and idolatry.

Let’s turn to the terms confusion, ignorance, and stupor. At first sight we may wonder why the author uses the term confusion. A possible answer is provided in the text: since the archetypal man was conceived in the higher spheres of heaven, his destiny is quite separate from Yaldabaoth’s. This means that in a world governed by a false god, man is ‘confused’, that is, is unable to see the right path to gnosis of which he senses its existence.

After understanding the first term, the other ones are quite straightforward to grasp: ignorance is lack of gnosis, which brings stupor over worldly matters, since we lack all the knowledge required to attain Pleroma, that is, total and peaceful rest.

Epilogue

The Blessed Little Innocent Spirits and the Church

In this last part of the text the author focuses on the main points treated so far. Ignorance reigned over the world since, the author is clear about that, a false god ruled over it.

But why all this happened?

The Father wanted to bring Yaldabaoth’s ruling to an end and, for this reason, sent ‘the blessed little innocent spirits’ to the world in order to spread real knowledge (gnosis). So, whoever has acquired gnosis is able to contribute to the Father’s plan.

Jesus Christ was sent down to the world ‘to announce what was unknown’ in order to bring down the authorities of chaos and their godlessness and condemn them to death.

The description of the end of the world much resembles what we find in the Apocalypse of John. At the end of time, all will be revealed, and the blessed ones, that is, all those possessing true knowledge, will find their place of rest just where they came from.

The Tripartite Tractate was probably composed in the second half of the third century by an unknown author. The original title has not been preserved and the present title has been assigned by scholars on the basis of its original division into three parts.

This massive text is a compendium of Gnostic (Valentinian) theology in which each part corresponds more or less to a specific content.

In the first part the author deals with the Father, the Son, the outflow of Fullness (Pleroma), the fall of the youngest aeon (a power existing from eternity, being an emanation from God) with the consequent creation of the universe. In the second part the author tackles the creation of the first human, his transgression and expulsion from paradise. The third and last part deals with the confused opinions about the nature of the universe, the advent of the Lord and the beginning of the church.

The Father, the Son and the Church of Aeons

The author begins with a description of the Father: he is the One but with a multiplicity of inner qualities. He is paralleled to a tree with many branches and bearing lots of fruit.

The Father is described as beyond human capacities: he is without beginning and without end, he is incomprehensible in his greatness, inscrutable in his wisdom, invincible in his might, and unfathomable in his sweetness.

All these attributes have been built to underline a peculiar quality: his completeness and, because of it, he is without envy since, the author continues, he gives away everything in his possession and rests graciously in what he bestows.

The Father has a Son living in him, of whom he is silent: the ineffable within the ineffable. The Son is an eternal generation from the Father as his self-admiring Thought.

The Church is said to have existed from the beginning, even before the aeons were emanated, bringing forth all the innumerable and ineffable divine qualities coming from this eternal activity from Father to Son. These qualities are equated to kisses coming from this eternal embrace between Father and Son.

But why the term ‘Church’ (Ecclesia)? This term might have been used to make a fruitful comparison between the multitude of aeons (being, ultimately, attributes of the Father himself) and the Church on earth. So, the author suggests, the creation of the human church was envisioned by the Father from eternity. Another example coming to my mind is from Plato’s Cave (Republic), in which the term aeon is used to describe the realm or world of ideas which are essential constituents of human ideas.

The projections of the aeons

In this section we find the story of the aeons, which were conceived in the Father’s Thought from the eternity. The Father decided that they should be born, although they were not made perfect, so that they could realise that all they had and were was due to the Father’s greatness and perfection and, consequently, glorify the Father.

This act of glorification is a reciprocate act between the Father and the All (all the aeons put together). It happens in three stages:

1. The Aeons glorify the Father
2. The Father reciprocates, by returning glory to the Aeons
3. Each aeon, individually, glorify the Father in accordance with the will of the aeon.

The resulting fruit of this third glorification is perfect Fullness (Pleroma). Consequently, the aeons live in perfect harmony with one another and with the Father. This harmony does not restrain the aeons to continually search for the Father, in order to achieve higher levels of knowledge. In return for their search, the Father sends his Spirit, which is his Will, in the form of a breath to the aeons.

The passion of the youngest aeon and the origin of the material powers

The youngest aeon, Sophia (or Word as will be called later), wanted to give glory to the Father but acted out of her own will, that is, without receiving orders from the Father. So, she acted presumptuously, out of an overflowing love. However, the author continues, Sophia did not act without the Father’s consent. Moreover, this aeon was conceived by the Father just to accomplish his will.

What she produced was oblivion and ignorance, in a word, illusion, although a part of her hastened to re-acquire that Fullness she had lost.

The presumptuous thought brought forth imitations of the Fullness, since there was no light in them. This creature (the Demiurge) was not aware of the higher orders existing above him and thought that no-one existed beyond him.

So, the material world came into being as an imitation of the Fullness, as an act of presumption and the offspring produced mirrored the nature of his creator: they were fighters, warriors, troublemakers, rebels, disobedient folks who love to dominate, and all the others of that sort who derive from these.

So, the Demiurge is seen as a creature who does not belong to the Fullness and whose offspring is just a shadow of the original perfection.

The conversion of the aeon-logos and the origin of the psychical powers

After generating all the rebellious powers, he fallen aeon or Word became more and more aware of the impossibility to put things right, so he had a sort of repentance and prayed for help. This act, the author continues, prompted all the other aeons to act collectively and produce the Saviour whose task was to restore the original Fullness. As a consequence, the Word had a third emotion: joy. This emotion was followed by a different sort of offspring, whose spiritual nature mirrored the Fullness above.

In this way the human race was produced as having both lower level and higher level qualities. The war between these two orders, described at the end of this section, symbolises the never-ending struggle between good and evil which, ultimately, belong to human nature.

The mission of the Saviour and the origin of the spiritual kind

In this section the author emphasizes the importance of the Son who, as an emanation of the rest of the aeons in full accordance with the Father, is made perfect from the beginning and belongs to the Fullness.

This event provokes a reaction among the rebellious orders: those who had a small remembrance that something greater existed above them, converted and greeted the revelation; those who were just an imitation of the Fullness had no idea that something higher existed.

Consequently, they fell down into what it’s called ‘the outer darkness’ or chaos, Hades or the abyss.

At this point the Word, who had been illuminated, became part of the Fullness and begun to bring forth living images of the living figures of whom he became master and aeon himself. These emanations are called ‘church’ since they harmoniously represent the powers from above, out of whom they came into being.

