Knowing Gnosis
If you really want to label me, please call me a Gnostic. That still makes me Christian because I believe in Jesus Christ, but it also makes me much more.
Before we continue, please know that I am not indoctrinated as a Gnostic – no body (like a church) has ordained me in formal ceremony (like baptism or confirmation) to be a Gnostic. I am a Gnostic because I personally choose it in the continuous pursuit of enlightenment (which I have yet to fully attain).
As I wear the label “Gnostic”, I must establish a definition so that others can understand what I am. To me this is very amusing.
A Gnostic is an adherent (follower) of Gnosticism. So, what is Gnosticism? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Gnosticism is “a prominent heretical movement of the second century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin”. Oh dear! The world has proclaimed me to be a Heretic (which is a proponent (supporter or follower) of Heresy, which is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted doctrines or laws of a religious organization (most especially the “churches” of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)). Note: I use “church” in its broadest sense to refer to any body of people organised to engage in worship and support of religious dogma.
The term “Gnosticism” has its roots in the Greek language, and means “having knowledge”. It arose in the late first century CE among Jewish and early Christian sects as a “system” of attaining spiritual knowledge. The Gnostics emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions.
With that out of the way, the most important thing readers need to absorb from this is: as a Gnostic I find my spiritual connection to the ONE true God through personal interaction (which involves constant examination, reflection, and deep introspection on spiritual teachings, particularly those provided by Jesus Christ). My learning and understanding comes from the spirit of the ONE who provides me with guidance, because I trust the ONE above all other humans. Whether I receive enlightenment from the ONE depends on my choice to open my thoughts, feelings, and actions to God’s spirit and will. The onus is on me.
To begin appreciating Gnosis let’s start with a teaching from the Canonical Gospels – Matthew 6: 5-6: “…when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you”.
This is the essence of Gnosis. Do not behave in accordance with the “showy formalities” of the human behaviours required by the doctrines, laws, and routines of the “churches”, but rather look inside yourself – to the soul and the spirit of God that is in you – and seek the ONE true God in that “private room and secret place”. Pray to the ONE there. Do it privately, with deliberate and sincere concentration and contemplation. Learn from it so that you become closer to the ONE and ultimately integrate with the ONE.
Now here’s the heretical nature of being a Gnostic.
The Gospel of Matthew was accepted into Biblical Canon by the church fathers – it is acceptable to church doctrine. This is most likely because the teachings contained in the Gospel of Matthew (along with those of Mark, Luke, and John) are reasonably clear and can be understood without too much mental effort.
However, the Canonical Gospels (with the exception of John) fall far short of the teachings and wisdom contained in other non-Canonical books such as the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Philip.
In my opinion, the extra-Biblical books – labelled as Apocrypha (because initially they were allowed to be read privately rather than publicly during church services, and later were “defamed” by the church as writings of unknown authorship or doubtful origin) – often contain much deeper and more valuable teachings that help us understand who we are and how we can come closer to the ONE.
The Apocryphal texts were proclaimed by the church to be "fake, heretical, and bad", most likely because the church founding fathers and subsequent protestant “politician-theologians” did not understand them or could not tolerate their teachings which liberated followers from church dogma. The problem with the church is that for many centuries it was a political body that controlled the human masses and indoctrinated and trapped them into religious doctrine. Humans were not allowed to think for themselves on spiritual matters but had to follow church teachings.
Let’s consider a few of the many teachings contained in the Gospel of Thomas.
Gospel of Thomas, sayings 24 – 27:
“He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Whoever has ears should hear. There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark’. Jesus said, ‘Love your (fellow human) like your soul; protect that person like the pupil of your eye’. Jesus said, ‘You see the speck that is in your (fellow’s) eye, but you do not see the beam that is in your own eye. When you take the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your (fellow’s) eye’. ‘If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom (of the ONE)’”.
“He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Whoever has ears should hear. There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark’. Jesus said, ‘Love your (fellow human) like your soul; protect that person like the pupil of your eye’. Jesus said, ‘You see the speck that is in your (fellow’s) eye, but you do not see the beam that is in your own eye. When you take the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your (fellow’s) eye’. ‘If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom (of the ONE)’”.
Gospel of Thomas, saying 42:
“Jesus said, ‘Be passersby’”.
“Jesus said, ‘Be passersby’”.
Gospel of Thomas, sayings 38 – 39:
“’There will be days when you will seek me (Jesus Christ) and you will not find me’. Jesus said, ‘The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered, nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so’”.
“’There will be days when you will seek me (Jesus Christ) and you will not find me’. Jesus said, ‘The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered, nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so’”.
Gospel of Thomas, saying 22:
“Jesus said to them, ‘When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and image in place of an image, then you will enter (the kingdom)’”.
“Jesus said to them, ‘When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and image in place of an image, then you will enter (the kingdom)’”.
Gospel of Thomas, saying 61:
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was given from the things of my Father… For this reason I say if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness’”.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was given from the things of my Father… For this reason I say if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness’”.
What wisdom are we receiving from the above? Here’s my humble attempt at interpreting the teaching.
The light (through the spirit) of the ONE is inside us, but if we do not access it (by going to our private room, as taught to us in the Gospel of Matthew) and understand it, that light will not shine in us or radiate into the world. If we do not find the light, the world will remain dark.
The “Pharisees” (while referring to a Jewish social movement and a school of thought during Second Temple Judaism that became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism) symbolise any religious leaders within controlled worshipful organisations who hid sacred writings from the masses in order to keep the masses ignorant and dependent upon the “church”.
For this reason, we must fast from this world – detach ourselves from it (and its acrimonious ways) and stop feeding on / from it – be passersby. We must not judge others (by seeing the speck in their eye, which stops them from seeing the light), but instead we must examine ourselves (by removing the beam in our own eye, which stops us from seeing the light). Once we have examined ourselves sufficiently to know ourslelves – our soul and the spirit in it – we will see and follow the light. Spiritual self knowing (gnosis) will bring us to the light, and will help us find the kingdom of the ONE.
In finding the light we will understand that the division from this world – the doctrine of ego and individualism – keeps us separated and in darkness. Finding the light will unite our soul with the spirit and the spirit with the ONE and, in so doing, will start us on the enlightening journey of integrating with the ONE.
There is no “you” and “me”, there is no “male” and “female”, no “outer” or “inner”, “above” or “below”, no separation; instead there is only ONE universe of which we are an integral part. From the perspective of soul and spirit, male and female are one, you and I are one – we are part of the universe. In essence, we are with God and and God is with us – we are part of the “whole” from which Jesus came. We can return to the whole if we purify our souls with the light of the spirit, but to do that we need to constantly self-examine and reflect on who / what we are, and how we relate to the ONE true God. That is Gnosis.
So, labelled as a Gnostic, I am a person who pursues Gnosis. If that makes me a Heretic, then so be it. I would rather be a Heretic in the eyes of the “church” fathers and protestant “politician-theologians”, and die in the light, than be a blind Christian dogmatic and live in the darkness of this world.
Image: Carvings on the Main Doors, Duomo di Milano, Milan, Italy. Copyright - Michael Beaton
NOTE: One of the messages engraved in the doors of the Duomo di Milano reads "Non Licet Esse Christianos", which means "It is not allowed to be Christians". It refers to the Christian persecution, and more accurately the Christian execution that started in Rome during the first century AD. I chose this photo of mine because it illustrates, somewhat graphically, the execution of believers. It also sadly reflects how people (not just Christians) have been executed in religious trials and wars for their spiritual beliefs. This can only be a human construct arising from the evil that is inbred into us from our Fallen progenitors.
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