Day 212

The spiritual vacuuming that is my life, currently unborn children, helping young people on their late 20s… a place of worship is always difficult. Other people around me of course are aware of my spirituality, some approve, others don’t, others just find it weird.

As I become and am a Unitarian Universalist, I find hard to balance a head in the clouds versus the reality of UU ism. While my very thoughts and maps of belief and reality are fully colored by spiritual walking, this is difficult for others. At our church we have a discussion groups. I realize, I do find it difficult to not sound patronizing or to simply utter something that blows everyone’s minds (if I say anything at all…..which is more often the case, that I remain silent). This group has been going on decades before I joined, yet in that time, mysticism or more accurately, direct spiritual insight has not been discussed, or barely….

I remember my days as a depressed agnostic teen, overcome with the loss of my mother, I fell into the pit of Nihilism. This bleak self defeating world view and others similar to it…absurdism and other existentialist nightmarish world views. I remember years later, wanting, tasting, to cross the veil. To experience the inner planes. I did so, eventually in downtown Manhattan, NY.

Though as I have to remind myself

GNOSIS is for everyone, when they are ready, everyone is where they are meant to be…..

I guess this is one reason why I never really joined a church before, my interests were different to feeding the poor, protesting local government about bad public transport or any other social action activities; none of which are wrong…. just not my main focus… and I think that’s the problem…..when I perceive social action etc. being the main focus over actual mystical experience…….I guess, I imagined UUism would give me both. So far, it hasn’t.

I must get over myself… stop being a bung hole, realize that spirituality is, a lonely pursuit. Get a grip, work on myself, my failings…. help me to not see others as stupid, which is difficult as I do NOT view myself as advanced or anything approaching that term. I wonder how many struggle with this?

Though, I don’t see this as ever being resolved in our UU church, people are either atheists, humanists, damaged from fundamentalism or……. Having spoken to a church regulars husband at a dinner party, I am kind of coming to the sad conclusion he made in his refusal to attend reguarly because “not enough people were on a quest.”

Of course it doesn’t help that i’m an introvert and like to sound a person out before I share….. I mean, for inner walkers, how would conveying spiritual experiences go, to non walkers? Like discussing sex with a virgin?

Well that’s more rant, had to say it…. meaningless drivel. I wonder what if anyone else reading this attends a church which makes you smile……but leaves you wanting? Why is belief so scary? Why is praxis so scary? Who knows……probably it’s just me and no one could give a monkeys about discussing various cosmological variations…. why do UUs find beliefs so scary?

……..

Thou hast sworn unto Thy servants, for Thou alone

art He who changest not, Thou alone art the Infinite

and Boundless One. Thou only art unengendered,

born of Thyself, Self-Father, Thou only art immaterial

and hast no stain, ineffable in Thy generation and

inconceivable in Thy manifestation. Hear us, then,

O Father Incorruptible, Father Immortal, God of

Hidden Beings, sole Light and Life, Alone beyond

Vision, only Unspeakable, only Unstainable, only

[Foundation] stone of Adamant, sole Primal Being,

for before Thee was nothing.

–Bruce Codex

The Gnosis Of The Light: A Translation Of The Untitled Apocalypse Contained In Codex Brucianus (Ibis Western Mystery Tradition)

Deep: (Bythos) The term ‘deep,’ refers to the concept of parent or parents. The term is used in the ”Untitled Text of the Bruce Codex.” This is from Irenaeus, ”Adversus Heraeses 1.8.5.” ” Ptolemy interpreted the prologue of John’s gospel (Jn 1:1-14) “Parent” is usually called “Father” or “the Deep.” “Loveliness” is usually called “Silence.” Tertullian, uses the term ‘depth.’ The term can refer to the levels of the abyss….”let the deep open and swallow these men: yea, Sabaoth.” (Acts of Philip.)

