Prayers and Reflections

Seven Gnostic Demons

by

Tom Saunders

The Sethian Gnostics, ones that were in the Jewish pre-Christian communities, who converted to Christianity, brought with them a science of the Monad which is only just beginning to be understood.  The study of the Monad was known as a secret study first developed by Pythagoreans. Then Hermeticists, Zoroastrians, and apparently Sethians adopted the practice of the study, as an occult science. As to the historical lineage of the study of the Monad in Christianity, it began before Jesus. Sethian Christianity began when Jesus became the Monad.

Most ancient Gnostics and the Gnostic scripture declare that the Monad, is absolutely an adopted teaching of the historical Jesus. Jesus used parables in reference to using the following theory and study of this science. As a modern Gnostic Priest I am proud to resurrect part of this teaching.  There are too many references laying around in Christian history to deny the study of the Monad.  I note most Biblical scholars have a foolish wisdom about ignoring the Monad’s presence in Gnostic scripture.  This work is dedicated to teaching this tool of thought and logic…

The study of the Monad is a matter of putting related terms into a form for contemplation and meditation. This means that the terms of the list are functional together as a synergy. A Monadology, in modern terms is used as a heuristic device.

A “heuristic device” like the Tai Chi or Monadology works as an abstract concept or model applied to contemplation about physical, mental, verbal, and social phenomena. Not only are they good devices for contemplation, they can be applied to a number of human skills. Playing chess is an example of one type  of system considered a heuristic device mentioned in “The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy.”

It happens that the Sethian Monadology works like what is known in Chinese philosophy, as Ba Gua Science. The following sets portray Gnostic Demons, which are conditions of the human Mind. These psychic forces effect the individual, the collective consciousness, and collective subconscious. Gnostics recognize man is subjected to these forces as a being of kenomic (earlthly) conditions. These demons in the patterns they are in, are Monadic seven unit sets called a ’Hebdoads.’

These sequences emerge from emptiness (Silence) both in the collective, and individual Mind. This is consitent with the perception of the creation of the Universe, in the Gnostic version where the Monad comes from emptiness or Silence.  From Silence comes the Logos or Word in the Sethian schema, of what emerges from Silence. This is the Monad, or the Sethian representation of Oneness. What emerges next is duality, and in duality are both balance, and imbalance, in any of Life’s experienced cause and effects of duality. (See; “Eugnostos the Blessed,” for a description of the emerging Monad.)

Duality is a force like the Monad, in that it effects every part of the Monadic set.  The forces of duality create polarities from one extreme of a duality to the other.  It is these forces the Gnostics call archons or even evil angels.  It is these forces the Gnostic seeks to overcome.

From the creation of Man in the Universe, Gnostics believe that a spark of divinity is in the beings which have souls.  The Gnositic soul is a creation of the Mind, and can be explained in the Monadic form as the evil sets below.  The heavens and the Mind are contracted by the forces of the Aeons, also known as Autogenes, and Monogenes……

“Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, basenesses and defilements, falsehoods and diseases, evil judgments that they decree according to their desires.” (On the Concept of Our Great Power, NHL, Codex VI.)

Gnostics saw the essence of evil as a natural phenomena caused by the natural forces of duality that create chaos and imbalance in the material world. They saw this as part of the natural flow of Energies (Spirit) from the Pleroma, (heaven) meaning the ’All.’  They learned to map this energy like the Chinese did with the study of Ba Gua science, only they called their system a Monadology.  (Note: Codex III is a primary source of references to the Sethian Monadology, as is ”A Valentinian Exposition,” and the Bruce Codex.)

Below are Seven Demons, put into the form of the Monadology, and they can be used as a learning and teaching heuristic device, as they are explained.  They can be used to heal yourself or others, but they can also be used as weapons.

Gnostic evil in the form of these sets are fashioned from the ”Seven Forms of Wrath,” contained in the ”Gospel of Mary.” These sets are from the Evil Trilogy of Darkness, Desire, and Ignorance, which are Sethian specific as to what they mean.  They are the primary forces of evil.

“The Seven Forms of Wrath,” become a total of seven units because the Gnostic laws of form and limit as far as Wrath, need only have seven parts to be a complete thing. This seems to be a standard in evil, including lies. The following passage describes the ”Seven Forms of Wrath.”