We have a clear hint to the Church of Earth which is said to have existed in the Father’s Thought from eternity.

The creation of the cosmos and the region of the Middle

In this section we find the account of the origin of material and spiritual beings. The Word, made perfect and belonging to the Fullness, set himself up as origin and ruler of everything that had to come into being. So, he generated two sets of realms:

• The Spiritual or Psychical realm. In this realm, the Word established what is called the ‘paradise’ and those who were obedient to him found a place to rest in full glory. Otherwise, those who were disobedient to him were punished.

• The Material realm. The things below were divided into three categories:
  1. Those brought forth by illusion and presumption were placed in the first spiritual rank.
  2. Those brought forth through lust for dominion were placed in the middle rank
  3. Those brought forth from envy and jealousy were placed in the third rank as a servant order, controlling and commanding all existing things and all procreation.

The creation of humanity and the expulsion from paradise

In this brief part we find the account of the creation of humanity as an act of the Word who, through the Demiurge, an imperfect being not part of the All, brought forth ‘earthly shadows’. In other words, humanity does not belong to the Fullness, it’s cut off from the All and, being that way, was subjected to illness.

However, the Word gave humanity something which came from the higher orders, what is called ‘the breath of life’ and did so through the Demiurge but without his knowledge.

This ‘breath of life’ is the living soul which gave life to the human body. The body, before the inflation of the soul, was dead, and death is said in the text, is ignorance. So, the Word allowed humanity to aspire to a higher order of knowledge and, ultimately, to the knowledge of the Father.

So, human nature is a mix of bad, material qualities (coming from the Demiurge) and of good, spiritual qualities (coming from the Word).

A beautiful place, a paradise was set up for the first man to live where three kinds of trees had been planted: the bad tree, the double-character tree, and the tree of life. He was allowed to eat fruits of the first tree, making clear that transgression led to death. The author explains that this imposition had been made necessary since the man already possessed good, spiritual qualities and eating from the second or third kind of tree would have made him equal to the Word.

Transgression, because of the serpent, follows, and the man is expelled from paradise, that is, fall into complete ignorance (death).

But things are not that bad: the expulsion from paradise will have the beneficial effect of allowing the man to make experience of all evil things and so, crave for a better, eternal life, which is complete knowledge of the All.

In this brief part the author has stressed, in my opinion, two important concepts:

• Human nature is made of good and bad qualities,

but

• Humanity has the possibility to achieve an higher order of life through knowledge, since it is in possession of a living soul, coming from the All.

The overall picture is not totally dark: from a state of death (ignorance) we come to life (knowledge), but our path is dotted with dangers. In a way, we are encouraged to walk through the path of life, being conscious of our low-order origin but aware that we can achieve our goals.

The errors of humankind and the prophecies

The first two chapters of this last part are devoted to a sort of reflection upon those mistaken ideas about the origin of the universe and the nature of the gods.

Lack of real knowledge (gnosis) has inevitably led to a false understanding of the origin of the universe, so that different opinions have been put forward which have, in substance brought to confusion.

The various causes are listed as follows:

• Providence: this cause is put forward by those who ‘observe the regularity of the movement of the creation and its reliability’ (Stoic theory)

• Alien: this cause is suggested by those who ‘observe the diversity and the lawlessness of the powers and their evil character (Epicurean theory)

• Destiny: (astrological theory)

• Accident: (it is an aspect of the Epicurean theory)

• Nature: (Platonist theory and an aspect of the Stoic theory as well)

So, the author continues, all these theories are not real knowledge but just illusion, since they are inspired by the material powers. Therefore, it was not wisdom which characterized the people who reasoned about them, but an imitation of wisdom, a presumptuous and illusory idea but, surely, it was not the truth. The Greeks are listed among the people with false wisdom, while the Hebrews are treated separately. Let’s see how.

The Jewish scriptures have been inspired by the spiritual powers, so that ‘they set out to reach the truth’.

Therefore, what they said came not out of illusion or imitation although what they said varied according to the group they belonged to. As for the Greeks, we have a list of the different theories put forward among the Jews. They are:

• The God of the Scriptures is one

• The Gods of the Scriptures are many

• God is simple and of a single mind as to his nature

• God’s actions speak in favour of a dualistic nature, embracing both good and evil

• God is the maker of all things that came into being

• All things have been made by his angels

The advent and work of the Saviour

The coming of Christ on earth is said to have been manifested in flesh and soul, so that he became mortal and ‘of a lower level of life’. However, he did not share any form of sin, pollution or defilement with humanity.

Coming down, he brought with him the church of the spiritual seed from the intermediary region of the Word. This concept is important since the Savior performed his mission together with the spiritual church: the redemption he brought to human beings gave new life to that spiritual seed which was hidden, as in a sort of stand-by, into any human soul. The church on earth is needed as a vehicle to perfection, to attain Pleroma.

The reason for his coming is spelled out once more: the Saviour was sent by the Father to restore the imbalance generated by the fallen aeon, so that humanity might enjoy the Fullness.

The destiny of the three kinds of humans

The coming of the Saviour and the revelation which followed enabled human beings to get aware of what they really were. So, humanity became divided into three kinds, which mirrored the pattern of the three kinds of disposition of the Word:

• Spiritual: These beings are those who ‘have rushed to the Savior’ when his first appeared on earth. They will certainly be saved and attain knowledge in the higher level of the Pleroma.

• Psychical: These beings had been made by the Demiurge and, consequently, do not possess the spiritual seed. However, they can recognize the Savior, submit to him and serve the church. In case they do, they will be saved and will be granted access to the Pleroma; in case they remain faithful to the Demiurge, they will be lost.

• Material: These beings are those who have not accepted the Saviour’s message.

In the center of the Castle of Brahma, our own body, there is a small shrine,

in the form of a Lotus flower, and within can be found a small space.

We should find who dwells there and want to know him….

for the whole universe is in him and he dwells within our heart.

–Chandoga Upanishad

The Treatise on Resurrection is thought to have been composed in the second half of the second century by an unknown author who, however, shows a high degree of Gnostic competence.

It has been conceived in the form of a letter, addressed to a Rheginus, whose life is not documented anywhere. From the initial lines of the text we come to know that ‘many do not believe in resurrection’ and few find it’, although ‘resurrection is essential’.

These two quotations provide us with the main argument of the text: resurrection was not widely accepted by the early Christians, and that is totally understandable since it transcends our human, everyday experience. But, the author continues, resurrection is central to understand the meaning of Jesus’ coming on earth and, what’s more, it has to be considered a goal, like something one has to achieve in life.

