Gospel of Truth- Calling Those Who Have Knowledge

Blog Author's Note: In The Gnostic Bible section in the side-column you'll see the names of several books. This blog post is a continuation of a series on The Gospel of Truth. This collection of gnostic wisdom is a meaty, stick-to-your-bones, meditative kind of literature. It is not light religious cuisine. 

In several online sources for the text I have found a very common problem- headings, or rather a lack thereof. The interpretations are all the same, however they do not possess the subject headings of the printed version in the Gnostic Bible. I am keeping the subject headings provided in the printed version as it is easier to ... digest, if you will.  Without the headings it all runs together in a mish-mashed heap.

Because the Gospel of Truth is such heavy reading I prefer to keep the headings and separate the book out into easier-to-swallow type chapters. Each chapter or section is never very long but the use of sectional headings is important when searching for topic matter. Also, if one attempts to read the book as one long tract they will end up with a migraine to end all migraines. I do not advise doing it. But if you do, have some mercy on yourself and keep a heavily caffeinated drink nearby or at least some Tylenol. It is best to enjoy the book as a fine sipping wine-- in very small doses.

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The Father Calling Those Who Have Knowledge

Those whose name he knew first were called last, so that the one who has knowledge is he whose name the Father has pronounced. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how shall one hear if his name has not been uttered? For he who remains ignorant until the end is a creature of forgetfulness and will perish with it. If this is not so, why have these wretches no name, why do they have no sound? Hence, if one has knowledge, he is from above. If he is called, he hears, he replies, and he turns toward him who called him and he ascends to him and he knows what he is called. Since he has knowledge, he does the will of him who called him. He desires to please him and he finds rest. He receives a certain name. He who thus is going to have knowledge knows whence he came and whither he is going. He knows it as a person who, having become intoxicated, has turned from his drunkenness and having come to himself, has restored what is his own. 

He has turned many from error. He went before them to their own places, from which they departed when they erred because of the depth of him who surrounds every place, whereas there is nothing which surrounds him. It was a great wonder that they were in the Father without knowing him and that they were able to leave on their own, since they were not able to contain him and know him in whom they were, for indeed his will had not come forth from him. For he revealed it as a knowledge with which all its emanations agree, namely, the knowledge of the living book which he revealed to the Aeons at last as his letters, displaying to them that these are not merely vowels nor consonants, so that one may read them and think of something void of meaning; on the contrary, they are letters which convey the truth. They are pronounced only when they are known. Each letter is a perfect truth like a perfect book, for they are letters written by the hand of the unity, since the Father wrote them for the Aeons, so that they by means of his letters might come to know the Father. 

The Father's Son Is Jesus Of Utmost Sweetness

While his wisdom mediates on the logos,

and since his teaching expresses it,

his knowledge has been revealed.

His honor is a crown upon it.

Since his joy agrees with it,

his glory exalted it.

It has revealed his image.

It has obtained his rest.

His love took bodily form around it.

His trust embraced it.

Thus the logos of the Father goes forth into the All, being the fruit of his heart and expression of his will. It supports the All. It chooses and also takes the form of the All, purifying it, and causing it to return to the Father and to the Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness. The Father opens his bosom, but his bosom is the Holy Spirit. He reveals his hidden self which is his son, so that through the compassion of the Father the Aeons may know him, end their wearying search for the Father and rest themselves in him, knowing that this is rest. After he had filled what was incomplete, he did away with form. The form of it is the world, that which it served.

For where there is envy and strife, there is an incompleteness; but where there is unity, there is completeness. Since this incompleteness came about because they did not know the Father, so when they know the Father, incompleteness, from that moment on, will cease to exist. As one's ignorance disappears when he gains knowledge, and as darkness disappears when light appears, so also incompleteness is eliminated by completeness. Certainly, from that moment on, form is no longer manifest, but will be dissolved in fusion with unity. For now their works lie scattered. In time unity will make the spaces complete. By means of unity each one will understand itself. By means of knowledge it will purify itself of diversity with a view towards unity, devouring matter within itself like fire and darkness by light, death by life.