“When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.

The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.”  (Chapter 8., ”Gospel of Mary”) (In other works, darkness, desire, and ignorance of Sethian Gnosis, is called the ‘Evil Trinity.’ Darkness takes over the power of the Monad.}

The Evil Monad, or the Demon in the text, enters Mary’s soul, as Darkness, it made her lust or have Evil Desire, and she was Ignorant of the Truth or Light and did not Desire it. She felt the excitement of death, or wanting to kill that Wrath evokes. She felt the hatred, pain and fear in the Kingdom of the Flesh, and material world.  The Wrath made her think and act dangerously like the Gnostic demon Saklas (foolishness) in her thinking and Wisdom, as to her Flesh.

The above passage from the Mary gospel is typical of how Monadic sequences are written into, or imbedded into Sethian texts. Sethians use the Evil Trilogy of Darkness, Desire and Ignorance in one order or another to describe all kinds of evil. Refernces to this trilogy permeate Gnostic texts. The types like excitement of death, are not clear to exactly what is meant, without the Sethian epistemology, so I have seven examples, of Gnostic Demons.

They are Wrath, Lust, Deceit, Hatred, Sorrow, Slander, and Fear. Defeating these Demons is inclusive of the Sethian Gnostic studies, however, fighting them is another matter where the Gnostic seeks the Wisdom of the Logos, or Word, to fight these demons…….

The Seven Forms of Wrath

1. Darkness 2. Desire 3. Ignorance 4. Excitment of death  5. Kingdom of the Flesh 6. Foolish Wisdom of the Flesh  7. Wrathful Wisdom.

1. Darkness means the essence of evil from the standpoint that in darkness there is no rightful power of doing good over evil. The power of Wrath puts you in darkness where you are in a state of evil.

2. Desire refers to the mental urges that drive a person toward evil action over righteousness.  In this set desire is the part of duality that is a driving force for each of the rest of the units in this set. Desire or lust for anger is a driving force.

3. Ignorance refers to the state of not knowing or ignoring the righteous influence of the good within the boundaries of your own Knowledge that would overcome the powers of Wrath.

4.  Excitment of death refers to those conscious, and subconcious drives present during mental states of wrath were one thinks about violence and homocide, as a participant or witness.

5. Kingdom of the Flesh, refers to the hylic state of humans as beings trapped and influenced by the evil qualities of being flawed in the material (kenomic) world.

6. Foolish submission to the Flesh is when one acts and reacts to the baseness of hylic desires, not realizing the aspects of one’s consequences to himself or others.

7. Wrathful wisdom is that knowledge applied to doing or thinking in evil terms, guided by the desires created by Wrath.  This is the wisdom that is applied for the sake of wrath, and when done in darkness and ignorance, wrath becomes an evil act, which the controller of the sequence chooses. This is the position in the set that represents the person who will submit to wrath or overcome it.

The Seven Forms of Lust

1. Desire (Want), 2. Ignoranc 3. Darkness, 4. Excitment of Lust (Vice)  5. The Kingdom of the Flesh,  6. Foolish Submission to the Flesh,  7. Knowledge of Lustful Wisdom.

An Explanation of the forms of lust, as a Monadic set…..

1. Desire or Want, is the essence of Lust, any lust, and Clement of Alexandria lists a lot of them along with other Gnostics. Chinese philosophy from ancient times identify the sexual powers of duality, Jing, or Chen.  The sex drive in humans can become overwhelming.  This is the primary energy that effects the whole set.

2. Ignorance, means in Gnostic terms the the neglect of awareness for your responsibility for your actions, or thoughts. to your Gnostic obligation to become the Word. As it turns out ancients did not have the science to justify some of their beliefs, so the concept of ignorance would be different today.  Ignorance is the duality in the set, because submitting to the sex act out of lust, requires forgetting certain responsibilities. Ignorance will be a factor in all of this set.

3. Darkness, is when you act outside the perimeters of the Word, and therefore you do evil, or think about it. Darkness is synonymous with the Gnostic concept of Satan. There are many Gnostic warnings about the faction of mankind that will do evil for evil’s sake.