After this short introduction the author talks about the dual nature of Jesus, who was both human and divine and his duality was an essential constituent to restore that imbalance between God and humanity. In other words, with his resurrection Jesus ‘swallowed’ death. But, the author does not side with the orthodox concept of redemption seen as a means to overcome our sins, but ‘death’ is our physical existence in this world. So, when Jesus died, he abandoned his human body and acquired his spiritual existence again. Resurrection is intended in a spiritual way, not in a corporeal way.

That said, it becomes easier to understand the concept of ‘finding’ one’s own resurrection. Since the Saviour became a man, we are allowed to take part in his spiritual form of existence. Our resurrection, as his, will be spiritual but we are asked to achieve knowledge (gnosis) through faith, in order to acquire that state of fullness (pleroma) which is essential to know the truth.

But, what’s this truth? The author clearly states that we are spiritual beings, our real existence is not from this world which is mere illusion.

Therefore, we can elaborate on the concept of resurrection and say that it has a twofold meaning:

• It is return, a restoration of our spiritual existence

• It is an act of knowledge (gnosis), through which we discover our true self

From the second point it follows that resurrection is a sort of ‘distinctive mark’ that everyone already has but which has to be found buried in his/herself.

Like other Gnostic texts, the author makes use of contrasting imagery, i.e. ‘deficiency’ vs. ‘fullness’ to better explain himself.

Resurrection is essential: the author stresses that it was an historical fact well attested by witnesses but, unlike the orthodox belief, it happened in a spiritual form.

The silly season is over us again (or more or less done by now) and Bodhati celebrates it’s second year. While the name changed from Tao4all a year ago the site has seen good traffic, with roughly 14.000 visits this year and about 20.000 visits to my older blog. I would like to take the time to remind people what christmas, or yule as we say here in Norway, is all about. We somehow lose sight of the miracle that is taking place all around us, both in nature and within our own bodies, during this period.

Yule is not what most people think it is

You might have noticed that this time of year is often troubled by depression and lack of energy. While the age-old competition for getting the best gifts or stuffing our kids with sugar and processed foods is more than enough to stress us, the fact of the matter is that nature is going through a small “death” right now. We forget that our eco system does not end with the trees. It goes on into our solar system, to the regulating functions of the moon and vital functions of our sun. Whatever happens to the planets that make up our fantastic home, happens to us.

As I type our sun has begun it’s re-generation cycle, a cycle that will be completed roughly around easter. Which naturally is why we celebrate easter with eggs and other signs of virility. This re-generation cycle bears fruit in springtime – when all of us feel the results in our own bodies, when we want to be outside in the sun, or in bed with our special someone.

When you look at the mystery that is christmas, or yule – or whatever you wish to call it, remember that what takes place outside you – is also taking place inside you. Your body has it’s own sun and moon and many glands and organs that each follow cycles. And each of these cycles are synchronized to planetary objects and the movements that takes place inside our solar system.

Have a good solstice and a fantastic new year!

The Wisdom of Jesus Christ was originally composed in Greek and later translated into Coptic.  A number of different original documents have been preserved, suggesting that this text had an ample diffusion in the first centuries after Jesus’ death.

There is a close connection between this text and Eugnostos the Blessed, a tractate which in the Nag Hammadi Codex III  precedes it.

The narrative timing is set after Jesus’ resurrection and this text takes the form of a dialogue between the Saviour and his disciples. The resurrected Christ is said to have appeared as a ‘great angel of light’, so prompting some commentators to suggest that the statement is in direct opposition to the orthodox church claim about the resurrection of the body.

Personally, I doubt about this claim, since the statement in question appears to be vague and finds no echo anywhere else in the text. Christ laughs at his disciples’ surprise in seeing him and asks why they are so perplexed. To this first question, the Saviour gets an answer, uttered by Philip alone who summarizes the other disciples’ perplexities. In a word, they want to know about the nature of the universe and the plan of salvation. The content of the Saviour’s long reply reminds Eugnostos the Blessed, since we are presented to the concept of man’s inability to grasp the true nature of things by availing himself of rationality. So, philosophic reasoning as well as theological speculation cannot get to the core of the truth since their statements are just mere opinions. On the contrary, the Saviour comes from the infinite and pure light and he alone can explain how things stand in reality. What the disciples get to know is their ability to understand the truth as well, since humankind has been granted such a knowledge.

The second question is posed by Matthew who asks: ‘Master, no one can find truth except through you. Teach us the truth’.Eugnostos the Blessed provides the conceptual basis for the Saviour’s answer for the second time. The One Who Is is ineffable and unknowable, so the only way to get to the truth is through revelation. The Saviour is said to be the chosen emissary of the One Who Is with this particular mission to accomplish.

The third question comes from Philip who asks: ‘Master how did the One Who Is appear to those who are perfect?’. For the third time Eugnostos the Blessed quoted, since the Saviour illustrates the One Who Is as an all mind, in whom thought, consideration, reflection, reason and power are infinite and equally powerful. So, the revelation comes to the disciple (the one who is perfect) through what can be termed as cognition.

At this point Thomas wants to know the reason for all immortal beings’ own existence and their revelation to humankind. The answer introduces to notion of conception: in other words, the One Who Is is a Spirit who grants life, spiritual and material, that is, imperishable and perishable, because this feature is in his nature.

The content of the questions posed so fat by three of the disciples point to the nature of knowledge which cannot be acquired but received by those who are mentally well prepared for this particular gift. Nothing has been said so far about the means to attain such a knowledge.

It is Mary (possibly, Mary of Magdalen) who specifically asks the Saviour this sort of question and the reply she gets presents the notion of faith: ‘Bring yourselves from what is invisible to the end of what is visible, and the emanation of thought itself will reveal to you how faith in what is invisible can be found in those who are visible, who belong to the unconceived Father’. Faith is necessary to attain the true knowledge, but the way it develops is through an emanation of thought. In other words, no logical reasoning can obtain faith, it’s something of a higher level of understanding.

The remaining part of this text deals with a number of topics ranging from the manifestation of Humanity to an inquiry about the name of Humanity and the Son of Humanity in the gospel, from the number of aeons to more eschatological questions. Needless to say that The Wisdom of Jesus Christ can be labelled as a revelatory dialogue in which Gnostic themes are mixed to more Christian ones making the text a sort of hybrid. The strong link between The Wisdom of Jesus Christ and Eugnostos the Blessed has prompted some scholars to think that the former is a sort of Christian rewriting of the latter.