Forcing Gnosis

A friend has expressed for some time now frustration in trying to keep to a certain practice to find enlightenment. To force gnosis is like trying to force a brick through the eye of a needle. I don't think we're hardwired to accept the daily grind on top of a completely open connection to the divine 24/7. We're too distracted by our responsibilities, family and friends... FOOD! Our body needs sustenance and by gosh we have to work for a living.

Keeping a spiritual calendar seems to inhibit some people's growth. Mandatory time set aside or scheduled ...eh. It's not very organic feeling after a while. And so we find excuse after excuse and emergency after emergency to delay or reschedule our 'practice.' How do you practice for life, exactly? In my experience gnosis comes in fits and starts, droughts-a-plenty when everyday responsibilities have to be taken care of, and a torrential flood has to be harnessed when we are calm and open to possibilities.

So what is a contemplative person to do? Do we become nuns and monks? Do we throw ourselves out on the streets and live in an even more precarious place? Viktor Frankle has a few sage words in Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy:

"What is called self-actualization is, and must remain, the unintended effect of self-transcendence; it is ruinous and self-defeating to make it the target of intention. And what is true of self-actualization also holds for identity and happiness. It is the very "pursuit of happiness" that obviates happiness. The more we make it a target, the more widely we miss.

It may now have become clear that a concept such as self-actualization, or self-realization, is not a sufficient ground for a motivational theory. This is mainly due to the fact that self-actualization, like power and pleasure, also belong to the class of phenomena which can only be obtained as a side effect and are thwarted precisely to the degree to which they are made a matter of direct intention. Self-actualization is a good thing; however, I maintain that man can only actualize himself to the extent to which he fulfills meaning. Then self-actualization occurs spontaneously; it is contravened when it is made an end in itself...

We have to beware of the tendency to deal with values in terms of the mere self-expression of man himself... If the meaning that is waiting to be fulfilled by man were nothing but a mere expression of self, or no more than a projection of his wishful thinking, it would immediately lose its demanding and challenging character; it could no longer call man forth or summon him.... I think the meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected."

Alright, so if gnosis can't be forced and only detected then how do we go about detecting it? How do we sniff this thing out? How do we call it out from wherever we think it's hiding from us? It's not like a dog who'll come hither with a little doggy treat and a "Here boy! Here ya go! Come get some treats and a scratch behind the ears."

Gnosis is more like a sneaky feline hiding under your bed reaching out to swat your ankles every once in a while. You jump in shock, turn around, and yell at... no one? And yet you still sense the cat in the room. You know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is there. Otherwise you wouldn't keep tip toeing past the bed, right? And in the deepest part of your soul you wouldn't be reaching out to it asking for more information. Heck, if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't be asking about it!!

Human life is rough. Most of the time we don't know which ends is up and which end is down. So what do we do about this? How do we sort out these emotions concerning what we Want and what we Need in order to lead a learning life? I say a learning life instead of a good life because  we don't become wise without stepping in a few mud puddles or even crashing head first into a few walls. We learn by making mistakes; trying things out to see how they feel to us. How do we make progress, to climb up out of the well of frustration we feel we're always in?

I believe that fear holds us back as well as ignorance. It's like being told that there are no monsters under the bed and yet we continue to watch scary movies which scare the crap out of us. I can also equate this to reading literalist holy books with the mindset of Fear(of God) leading to Redemption. And so mentally we live life in fear, huddled with our blankets covering our heads(and hearts). 'If I can't see it then it can't see me,' type mentality. Or worse yet, 'if I am scared of everything then I've got all the bases covered.' But if you're truly reaching out for something good what must you do to overcome this fear? The answer is to read, listen, and relax.

First, I got over my fear of being exposed to the pathogen of anything not accepted by a literalist faith church. (This took years. It did not happen overnight.) I actively sought out books which they condemned. My curiosity has not led me astray yet. When you read the texts which a literalist considers evil then it gives you a new perspective on the people who say that these ideas are bad. When you realize that you don't have to have faith in something unseen but that you can truly BELIEVE in something you KNOW is real(gnosis) and have daily experiences with him(the good god/pleroma/the All, etc is not silent. He's a chatterbox, actually) then the literalist argument turn to dust and you're left with the truth.

