SILLYGIST

LOL........HARD QUESTION

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000

We all have think abt how we are going to die at one time in our life or the other.....(dnt deny it.....you have). But lyk seriously if you were given an option between drowning to death and being strangled to death. Which will you prefer? fun tym.

BBM fBBM for Android and iOS now available, but there's Christians stunned after church sho

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:12:00 +0000

BlackBerry has announced that BlackBerry Messenger will be released today for Android and iOS. The company originally planned to release its messaging app late last month, but those plans were abruptly pushed back when an early version of the Android app publicly leaked ahead of schedule. The company says that "about 1 million" Android users were using the unreleased version of BBM for Android, and BlackBerry is also claiming that more than 1 million iOS users managed to "side load" the app onto iPhone. "In the next few hours, people will start seeing BBM in Google Play, the App Store and in select Samsung App Stores," the company says.

But unfortunately it appears that BlackBerry is still very much concerned about an initial surge of users. It's implementing a registration wait list; upon opening the app, you'll have to enter an email address to reserve your spot. Anyone that signed up for information about the mobile apps at BBM.com won't have to wait, but new signups will have to deal with the virtual queue. Despite being despised by users, the wait list has become an increasingly popular tactic among startups. Still, it strikes us as odd to see BlackBerry using the strategy. "We are focused on moving millions of customers through the line as fast as possible," BlackBerry says. The company will be providing updates on "how quickly the line is moving" via its Twitter account. BlackBerry first announced that its BBM client would be going multi-platform in May.

Update: BlackBerry has announced that the BBM app is now available for download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

BBM fBBM for Android and iOS now available, but there's Christians stunned after church shooting

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 18:40:00 +0000

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Christians were stunned Monday by a drive-by shooting in which masked gunmen sprayed a wedding party outside a Cairo church with automatic weapons fire, killing four people, including two young girls, in an attack that raised fears of a nascent insurgency by extremists after the military's ouster of the president and a crackdown on Islamists.
Several thousand Christians gathered Monday for the funeral of the four members of a single family gunned down the previous evening, as the government and religious leaders condemned the attack.
Egypt has seen an increase in attacks by Islamic radicals since the military removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and launched a heavy crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood and its allies. The targets have mainly been security forces and Christians, whom Islamists blame because of their strong support of Morsi's ouster. In Sinai, suspected jihadi fighters have stepped up attacks on soldiers and police. In rural provinces of the south, there has been a wave of mob attacks led by extremists against churches, which have been burned and looted.
But the bloodshed in Cairo's Warraq district was the first such violence in the capital, a direct shooting against Christians.
"With our blood and souls, we will redeem the cross," a crowd of mourners chanted as the bodies were brought for the funeral Monday at Warraq's Virgin Mary Church, where the attack took place. One male relative fell onto one of the coffins, weeping. In the church, they sang hymns, "Help us, Jesus. Forgive us. Bless us. Our eyes are filled with tears."
Fahmy Azer Aboud, 75, sat stunned in the church, staring in shock at the floor. Sunday evening, his family had been waiting outside the church for the wedding of one his granddaughters to begin when gunmen on motorcycles drove by and opened fire for five minutes, then drove away.
Two others of his granddaughters, an 8- and a 13-year-old were killed, as well as his son Samir and Aboud's sister-in-law. Seven of his relatives were among the 17 wounded in the attack. Several Muslims were also among the wounded, according to Church leaders.
"It's God's will. They are always beating us down. Every other day now, they do this," Abboud said. He added that ambulance did not arrive for an hour and half while police did not arrive till later.
The military-backed interim prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, pledged the Sunday night attack would "not succeed in sowing divisions between the nation's Muslims and Christians."
The top cleric at Al-Azhar, the world's primary seat of Sunni Islamic learning, called the shooting "a criminal act that runs contrary to religion and morals."
In a brief statement, an umbrella group of Islamist parties, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which have led a campaign of protests against the July 3 coup, also condemned the attack.
"Places of worship are sacred," the National Alliance for Supporting Legitimacy and Rejecting the Coup said in its statement. Morsi's allies while in office included radical groups with a violent past and hard-line clerics who often engaged in anti-Christian rhetoric.
Christians, mostly from the Coptic Orthodox Church, make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 90 million. They have long complained of discrimination by the country's Muslim majority. Now they also have been increasingly targeted in a militant backlash after Morsi's ouster. Islamists have blamed Christians for playing a significant role in the mass street protests by millions that led to Morsi's removal. The head of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, publicly supported the coup.
Attacks in August destroyed about 40 Coptic churches, mostly in areas south of Cairo where large Coptic communities and powerful Islamic militants make for a combustible mix. Those attacks, blamed by Christians and police on Morsi supporters, came amid a wave of retaliation after security forces crushed two Islamist protest camps in Cairo demanding Morsi's reinstatement in a crackdown that killed hundreds of Morsi supporters. Clashes between Morsi's supporters and security forces occur almost daily in Cairo.
Speaking on Egypt's Orbit TV channel, Nageh Ibrahim, a former Islamic militant who has foresworn violence, said extremists are resorting to "mass punishment" against Christians and using attacks on them to pressure the government and the Coptic Church, hoping to "break the alliance between them."
There has been increasing criticism from Copts that the new military-backed authorities are not doing enough to protect Christians despite the continuing attacks.
At the Virgin Mary Church, another relative of the slain Christians appealed to the head of the military, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who removed Morsi, to take action.
"I want to tell el-Sissi that I love him, but he should stop forgetting us. We have reached the limit," Maurice Helmy said.
A Coptic youth group, known as The Association of Maspero Youth, called for the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who heads the police.
"If the Egyptian government does not care about the security and rights of Christians, then we must ask why are we paying taxes and why we are not arming ourselves," said the group.
The Maspero Youth Association was formed soon after more than 20 Christians were killed by army troops cracking down on their protest in 2011 outside Cairo's landmark, Nile-side state television building, known as Maspero.
Ishaq Ibrahim,a researcher at a Cairo-based rights group who tracks anti-Christians, said Sunday's attack showed "a change and possible expansion of the attacks targeting Christians in Egypt and it could leave more victims."
He blamed security forces for failing to protect churches. "Churches were torched, Christians kidnapped and now gunned down and there is no security guarding the churches. I believe there is collaboration," said Ibrahim, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Sunday's shooting also harkened back to an Islamic militant insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s in which extremists waged a campaign of attacks on police, Christians and foreign tourists, trying to topple the government.
Many fear a revival of that campaign. The army and security forces are fighting what in effect has become a full-fledged insurgency in the northern part of the strategic Sinai Peninsula, where militants carry out attacks almost daily since Morsi's fall.
High-profile attacks blamed on militants have begun to creep into Cairo, the capital and home to some 18 million. In September, the interior minister survived an assassination attempt by a suicide car bombing in Cairo. Earlier this month, militants fired rocket propelled grenades on the nation's largest satellite ground station, also in Cairo. The Interior Ministry reports near-daily discoveries of explosives planted on bridges and major roads.
Ansar Jerusalem, a Sinai-based militant group, claimed responsibility Monday for a car bomb that targeted the military intelligence compound in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Saturday. In a statement posted on a militant website, the group said the attack was in retaliation for what it called the army's oppressive practices in Sinai.
The same group claimed responsibility for the attempt to kill the interior minister, as well as other attacks in Sinai.

Spiritual Psychology

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 17:46:00 +0000

Psychology is a science that has been studied since the dawn of humanity. The study and development of Psyche (Greek for "soul") is the essential root of every mystical and religious tradition in the world. In order to understand the universe and its Gods, we must first understand ourselves.