I don’t want to dispute this thesis which appears to have some kind of foundation but what interests me is the didactic tone which can be heard throughout the text. The Saviour is addressed as ‘Master’ and his answers are never countered by his disciples who blindly accept what their master tells them. We are light years away from a typical Platonic dialogue in which Socrates is always portrayed as more interested in making his interlocutor think and ponder about the themes being presented.

Why this text is shaped in such a way? The answer lies not far away since, from the very beginning the author states quite unequivocally that any logical reasoning is totally useless if we want to attain true knowledge. We are reminded throughout the text that what we need has to be granted from above as a sort of gift from the unconceived Father.

As far as the time and place of composition are concerned, scholars have dated The Wisdom of Jesus Christ in the middle of the third century somewhere in Egypt, perhaps Alexandria.

As the title suggests, this treatise gives an interpretation (exegesis) of the story of the soul, starting from the account of her heavenly origin, down to her fall on the world, and finally back to heaven, to the place where it belongs from eternity.

The soul is personified, that is, she is given a feminine gender and, to stress it more forcefully, she possesses a womb.

The soul is said to have initially been with the Father, and while in the upper regions of Pleroma, she was a virgin and androgynous in form. The account of her fall and entrance into a body is paralleled to her lost of virginity and, while in that condition, she has to endure a list of mishaps.

This condition of pollution remains, the author continues, until the soul becomes aware of her situation and repents. She asks the Father for help, and he sees her unhappy situation and has mercy on her.

The image used to indicate the restoration of her initial virginity is singular: the Father makes her womb turn inward in order for the soul to regain her feminine character. The meaning is clear: the soul will not be sexually abused by anybody anymore, and will not, consequently become pregnant (that is, contaminated).

But in order to enable the soul to deliver untarnished children, the Father sends a bridegroom from the Pleroma, who is her brother. But the soul doesn’t remember her brother from heaven, since she has been heavily polluted during her life on earth. So, the Father sends her a dream in order to recover her lost memory.

The union between the soul and her bridegroom is intensely described by the author in a way more proper to a carnal union than to a spiritual one. However, the union produces beautiful children (that is virtuous ones), while the soul recovers her initial state and goes back to her proper place in heaven.

This text is a particular account of Gnostic knowledge about the soul, dressed as in a romance, so devoid of any philosophical or theological language. A plausible reason can be the intended audience: the lavish use of metaphors and images simplifies the text which can be accessible to ordinary people.

There is a close parallel between the description of the soul’s fall from heaven, the consequent loss of virginity, and final restoration to her initial place with the account, we find in Valentinian texts, of the fall/restoration of Sophia. The reader is presented with an image of a journey, in which Sophia’s repentance is paramount in order for her to regain her place in the Pleroma.

Composed with all probability in Egypt in the first century, Eugnostos the Blessed is preserved in two distinct translations, both of which from a Greek original now lost. The first two lines of the text read ‘Eugnostos the blessed, to those who are his’.

But, who is Eugnostos? In Greek, this term derives from two adjectives: eu, meaning ‘good, well’, and gnostos, meaning ‘known’, so that the resulting meaning is ‘well-known, familiar’. Moreover, this term can mean ‘the one who can know’ or ‘the one capable of knowing’. This second possibility can be associated to the term gnostes, ‘the one who knows’, giving to the whole tractate a highly symbolic meaning.

What’s more, the term eugnostos, which is used to denote a person, is associated to the adjective blessed, so alluding to someone staying in a peaceful condition since he is in possession of gnosis.

It can be inferred, and the wording of the text will give me a confirmation, that the link between gnosis and peacefulness of mind is the leitmotif of this tractate. Knowledge, or more precisely, true knowledge produces joy, that complete, total delight given by the Word of God.

This tractate is styled in the form of a letter addressed to an unknown recipient. It contains a well-shaped philosophical argument about the Word of God and demonstrates that the writer, Eugnostos, is an authority, well-versed in Gnostic knowledge.

Initially, the author underlines how philosophical speculation about the nature of God has brought humanity to know nothing at all. In particular, he alludes to three philosophical theories: Stoicism (‘some say that the universe has governed itself’), Epicureanism (‘others say that divine forethought has governed it’), and that followed by Babylonian scholars (‘and still others that fate has been in charge’).

After dismissing these three theories, the author begins describing what is real divine knowledge. The ‘One who is’ has a peculiar feature: he is ineffable. This term points to a different kind of knowledge, not based upon logical inquiry, suggesting the methodology which has to be followed to get true knowledge. We come to understand why the author is rejecting as nonsensical any philosophical theory. Faith is the key term here: knowledge of what is invisible can be acquired in this world in case the believer grasps this basic concept and abandons any logical inquiry. This statement, the author continues, has to be taken as a ‘principle of knowledge’.

A particular feature of this theological text is the rejection of the term ‘emanation’ we find in other Gnostic texts: Divine beings are independent, self-generated entities, inhabiting their specific aeon together with a multitude of angels. They all enjoy the same imperishable glory and ineffable joy since they all rest in the ‘One who is’. The term ineffable is scattered throughout the text as if to stress the importance of the concept stated initially.

Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed — that is human.

When you are born, where do you come from?

When you die, where do you go?

Life is like a floating cloud which appears.

Death is like a floating cloud which disappears.

The floating cloud itself originally does not exist.

Life and death, coming and going, are also like this.

But there is one thing which always remains clear.

It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death.

What is that one pure and clear thing?

Zen Master Seung Sahn

“Fundamentally, not one thing exists”

–Sixth Zen Patriarch

I live alone in the woods and have as far as feasible for
me copped out of the monastic institution as well as out of
the civil inst. Of course, that too is a delusion. But as far as
I am concerned the question “why do you have to be a monk?”
is like a question “why do you have to live in Nebraska?” I don’t
know. It’s what the karma added up to, I guess.

–Thomas Merton

“Life is filled with coming and going.

Show me the path where there is no coming and there is no going.”

The follower of knowledge learns as much as he can every day; The follower of the Way forgets as much as he can every day. By attrition he reaches a state of inaction Wherein he does nothing, but nothing remains undone. To conquer the world, accomplish nothing; If you must accomplish something, The world remains beyond conquest.

–Tao Te Ching (Chapter 48)

Stop. Turn.

Solstice – it is here again. Always, it is here.

So it seems apt, at the crux of the year as night turns to day, as the phoenix rises once again from its ashes, born again in the never ending cycle, to look over what has been one helluva year.

It has gone seeming in the blink of an eye and yet this year has been ram packed full of enough experience, emotion and most of all LIFE to last several years.

Looking Back

This time last year when I sat back and pondered what it was I wished to learn about in the one to follow I chanced upon love.