Garment: (Vesture) Meaning clothing, but in Gnostic terms can mean the flesh covering the body. Sometimes used in various references to wearing the soul or the idea of social position as a philosophical covering. From the Un-named text in the Bruce Codex: “This is Man, begotten of mind (nous) ‘, to whom thought gave form. It is thou who hast given all things to Man. And he has worn them like garment.”

”Chelkeach, who is my garment, who has come from the Astonishment, who was in the cloud of the Hymen which appeared, as a trimorphic cloud. Ane Chelkea is my garment which has two forms, he who was in the cloud of Silence. And Chelke is my garment which was given him from every region; it was given him in a single form from the greatness, he who was in the cloud of the middle region and the star of the Light which surpassed the thought and teh tetimony of those who bear witness.” (”The Paraphrase of Shem.”)

 

Reflection for 2/21/09: The Christ, The Cup, The Mirror and the Wine

> 

> I think that the True Man can be more accurately described as the

> Jesus-Man through which the Christ can become manifest.

>

> As for the mirror/reflection analogy … I think of the Biblical

> phrase that we were created in the “image” of God. The word “mirror”

> can be found in the definition of “image” … not that we are/were

> “The” God, but were created in the likeness of God … a reflection of

> the divine.

>

> Regards,

>

>

 

these are important questions

 

“I think that the True Man can be more accurately described as the

> Jesus-Man through which the Christ can become manifest.”

 

The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind,

 

 

senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work

 

using you as a mere instrument.”

 

 –The Gita

 

 

So is Jesus the vessel and christ wine that is poured into the vessel?

 

Or is Jesus the vessel and the wine as is the Christ?

 

One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate,

 

the Buddha called to him,

 

“Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?”

 

Manjusri replied,

 

“I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?”

 

 

…

 

> As for the mirror/reflection analogy … I think of the Biblical

> phrase that we were created in the “image” of God. The word “mirror”

> can be found in the definition of “image” … not that we are/were

> “The” God, but were created in the likeness of God … a reflection of

> the divine.

 

Where does God end and man begin?

 

 

“When my Beloved appears,With what eye do I see Him?

 

With His eye, not with mine,

 

For none sees Him except Himself.”

 

–Ibn Arabi

 

 

 

Two points as opposites when stretched for infinity will bend in upon themselves and meet. Thus mnaking the end in the begining, or perhaps that there is no end or beginning; see college level math and chapter one of the Sefer yetzirah in theory and practice, A. Kaplan translation.

 

if we are alike God, but not God… is this not duality?

 

If I am not God, does this mean that there exists God and not God?

.

 

 

“He who sees himself only on the outside,

 

not within, becomes small himself and makes others small.”

 

–Mani (turfan fragment M 801)

 

…..

 

Ain Sof in the Kabbalah of Azriel of Gerona

 

 (from “Origins of the Kabbalah” by Gershom Scholem)

 

 

 

 ”If…..there was at first a great deal of uncertainty about the use of the term ‘en-sof, no such ambiguity exists any longer in the mystical vocabulary of the school of Gerona [13th century]. ‘En-sof there is a technical, indeed artificial, term detached from all adverbial associations and serving as a noun designating God in all his inconceivability. Here it is well to remember that the determination of God as the Infinite served for for the thinkers of antiquity and the Neoplatonists…..precisely as a symbol of his inconceivability, and not as an attribute that can be grasped by reason (such as it became with the Scholastics). Among the kabbalists, God is regarded as Infinitude no less than as the Infinite One. The inconceivability of the hidden God and the impossibility of determining him, which, occasionally seem to point to a neutral stratum of the divine nature, are nevertheless those of the infinite person on the whole, the latter being the theistic reinterpretation of the Neoplatonic ‘One.’ Azriel himself introduces him as such at the beginning of his questions and answers on the sefiroth, for he identifies ‘en-sof—a word he employs often and without hesitation—with the leader of the world and the master of creation…..