Here are a few activities I've participated in which have brought me peace and helped develop a closer relationship with the good god:

• Yoga: it forces your brain to shut up and opens your heart to possibilities. We store stress in our bodies like we store energy from the food we eat. To find peace you must find calm. Yoga is detoxifying, confidence building, and creates a calm place in your heart to retreat to when the world becomes too much. www.yogajournal.com is a wonderful resource. Their articles are fantastic. Start with baby steps and you'll really surprise yourself!
• Meditation: there are several methods. Meditation on the very cusp of sleep seems to work the best in the beginning for most. The more relaxed you are the easier it is to find that quiet spot in your mind. Make sure you keep a notebook and pen handy. Breathe naturally and slowly and don't be freaked out by the light shows and nonsensical seeming dramas going on in your head. It's simply your consciousness waking up; like jump starting a dead battery on a car. Just relax and enjoy the sound of your own heart beat. If you start with yoga and then try to meditate at a different time that day, don't be surprised if during your 'dutiful lotus position meditation' you suddenly feel the urge to get up and stretch your body into a yoga position(asana) with your eyes still closed. Go with it. You'll find that you're letting yourself dive deeper into your consciousness by the movements. Your mind will still with your body's movements. Go with your instincts. If you feel the urge to lay in Child Pose during a portion of your meditation and then some modified version of Downward Dog... go with it! There are no rules written in stone for finding a place of peace-- however you will find a great deal of success to be had by trying out some suggestions by people through the ages who have struggled with the same struggles you are. You don't have to sit still in order to meditate.
• Reading: definitely! Dig deep into philosophy, the arts, and comparative religion books. If you're truly struggling then grab a philosophy 101 book. See a person or topic of interest? Research them! Dig deeper and wander around to your heart's content.
• Painting: Color is powerful to the human psyche. Let go. Don't paint between the lines- make your OWN lines! Or better yet, don't let lines exist. Let the color flow.
• Write: keep a dream journal. Also, keep track of your process and progression by giving yourself a small writing assignment on topics as they come to mind. Some beginning topics can be "what I think about ____this____ religion or philosophy" and you can move on to other philosophies and schools of thought. Really though, any religion IS a school of thought. It has structure and confines; it is a school. You've got your mascots(crucifixes, Star of David, a moon and star, etc), your cheerleaders(clergy), and then you've got your students(parishioners). Can you stay within the confines of the school? Do you want to? What do you get out of it? Do you live in fear or do you live in love? You can also write reviews of books you've read and try to put into words your feelings about their ideas.

Gnosis isn't a school of thought, though. It's a process and a path. It rips the roof off the schoolhouse of literalism and turns the walls into dust. There are so many sects of gnosticism that one would think wars would have broken out though so many millenia. No, no wars and no Crusades of any sort. Gnostics don't kill non-gnostics. 

Gnosis is inclusive, not exclusive, unlike literalist religions or the confines of philosophies. Gnostics everywhere realize that we are all in various states of awakening and that we must respect that process in one another in order to respect that in our self. To expect change is to live your life to the fullest and that is what the good god wants for us- to live and learn.

So it's vitally important that you learn about the differences between various world religions and philosophies. The more educated you are the more information will naturally flow to you from the All. Connections will be made which you couldn't have expected. You'll think you visited a library in your dreams. Guess what? You did!

No question is left unanswered, even the big ones. He wants you to learn. He wants you to not live in ignorance but instead to live in love. To live in love you have to learn about love itself. This requires study. So consider yourself a student in the school of love. This does not mean you will never cry again. This simply means that you will learn to dissect this experience we call life and not take it for granted; to live IN THE MOMENT with our heart wide open to possibilities. We have the potential to learn so much from one another but if we can't even look each other in the eye then there is a lot of learning lost and thus, a lot of love lost.  

A simple exercise in love can be resolving to look everyone you walk past today in the eye and give them an acknowledging nod and smile. Gauge their reaction. Keep a mental tally of who smiles back at you and who does not. You'll learn quite a bit about our society today with just this one simply action.

Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies trying to rein in his flock of Christians for control of an empire. He repeatedly states, "they have not examined the Gospels..." thus creating a circular argument that leads NOWHERE. No one is wiser. No one knows any more about life or death than what is supposedly in those hand selected Gospels. The clergy hold the door handle to Heaven and Jehovah help you if you don't pay your tithe or eat the sacramental bread.

The answer is so easy. You already know it. You've always known it! It's there, right there inside that bright spark you hold dear: your conscience. It speaks to us every day. But the Eternal Truth is not so easily seen or heard when we have blinders on with the so-called reality we see every day around us. So we must study, pray, and listen. And then we learn how to love.

 

Hearing The Phone Ring

"He didn't believe in anything real. He only believed in what he saw."

I don't know who that message is for I just know that I am supposed to post it here. Someone was being cryptic today and blurted that out when I was on the edge of sleep. If it's for you then I hope it helps you.

Twitch, Nudge, Push, GO!

Had a beautiful experience today. I was in a terrible amount of pain. Drugged up to the gills. Crying I was hurting so badly. White hot agony. Just felt like putting my fist through the wall I was so frustrated with the sudden pain. Felt the urge to lay down and meditate. Holy cow- I was able to!!! And right in front of my husband no less!! I cannot explain to you just how big this is. I felt deep and lasting Source connection, breathing was easy, my body relaxed, and I was able to feel absolute calm. I had to fight for it a few times but I managed to pull myself back from being self-conscious and just letting go.

This was actually the longest I've been able to meditate while using the hand trick. Ever.

During my meditation, my left hand would periodically twitch outward toward my husband. Sometimes I do twitch because of muscle spasms with the FM. But this wasn't that type of muscle spasm. As much as I realized that was a not so subtle hint.... I declined. I was too delirious to pay attention to someone else trying to have a conversation with me(like my husband) besides listening to Pleroma. Ok. I admit it. I was feeling a bit greedy for attention. I wanted to feel better and didn't want to be interrupted in my new found tranquility.

I slept well for about an hour and woke up pain free.

I have resolved to meditate with him tomorrow. Don't know how successful we'll be but I'll try.

Meditating

I wish I was better at meditation. But I dutifully try to calm my mind and do it when I feel the need. I can only get better if I practice, right?

Just yesterday I got a glimpse into the truly absurd comedic mind which is The All. Let me relate the tale and you can see for yourself just how silly a close gnostic relationship with Pleroma can be at times. (Serious? What's serious?!!)

So there I am, relaxed, laying in bed with my eyes closed. Concentrating on breathing and thinking of nothing at all when connection is made. Tingling in hands and fingertips, typical lay gnosis signal.

Him: "hey. whatcha doin?"
Me: "trying to meditate.
Him: "huh. ok. oh, hey, by the way, did you know that... blah blah blah.."
Me: *internal sigh* "No, I didn't. hey, you know you're kinda distracting me. Isn't this what you want me to do?
Him: *pause* "Isn't that why I called you?"
Me: *internal sound of confused crickets chirping...* (head/desk. Now I'm stumped) And then he left it at that. Not another peep for the rest of the day. What the....?!

Conclusion: Pleroma has his weird days where he calls and... doesn't really have a whole lot to say. Kind of like texting someone to say hi and bye again. And "aha! Made you look!"

Days like this are why I have the meta tag of "playing." (see below)

Gnostic Awakenings Class Update

www.gnosticawakenings.com
Gnosis accessible through Buddhist techniques.

It's been oh.. three weeks since the classes started. I shrugged it off because I was neck deep in research writing other articles. Typical me. I am a professional excuse maker. (You should see me find things to do when the kitchen floors need scrubbed!) Anyway, I finally logged into my meditation class this afternoon.

Discovery #1: I suck at traditional meditation techniques. The Week One vid was nice. Easy. Laid back. Nice motif. Beginner stuff.

Discovery #2: My brain is confused. I'm taking a meditation class and my consciousness goes flying. WRONG CLASS! This isn't astral projecting, I kept telling myself. That's tomorrow. This is passive meditating. Passive meditating, ok. Emphasis on the passive part. I try again. And again. And once again. I give up after the fourth time I lift up out of my body, knowing that this is just not my cuppa white pear green tea. I don't meditate the way they teach and obviously my consciousness is so bored that it wants to go anywhere but in the room with the computer monitor and headphones.