I had in my mind that love was one small thing.

A romantic endeavour which would bring me happiness and all those things defined so perfectly by Hollywood’s ideal.

In my mind, love had eluded me and with that elusion all my chances for happiness etcetera had eluded me too.

I set out to find it.

What I found instead was a lesson.

Never underestimate Love

What I have found is that Love is a big deal.

1. It is everywhere.
   
2. It is not defined by anything and it probably will not be contained by anything.
   
3. Ever.
   
4. It is a really big deal.
   

It is about how you see yourself.

It is available in infinite quantities, but how much you apportion yourself is entirely up to you and only you.

In this lies a challenge of mammoth proportions and indeed also power of mammoth proportions.

I have learned that I am really, really scared of this.

Before anything can ensue, first there is the challenge – Love Yourself.

I learned that expecting others to meet with my expectations of love is to give my power away to them.

I learned also that to do this was less frightening to me than taking responsibility for loving me.

When I realised that I could do all that I wanted another to do for me and more, for myself – I got a fright.

It is a lot of responsibility.

I realised why it is that I look to others to be responsible for my emotional welfare.

When you really, truly hold yourself accountable for your life, for your emotions, when you absolutely love yourself and know that first it is your responsibility to look after yourself you realise that there are no excuses.

That is a big deal.

Love, when it is not being dressed up in costumes and makeup or portrayed as the bringer of all things secret, holds you accountable to yourself for yourself.

Love, it turns out, has no business with sissies who like to go around crying, “Poor me.”

It is compassion and it has absolutely no tolerance for bullies (especially when you try to bully yourself), but it also asks tough questions when you are weeping and wailing about the poor deal the universe has heaped upon you.

Love turns your attention to the divine spark which is in each of us and it asks you to wake up and stop imagining that this divine spark is anywhere but inside you.

It tells you that you are the creator of your universe. The universe is not the creator of you.

It says, “Allow yourself happiness and success.”

It says, “Hello God/dess.”

Love reminds you that as the creator of your universe, creations do not happen with the click of a finger but through letting the passion you have live through you.

You put your energy into allowing yourself to be happy rather than trying to make others happy.

You put a step forward, you put the hours in, you plan, and you do because you love.

Love is unconditional – it is for everyone. Passion is not just for idealists and the lucky few.

If you love it – do it. Even if what it is you do is boring old Quantity Surveying.

Love asks difficult questions of you.

It asks why it is you are sitting there allowing the unhappiness.

It asks you why, as the creator of your universe, are you not doing something about it?

It asks gently, but it still asks and when it asks questions like this, it can get a bit uncomfortable because Love requires intimacy.

Intimacy with yourself and if you are not comfortable with this then Love is going to ask you to become so.

Love is a mirror which shows you in your brightest light and says, “Yes, this is you. Now. Always. Now believe it is so.”

Valentinus was, perhaps, the best known Gnostic theologian: he lived in the first half of the second century and produced or influenced a great quantity of revered writings.

Valentinus was born in Africa, perhaps somewhere near the city of Carthage, around 100 C.E. He received his education in Alexandria at a time where a number of different religious doctrines and philosophical systems co-existed. It cannot be excluded that Valentinus had been a disciple of Basilides, although his theological system derives, in all probability, from Theudas, a disciple of St. Paul.

He moved to Rome around 135 and became a prominent figure in the Christian community. Tertullian allegedly writes that Valentinus was going to be elected as bishop of Rome, but lose his election by a few votes. He goes on by saying that this fact constituted a turning point in Valentinus’ religious views, since he turned to Gnosticism.

From this source we may derive that Valentinus might have been a Christian priest who was a candidate to become a bishop.

As an aside, what course might Christianity have taken if Valentinus had been elected to the episcopate? We’ll never know for certain but, perhaps, a Gnostic Christianity might have developed alongside the Orthodox Church!!

His gnosticism was radically different from all systems which had developed before, since he conceived an unitary, all-powerful, divine entity (Bythos) whose thirty emanations, or aeons, coupled in fifteen pairs, represented the Pleroma (Fullness).

The last aeon, Sophia, emanated without his partner, Theletus (Perfect) in an inconsiderate act of arrogance. The result was the creation of the Demiurge, a semi-divine being not belonging to the Pleroma and later responsible for the creation of the Universe.

In summary, it was a wrongdoing which produced all material things with a peculiar feature: lack of integrity. This can be seen as the core of Valentinus’ theological system which run contrary to the Orthodox line of reasoning: on the one hand Valentinus held that it was this cosmic mistake the cause of imperfections in our world, while the Orthodox Church attributed this situation to an act of disobedience, to the Original Sin, perpetrated by Adam and Eve against the Creator.

As you can see for yourself, these interpretations are radically irreconcilable, and surely placed Valentinus out of orthodoxy.

Lastly, a word about his writing is worth spending: a number of documents attributed to Valentinus (or to his followers) have been found at Nag Hammadi. These are:

• A Valentinian exposition

• The Gospel of Philip

• The Gospel of Truth

• The Treatise on Resurrection

• The Tripartite Tractate

When I tell people that I am a Gnostic, I often hear “Oh you mean Agnostic“. No, I mean Gnostic.

So what is a Gnostic anyway?

I think this movie trailer sums it up quite nicely! (I actually bought the full DVD and it is excellent).

WRPI 91.5FM’s Thursday afternoon host Gary Goldberg welcomes Gnostic author and expert Andrew Phillip Smith and Quest Books editor, and former editor of the award-winning Gnosis magazine, Richard Smoley, to In the Spirit.

Airing LIVE 2pm EST Thursday, December 17th
Upstate NY on 91.5FM
Streaming LIVE on the Net

Andrew Phillip Smith is the author of the new release A Dictionary of Gnosticism and publisher of the new quarterly The Gnostic: A Journal of Gnosticism, Western Esotericism and Spirituality.

AndrewPhillipSmith.com │Bardic-Press.com │The-Gnostic.com

Connect with Andrew on twitter @bardicpress and on Facebook

Richard Smoley is the author of the new release Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe. Richard is currently the acquisitions editor at Quest Books and executive editor of The Quest magazine.

InnerChristianity.com │QuestBooks.net │Theosophical.org

Connect with Richard via E-mail and Facebook

Like many of you, I have been experiencing a financial crunch. As a single mother of two teenage boys, I find that my paycheck doesn’t cover all the bills every month. While I trust the universe to provide, I still find myself catching my breath with every bill that arrives in the mailbox as I wonder deep down how I’ll pay it. I’ve watched “The Secret,” and I’ve read some of the Abraham-Hicks Law of Attraction writings. I know there’s certain language and feelings we should use to manifest what we want and need. However, I realized I needed a refresher course in abundance and prosperity to quiet the doubts that seemed to linger in my subconscious mind.