4. Excitment of Lust, can be characterized by what pornography does to the psyche. (Nous, meaning mind and body.)  Excitment of Death to the ancients would be like the psychic reactions from seeing the carnage of the Roman gladiators. People are driven by the same kinds of psychic and mental influences like you see in packs of dogs who try and kill one of their own, out of the lust and excitement of the blood and noise.

5.The Kingdom of the Flesh, is the state of man, as a material being.  The Gnostic perception is that man is trapped in matter, and therefore flawed.  When the Gnostic chooses to be Ignorant of his roots in the Word, he submits to being a lower form of human. When doing evil the Kingdom of the Flesh is an evil aspect of the Kenoma, or material environment.  There are all sorts of human vanities related to the Kingdom of the Flesh, to tempt anyone.  To know somebody’s weakness would enable you to use the factors in this Monadic sequence for pure evil.

6. Foolish submission to the Flesh, would be submitting to lust with reckless abandon.  Lust means more than sexual lust, Clement says revenge is a “lust for hatred.”  Foolish wisdom is a ‘thing’ attributed to the power of foolishness, Saklas.  Foolish submission to the flesh would include rape, and sexual preditor kinds of behavior, as well as semi-innocent romps, with unprotected sex. Foolish submission, depends upon the degree of Ignorance, and/or darkness involved with the act.

7.  The last unit of a Moandic set represents the ‘person’ (Gnostic) who through free will controls the duality which is in this case is Ignorance.  The ancients could not control connections between the sexual act, and conception, so in those days ‘free sex,’ could not be separated from the holy potentials.  Sexual lust is a thing that can be understood and controlled by the Gnostic, as well as anything that seems motivated by a type of lust.

The Seven Forms of Deceit

1. Evil Monad, (Darkness) deny truth (Lie)  2. Delay truth (Primary Duality and Evil Desire)  3. Distract (Create Ignorance) 4. Discredit (Create hatred)  5.Spotlight (Create Confusion) 6. Scapegoat (Blame Others)  7. (Apply/Control/ Defend) Evil Knowledge.

What you see is not just a list, these types have power.  Each type represents what has developed from oneness, into duality, and then into a seven unit device. The seventh unit is allegorically the controller, of the device, meaning you or an opponent controls the elements or types and how they are used.

Understand, when you are the controller of the set as the liar, you can use the types, like ingredients to a recipe added when they are needed. To detect a lie you, as the controller you can spot one of these types (ingredients) and when you start to find more, you can know how to reveal the truth. There are other signs like non verbal communication that can be applied to detecting lies, but below is how you could make a lie, come alive and crawl through other’s minds like a serpent…

1. The Evil Monad in this case is the lie, from the liar.  There can be many kinds of deceit. In this case the deceit or lie, creates the primary power through the following set. If you are the liar you are both first and last in this set.

2. Delay is the dyad or duality of the set.  It represents the type of duality between delay and no delay. Because it is an evil sequence, delay will become a factor effecting all the rest of the members in the set.  The dyad, as duality has the same kind of power over the set as the Monad to effect the rest of the types in the set. If there is no lie, then delaying would probably not be necessary.

3.  A liar will try and Distract as a ploy to try and divert one’s attention away from the possible lie. It is a way to delay finding out the truth. Good liars are sophics who can create revolving door arguments and they can use verbal pivots to distract from the focus of the evil.

4. A liar will try and discredit his prey, or discredit what might reveal his lie. This is related to the dyad, and the power to delay, and distract.

5. A liar will Spotlight issues and factors that may confuse the prey, in order to hide any evidence of his evil. This is also another ploy to delay.

6. A liar will try and Scapegoat himself out of guilt when discovered. He/she will blame others for his/her evil.  This is the last ploy a liar will use, when he knows he has been spotted.

7.  This is the Knowledge position or ‘you,’ and ‘you’ can control the flow of the lie, whether you are offense or defense, liar, or victim. In the Monadic set, you as the controller are the recipient of the lie, and you control the power of duality in the set over the power of the types. The ‘Perception’ you gain with this set starts with Silence, or emptiness, i.e. Wu Chi, the great void. Perception and Consciousness are the two key tools of developing this power.