 

        Azriel’s…..spoke of ‘en-sof as the God whom the philosophers had in mind, and whose sefiroth were but aspects of his revelation and of his activity, the ‘categories of the order of all reality.’ Precisely the most hidden element in God, that which the mystics had in mind when they spoke of ‘en-sof, he transformed into the most public. In doing so he already prepared the personalization of the term ‘en-sof, wich from the designation of an abstract concept begins to appear here as a proper name. Whereas in general, and even in Azriel’s own writings, ‘en-sof still has much of the deus absconditus, which attains anapprehensible existence in the theosophic notion of God and in the doctrine of the sefiroth only, the commentary on the ten sefiroth already presents the ‘en-sof as the ruler of the world, which certainly suggests an image of the government of the world that is very different from that of the theosophy of the Infinite and its sefiroth. For Azriel the highest sefirah is evidently the unfathomable or unknowable and especially the divine will, which in this circle is elevated above the primordial idea. In the abstract the latter could be distinguished from ‘en-sof, but in the concrete it constitutes a real unity with it. The hidden God acts by means of this will, clothes himself in it, as it were, and is one with it. In order to express this, the kabbalists of Gerona readily speak of the ‘will up to the Infinite,’ the ‘height up to the Infinite,’ the ‘unknowable up to the Infinite,’ by which they evidently mean the unity in which the supreme sefirah, represented in each case by the corresponding symbol, extends up to the ‘en-sof and forms with it a unity of action…..

 

        Azriel is fond of referring Job 11:7 : ‘Can you find out the depth of God?’ to this primordial depth of God, which can signify both the fathomable as well as precisely that in the will that is unfathomable and beyond the grasp of all thought. From this primordial depth flwow all the paths of wisdom and it is this primordial depth that in the ‘Chapter on the kawwanah‘ is literally called ‘the perfection of the depth that is one with ‘en-sof,’ a phrase that can also be translated equally literally as ‘that unites itself with ‘en-sof,’ that is, that extends up to its infinity. Thus the terminology of cheqer, the primordial depth, at which all contemplation of the divine is aimed, changes at the same time into that of the ‘undepth’ (Hebrew: ‘en-cheqer), this primordial depth proving to be precisely the unfathomable, and thereby a perfect analogy, in its linguistic form as well, to the Infinite, ‘en-sof.

 

        The will as primordial depth thus becomes the source of all being, and the deity, insofar as it can be envisioned from the point of view of the creature, is conceived entirely as creative will…..The fact that this creative will is then understood by Azriel, in the context of the ideas analyzed in the foregoing, as the Nought, is by no means an isolated instance in the history of mistical terminology. Jacob Böhme, whose Ungrund is reminiscent of Azriel’s formulations, considers the will that eternally emerges from this Ungrund as the Nought. It is therefore no wonder that in these writings the will never appears as something emanated, but rather as that which emanates…..

 

        A state in which ‘en-sof would be without the will accompanying it is thus inconceivable. This again raises the problem of the necessity of the emanation versus the freedom of ‘en-sof in the primordial act of the creation…..

 

        It can be said of ‘en-sof as well as of the Will that nothing exists outside it.

 

 

 

‘All beings come from the incomprehensible primordial ether, and their existence [yeshuth] comes from the pure Nought. However, this primordial ether is not divisible in any direction, and it is One in a simplicity that does not admit of any composition. All acts of the will were in its unity, and it is the will that preceded everything…..And that is the meaning of (Job 23:13): “He is One”—He is the unity of the will, outside of which nothing exists’ [Perush Aggadot, 107)…..