Last Saturday I attended a workshop titled “Spiritual Principles Behind Prosperity,” which was moderated by Rev. Jim Young, co-pastor of the Center for Spiritual Living in Wilmington, N.C. I don’t think he’ll mind if I share with you what we discussed and learned.

Rev. Jim introduced us to the three levels of human consciousness:

Level 1: All power is out there. How can I get what I want from them? This level deals with survival, sex, power and control. It’s a position of weakness and is based in the lower three chakras. The concern is what gets done. The doers make plans and try to manifest “stuff.”

Level 2: The power starts to move more internally. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” You learn what you need to know to be the best, and awareness that you are a spiritual being grows. This level is based in the heart chakra. The concern is the process. Do your spiritual practice. Celebrate everything as the love of God in action. Learn to stretch and grow.

Level 3: The power lies in spiritual integration. We are It (divinity). We are one with It (God, Sacred Source, Creative Force, whatever you call the All-That-Is). We are all one. This is the mystical level of consciousness. There doesn’t have to be a process. Just be. It just is.

For example, here’s how the different levels react to a financial situation:

Level 1: “I need $100 to pay the rent.”
Level 2: You need a greater awareness of knowing God as prosperity.
Level 3: There is no rent. (God is all there is.) (This reminds me of the line from “The Matrix”: “There is no spoon.“)

Another example of the different levels is the conflict between the “orthodox” church and the gnostics in early Christianity (Level 1 vs. Level 2), literal meanings vs. deeper spiritual meanings of Yeshua’s original teachings.

For reference, the three levels match up with the methods described in these books:

Level 1: “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

Level 2: “Spiritual Economics: The Principles and Process of True Prosperity” by Eric Butterworth

Level 3: “Invisible Supply: Finding the Gifts of the Spirit Within” by Joel Goldsmith

Other recommended books are “In Tune with the Infinite” by Ralph Waldo Trine, “It’s All God” by Walter Starcke and learning about the three gunas.

We can fluctuate among the levels in our responses to different things. I operate at a higher level in many areas, but in the financial arena I sometimes get stuck at Level 1 thinking. The following are typical responses and actions at each level:

In Level 1, thoughts are things. Visualize the successful outcome. Believe it must be so because you’ve said it’s so. Create it in your imagination. Convince yourself you have a value in this world and that you are compensated for that value. Convince yourself to feel as if it is already done.

In Level 2, thoughts are things because we live in a spiritual universe. Believe in your heart, and it shall be done. Thought is the primal energy of spirit. Gratitude is celebrating God in everything. The universe responds to thoughts and feelings. Consciousness is thought and feeling. Our purpose is to learn more about our connection to God. Prosperity is having enough. There’s more than enough “stuff” in the world. Energy can take the form of whatever it needs to take. Financial challenges are opportunities for spiritual growth. Money allows us to exchange our energy. We desire to be of service to humanity. We make plans, collaborate and pray for the right and perfect job in our lives. Be open and receptive to the ideas coming our way. Celebrate everything as the love of God in action. It’s not about getting “stuff,” it’s about getting God.

In Level 3, all you want is the experience of God. You are a mystic. Practice forgiveness. Anything that separates you from your brother separates you from God. Separation from God impedes prosperity. Focus on the connection to God, and the stuff you need will appear because you are connected to the source.

And so it is.

In summary:
Level 1 = What I do
Level 2 = What I know
Level 3 = Who I am

An account of the early Gnostic group cannot be made without mentioning who is perhaps the most inspired of their prophets: Simon Magus.

It is said that he was born in Gitta, a small town in Samaria and began his wanderings and preaching in company with a woman called Helen, a slave prostitute from the city of Tyre, in Phoenicia.

The documentary evidence in our possession about Simon’s life and preaching comes primarily from Christian writers who described him as an heretic. In the Acts of the Apostles, 8 he is described as trying to offer money to the Apostles to acquire their miraculous abilities, namely their ability to convey the Holy Spirit (hence the sin of simony).

According to Justin Martyr, Simon preached that in the beginning God emanated his first thought, Ennoia who was female, who later descended into the lower regions and created the angels. But the angels disobeyed her out of jealousy and autonomously created the world to be her prison, and imprisoned her in a female body.

Then she reincarnated many times: she was Helen of Troy, for instance who, according to Homer, was the cause of the war of Troy.

Finally, she reincarnated as Helen, while Simon was God’s latest reincarnation whose task was to rescue Helen, that is Ennoia, Those who believed in them could ascend to the higher regions.

Other authors report that they were worshipped as Zeus and Athene by members of their sect, the Simonians.

Their wanderings happened a few years after Jesus’ death, so they operated in parallel to the Apostles. Unlike the Apostles, Simon and Helen spread a different message, which can be regarded as Gnostic: the God worshipped by the Jewish could not be the real God, since his acts, drawn from Genesisand other Biblical texts, speak of perversion, not of paternal love.

Ultimately, man had to pay the price for God’s ignorance and ambition to reign as a tyrant on the world.

Therefore, what the Jewish (and Christians) worshipped was an impostor, but man had the possibility to discover the true God out of his inner nature.

Another feature of Simon’s preaching regarded the soul which was not immortal by nature, but which could become so after the ‘seeker’ had found the true knowledge.

Simon envisioned a way to true knowledge: the abolition of individualism in the awareness that we all are part of a cosmic plan.

Although the consequences of his preaching might be rejected as distorted nowadays (the members of his sect shared everything, women included), his message was rational and original and Simon can be regarded as a precursor of Gnosticism.

That said, it is easy to see why he was later regarded by the Church Fathers as impious and outrageous.

God, the word evokes such a lot. In Buddhism however we find that God is as you say, transcendant, but if we dig deeper God is also immanent.

We see this clearly in:

1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

…………………

This is the ineffible, unknowable reality above reality, beyond reality, something outside of words, outside of concepts…

This is the “God” of the Kabbalist, (Ain Sof: endless light)
This is the God of the mystic (christian and otherwise) such as Meister Eckhart

“To be full of things is to be empty of God. To be empty of things is to be full of God.”

The Kabbalist (Jewish Mystic, for sake of argument) states ideas such as:

The Nature of God

ain

Here we can see that God is NOT God

If we return to Buddhism the Heart Sutra states:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.