Gnosis is a practical methodology whose goal is the awakening of the consciousness and the complete development of human potentiality. What is needed to acquire results in such an effort is summed up in the famous maxim, "Man, know thyself!"

When one knows the how and the why of the mind, when one knows the different functionalisms of the mind, then one can control it. Thus, the mind becomes a useful and perfect instrument through which we can work for the benefit of humanity.-Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic

Since ancient times, on the different scenarios of the theaters of life, psychology has always played its role by being intelligently disguised with the costumes of philosophy.
Since the terrifying night of all times, on the banks of the Ganges in the sacred India of the Vedas, there have existed many forms of yoga, which in their depth are pure, higher experimental psychology. The seven types of yoga have always been described as methods, procedures, or philosophical systems.
In the Arab world, the sacred, partly metaphysical, and partly religious teachings of the Sufis have indeed a purely psychological character.
In old Europe (which is rotten to its very bone morrow because of so many wars, racial, religious, and political prejudices, etc.,) right up to the end of the nineteen century, psychology was disguised with the costumes of philosophy in order to pass unnoticed.
So, notwithstanding all the divisions and subdivisions of philosophy—such as logic, the theory of knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, etc.—nonetheless, psychology is undoubtedly in itself: evident self-reflection, mystical cognition of the Being, a fundamental cognition of an awakened consciousness. The error of many philosophical schools consists in having considered psychology as something inferior to philosophy, as something related only to the lowest and even trivial aspects of the human nature.
A comparative study of religions allows us to formulate the following logical conclusion: the science of psychology has always been intimately associated with all religious principles. Yes, any comparative study of religions demonstrates that wonderful treasures of psychological science exist within the most orthodox sacred literature of various countries and from different epochs.
So, in-depth investigations in the field of Gnosticism allows us to find that wonderful compilation of several Gnostic authors known as The Philokalia, which comes from the earliest times of Christianity. The Philokalia is still used in our time by the Eastern Church, especially for the instruction of monks.
Undoubtedly, and without any fear of deceit, we can emphatically affirm that The Philokalia is essentially pure experimental psychology.
Psychology was always connected to philosophy, to the authentic objective art, to science, and to religion in the ancient schools of mysteries from Greece, Egypt, Rome, India, Persia, Mexico, Peru, Assyria, Chaldea, etc. Yes, in those ancient times, psychology was cleverly hidden behind the graceful forms of sacred dancers or behind the enigma of cryptic hieroglyphs or beautiful sculptures, or in poetry or tragedy, and even within the delectable music of the temples.
Indeed, before science, philosophy, art, and religion split asunder in order to subsist as independent parts, psychology reigned sovereign in all the very ancient schools of mysteries. - Samael Aun Weor, Fundamentals of Gnostic Education

The Esoteric Psychology of Religion and Myth

Esoteric:
"Designed for, and understood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior. Opposed to esoteric." Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary.

Psychology:
from Greek psyche (pskhe) meaning "soul," and Logos, the "principle governing the cosmos," the Word, God. True psychology is "the knowledge of the relationship of the soul with God." Esoteric Psychology is the highest and most potent level of that knowledge, which is "private" and "interior" and is entered into in levels, according to the internal, spiritual process of the seeker.

Psychology is not simply the territory of modern psychiatrists and psychologists; for example, Tibetan doctors, shamans (mystics who also served as doctors) understood that the body/mind, psyche (soul), and spirit were the principles to be studied regarding the composition of the human nature. Therefore, in dealing with disease, they would treat not only those symptoms and behaviors that can be seen easily, but also those which cannot be seen with the physical senses. Thus, psychology deals with two types of observable phenomena: external (being able to be perceived with the five senses: circumstances and events) and internal (that which is not observable with the five senses: states of consciousness).
To deal with phenomena of an "unseen" or hidden nature is something that one constantly deals with in psychology and also in mysticism, religion, and occultism (occult means "hidden"). But these "unseen" phenomena have proven inaccessible to modern psychologists and scientists, in part because they refuse to study the wisdom of the ancient religions, discarding it all as "myth" and "superstition." Instead, they persist in inventing new theories, which leaves them in the unfortunate position of contradicting themselves with each new theory or concept. Of course, our modern psychological "experts" are often the first to admit that they are nowhere near solving the massive psychological problems that burden humanity.
The "hidden" phenomena that truly drive the visible manifestations of human behavior have remained out of the reach of scientists and theorists because such phenomena are beyond the physical senses. Only those who know how to utilize the other senses of the human being can perceive the realities beyond the five primary senses. Therefore, the modern scientists and doctors are working "blind," a fact that many of them readily admit. This is because they lack understanding regarding the most important aspect of psychology: consciousness. Where does it come from? What is its function? How can one cultivate and develop it? These are some of the most important questions that pertain to the study of psychology, and in modern psychology they remain unanswered.
Consciousness is divine intelligence within the human. It is universal and comes from God, the Buddha nature, the Innermost, the Lord God of Truth Within. This is the factor upon which all of the unsolved equations of "modern" psychology rests. In studying the techniques given and synthesized by Samael Aun Weor, we can learn the way our consciousness has been conditioned and even programmed into a type of psychological somnambulism.
With knowledge that is acquired when one works directly with the consciousness, esoteric (hidden) knowledge is cultivated. It is hidden to those who refuse to utilize the proper tools. The Gnostic psychologist who works to cultivate esoteric knowledge (relating to the mysteries of life, death, and nature) directly and tangibly perceives the true nature of the human mind, heart and psyche (soul).
Esoteric psychology, as studied in the light of Universal Gnosticism, can be found in all of the scriptures of the ancient religions. One cannot deny that the Old and New Testaments, for example, teach an in-depth doctrine of psychology. These teachings are taught in parables or stories, often with obscure symbols that are understood only to those who "Know" (Gnostics, or in other words those who have been initiated into the hidden knowledge). This is why we compliment the study of psychology with Alchemy and Kabbalah. Alchemy, the "chemistry of God," is the scientific and chemical basis of inner transformation. Kabbalah, related to the ancient teaching of the Tree of Life, is the mathematical basis of inner transformation. When these forces are combined with meditation, a complete system of deep and penetrating wisdom is revealed; the symbols and parables are revealed in their original and pervasive depths. Through the combination of these sciences, a synthesis is formed which reveals in turn the synthetic ground from which all true inner wisdom arises. Like Kabbalah and Alchemy, psychology is an occult (hidden) science, because once applied, it reveals that which was once hidden in the psyche, and one can experience the miracles of the saints.
From this perspective we can understand why all the world's great religions and mystical traditions contain the same symbols, icons and messages. It is because they are all derived of the same source, and that source is the source of the human psyche, the source of the worlds, planets, galaxies etc. That primal source is universal, perfect, whole, and complete; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away.
Science is the method of religion. Religion comes from the Latin religare, which means, "to unite." It is the Inner Being that we seek to unite with. That which separates us from the Inner Being is the selfish desires that condition the consciousness into instinctive, mechanical impulses. These desires are the multiplicity of "egos" or "psychological I's" that we carry within. These are the unseen causes of the diseases that exist in humanity (diseases of the mind, heart and body). It is the goal of Gnostic Psychology to comprehend and eliminate the egos, so that we can liberate the consciousness and finally return to the Divine Principle through an ancient, systematic and practical technique.
We study psychology to learn how to bring about practical change in our lives. It teaches how to bring about health through balance. If we observe the common level of being of humanity, we would see that humanity is not completely healthy. The group is only the sum total of the individuals. Therefore we as individuals need a revolution, in ourselves, here and now. To assist humanity, we must learn how to change ourselves.