I can't do this introductory stuff. It's irritating. I wish I could skip ahead. But their system wont let me. I have to wait seven days before the next lesson will be available. I'll write about Week Two when I go through the material next week.

GnosticAwakenings.com

Perusing around the web this evening I found a lovely gnostic gem of a site called Gnostic Awakenings. Here's a direct link. They have a few vids on YouTube which tell about the the basics of Christian gnosis in contrast with literalist Abrahamic theology.

I signed up for their nine week online course(FREE!) and will blog about the experience.

I've added Gnostic Awakenings to the right hand column of the blog under the Human Rights Sites & Organizations module.

Why you should keep a notebook by your bed

.... because otherwise you'll miss out on some great wisdom.

I've been kicking myself for not doing so lately. Some beautiful versus have come to me. Whole quatrains of them- and I can't remember them now to save my life. I felt as though I understood the emotion behind the words and what pleroma was trying to convey. Examining them closer, line by line, I could literally see them float right past me. Trying to grab onto them as I debated whether or not to run to the other side of the room for paper and pen I felt them float right out of my mind. Very frustrating. Try as I might I can't get them back.

Finding Peace- Solo

The chronic pain illness I suffer from has been whipping my butt lately. You wouldn't know it with as many posts as I put up but it takes me ten times longer to write them than it has in the past month or so. It makes thinking in a linear process like wading through pea soup. So I write, rewrite, scrap it, and then write some more. All in the hopes that my thoughts are cogent and readable to those who stumble across this blog. I hate being indecisive. But when my thoughts are so scattered it makes it difficult to come to a definitive conclusion at times.

So I ramble. I'm not going to ramble here. But I would like to make a round-about point concerning the state of BEING scatterbrained and how it relates to gnosis. Try this: sit quietly for ten minutes with your eyes closed. No touching, speaking, tuning into outside sounds, and more importantly- falling asleep! You'll discover just how much your body and brain crave external stimulation.

Gospel of Thomas 28

Yeshua said,
I took my stand in the midst of the world,
and I appeared to them in flesh.
I found them all drunk
yet none of them thirsty.
My soul ached for the human children
because they are blind in their hearts
and do not see.
They came into the world empty.
But now they are drunk.
When they shake off their wine, they will repent.

We're like raccoons who are enamored with shiny objects. When we don't have any playthings we look around for something new to distract us and entertain us. But distract us from what? From ourselves. And our own minds.

I read a story once, really can't remember where, which told of a monk who really frustrated his family and friends. They believed he had lost his mind because one day he simply stopped moving. He stopped eating. He stopped talking. He would go long stretches of these 'fasts from the world' and when he returned he was quite disturbed by everyone around him. Unhappy. He would feed his body and then after a few days would return to another 'fast.'

I can relate to this. Since my initial education began with lay gnosis I have had more than a dozen days/instances where I have become lost inside my own mind. Fasting accompanies it for at least twelve hours. I simply lose the urge to eat or engage people in conversation. I feel like I need space to be. And by lost in my own mind I don't mean crazy 'lost'. Just immensely entertained. Coming out of the state the first time I found that I was deeply disappointed with my life. Namely, the many things which I had collected. Physical objects which I discovered really held no meaning for me any longer. No purpose. Just clutter. Not even useful things. Many trips to the dump later I was happier than I'd been in years. Just by throwing away my belongings. Is this crazy? It doesn't feel like it. I am happier for it.

By entertained, I mean that I saw and felt a new dimension of reality. Think of playing in a sandbox with your best friend. Having the best conversation EVER with that friend! Talking about the meaning of life, why our sun is yellow, and any other mundane topic off the top of your head. And then add layers of understanding to those answers. Reasons. The very purpose and emotions of the being behind it all. There is no ego in that entity's answers. No selfish pride or demands for This or That. Not even a single admonition about how long I've been away. The All doesn't have an ego. But it does possess a type of clarity which is nearly alien to our own understanding of existence. And so this makes it difficult to describe. We're so accustomed to human egos and motivations that it taints our understanding of concepts like creation, destruction, evolution of emotion, free will, and the like.