 

 

 

Neither is ‘en-sof nor in the will is there any differentiation; both are designated as the indistinct root of the opposites. For this indistinctness…..the ‘Iyyun circle and Azriel use the Hebrew hashwa’ah; unseparated and indifferent is there called shaweh, literally ‘equal,’ a word that is never used in this snese elsewhere in the Hebrew literature. ‘En-sof as well as the will are ‘indifferent with regard to the opposites.’ They do not conjoin the opposites…..but no distinctions are admitted at all; since the opposites in these supreme principles are ‘equal,’ that is, indistinct, they coincide in them. It is in this sense that mention is often made of the ‘indistinct unity’ or of the ‘indifference of unity’ in which apparent opposites coincide…..The oppoistes are abolished in the infinite…..

 

 

 

‘En-sof is the absolute indistinctness in the perfect unity, in which there is no change. And since it is without limits, nothing exists outisde of it; since it is above everything it is the principle in which everything hidden and visible meet; and since it is hidden, it is the [common] root of faith and unbelief, and the investigating sages [the philosophers] agree with those who say that our comprehension of it can take place only through the path of negation’ [Sha’ar ha-Sho’el].”

 

 

 

Gnostic words for October 10, 2008: Sextus, Silvanus, Simon Magus, Simony, Sophia, Sophist, Soter, Soteriology, Soul, Spinther, Stele, Stoic, Sutra, Syncretism, Synergy, Synesis, Synectic, Syzygetic, Syzygos,

Sextus: (4 BCE– 65-CE ?) A first century Greek Pythagorean philosopher. A collection of his sayings are contained in the Nag Hammadi Lib. Tractate 1 Codex XII.

Silvanus: Name of main character in the “Teachings of Silvanus,” Tractate 4, Codex VII. of the Nag Hammadi Lib., anti-Pagan work not thought to be Gnostic. A person called Silvanus was a disciple of Peter who carried messages from Peter to Asia Minor from Rome. (Also mentioned by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1,1; 2 Thessalonians 1,1; 2 Corinthians 1,19.)

Simon Magus: (1st Century CE) From Samaria, he was thought to be one of the earliest Gnostics, and a follower of John the Baptist. He was skilled in the arts of the Occult. He interpreted the Garden of Eden, exodus from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea as allegories. He was rejected by Peter for his views on the Holy Spirit. (see Simony) Simon Magus offered the disciples of Jesus payment for the power to perform miracles. He formed the ancient Gnostic sect of Simonianism, and is thought to have influenced later secular forms of Gnosticism. (See; ”Jung and the Lost Gospels,” by Hoeller, Theophysical Pub., 1989.) http://www.gnosis.org/library/grs-mead/grsm_simon_magus.htm (See also; Dositheos.)

The death of Simon Magus, from the Nuremberg Chronicle or Liber Chronicarum, 1493

Simony: The ecclesiastical crime and sin of paying for offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the ”Acts of the Apostles,” 8:18-24.

Sophia: Means “Wisdom.” Like the Logos this is considered a primal form. While the Logos is personified as male, Sophia is female. Logos has a direct and intellectual basis for guidance, Sophia is inspirational (sometimes even sensual). The basic idea is comparable to wisdom being Sophia (sofia) or “Holy
Spirit” in the form of pure wisdom. Pistis, means faith, hylic, or Prunikus Sophia refers to the imperfect or earthly state of the living, or earthly form from Pleromic origins. ”As appropriated by Sethianism and the Gnostics in general, Sophia is a hypostatized form of Hokmah, (i.e., the divine Wisdom of Proverbs 8, Job 28, Sirach 24).” ( See; Turner.)

Russian Icon, Sophia, the Holy Wisdom, 1812

Sophist: Teachers in 5th Century B.C. Greece who took payment for lecturing. Later Sophists were known for presenting convoluted lectures on political subjects to further their own means. Clement of Alexander denounced them for distorting truths. (See; W. K. C. Guthrie, Sophists (1971); H. Diels, ed., The
Older Sophists (1972). “Stromata” Bk 1 )

Soter: “Savior” also a name used for the Logos.

Soteriology: The study of principles of salvation within a religion.