Meditation: The Science of Awakening

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:50:00 +0000

Meditation is an open doorway within the human being, that opens the way to personal knowledge of any phenomenon in nature. Through the scientific and practical technique of meditation, one no longer needs to believe in anything: one can know.

Meditation is an exact science based on real and tangible energies that are natural to the human being. That which gives us life is the consciousness. By awakening the consciousness, we activate all of the possibilities of the human being.

Physical masses exist that are above and below all of the limits of external sensory perceptions. Those masses are invisible. We can perceive them only with clairvoyance [the ability of the consciousness to see other matter, like in our imagination or dreams].
Matter is condensed energy. When its vibration is very slow, its mass is beneath the limits of external sensory perceptions. When its vibratory movement is very fast, then the mass is above the limits of external sensory perceptions. With the telescope, we can only see worlds whose degree of vibration is active within the limits of external sensory perception.
Above and below the limits of external sensory perceptions there exist worlds, solar systems, and constellations populated by many types of living beings.
The so-called matter is only energy that condenses into infinite masses.
The senses of external perception only reach a fraction of what is perceivable. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah

Meditation is a psychological technology that opens the doors of senses that are now dormant. Modern science tells us that we use only a small fraction of our brain and our endocrine system. Meditation harmonizes and actualizes the full potential of these vehicles of perception.
Meditation is a scientific method to harness and access the most powerful areas of the human psyche. When fully developed, the human psyche becomes a radiant source of peace, wisdom, and conscious action. Meditation facilitates and empowers these qualities.
Meditation is a set of tools that provide entry to states of consciousness that anyone, anywhere, can enter, if they know the steps. The steps cannot be altered or skipped. They cannot be improved upon. They cannot be avoided. To learn how to meditate does not require money, membership, allegiance or servitude. To learn how to meditate only requires self-analysis, exact science, and a willingness to abandon theories and beliefs in exchange for the experience of the truth.
Meditation is the means to awaken the consciousness in order to perceive the objective truth, without the interference of the mind. The obstacle to truth is our mind. By comprehending the true nature of our mind, we revolutionize it, converting it into a useful tool that can be of great service to humanity.
By means of the science of meditation, any person can have the experience of reality.

To arrive at the experience of reality is only possible when all thoughts have ceased.
The eruption of the Void allows us to experience the bright light of pure reality.
That ever-present knowledge, which in reality is empty, without characteristics or color, devoid of condition, is the true reality, the universal compassion.
Your intelligence, whose true nature is the Void—which must not be seen as a void of nothingness, but as that very intelligence without shackles: brilliant, universal, and happy—is Cognizance, the Buddha, universally wise.
Your own empty cognizance and that brilliant and joyful intelligence are inseparable; their union forms the Dharmakaya, the state of perfect illumination.- Samael Aun Weor, Fundamentals of Gnostic Education

Meditation Methods

When the esotericist submerges himself into meditation, what he seeks is information. - Samael Aun Weor

In every ancient religion, spiritual aspirants were instructed in the method to awaken their consciousness so they could perceive the Divine. Whether organized as the steps of Raja Yoga (Hinduism) or presented as stages of contemplative serenity, such as by the Early Church Fathers (Christianity), or described in abstract symbolism (such as in Ch'an or Zen Buddhism), the phenomena described by these systems are universally available to any human being. Whatever the words and descriptions, the actions and results are available to anyone who makes the effort.
The Gnostic student studies every meditation tradition in order to understand the phenomena they describe. Therefore, in Gnosis you will encounter Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek, Tibetan, and Latin terms. By understanding these traditions we become empowered to wisely navigate the heights and depths of the human consciousness, and emerge from such experience a wiser, more conscious being.
Unfortunately, in modern times, the ancient methods have largely been abandoned or forgotten. The arrogance of modern humanity reveals itself in the presumption that we in this "advanced age" can improve upon the meditation techniques of our ancestors. We believe that we can invent machines or pills that will render obsolete the knowledge that created the tremendous civilizations of the past. This is a fallacy, and only leads the foolish into deeper suffering. We must recognize that nature never makes leaps: everything must grow and develop according to certain laws. You cannot force a tree to grow faster. We try, and it shows our arrogance and our foolishness. We try to improve nature, and the result is a disaster. The same applies to meditation. There are rules and there are laws; if we understand the rules, we can move directly to our goal. If we ignore the rules, we will get nowhere and we will instead become disillusioned or confused.
Many nowadays are using chemical or mechanical tools to attempt to force states of consciousness. They may enter altered states of consciousness; but this is not meditation.
Meditation is the science of activating the dormant consciousness that resides in the psyche of every human being. To activate this consciousness is to open one's inner perception, to see what cannot be seen with the physical sight. The method to arrive at this experience is the same no matter what meditation tradition one studies: to develop inner perception, you must first control your perception of here and now.
In the Gnostic tradition, you will find hundreds of meditation techniques, each with a specific function and appropriate use. Yet, all of them depend upon a single basis: the moment to moment awakening of the consciousness. The development of a robust and effective meditation practice depends entirely upon a rigorous and consistent effort to be continually in a state of conscious awareness of oneself. For this, we have to study our mind.

The world is nothing but an illusory mental form that inevitably will be dissolved at the end of the Great Cosmic Day.
Myself, your body, my friends, your things, my family, etc., are (in their depth) what the Hindustani call Maya (illusion): vain mental forms that sooner or later must be reduced to cosmic dust.
My affections, my most beloved beings that surround me, etc., are simply forms of the cosmic mind. They do not have real existence.
Intellectual dualism such as pleasure and pain, praise and slander, triumph and defeat, wealth and misery, constitute the painful mechanism of the mind.
True happiness cannot exist within each one of us while we are slaves to the mind.
To ride the donkey (the mind) in order to enter into the heavenly Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is urgent. Disgracefully, nowadays, the donkey rides us, the miserable mortals of the mud of the earth.
No one can know the Truth while being a slave to the mind. That which is Reality is not a matter of suppositions but of direct experience.
Jesus, the great Kabir, said, “Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32] However, I tell you that Truth is not a matter of affirmation or negation, of belief or doubt. The Truth must be directly experienced while in the absence of the “I,” beyond the mind.
Whosoever liberates the self from the intellect can experience, can vividly verify, can feel an element that radically transforms.
When we liberate ourselves from the mind, then this mind is converted into a ductile, elastic, and useful vehicle with which we express ourselves in this conscious world.
Superior logic invites us to realize that liberating, emancipating ourselves from the mind, releasing ourselves from all mechanicity, is equivalent in fact to the awakening of the consciousness, to the termination of automatism.
That which is beyond the mind is Brahma, the uncreated eternal space, that which has no name, the Reality.
But let us study the facts: who is the one that wants to release himself, to liberate himself from the mortifying mind?
It is easy to answer this question by saying that the consciousness, the Buddhist interior principle, that part of the soul that we have within us, is what can and must be liberated. Indeed, by itself, the purpose of the mind is only the bitter-ness of our existence.
Authentic, legitimate, real happiness is only possible when we emancipate ourselves from the intellect.
However, we must recognize that an inconvenience exists, as well as a capital obstacle and impediment in order to acquire that longed for liberation of the Essence. I am referring to the tremendous struggle of antitheses.
The Essence, the consciousness, even when of a Buddhic nature, disgracefully lives bottled up within the exaggerated intellectual dualism of the opposites: yes and no, good and evil, high and low, mine and yours, like and dislike, pleasure and pain, etc.
By all means, it is illuminating to deeply comprehend that when this tempest in the ocean of the mind ceases and the struggle between the opposites finishes, the Essence can escape and submerge itself within that which is the Reality.
What is very difficult, laborious, arduous, and strenuous is the achievement of absolute mental silence in all and each one of the forty-nine subconscious departments of the mind.
To reach, to obtain quietude and silence in the mere superficial intellectual level, or in some of the subconscious departments of the mind, is not enough, because the Essence continues to be bottled up within submerged infraconscious and unconscious dualism.
A blank mind is something extremely superficial, hollow, and intellectual. We need serene reflection if we truly want to achieve the quietude and absolute silence of the mind.
The Chinese word “Mo” signifies silence or serenity, and the word “Chao” signifies to reflect or to observe.
Consequently, Mo Chao can be translated as “serene reflection” or “serene observation.”
However, it is important to comprehend that in pure Gnosticism, the terms serenity and reflection have much more profound meanings and therefore should be comprehended with special connotations.
The sense of serenity transcends that which is normally understood as calmness or tranquility. It implies a superlative state which is beyond reasoning, desires, contradictions, and words. It signifies a situation that is beyond mundane noise.
The sense of reflection in itself is beyond what is always understood as contemplation of a problem or idea. Here this word does not imply mental activity or contemplative thought, but rather a type of objective consciousness, clear and reflective, always illuminated within its own experience.
Therefore, serenity signifies the serenity of no thought, and reflection signifies intense and clear consciousness.
Serene reflection is the clear consciousness within the tranquility of no thought. When perfect serenity reigns, true, profound illumination is achieved. - Samael Aun Weor, The Gnostic Magic of the Runes