The other four aspects of human existence –
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness –
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases. So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.

There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.

There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now. +

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.
The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

………..
Here we see the Heart Sutra telling us that God is transcendent and immanent, that God is not God

If we return to christianity again:

Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.’

--John 6:12

St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a pillar of orthodoxy during the fourth century, insisted upon the divine being’s exuberance. The divine being, ineffably more alive that we are, cannot be self-contained and barren but has to be Father, forever bringing forth his son from the womb of his own substance. This continual begetting is a movement of being which is essentially fruitful. Our human experience of parenting is only an analogy for the perfect generation in the divine being, where there is no before and after, no differentiation into male and female, and where the one brought forth is not inferior to the parent. This vision of God continually pouring forth his very being would inspire Meister Eckhart a millennium later to speak of God in terms of molten metal which is always boiling over. The son‘s coming forth from the Father is a non-stop act of both begetting and giving birth.
Thus for the Christian tradition the divine reality is essentially per­sonal. The three are not merely aspects of some impersonal substrate, nor are they separate individuals. The doctrine of the Trinity states that ultimate reality is a communion of persons, each dwelling in the others. Here relationship is of the essence. And this communion of persons is the truth and exemplar of all being. In particular it is the hope to which we human beings aspire. We come alive when our eyes meet those of the one who loves us, for we then find our center outside ourselves in the other, and in so doing we touch the mystery of transcendence.

By falling in love we leave behind our own isolation and break away from our old, limited way of life, which is now revealed as loneliness and incompletion. And, even more, in the unromantic daily struggle of active loving, in relationship, we find out who we really are. That is the context in which we can ask about God for it is then that we most resemble God. The Trinity goes beyond both solitude and the mutual opposition of Dual­ism, for God, as St. John says, is love.”

-–father symeon burholt

….

And finally we get a clear idea if we turn to Gnosticism, and the Gospel of Philip (note that of course many Gnostics were highly influenced by Buddhism, in fact one branch even boasts that their leader was the reincarnation of Lao Tzu)

Light and Darkness, life and death, right and left, are brothers of one another. They are inseparable. Because of this neither are the good good, nor evil evil, nor is life life, nor death death. For this reason each one will dissolve into its earliest origin. But those who are exalted above the world are indissoluble, eternal.

Names given to the worldly are very deceptive, for they divert our thoughts from what is correct to what is incorrect. Thus one who hears the word “God” does not perceive what is correct, but perceives what is incorrect. So also with “the Father” and “the Son” and “the Holy Spirit” and “life” and “light” and “resurrection” and “the Church (Ekklesia)” and all the rest – people do not perceive what is correct but they perceive what is incorrect, unless they have come to know what is correct. The names which are heard are in the world [...] deceive. If they were in the Aeon (eternal realm), they would at no time be used as names in the world. Nor were they set among worldly things. They have an end in the Aeon.

One single name is not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave to the Son; it is the name above all things: the name of the Father. For the Son would not become Father unless he wore the name of the Father. Those who have this name know it, but they do not speak it. But those who do not have it do not know it.

…

We see things as we are
Not as they are

–Kahlil Gibran

There are no mundane things outside of Buddhism,
and there is no Buddhism outside of mundane things.

–Yuan-Wu

And I am sown in all; and you collect me from wherever you wish.

–Attributed to Christ, found in the Gospel of Eve

I think I am as guilty as any other Gnostic;  Sometimes we get so caught up in intellectualizing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, that we push to the background the author of our faith.

Christmas gives us a much needed splash of water.     Here is a Sermon that I did back in 2007 for a radio show, maybe you caught it then, or when it was rebroadcast in 2008.   Anyway, this sermon is as much for me as it is for you dear reader, so without further adieu, here it is:

Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

My Christmas Sermon
There is a subtle difference between the “orthodox” and the “gnostic” views on christmas, or the day credited to the birth of Jesus. It may be helpful to review the “orthodox” version first.

According to christian teaching and tradition, God took flesh and was born to a virgin in bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. This baby was God in the flesh from birth.

We have a slightly different(heretical!) view, but it hold no less significance. First let me explain that the Gnostic holds to pre-existence. If not to ourselves then at least for the Christ Spirit, or Crestos. This may appear pantheistic at first, but it is only a matter of perception.

Just as the spirit of love that is in each of us is not our entirety, but still part of our makeup, the Crestos is the name we have given to the spirit of love that is part of the makeup of God.

In the years that preceded the birth of the baby in Bethlehem, the world was in awful shape. Mercy was rare, something to be bought or sold. The world thought that they knew what righteousness was….they would bow down to their one true God several times a day in public, make great long prayers of devotion and servitude, and perform ritual acts of contrition. Then they would perform horrible acts of mutilation on those they considered unrighteous, maybe throw a coin into a beggars cup, or a stone at his head, depending on the mood.

Sinners were somebody to be punished, with zeal and happpiness, a chance to practice cruelty in the name of God!

Then that day in Bethlehem, when God had had enough. No thunder, no lightening bolts, no everlasting fire. Not this God, Not this Alien God that the world had never known!

A Son was born to a young woman. A son born not just of a fleshly virgin, if you subscribe to that mythology, but of the Virginal Spirit. A Spirit never contaminated by hate, never contaminated by joy of suffering. A spirit made up of the great invisible Light.

This Light took flesh, and we gave it a name. We gave it a human name, Jusus. Jesus would grow up to be a man. Just a Man, but a very special man! He was born a Gnostic, in the only definition of the word “Gnostic” that truely matters. He remembered who He was, Where he came from, and Why he was here!

It is recorded in some of the older versions of Luke, that when Jesus was baptized, a voice came out of the heavens, and the True God spoke, saying “In thee I am well pleased, this day I have begotten thee!”. Later on, Jesus would tell Nicodemus, that no one would see the kingdom of heaven unless he had been born again! Jesus himself, marking the path, leading the way, setting the example, showed what it meant to be born again!

Jesus represented the Father. Not the Father of old, the destroyer of the flesh of sinners, but the Alien God, so called because the concept of Divine love was so alien to human thought. The Gospel of Thomas credits Jesus with stating “I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart.”

This concept of the True God was so foreign to the human heart, that His own disciples had a hard time comprehending it; The Amplified bible records Luke writing of this in chapter nine, when Jesus was rejected by the Samaritans: 54And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did ?

55But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, You do not know of what sort of spirit you are.

This is the complete human malady! “You do not know of what sort of spirit you are”! What a saying! What a Marvelous, True saying!