Soul: That part of the human nous that can be activated and bonded with the Holy Spirit, Light, Sophia, etc. (See the Gospel of Phillip, “….the soul bonds with the Holy Spirit….. Nag Hammadi Lib.) According to the ”Acts of Thomas,” and ”The Heart Sutra,” and the ”Sutra of Cause and Effect” the soul is composed
of five ‘skandas,’ or elements, form, perception, consciousness, action, and knowledge. (See ”The Jesus Sutras,” Palmer, Ballantine, 2001) See also, ”Tatian’s Letter to the Greeks,” ”The soul is a special kind of spirit.” (See also; Sutra)

Spinther: The “spark” or “splinter” of internal divine light, that is awakened with Gnosis. The spinther is considered a divine spark which is cast into the souls of men, by the light cast off by the Perfect man, in some scenerios this is Seth, Adamas, (Adam), or Jesus. (See Pneumatic. See; Gaffney, p. 246.)

Spirit: Meaning a range of things in literalist Christian works including different ideas in the Gospels of Luke, Mark, Matthew and John. The Gospel of Mary refers to the spirit as a part of the human condition, as is the soul. Isidore and Theodotus wrote that spirit emanated from the soul. Also used to denote the Holy Spirit. Can mean vital energy, and probably best thought of as a concentration or type of energy. “Further, Clement the Stromatist, in the various definitions which he framed,that they might guide the man desirous of studying theology in every dogma of religion, defining what spirit is, and how it is called spirit, says: “Spirit is a substance, subtle, immaterial, and which issues forth without form.” ( JOANNES
VECCUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ON THE PROCESSION OF THE SPIRIT. IN LEO
ALLATIUS, VOL. I. P. 24) (See also; Theodotus)

Stele: Upright stone or pillar with an inscription or design. (See; “The Three Steles of Seth,” Codex VII, Tractate 5, Nag Hammadi Lib.)

Stoic: A philosophy strongly associated with Plato, and commonly accepted by the first century. Stoics held that virtue is attained by adapting nature and reason, they held that there are four cardinal passions: pleasure, desire, distress, and fear. They held that passions arose from false belief and ignorance, and one should adopt an ‘apatheia’ or an active role of non-passion in human feeling. (See; “The Gospel of Mary Magdala, by Karen King, Polebridge Press, 2003). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism

Sutra: Refers to literature of Eastern origins, such as the ”Heart Sutra,” known in Persian and Chinese works. Also refers to Chinese works found in Xian China, which are from an early Christian monastery. The ”Sutra of Cause and Effect,” contains the five ”Skandas” {skandhas} of the soul, ”Form, Perception, Consciousness, Action, and Knowledge.” These descriptions match those in the ”Acts of Thomas,” and the ”Heart Sutra.” (See; “The Jesus Sutras,” Palmer, Ballantine, 2001.) ”What we in our ignorance call the Self is really an interplay of five mental elements and the physical body (known as skandhas ), in temporary conjunctions, constantly changing and interacting. “Skandha” is usually translated as “heap”: or “aggregate” or “group,” each skandha being itself a combination of faculties shading into each other. The Sanskrit for the five mental skandhas can be translated as consciousness, sensations, concepts, perceptions, and volition.” ”The Gnostic Apostle Thomas” (c) 1997 Herbert Christian Merillat. http://www.gnosis.org/thomasbook/toc.html

Syncretism: Refers to combining two or more ‘cultural’ or otherwise perspectives into one system. Gnosticism (and therefore Christianity), as well as Kabbalah and the Mysteries of Mithras etc. grew from syncretism. Influence of Jewish mysticism, Zoroastrian, and Hermetic contained in the ”Nag Hammadi
Library,” and other works suggest that Sethian Gnosticism is based upon a syncretism.

Syncretism is not eclecticism but is often mistaken for the same thing. The latter is a picking and choosing according to taste, without the internal framework of a genuine understanding of function. The former is when two systems come together with cultural perspectives, or mutual economy that needs to be
worked out. Thus the important deeper “hard parts” of a system will still be included after syncretism, but lost on eclecticism.