Kabbalah: The Universal Tree of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:46:00 +0000

Life is a beautiful, complex layering of laws and interdependent movements of matter and energy. Kabbalah is a systematic overview of how existence functions, on every level, from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic. Kabbalah is the basis of all religions, sciences, philosophies, and arts.

Gnosis reveals the living structures of existence, a beautiful and complex layering of laws and interdependent movements of matter and energy. Kabbalah is a systematic overview of how existence functions, on every level, from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic. Kabbalah is a science, a philosophy, an art, and a religion, but is universal, and applies to all religions, all sciences, all philosophies, and all arts. Kabbalah provides an understanding of how the human being fits into nature, and how nature functions, from the lowest, most dense levels, all the way up to the most profound. Through this knowledge, a person comes to know where they are now in the scale of the universe, and how to traverse those levels and reach a better station in life.

Kabbalah is a universal knowledge that has appeared in many forms around the world. Although we use the Hebrew word Kabbalah to describe it, this knowledge is not the property of the Jews or any other group. Kabbalah is also known by other names, such Kalachakra in Tibetan Buddhism. Modern science calls it "physics," but they have not yet discovered the full range of this knowledge. For that, they need to use other instruments that reach far beyond the reach of the physical senses.
The word Kabbalah comes from the Hebrew language and can be spelled Cabala or Qabala, since it is derived from the Hebrew קבלה, from קבל which means "to receive." (In the Gnostic tradition, the spelling with the "K" is preferred because the three arms of the letter represent the three primary forces, the trinity or trimurti). The root word is significant because real Kabbalah is not an invention or theory: it is the direct perception (reception) of the truth. When the truth is seen, there is no theory or belief needed. The truth simply is. Yet, the fundamental truth cannot be seen physically, because the fundamental truth is beyond the reach of the physical senses. Thus, the true investigator of Kabbalah knows how to perceive that which is beyond the physical senses.

The objective of studying the Kabbalah is to be skilled for work in the Internal Worlds... One who does not comprehend remains confused in the Internal Worlds. Kabbalah is the basis in order to understand the language of these worlds. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah

The Kabbalah is the foundation of every form of spiritual wisdom, although it is known by many other names. Every religion has a Kabbalistic basis, even though they may not use that word. Even science studies Kabbalah, yet without realizing it.
In the West, the Kabbalah utilizes a primary symbol called the Tree of Life, which illustrates the organizing principle found in every mystical tradition.

...the Tree of Life also in the midst of the Garden (of Eden)... - Genesis 2:9

The Tree of Life, as one of the two primary trees in the Garden of Eden, is one of the roots of all human understanding. To understand the Tree of Life is to understand the basic formula of existence.
The Tree of Life is the foundation of countless ancient cultures. It is Yggdrasil of the Nordics, the Tree of Life of the Aztecs and Mayans, and the Bodhi Tree of the Buddha.

From left to right: the burning bush of Moses; the tree of the Greek Hesperides; an Egyptian tree of life; the Buddhist Nagarjuna drinking from the tree of life.

Every great mystical tradition has a profound structure or cosmology. Every great cosmology corresponds to the Tree of Life.

The Qabalistic cosmology is the Christian Gnosis. Without it we have an incomplete system in our religion, and it is this incomplete system which has been the weakness of Christianity. - Dion Fortune, The Mystical Qabalah

The Kabbalah is also the science of numbers. The Kabbalah expresses the mathematics of all creation.
The Kabbalah is intimately related with the ancient and sacred Tarot. The twenty-two symbols of the Tarot contain the entirety of divine wisdom, and that wisdom is organized and explained in the Kabbalah.

On such a simple thing, scholars have written millions of volumes and theories that would turn anyone crazy who had the bad taste of becoming intellectualized with that entire arsenal. - Samael Aun Weor

The Kabbalah is a symbol which expresses the structure of creation. Understanding the Tree of Life, one can understand the structure of the universe around us and within us, for it maps the macrocosm and the microcosm and everything in between. However, this understanding cannot be derived solely from reading books and attending lectures.

There are two kinds of Kabbalists: intellectual Kabbalists and intuitive Kabbalists. The intellectual Kabbalists are black magicians. The intuitive Kabbalists are white magicians. - Samael Aun Weor

The intellect is a tool that is useful when placed under the service of the Spirit. But when the intellect seeks to control the Spirit, the intellect becomes destructive. Therefore, the intuitive Kabbalist is the one who learns through the experience of the consciousness. The intuitive Kabbalist learns directly, without opinions or theories. This one seeks a radical Intellectual Culture: a comprehensive knowledge of esotericism that is qualified by direct investigation.

In order to be a complete Kabbalist, one has to study; one has to record the teachings in the memory. - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah

In synthesis, the intuitive Kabbalist studies the writings of the great masters, then investigates to find out for himself, and accepts what he directly experiences as true. Until then, the writings and opinions of others remain as opinions.
To approach this level of comprehension, it is necessary to know how to utilize the consciousness through Self-observation and meditation. When the mind is stable and quiet, the Voice of the Spirit can be heard; it is the voice of the Intuition, and the revealer of all true knowledge.

The esotericist, when endeavoring to formulate his philosophy for communication to others, is confronted by the fact that his knowledge of the higher forms of existence is obtained by a process other than thought; and this process only commences when thought is left behind. - Dion Fortune, The Mystical Qabalah

Therefore the student of Gnosis is encouraged to understand the Kabbalah through intellectual study, but also to go further, and to meditate in order to comprehend the Kabbalah through intuition and direct experience. The one who retains the knowledge solely in the intellect fails to grow.

Kabbalistic studies must be combined with work on oneself. One must be conscious of these studies, for it they remain only in the intellect they will be lost when one dies. Yet, if one is conscious of them, the knowledge will manifest itself from childhood. - Samael Aun Weor

Similarly, the one who rejects the study of the Kabbalah also fails to grow, for he rejects the study of the steps of the Path.
We must walk the Path of the Middle: investigation with all of our cognitive abilities in psychological equilibrium.
Through the intellect: by studying the words of the Initiates.
Through the heart: by meditation.
Through our actions: by sexual transmutation.