The Seven Forms of Hatred

1. Darkness 2. Desire 3. Ignorance 4. Excitment of death 5. Kingdom of the Flesh 6. Foolish Wisdom of the Flesh  7. Hateful Wisdom

1. Darkness refers to the state where one is influenced by the lusts of hatred, and thinks in terms of doing evil in reaction to the emotional state of hatred.

2. Desire refers to the emotional drives hatred generates in the pysche.  Desire serves as the primary motivator for actions influenced by hatred.

3. Ignorance refers to the state of not recognizing those positive qualities within that can overcome the states of emotional hatred.

4. Excitment of death refers to those conscious, and subconcious drives present during mental states of hatred were one thinks about violence and homocide, as a participant or witness.

5.The Kingdom of the Flesh, is the state of man, as a material being.  When the Gnostic chooses to be Ignorant of his roots in the Word, he submits to desires of hatred he bocomes a lower form of human. When doing evil the Kingdom of the Flesh is an evil aspect of the Kenoma, or material environment, and makes acting in regard to hatred an evil endeavor.

6. Foolish wisdom of the Flesh refers to the reckless actions done out of pure emotions in regard to being overcome by hatred, and its related desires.

7. Hateful Wisdom refers to those actions taken by or thought about by the controller or person undergoing the emotional state of hatred, who selects to act out of hatred.

The Seven Forms of Sorrow

1. Darkness 2. Desire  3. Ignorance 4. Excitment of Sorrow 5. Kindom of the Flesh 6. Foolish Wisdom of Sorrow 7. Sorrowful Wisdom

1. Darkness is an evil after-effect of what makes us feel sorrow or anguish. Sorrow is an effect rather than a cause.

2. Desire in regard to sorrow comes in the form of relieving the negative power of the force of sorrow, which grips the psyche, and is like having a ‘monkey on your back.’ Sorrow as to desire in the extreme is when sorrow becomes self destructive.

3. Ignorance refers to not knowing or having the power to overcome the desire and darkness of the cause and effects of sorrow. Self destructiveness can lead one to select to be ignorant of the forces that would or might relieve the emotional burden of sorrow.

4. Excitment of Sorrow refers to those psychological states of being in, or creating sorrow, within yourself or others. Death and bad fortune are among elements creating the ‘excitment’ or anxiety of sorrow.

5. Kingdom of the Flesh refers to man in the hylic state, and the cause and effect of sorrow in the human psyche, that is in direct relation to the flesh, and that which would relate to flesh and sorrow.

6. Foolish wisdom refers to sorrow in relation to causing sorrow out of foolish thoughts and actions. It is more or less acting foolishly in regard to the cause and effects of sorrow.

7. Sorrowful Wisdom refers to the knowledge of what creates sorrow, and what eliminates it, within the controller’s domain to act, in good or evil.

The Seven Forms of Slander

1. Darkness 2. Desire  3. Ignorance 4. Excitment of Slander 5. Kindom of the Flesh 6. Foolish Wisdom of Slander 7. Slanderous Wisdom

1. Darkness in regard to slander lies in regard to its evil cause, effects, and intentions. Slander is a form of lie.

2. Desire refers to the emotional drives to create a state of slander for others.  Desire is the driving force for the evil act of slander. Desire as the dyad drives the forces below as the imbalance desire can create in the psyche.

3. Ignorance is the choice of one who decides to slander.  One selects to be ignorant of the facts, and ignorant to the cuase and effects of the act of slander.

4. Excitment of slander is both the anticipation of doing the slander, and realizing the possible and then real cause and effects of the act.

5. Kingdom of the Flesh in regard to slander are those elements of the hylic condition that can be applied in the act of slander.

6. Foolish wisdom in regard to slander is the act of doing slander without regarding the cause and effects of the act.

7. Slanderous Wisdom is that which is applied to doing slander, or stopping it.

The Seven Forms of Fear

1. Darkness of Fear  2. Ignorance of Fear  3. Desire of Fear  4. Excitment of Fear  5. Kingdom of the Flesh  6. Foolish Wisdom of fear  7. Fearful Wisdom

1. Darkness of Fear is evil when it is caused by forces which are guided by evil intentions, other than those of enlightened uses of fear.  Fear in itself is not evil, but when applied to the darkness is a very destructive power.

2. The driving force of fear is Ignorance, and it creates the dualities that make fear work against the psyche of a person and the collective.