Sometimes he'll give you small snippets of verses to consider. New ones written just for you. Old ones you've read and forgotten about. It's random. And sometimes it's purely For Your Eyes Only.

Ya know, I said I wouldn't do it but I did. I rambled. I'm sorry.

Getting back to my point, to be human is to be scatterbrained. It's hardwired in us. And if you're ill then you're more scatterbrained than a normal human tends to be. I fight for clarity because to not have it as easily as I used to frustrates me and makes me so angry I can hardly fight tears some days. But when it comes to pleroma I've discovered that it is not through a forceful sort of aim for clarity which dispels this human condition(even when you have a medical condition). It is a release of restraint. An exhale. It takes practice and it doesn't always happen. But when it does it is beyond the greatest feeling you have ever known. Peace. Pure peace. You want to wallow in it. Play in it. Roll around in it. And more importantly- learn more about it because you want to return there again when you feel the need. The demands of everyday life take such a toll on us we need a vacation spot that we can run away to from time to time. And interestingly enough it's right inside our own souls.

Songs of Solomon, Song 4

Make note of which words are not capitalized and also of line four, which speaks of the age of certain beings.

*****************

Oh my god, no one can seize your holy place
nor alter it, for no one has such power.
You designed your sanctuary before you drew the world.
What is older will not be undone by the younger.
You gave your heart to your believers, O lord,
and will not stumble or be fruitless.

One hour of your faith is more precious than all days and years.
Who can feel pain by wearing your grace?
Your seal is known. Creatures know it.
Archangels are robed in it.
You gave your fellowship. Not you, but we, were in need.
Distill your dews upon us.
Open your rich fountains and let milk and honey pour out.
You hold back nothing that you promise
and know the ends and give freely
so that you might withdraw and give us again.
You know all, god, and from the beginning fix order.
And you, O lord, make all things.

*****************

"What is older will not be undone by the younger."
So what the demiurge tries to do (persuade you away from looking deeper into yourself and instead fixating on His pointless rituals) will never sway pleroma from doing what he wishes, which is to draw you closer and teach you everything you could possibly wish. The arrogant son will not undue what the father is or has done, no matter how hard He tries to convince himself otherwise.

Want to test this out? Ask a preacher, chaplain, priest, rabbi, minister, or any other church cleric exactly why yoga or eastern meditation techniques are considered blasphemous. The answers you get will astound you. Probably make you develop a permanent eye twitch if you're especially sensitive. The resounding answer I have always gotten was, "keep your eyes on the Lord and you will not falter." Ask for clarification and they reply, "God already knows you. You don't have to look inside yourself any more." And then they generally repeat themselves, going in circles.

That's the nice version.

The not-so-nice version response is, "yoga is a path to Hell and damnation." Asking for further clarification on exactly how physical movement in certain combinations will send me to Hell I get a response of, "it opens you to the devil." And again, there is no clear answer given. Simply that I will go to Hell for doing a Downward Dog, Sun Salutation, or Balancing Stick pose. Even most modern clerics still believe that to do yoga requires you to swear faith to other gods, that Buddha is worshiped as a god, and that henna is the mark of the devil. Not true. Eastern mysticism is steeped in lore and therefore the stories are interpreted as metaphors for life and death, Buddha is simply a wise man, and henna is a purification/beautification ritual. A little bit of research would have made this all clear. But since research on such topics is taboo (lest the devil tempt you, of course) then such things will never be understood by such people. Like the Tree of Life in the garden of Eden, knowledge is EVIL!!!

Dogmatic church clerics typically have a more elaborate answer regarding why meditation is evil. "You'll be visited by demons and spirits who will try to sway you from the Lord." Then they yammer on and on about cults and their poison Kool-Aid drinking suicide pacts. My argument has always been, "If I'm looking inside myself and I see demons doesn't that mean I'm already damned? And what if I see something more beautiful than anything I've every seen anywhere else?" Frowns and then a confused blinking usually ensues. They don't get the connection. And they won't. They want to see us as sinners. It keeps them in their positions of power and influence.