We can find out what Spirit we are from though. This is available for the whole world! The Gospel of Truth says: “He became a guide, quiet and in leisure. In the middle of a school he came and spoke the Word, as a teacher. Those who were wise in their own estimation came to put him to the test. But he discredited them as empty-headed people. They hated him because they really were not wise men. After all these came also the little children, those who possess the knowledge of the Father. When they became strong they were taught the aspects of the Father’s face. They came to know and they were known. They were glorified and they gave glory. In their heart, the living book of the Living was manifest, the book which was written in the thought and in the mind of the Father and, from before the foundation of the All, is in that incomprehensible part of him.”

I wish you all, the Love and Joy, of knowing the Alien God, the Father of Jesus, my Father, and your Father.

What is Love I wonder.  Some people might think it is certain chemicals, hormones, and freely do as they are directed by such things, regardless of the pain it may cause another person.  This is behind the so-called “free love” of the hippie era.  My question is: Is that Love? Or is that slavery to one’s whims?  Can’t a drug produce these same reactions in the body?  Can’t these hormones be there one minute and the next taken away?  So then is Love to follow these whims?  Personally, I don’t think it is.

The way I see it (and I’ve been saying this since my first serious relationship in high school), Love is a choice. You make the choice, and you have to stick to your guns.  Of course there are situations that happen, people part, and the such.  After all, it takes two to tango.  And of course there must be a mutual love and attraction to begin with, but what next?  What does it mean then to love someone?

To me it is like giving a gift.  Imagine you have given your child a gift, something he was very happy to receive.  Is it still a special gift if you take it away and give it to someone else?  But you tell your child you are going to get it back from the other person and he can have it again, he just has to learn to share.  Well then you never really gave it to begin with, it was never a gift, you were only sharing what is still yours.  To me, that is not love.  Love you have to give away.  And to give away, then it is the other’s to do with as they wish, it is no longer yours.  Without this offering, and without this exclusivity, there is no intimacy.  The intimate is exclusive.  Without it, there is no love.  Without it, there is no beauty, only a slavery to desires, an animalistic obedience to the senses.  Giving the gift of love and fighting for its presence, and fighting also for the love you’ve been reciprocally given – truly there is nothing more beautiful than this…  As an example, isn’t this expressed in God’s giving of Jesus to Israel?  Jesus had freedom but said, “Dad, I thank you for my freedom and I love you too, so I’ll do whatever you say is best.”  So God said, “Okay, son, you need to go to Israel.  She is lost and she needs you,” knowing fully that his son would not be received and actually be put to death by those to whom he is given as a gift.  So this was a reciprocal love in all ways, and God’s fight for the love he has for Israel, and the love Israel once had for him.  And to this day, he still hasn’t given up that fight.  In this whole drama, we see the symbolism of the covenant relationship.  I personally think it is quite beautiful and romantic.

The terms ‘Gnosis’ and ‘Gnosticism’ derive from a Greek word for knowledge which stands for whatever can be acquired through experience or perception. In other words, a gnostic is somebody who gains interior comprehension.

In the first century of the Christian era the term ‘Gnostic’ came to denote a surprisingly heterodox segment of the Christian community. Among early followers of Christ there were groups who didn’t claim a simple belief in Him, but who advocated a greater knowledge, a sort of secret understanding of the Christian message.

In was not only secrecy which characterized the tenets of this early movement, but it was claimed that gnosis constituted the supreme achievement of human life.

What constituted this knowledge?

It’s not an easy answer. I can draw a few outlines of the basic elements which it is widely agreed to be characteristic of Gnostic thought.

• First: Gnosticism asserts that direct, personal and absolute knowledge of the authentic truths of existence is accessible to human beings, and that the attainment of such knowledge is the supreme achievement of human life. So, Gnosis is not a rational or logical understanding, but a sort of knowledge acquired by experience. The Gnostics were not much interested in dogma or coherent, rational theology. Divine revelation brought that cohesive force through which one could progress in understanding.

• Second: Gnosticism leads to self-knowledge, to an uncreated self, which ultimately brings to freedom. Gnostic teaching awoke that knowledge which had always been deeply present is ourselves. Consciousness is the repository of the uncreated self, of the divine seed. You may also call it intelligence.

• Third: Gnostics revered texts and scriptures which were unaccepted by the orthodox church. The Gnostics believed that revelation was the true nature of knowledge. Gnosticism gave prominence to personal insights, visionary experiences, metaphors, which were hardly conveyable through rational or logical argumentation. Such feature, and the profusion of sacred texts which followed prompted Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, to make complaints about Gnostic creed and practice.

• Fourth: Gnostics believed in a dualistic image of God, both male and female. While believing in an unity of the Divine, they claimed to have made experience of different, contrasting manifestations of the divine presence.

The Gnostics spread geographically in a variety of areas: from Palestine to Samaria, from Syria to Anatolia.

Their creed can be summarized as follows: our state as human beings, made of flesh and bones, results in an intolerable awareness that this is the result of an error, of a sort of deviation from the original cosmic order.

Our state is nothing but an imitation of the original matter constituting the hyper-world where the archetypal Man dwells in complete harmony (Pleroma).

So, our material body does not provide us with that lightness of spirit which is necessary to grasp gnosis; our state condemns us to a heaviness of the spirit which, in turn, is reflected in our thought which is burdened by our conditions.

Put it in other words, we live in a world which is the domain of darkness, of evil which is rooted in the matter itself. So, since we live in a world which is inherently evil, our thoughts are closely tied to evil.

Unlike Christians who believed that evil was introduced to the world because of the original sin, Gnostics believed that it was the result of a cosmic mistake, so that our burden is in a way, imposed on man.

We are what we are because of the perversion of the Demiurge who created the universe in a state of ignorance.

As a consequence, Gnostics believed to be alien creatures on this earth and that their real place was in the fullness of Pleroma.

Consequently, a Gnostic has to awake from that state of sleep which is the usual condition of human beings. Knowledge (gnosis) is the only means to achieve this enlightened state.

The various ways chosen by the groups (who will be treated later) to get to this state has a common denominator: they rejected all laws, customs, churches, religions, in a word, all man-made institutions, because they reflected the deception perpetrated at the beginning of the universe.

A very enjoyable Graan gig in Herne Hill on Friday the 27th, as we used a London A to Z and the power of metal to summon Herne, so that he could grant the assembled audience the Freedom of his City. The heavy ritual went off very well indeed; many thanks in particular to Heather Lindsley (aka @random_jane), who filmed the whole thing for us, providing visual proof of the Hernetic manifestation. Oh, and she took some pics too – available here. Enjoy!