3. Desire in regard to fear can be a lust for fear, or a lust for causing fear. It is one of man’s most destructive forces.

4. Excitment of fear is in regard to having or causing fear for the sake of the destructive ‘excitment’ it causes in the human psyche.

5. The Kingdom of the Flesh is the primary target of what causes fear in human beings.  The state of man in the kenoma or earthly environment, is the basis for man’s flaw as not being entirely ‘Spirit.’

6. Foolish Wisdom of Fear is the use or cause of fear out of pure ignorance and lack of forethought.

7. Fearful Wisdom is that wisdom which is used to cause fear, or stop it.

Conclusion:

Fighting Gnostic Demons, in terms of this science of how to study evil, is relatively easy.  I mentioned above that Jesus used parables to apply the principles of Monadic science, and a collection of 13 parables in imbedded in the “Secret Sayings of the Living Jesus.”  Also known as ”The Gospel of Thomas.”

Parables are riddled with Gnostic Demons. The Thomas gospel allows one to contemplate the contents of the parables, which are devoid of the Word, meaning Jesus Wisdom, i.e. Logos. This wisdom is in other Jesus sayings, and by incorporating your own thoughts into contemplation about the parables, you bond with the ”Living Words of Jesus,” in your reasoning.

In terms of the above Demons, when you add the Gnostic concept of Word to the sets describing the Demons, you take control of the Demon, with the ‘Word of Gnosis,’ or the Holy Spirit, i.e. Logos, Word, Monad, Jesus Wisdom.

All of the above Demons in all their forms are part of your life, and any other Demons can be studied, defined and defeated with the Word, just from the wisdom of the science and study of ’Secret Living Words.’  If you can apply them to the parables, you can defeat the Demons above, and others you might encounter.

bottom feeding fish are evil according to the bible

to eat shrimp is as evil as homosexuality

according to the bible……

but of course many interpret the word Torah to be LAW….

in ignorance…

actually the word torah means GUIDE……

only the foolish take it literally….

http://www.godhatesshrimp.com/

Leviticus 11:9-12 says:
⁹ These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
¹⁰ And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
¹¹ They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
¹² Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Deuteronomy 14:9-10 says:
⁹ These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
¹⁰ And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.

So you see Shellfish are an abomination

Eating Shrimp will send you to hell

Love the sinner, hate the fisherman

“A life based on desires is like a spider’s web, says Saint Gregory of

Nyssa. Woven about us by the father of lies, the Devil, the enemy of

our sous, it is a frail tissue of vanities without substance, and yet it

can catch us and hold us fast, delivering us up to him as his prisoner.

Nevertheless, the illusion is only an illusion, nothing more. It should

be as easy for us to break through this tissue of lies as it is for us

to destroy a spider’s web with a movement of the hand.”

–Thomas Merton

….

God vs Satan

In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, with green, yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God’s bountiful gifts, Satan created Dairy Ice Cream and Magnums.

And Satan said “You want hot fudge with that?

And Man said “Yes!”

And Woman said “I’ll have one too with chocolate chips”.

And so they gained 10 pounds.

And God created the healthy yoghurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair.

And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat and sugar from the cane and combined them.

And Woman went from size 12 to size 14.

So God said “Try my fresh green salad”.

And Satan presented Blue Cheese dressing and garlic croutons on the side.

And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said “I have sent you healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them”.

And Satan brought forth deep fried coconut king prawns, butter-dipped lobster chunks and chicken fried steak, so big it needed its own platter.

And Man’s cholesterol went through the roof.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with potassium and good nutrition.

Then Satan peeled off the healthy skin and sliced the starchy centre into chips and deep fried them in animal fats adding copious quantities of salt.

And Man put on more pounds.

God then brought forth running shoes so that his Children might lose those extra pounds.

And Satan came forth with a cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering light and started wearing stretch jogging suits.

Then God gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite.

And Satan created McDonalds and the 99p double cheeseburger.

Then Satan said “You want fries with that?” and Man replied “Yes, And extra large size please”.

And Satan said “It is good.”

And Man and Woman went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple by-pass surgery.

And then Satan chuckled and created the National Health Service – where you have to wait years for your turn to get free surgery.