The Purpose of Gnosis

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:44:00 +0000

Gnosis is the ancient and universal knowledge at the root of all knowledge. Every form of science, philosophy, art, and religion emerged from the same root. This is why in ancient times, knowledge was taught in an integrated way, as one complete, integrated form, unlike the modern approach that attempts to divide knowledge into separate fields, thereby artificially dividing something that should not be divided. This has resulted in all the confusion and misunderstandings that have plagued mankind for centuries, in which religion battles science, and art battle religion, etc., when the reality is that you cannot understand one without the other. Those who have understood this have been the greatest masters of their craft: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Beethoven, Wagner, just to name some Western examples. The purpose of Gnosis is to help us realize our own greatest potential.

In terms of religion, Gnosis is the source of the knowledge in every major religion. Gnosis is not limited to one specific culture, place, or time. The Gnostic wisdom is found in Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Tantra, Zoroastrianism, Paganism, and many others. And as that universal wisdom or knowledge, it is the essential science required in order to achieve the ultimate aim of all real religions, which is the religare (Latin), or in other words, "union" with the divine.

Gnosis is a method for training the consciousness (what Buddhists call the mind, and Christians call the soul). It is a universal method, which means that it is compatible with all religions and all mystical traditions, because in truth they are all founded upon the science of Gnosis anyway! So the student discovers that those who learn and apply this Gnostic Wisdom come from every culture, religion, tradition and mystical background, and they find common ground in this science.
All of the religious allegories, stories and teachings indicate that we need to change in order to achieve the goal of religare (union), religion. As we are now, we are overwhelmed by negative emotional forces and negative mental forces, which create tremendous suffering in our lives. Every human being struggles daily with unhappiness, doubt, anger, fear, and more. These states cause us to act in harmful ways toward ourselves and toward others, which in turn creates more suffering for everyone. Gnosis is a direct and very potent way of transforming these problems, because it works upon the very foundations of suffering.
Gnosis is a method to develop discipline and psychological stability. It is a means to arrive at genuine inner tranquility. And the great beauty of Gnosis is that it presents a method which uses tools that we already have within: we do not need to rely on anything or anyone other than ourselves. Truthfully, our happiness and well-being is up to us, and when we discover how to cultivate such qualities through the transformation of our own mind, we arrive at the understanding of the message that has been given by every great Saint and Prophet.

Our minds create our lives. We become what we think. - The Buddha Shakyamuni, from The Dhammapada

Just as so many wise beings have told us, we create our own reality. We reap what we sow. Therefore, if we plant good seeds through proper action, we can create a better life for ourselves and for everyone around us. This comes naturally as we realize and transform our mistaken views about life and about ourselves.
The essential root of this change is the recognition of a flawed perception that we have within. We do not see the nature of reality, and it is due to this ignorance that we grasp at illusions and act in ways which contradict the basic laws of existence, resulting in suffering for ourselves and others. In synthesis, this ignorance is a form of self-grasping, or a mistaken view of our own identity. The way to change this mistaken view is to cultivate that part of ourselves which can see things in their objective form, thereby creating within our own mind a natural antidote to ignorance and wrong action, an antidote that is already a part of our own psyche but which remains in a latent or inactive state.
To achieve this we must learn which mental states are positive and which are negative, and we must learn to discriminate between them. When we can see within ourselves how we cultivate many different states of mind and the subsequent results of those states, we arrive at the understanding of the true nature of our own life. When we see how our own anger makes us suffer, and then in turn brings suffering to others, we will be compelled to change that quality within ourselves. Likewise, when we experience the great power of gentleness and humility, we will naturally be drawn toward cultivating those qualities within ourselves. The transformation of the psyche and life is something that can only be developed by the person who wants to change, and is inspired by their perception of the truth within themselves.
This is not a change that can be rendered overnight. Real change requires the respect of certain natural laws and factors. For example, in order to grow a garden one must work with the laws of nature. The gardener must understand how the sun, moisture, the seeds and the other elements are all interrelated, and to have a successful garden there must be planning, preparation, proper effort and patience. Likewise, to transform the mind requires a great deal of proper effort and patience. You must have a good understanding of the psyche, the mind, emotion, and how all these elements interrelate with external circumstances. All of this knowledge is integral to the science of Gnosis.
It is vital that you have an expansive knowledge of things so that you do not waste time in the pursuit of only one aspect of the work. In the Gnostic tradition, we have a vast collection of spiritual writings that nourish our efforts to awaken our consciousness. To begin, we have the more than sixty books by Samael Aun Weor, and the hundreds of complimentary lectures and talks that he gave. This body of knowledge was given in order to elucidate understanding of the Christian Bible, the Torah, the Zohar, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Germanic Eddas, all the great psychological wisdom hidden in the Greek myths, the Odyssey and the Illiad of Homer, and hundreds of other volumes from our religious and classical heritage. As well, Gnosis is found in the one hundred volumes of Buddhist sutras and in the two hundred volumes of commentaries on those sutras by great masters such as Tsong Khapa and Nagarjuna. Gnosis saturates the Tibetan Tantric tradition and overflows from the teachings of Milarepa, the Dalai Lamas, and many others. So, if you were to gather the wisdom of all these traditions and incorporate them into your daily practice, you would make giant leaps forward in your comprehension of great spiritual truths. But if you were to merely respect all these writings and instead base your practice on some small text or personal selection of materials, you will probably receive some benefit, but your spiritual progress will not be that great.
There are two ways to understand this knowledge. One is on the superficial, intellectual level, which is developed by reading or listening to lectures, and through which we gradually form a conceptual understanding of the science to transform ourselves. This is primarily focused on helping us recognize the difference between positive and negative states of being and the means to control them.
The second is the experiential level, the stage at which we begin to realize the practical application of the teaching within ourselves.
The science of Gnosis is a vast and incredibly sophisticated map of the universe and the consciousness, thus to develop an intellectual understanding of it can be a daunting task. Yet the experiential knowledge is even more difficult to develop because it arrives only as a result of continuous practice.
Experiential knowledge is always accompanied by the presence of intuitive knowledge, or the wisdom of the consciousness as realized in the heart. This is essentially an emotional wisdom, something that one feels. For example, from time to time we may "feel" that a certain behavior is wrong, and this is a form of intuition, because it is not rational, it is emotional. Yet, this is only the most mundane level of intuitive knowledge; intuition is a deeply emotional wisdom that can be felt in a very powerful way.
From this we can understand that there are both beneficial and harmful emotional states. Emotion is a vital part of life. However, there are different types of emotions. There is the common and widespread experience of negative emotion, those feelings which are harmful and result in suffering, even when we enjoy experiencing them. Many people enjoy and cultivate pride, but objective knowledge leads us to see that pride creates suffering. Likewise, many people enjoy their anger, yet this same anger is a source of tremendous suffering. Therefore, a negative emotion is called such in part because of the results it brings, and also because of its source in the psyche.
Superior emotion includes feelings and states that are very rarely felt by modern human beings, because it arrives into the psyche through a psychological vehicle that very few human beings possess. Even still, we can experience many positive emotional states which greatly enhance and enrich our lives, and whose effects include the positive reinforcement of our longing to change for the better.
Therefore, Gnosis is about changing ourselves. It is a precise science which indicates the way to reduce afflictive emotional and mental states and instead cultivate beneficial ones. It is the means to transform our undisciplined mind into a disciplined one.
How do we know this type of change is possible?
Firstly, we know about the law of impermanence. Truly, in every moment, everything is changing. Through proper forms of action, one can influence that change. But to do so requires that you know how to act, and how to achieve the desired effect. Likewise, through discrimination and spiritual wisdom, we learn how to properly influence the continually changing psyche we have within, in order to achieve a more fruitful and beneficial result.
Secondly, it is easy to see that within nature we always find contradictory forces. Light and darkness, acid and alkaline, heat and cold, etc. are opposing forces which dance around a central point of balance. This same situation exists within our own mind.
When we begin to examine the state of our mental and emotional world, we find many opposing currents. And we see that certain forces can overwhelm others, in the same way that turning on the lights in a dark room causes the darkness to vanish. Gnosis teaches us how to accomplish this from moment to moment within ourselves, in order to achieve psychological equilibrium, a state in which we maintain a continual balance in our mental and emotional well-being.
This equilibrium is based upon an extensive understanding of our own psychological situation, and the discrimination to consciously choose how to act, think, and feel.
From all of this it is clear that in order to achieve the aim of any religion, one must have a penetrating knowledge of the mind, accompanied by a comprehensive awareness of emotional and mental states.
It is also evident that our problems and sufferings arise from a flawed perception of ourselves and the world, therefore we need to develop the capacity to question our own perceptions from moment to moment. Understanding the true nature of reality is crucial in this case, because it is our perception of reality which determines how we relate to everything: our own self, those around us, and every circumstance we pass through. By "reality" we mean the entire expanse of existence and not merely our own superficial view of our little corner of it, because a large portion of our fundamental problem is a flawed view of reality, which in turn results in suffering.
This is why the teachings of Samael Aun Weor offer so much insight into the nature of reality. Throughout his works he discusses the root of reality, the Absolute Abstract Space, the nature of matter and energy, the mathematics of creation, and more. If the achievement of in-depth Self-realization were simply a matter of faith and devotion to one God or another, then there would have been no need for him to explain the nature of reality in such detailed and comprehensive terms. The same can also be said of the deeply technical and complex psychological teachings in the Buddhist tradition, which is just another face of the same wisdom. From this we can understand that all of these explanations are necessary in order for us to eliminate our mistaken point of view.
Gnosis demands that we take an objective point of view of all phenomena. We cannot hold onto a way of seeing things merely because we like it or because it is our tradition or it satisfies our psychological tendencies. Any limiting view (such as a religious, scientific or metaphysical theory) restricts our capacity to approach objective knowledge, thereby restraining our ability to perceive the true nature of any given phenomena. It is essential that we set aside any personal preference if we wish to see the inherent truth of life.
This is especially true of how we view ourselves. So long as we have false views of ourselves, then we cannot see ourselves as we really are. If that is that case, then we cannot begin to approach the objective view of reality itself.
The purpose of Gnosis is nothing less than the complete transformation of the individual, which in turn changes our society and our world. The achievement of this transformation is dependent only upon the effort of the individual to work on their own mind.