THE FINAL WORD ON NUTRITION:

After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here’s the final word on nutrition and health:

1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

3. Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

4. Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

5. Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you!!

….

“Jewish mystics teach that a happy person is not someone who has just the right set of circumstances. Instead, the happy person is someone who has the right attitude about any circumstance and is able to communicate that attitude to his or her soul, and then do something either to heighten a positive experience or lessen a negative one. It is crucial mystics say, to realize that the sharpest stones benath our bare feet can be diamonds, if we just recognize them as such. In other words, a happy person can bounce back from failure or defeat not only by looking at the bright side, but also by learning from the dark side…..

For most of us though, happiness is less a matter of bouncing back from defeat than making the routine parts of our lives seem interesting. It is so easy for us to go through day-to-day on cruise control, with our senses and minds disconnected. The mystics tell us that when we put ourselves on automatic we are merely going through the motions of life and not consciously noticing what’s around us. This tendency to cruise is our answer to daily routine. At best, it is a meaningless rest period that helps us get through the more mundane parts of our day. At worst, it is dangerous, physically and spiritually…..

Consider this story about a man named Mordechai, whom I met several years ago in Israel near the Western Wall. I was talking in English to a group of people, and he stopped nearby to listen. When I finished my impromptu lecture on the history and theological meaning of the Wall, Mordechai tapped me on the shoulder, and, in the softest voice, asked where I was from. When I told him, a glowing smile spread across his face. His uncle came from the same place. He asked me to recite the traditional Jewish blessing that marked coincidence. When I did, he said, ‘Amen.’

When I told him I was a rabbi leading a tour of the Holy Land, that smile returned, and he informed me that this was his lucky day. To meet a rabbi from the same place as his uncle was so fortunate that he felt compelled to recite the blessing spoken upon meeting a scholar. And I, of course, said, ‘Amen.’ After I answered each question from Mordechai, he found a reason to marvel. Something about each answer was utterly wonderful and amazing to him. He responded with a blessing, and I with an amen.

When I ran into Mordechai several days later, I asked him about all those blessing. ‘I make it a practice to meet many interesting people from all over the world,’ he said. ‘You see, I believe that God records every blessing that every one of us ever speaks. All God has to do is count how many blessings I’ve said and how many times I’ve made others realize the coincidental blessings in their lives. In this way, I can’t miss being with the Holy One for eternity.

‘You see, my rabbi,’ he continued with reverence and that wonderful smile, ‘the one with the most “amens” in the end, wins’…..

If we let our senses be dulled by the mundane, we will lose the risiliency of our spirit. If we don’t exercise our inner joy, we will not be able to cope with the worst of times, nor appreciate the joy from the best of times.”

- Dannel I Schwartz (Finding Joy:

A Practical Spiritual Guide to Happiness)

That the self advances and confirms the ten thousand things
is called delusion;
That the ten thousand things advance and confirm the self
is called enlightenment.

– Zen Master Dogen Zenji, 1200 – 1253
Moon in a Dewdrop
Translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi

……..

“God becomes present in a very special way and manifests Himself in the
world wherever He is known and loved by men. His glory shines in an
ineffable manner through those whom He has united to Himself. Those who
as yet know nothing of God have a perfect right to expect that we who do
pretend to know Him should give evidence of the fact, not only by
‘satisfying every one that asketh us a reason of that hope which is in
us,’ but above all by the testimony of our own lives.”

–Thomas Merton

…..

“Seek truth in meditation, not in moldy books.

Look in the sky to find the moon,
not in the pond.”

- Persian proverb

 

When faced with bigotry we remember, it is not the body, not the spirit who are master, it is the Christ.

 

Perhaps this is summed up thusly:

 

“Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.”

~Mary Baker Eddy

 

 

Of course if one cannot have compassion and unconditional love, one will never truly win the ultimate battle; the battle of the self,

 

“What sort of religion can it be without compassion?
You need to show compassion to all living beings.
Compassion is the root of all religious faiths.”

–Basavanna; Vacana, 247

 

 

for the battle of the self is the greatest we face; just as the painting is inseperable from the painter, hatred is inseperable from the hater….

 

“The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form”

 

In the words of Yeshu:

 

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
–Matthew 22.36-40

 

You see, Jesus was not a bigot, but sadly many who walk in his name are.