Whats Gnosis?

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:40:00 +0000

There is a root from which all knowledge has emerged. Humanity has many names for it; we call it Gnosis.

gnosis (-g·no·sis): From Greek γνῶσις. Knowledge.

The higher meaning of Gnosis is knowledge from experience, especially experience of divinity or that which is beyond the five senses.The word Gnosis does not refer to knowledge that we are told or believe in. Gnosis is conscious, experiential knowledge, not merely intellectual or conceptual knowledge, belief, or theory. This term is synonymous with the Hebrew דעת "da'ath," the Arabic ma'rifah, the Tibetan rigpa (knowing), and the Sanskrit "jna."
Gnosis can also refer to the tradition that embodies the core wisdom or knowledge of humanity, although in the physical world it has not been known by that name, but instead has adopted varying appearances according to culture, time, and place.

The Greek word Gnosis (γνῶσις) implies a type of knowledge that is derived from experience, and encompasses the whole of a person. That is, it is genuine knowledge of the truth. Reality, truth, does not fit neatly into a concept, dogma, or theory, thus genuine Gnosis must also be something that one must experience. Personal experience is not transmissible in conceptual terms; a concept is merely an idea, and experience is far more than an idea. In other words, real Gnosis is an experience that defies conceptualization, belief, or any attempt to convey it. To understand it, one must experience it. This is why real spirituality is based on one's own effort to experience the truth, and the method to reach that experience is primarily practical.

Nonetheless, in order to understand what we experience, we must study the experiences of others. For this, we prefer to rely on those who have proven the qualities we wish to embody ourselves: profound love for all beings, brilliant intelligence, and radiant joy. As such, we rely on the greatest human beings and their legacies, in every field of understanding: philosophy, science, art, and religion.
Any study of world philosophies, religions, and spiritual traditions demonstrates the same principles, themes, and symbols. While some have argued that this is mere happenstance or unconscious impulse, the truth is far more powerful: there is ubiquitous symbolism and intent in world traditions because there is one ubiquitous source of all knowledge, but whose true form and meaning is only hazily perceived by the sleeping consciousness of mankind. Due to this, messengers arrive from time to time to clarify the One True Source: messengers such as Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, Quetzalcoatl, Krishna, Moses, Fu Ji, and many more: all of them taught Gnosis, but according to the needs of the time and place.

Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to re-establish the Law. - Hinduism. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita 4.7-8

Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. - Christianity. Jesus in the Bible, Matthew 5.17-18

Lo! We inspired you [O Muhammad] as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as we imparted unto David the Psalms; and messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers We have not mentioned to you... messengers of good cheer and of warning, in order that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. God was ever Mighty, Wise. - Islam. Qur'an 4.163-65

Naught is said unto you [Muhammad] save what was said unto the messengers before you. - Islam. Qur'an 41.43

I have seen an ancient Path, an ancient road traversed by the rightly enlightened ones of former times. - Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya ii.106

The Master said, "I have transmitted what was taught to me without making up anything of my own. I have been faithful to and loved the Ancients." - Confucianism. Analects 7.1

"All religions have the same principles. Under the sun, every religion is born, grows, develops, multiplies into many sects, and dies. This is how it has always been and will always be. Religious principles never die. The religious forms can die, but the religious principles, in other words, the eternal values, can never die. They continue; they are re-dressed with new forms." - Samael Aun Weor

The eternal values embodied in the world's religions express the essential requirements for the consciousness to enter into that light and fully realize the purpose of living. In other words, the heart message of every religion seeks to awaken the consciousness and eliminate suffering, so that the eternal light may be known through our own direct experience.

"Truth is one; sages call it by various names—Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti." - Rig Veda

The Greek word Gnosis refers to the knowledge acquired through the experience of the awakened consciousness, as opposed to knowledge that we are told or might believe. Genuine Gnosis is the knowledge universal to all humanity that frees the consciousness from suffering. Gnosis - by whatever name in history or culture - is conscious, experiential knowledge, not merely intellectual or conceptual knowledge, belief or theory. The Gnostic student seeks to acquire their own direct experience of the light (the Truth) by means of awakening the consciousness and eliminating obscurations to perception. The method to accomplish this task has been called:

Gnosis (Greek) knowledge
Jnana (Sanskrit): knowledge
Daath (Hebrew): knowledge
Dharma (Sanskrit): righteousness, law, truth, teaching
Torah (Hebrew): teaching, instruction, law

...and many other names. By comparing all of these ancient teachings, we can see that all religious forms have in their heart a science of Gnosticism: a method to arrive at personal knowledge of the Truth.