Waters are wiser than we; they see the night sooner.

     From the sky into the dark they recede

     And vanish like a huge fish

     While hills receive a wild stampede.

     Waters are wiser than we; they can find joy

     In the trees only,

     Not in strangers

     Forcing us to live lonely.

     Waters are wiser than we; they don't sleep,

     But keep their eyes open where the blue thrives,

     And couched in the secret of death they wait

     For a place for their own lives.

 

 

–FAZIL HÜSNÜ DAGLARCA

 

 

…………….

 

“If someone throws a ball and it crashes through a window, do we say that the ball broke the window or that the person throwing the ball broke the window? Clearly, the primary mover is the source of the movement, and the responsibility falls to this source. The ball did not break the window of its own volition—it was thrown.

        There is a deeper aspect to this question. Did the person throwing the ball break the window, or was there a primary mover behind this person—did God break the window?…..

        …..the answer to the question of whether the stone thrower or God broke the window is that one cannot be separated from the other. The stone thrower is an expression of the Divine; it does not act as a separate entity. The window is broken, and it is also not separate. Windows break when hit by stones—this is the nature of glass. We must change our linear thinking to the understanding of Oneness, that each unfolding moment is the expression of the Divine.

        Everything that ‘is’ and everything that happens is an expression of God-ing. We do not need to await the touch of the Divine in order to know this; we simply need to open our eyes and our ears to experience what is happening right here and right now.”

 

- David A. Cooper (Invoking Angels:

For Blessings, Protection, and Healing)

 

…….

 

“In all faith, whether natural or supernatural, we must have some
rational assurance that the person on whose word we accept a truth
really speaks with authority.  The relations of the average layman with
his doctor demand a large amount of human faith.  We expect our doctor
to know quite a lot about a subject of which we ourselves are ignorant.
We take the medicines he prescribes, trusting in his skill, on his
authority.  But it is not rational to trust every man who calls himself
a doctor.  We are unreasonable if we place ourselves in the hands of
someone whose patients spend more and more money for esoteric treatments
and strange operations without ever getting well.”

 

–Thomas Merton

 

“Growth in experience implies a serious self-doubt and self-questioning
in which values previously held seem to be completely exploded and no
other tangible values come to take their place.  This may even take the
form of a crisis of religious faith in which our whole conception of God
and of our relationship to him may be tuned upside down.  There may seem
to be ‘no God’ at all, or else our relationship to him may seem so
desperate that we feel as though we are damned, in our moments of
darkness.”

–Thomas Merton

“To be a Buddhist
You must not be a Buddhist“

–Buddha

When we search endlessly for something, a label often we never find. As you say, the “work” is there
and carries on being there regardless.

Labels are Labels…. it is too easy to follow vain pride and proclaim I am this, and thus I am not that.
…..

“Religion is club, hence the beatings
Spirituality is a path, hence the journey”

–Sis. Artemisias

What is Sister Artemisias saying?

It is too easy to fit a round peg in a round hole. Some people approach their spiritual/religious journey that way. They run out, buy books, nice hats with fluffy bits on and a picture of a pink moose. Once the books are read, the nice fluffy hat can be worn; we can devote decades to saying mantra to the pink moose….

What have we achieved?

We have achieved a nice devotion to a path, a religion, a mantra, a pink moose.

…

The alternative is to be dynamic. To change…to BE…
To literally follow a journey, to GROW, to develop..to become
sure we can have a devotion to a path or a pink moose mantra along the way
but we need to not join clubs….we need to be on a journey. So once you have painted a wall with a brush you can learn to use a roller. it is too easy to get stuck saying magic words to pink moose and thinking that’s where its at….

…

So dont be afraid to feel you arent part of a club…
as in my opinion, that is a good thing…

I identify with the Holy Grail personally, as I grew up in the shadow of Glastonbury, England…
However… as some say, I think LOVE is the only true universal religion….
Of course discerning what love IS…is another story….

“I gained nothing from supreme enlightenment
It is for that very reason it is called supreme enlightenment.”

–Buddha

And yet my friends will become nothing

And others will also become nothing.

Even I shall become nothing;

Likewise, everything will become nothing.

–The Guide to the Bodhisattva’s way of Life (Shantideva)