“Howsoever men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men take from every side is Mine.” - Krishna (Christ), from the Bhagavad-gita

Many in these times associate the word Gnosis with a collection of texts found in the deserts of the Middle East, such as the Nag Hammdhi texts or Dead Sea Scrolls. Famous examples include The Book of Thomas, The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene, The Hypostasis of the Archons, and Thunder, Perfect Mind. Some believe that Gnosis is exclusively the belief system of long-lost groups of spiritual seekers like the Essenes or Nazarenes. Yet the truth is that those writings and groups were but one fraction of a much older, more widespread movement, but one that cannot be tracked by physical evidence alone: it can only be truly known through awakened, conscious experience - not only here in the physical world, but also in the Internal Worlds, by means of techniques such as meditation, dream yoga, and more.
The evidence of this core religion can be found by any study of comparative religion, in which the same principles, themes, and symbols are found to be ubiquitous. While some have argued that this is mere happenstance or unconscious symbolism, the truth is far more powerful: there is ubiquitous symbolism in religion because there is one ubiquitous religion, but whose true form and meaning is only hazily perceived by the sleeping consciousness of mankind. Due to this, messengers arrive from time to time to clarify the One True Religion: messengers such as Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, Quetzalcoatl, Krishna, Moses, Fu Ji, and many more: all of them taught Gnosis, but according to the needs of the time and place.
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We are not against any religion, school, sect, order or lodge because we know that all religious forms are manifestations of the great Cosmic Universal Infinite Religion latent in every atom of the Cosmos. We teach the synthesis of all religions, schools, orders, lodges and beliefs. Our doctrine is the Doctrine of the Synthesis. - Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony

The venerable science of Gnosis is the universal to all humankind and is the essential "knowing" that arises from the experience of objective reality, universally experienced by all those who fully awaken and develop their consciousness. The science or path to arrive at knowing that reality for oneself, in ones own experience, is also called Gnosis, because it leads to the acquisition of one’s own Gnosis of fundamental truth.
Gnosis is, in its essence, the method to escape suffering, because to experience fundamental reality, one must abandon the deluded mind, within which we all suffer intensely. Our delusions cause suffering, and prevent us from seeing the truth.
The method to experience the fundamental reality is exact and has existed for millennia. True Gnosis - conscious knowledge of this experience - is free of separatism, dogma, politics, fanaticism, and sectarianism. Gnosis comes from the divine, and cannot be bottled into the limited concepts of the intellect or mere belief.
The hallmarks of true Gnosis are seen in the world's greatest human beings: profound compassion, penetrating wisdom, and sparkling intelligence.

...there is every reason to believe that all so-called secret schools of the ancient world were branches from one philosophic tree which, with its root in heaven and its branches on the earth, is--like the spirit of man--an invisible but ever-present cause of the objectified vehicles that give it expression. The Mysteries were the channels through which this one philosophic light was disseminated, and their initiates, resplendent with intellectual and spiritual understanding, were the perfect fruitage of the divine tree, bearing witness before the material world of the recondite source of all Light and Truth. - Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)

Gnosis has been expressed by all the world’s great saints and enlightened souls, each with their own words and voice.

All religions are precious pearls strung on the golden thread of divinity. - Samael Aun Weor

True Gnosis is universal to all mankind and can be found in all genuine religions and mystical traditions. Thus, within all of them is The Doctrine of the Synthesis: the universal teaching from which all religions have been born. This root knowledge is the essential science that every human being needs in order to know the mysteries of life and death directly, personally, through their own experience.

All religious forms are manifestations of the great Cosmic Universal Infinite Religion latent in every atom of the cosmos.
There is Gnosis in the Buddhist doctrine, in the Tantric Buddhism from Tibet, in the Zen Buddhism from Japan, in the Ch’an Buddhism of China, in Sufism, in the Whirling Dervishes, in the Egyptian, Persian, Chaldean, Pythagorean, Greek, Aztec, Mayan, Inca, etc., wisdom.
We teach the synthesis of all religions, schools, orders, lodges and beliefs. Our doctrine is the Doctrine of the Synthesis. - Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony

The Heart of Gnosis

The heart of Gnosis is the Great Arcanum, Daath (or Da'ath, which is Hebrew for "knowledge"), the vital wisdom symbolized in the story of the Garden of Eden as the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve abused that tree, and were cast out of Eden; this story is symbolic.
The ancient cultures who built the great pyramids, who developed tremendous civilizations, who possessed knowledge and technologies that even today we are unable to understand, all possessed and venerated the mystical sciences above all else. And the greatest secret, the greatest science of all, the Great Arcanum, or the great Occult Science of Alchemy, was the most important one of all. The Egyptians, the Aztecs, Mayans, Chaldeans, Hindus, Tibetans, etc. all had as their most precious treasure the Great Arcanum.
In all these civilizations, the esoteric knowledge was always reserved for an elite group. Whether in India or in Egypt or in the Mayan or Aztec civilization, the mystical knowledge was transmitted, practiced and maintained by a priesthood of carefully cultivated individuals. And these individuals were subject to the most rigorous, demanding discipline and guidelines. In order to enter into the knowledge of the Great Arcanum, they had to pass test after test, proving their sincerity and trustworthiness. Many times, they would be watched for years, even without their knowledge. Many times, they would be rejected only to see how they would react, if they would still respect the vows they had taken.
In ages previous to ours, the specific meaning of the Tree of Knowledge - or to be more exact, the Tree of the Knowledge of Purity and Pollution - was hidden until the seeker was proven worthy. Unfortunately, desire corrupts the mind; desire for power and envy for knowledge led many to threaten and even kill the holders of the hidden wisdom, thereby forcing the real Initiates to go into hiding in most places on the planet. The knowledge had to be hidden to protect it.

For the crime of having accompanied Jesus Christ in the holy land, and because of having celebrated our rituals within Rome’s catacombs, we, the Gnostics, faced the lions in the circus of Rome. Then later, in time, we were burnt alive in the flames of the Roman Catholic inquisition. Previously, we were the mystical Essenes of Palestine. So, we are not improvising opportunist doctrines. We were hidden for twenty centuries, but now we are returning once again to the street in order to carry on our shoulders the old, rough, and heavy cross.
Paul of Tarsus took our doctrine to Rome. Yes, he was a Gnostic Nazarene.
Jesus-Christ taught our doctrine in secrecy to his seventy disciples.
The Sethians, Peratae, Carpocratians, Nazarenes and Essenes were Gnostics. The Egyptian and Aztec mysteries, the mysteries of Rome, Troy, Carthage, of Eleusis, India, of the Druids, Pythagoreans, Kambirs, of Mithra and Persia, etc., are in their depth that which we call Gnosis or Gnosticism.
We are now once again opening the ancient Gnostic Sanctuaries, which were closed with the arrival of the Dark Age. Thus, we are now opening the authentic Initiatic Colleges.- Samael Aun Weor, The Major Mysteries

One thing anyone who seriously studies esotericism will discover is that the underlying science, though never explained openly, is unalterable; all true initiates agree on the essential nature of the science and art, regardless of their tradition or even what century they lived in. Jesus of Nazareth, Hermes Trismegistus, Moses, St. Augustine, Homer, King Solomon, the Buddha Shakyamuni, the Indian Tantric master Padmasambhava, Mohammed, Eliphas Levi, H.P. Blavatsky, the Buddha Maitreya, Rudolf Steiner, Swami Shivananda, Nicolas Flamel, Basil Valentine, Master Moira, Max Heindel, Paracelsus, Arnold Krumm Heller, Dion Fortune, and Samael Aun Weor, writers and mystics that span the last three thousand years, all agree, all describe the exact same science, though they use different symbols and dialects. And this science is exactly the same in the mysteries of Eleusis, the Aztecs, the Maya, the Chaldeans, the Essenes, etc. This inner knowledge is the One Path spoken of by Jesus of Nazareth:

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. - Matthew 7:13

The narrow gate is the gate back to Eden; it is the gate we left through so long ago. This gate is the knowledge of the Great Arcanum. To practice the teachings contained in this most precious treasure is to step onto the true Path. This path, and the steps that make it, is defined in Hebrew by the word Daath. Daath is the hidden sphere of the Kabbalah, and the word means "knowledge." It is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden, which bore the fruit eaten by Adam and Eve. The Greek word for Daath (Knowledge) is Gnosis.
There is one core teaching. This teaching has had many names and many faces, because the science and art of awakening the consciousness in a positive manner are universal and eternal, but have been hidden from the eyes of the common man. What the common man has seen is the wide gate that leads to destruction.
Many do not seem to realize that there is a vast expanse of schools, traditions and religions who have taken the core spiritual knowledge, the Great Arcanum, and corrupted it, either intentionally or ignorantly. In most cases, these are the most respected, most famous and most "popular" teachings; respected, famous and popular precisely because they do not conflict with the core psychological problems that degenerate the mind.

Black Magic appeals to the mass mind. It appeals to the principles of our civilization. It offers something for nothing. As long as there is cupidity in the human heart, it will remain as a menace to the honesty and integrity of our race. - Manly P. Hall from Magic: a Treatise on Esoteric Ethics

The hidden, inner meanings of all the great religions have always been fiercely protected and restricted, precisely because they contain tremendous power; power all too easily misunderstood and misused by the selfish, vulgar common thread of humanity. The transmission of the knowledge required a student to be "pious, gentle, and fearing God," or, in other words, the opposite type of person from the one who merely wants to make gold from lead, to feed his desires.
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw an acceleration of the process of bringing all the streams of wisdom together once more. In her remarkable Secret Doctrine (1888), H.P. Blavatsky stated explicitly:

These truths are in no sense put forward as a revelation; nor does the author claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore, now made public for the first time in the world's history. For what is contained in this work is to be found scattered throughout thousands of volumes embodying the scriptures of the great Asiatic and early European religions, hidden under glyph and symbol, and hitherto left unnoticed because of this veil. What is now attempted is to gather the oldest tenets together and to make of them one harmonious and unbroken whole. The sole advantage which the writer has over her predecessors, is that she need not resort to personal speculations and theories. For this work is a partial statement of what she herself has been taught by more advanced students, supplemented, in a few details only, by the results of her own study and observation. The publication of many of the facts herein stated has been rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculations in which many Theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during the last few years, in their endeavour to, as they imagined, work out a complete system of thought from the few facts previously communicated to them.
It is needless to explain that this book is not the Secret Doctrine in its entirety, but a select number of fragments of its fundamental tenets, special attention being paid to some facts which have been seized upon by various writers, and distorted out of all resemblance to the truth.
But it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings, however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian religion, neither to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor Christianity exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their origins, the various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and become materialised. - H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (1888)

Yet, she herself stated that the full revelation of the mysteries of Gnosis would come at a later date:

In Century the Twentieth some disciple more informed, and far better fitted, may be sent by the Masters of Wisdom to give final and irrefutable proofs that there exists a Science called Gupta-Vidya; and that, like the once- mysterious sources of the Nile, the source of all religions and philosophies now known to the world has been for many ages forgotten and lost to men, but is at last found. - H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (1888)

The New Age

On February 4, 1962, when the Age of Aquarius arrived, humanity entered into a very new situation. With the new celestial influence we saw the arrival of a huge shift in society: mass rebellion against the old ways, sexual experimentation, giant social earthquakes shaking up all the old traditions. We also saw the arrival in the West of a strong spiritual longing, and deep thirst for true, authentic spiritual experience. These two elements:

1) rebellion to tradition, and
2) thirst for spiritual knowledge

are a direct effect of the influence of Aquarius, the most revolutionary sign of the zodiac. Aquarius is the water carrier, the significance of which you will see if you study the works of the aforementioned teachers. Its occult significance is knowledge, the bringer of knowledge.

Unquestionably, at the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, many respectable, knowledgeable, occultist intelligences transmitted unto humanity a simple, elementary teaching. It is clear that such persons only proposed to publicly teach the first letters of the secret doctrine. At that time, they did not linger too much in the analysis of the evolving and devolving laws. Rudolf Steiner already affirmed, in 1912, that they, the initiates of that epoch, had only delivered an incipient, elementary knowledge, but that much later, a superior esoteric doctrine of transcendental nature would be given unto humanity. Now, we are delivering this type of superior esoteric doctrine. - Samael Aun Weor, Hell, the Devil, and Karma (1973)

With the new age came a sudden revealing of all the hidden knowledge. The doors to the mysteries were thrown open so that humanity can save itself from itself. This revelation was initiated by the first public exposure of the ancient esoteric knowledge: the publication of Samael Aun Weor's The Perfect Matrimony in the year 1950. The appearance of this book sparked a wildfire in the spiritual communities of that time; -many were shocked, many were outraged, and many were deeply inspired. The Roman Catholic Church sought to have Samael arrested; and he was. Many people threatened to kill him; several attempts were made against his life. And yet, in the end, the release of this book sprouted the International Gnostic Movement, a widespread and diversified collection of schools, teachers, and students whose message has now spread to every continent on the planet, all under the flag raised by Samael Aun Weor.
When the true esoteric knowledge, the genuine path to the Self-realization of the Being, was revealed, there came a blinding blizzard of false knowledge, the "wolves in sheep skin" who purposely or unconsciously sought to subvert the thirst of humanity in order to feed their own lust, pride, greed, vanity, etc. So now we can easily find a thousand books about "esoteric teachings" but very, very few are genuine. We can find several hundred books about "esoteric Tantra" but any educated student can easily see that they are all 100% Black Magic. Nowadays we can find many teachers who supposedly teach the "hidden knowledge," but how do we know what is true and real, and what is a deception of the ego in men?
With the keys revealed in the works of Samael Aun Weor, anyone can begin to determine what is true and what is not in any teaching, from any time or place. As he says in The Esoteric Treatise of Hermetic Astrology,

The golden door of wisdom can transform itself into the wide door and broad path which leads to destruction, the door of magical arts practiced with egotistical ends. We are in the Age of Kali-Yuga, the Iron Age, the Black Age, and all the students of occultism are predisposed to becoming lost in the black path. It is astonishing to see the mistaken concept held by the "little brothers" regarding occultism and the ease with which they believe they can reach the door and cross the threshold of mystery without great sacrifice.

The true and deep knowledge of Alchemy, Kabbalah, Esoteric Psychology, and Meditation is the knowledge that transforms the common human being into a Master, an Angel, a Buddha. To achieve such a tremendous transformation is not a matter of belief or concept: it is a complete psychological revolution, a revolution of the whole person, on every level. It is an exact science, and it is filled with dangers from within and without. Each step holds the potential for falling from the path, so it takes great care and great attention. The path is One Path, the same path taught by every Christified Master, the same path that illuminated all the Angels and Buddhas of every tradition, no matter what culture or religion or age they blossomed from.

It is impossible to bring souls into the Light without the Mysteries of the Light-kingdom. -Jesus, from The Pistis Sophia (ch 103)

Samael Aun Weor wrote over seventy books illuminating the path to the Self-realization of the Being. His books are filled with practical exercises and detailed instructions regarding the many requirements to entering into true and genuine Initiation. He founded the International Gnostic Movement and instituted many levels of instruction and assistance for humanity. His entire life was dedicated to offering to humanity the essential keys we need in order to awaken the consciousness. He was known to be very rigorous in his teaching method and demanding in his guidance, as he fully understood the dangers of the path and the many pitfalls that exist within our own minds. Yet, he did not want followers or admirers: he wanted only to help us become free of suffering.

ILLUMINATI

noreply@blogger.com (Maria Spencer) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 05:33:00 +0000

The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776 to oppose superstition, prejudice, religious influence over public life, abuses of state power, and to support women's education and gender equality.