Synergy: When two or more things combine together to produce or become more than their parts. In the process of Gnosis one must bond with a higher ‘wisdom.’ This is the plemoric part of enlightenment in the trilogy of gnosis in the Plemoric, Psychic, and Hylic states of the Nous, in becoming a Pneumatic.

Synesis: Means “insight” in the aspect of meditation or contemplation in the physical inter-workings of the bonding with Sophia, as an aspect of Gnosis. It is one of the lower powers that was bound into man from the Aeons, by the Demiurge, as derived from ‘a’ Gnostic creation scenerio. This concept is like
other scenarios of the process in Gnosis of bonding with the ‘Light’ or Holy Spirit to become Pneumatophoroi, or enlightened.

Synectic: A term used by Clement of Alexandria to mean a type of thought or memory that reflects aspects of the thought process relative to being human. (See “Stromata” Bk VIII by Clement of Alexandria) “But, in truth, Procatarctic causes (thoughts) are more than one both generically and specifically; as, for example, cold, weakness, fatigue, dyspepsia, drunkenness, generically, of any
disease; and specifically, of fever. But Synectic causes are so, generically alone, and not also specifically….Further, of causes, some are apparent; others are grasped by a process of reasoning; others are occult; others are inferred analogically.” (See also; Procatarctic)

Syzygetic: Having to do with the conjunction or opposition of two heavenly bodies, or either of the points which these occur, most often in regard to the sun and moon.

Syzygos: Literally means “consort”. Sometimes used to refer to the twin. Is generally meant to imply the thing to which one is driven to connect with. A person’s syzygos is their spirit. ”Sophia’s mistake was said to be her drive to create without her syzygos.” Syzgy, is considered a blending of spirit and
soul. (See; Theodotus, Criddle Collection.)

 

Reflection for January 8, 2008:How shall I pray to you, Barbelo?

If WE REALLY want prayer, we’ll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we’ll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what’s going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves.

–Thomas Merton

……………………………………………….

How shall I pray to you, Barbelo,
The nameless and unknowable,
The Infinite and Eternal,
Self-generating, Self-begetting,
Mother and Father,
Holy One –

Your name is no name,
It is only an indication,
Your being is No-Thingness,
Yet you are ground of all;

If anyone speaks of you, it is a lie,
And prayer to you is surely a deception,
For you are the Hidden God, the Alien God,
Whom no mortal has ever seen at any time –

Those who worship you, do not know you,
But those who know you, they understand perfect worship,
There is no offering you invoke, no rite that you demand,
There is no law that you give but the freedom of will,
Your Messenger has spoken clearly, saying,
“Worship the Most High in spirit and truth.”

You are Agatho Daimon, the Great Spirit,
You are the Virgin of Light, the Bornless One,
Emanating the Human One of Light and Sophia,
And all of the Immortals of the Pleroma –

Through these you reveal yourself and impart your Divine Gnosis,
Yet, as you are in yourself, you are the Great Unknown, the Unmanifest;
If there is a prayer to you it is your Holy Spirit in me that prays, the Divine I Am,
For only the Perfect can invoke your Holy Name and pray in your Divine Presence
All in the Speaking Silence of Primordial Meditation,
A prayer of Pure Being, the Great Seth: Amen.

— A Gnostic Prayer to Barbelo

Tau Malachi, Sophia Fellowship, Ecclesia Pistis Sophia O. S. G.

………………………………………………….

You yourself must be purifiers and redeemers of your soul, which is established in every place, so that you may be reckoned in the company of the Fathers of Light…of the Kingdom in the New Aeon, in the place of Joy.

—Mani

 

………………………………………………………………………Barbelo (BARBHLW): Generally the first aeon, body or voice in the Sethian creation myth; “the first virginal emanation,” it may have an androgynous connotation, but represents a Gnostic version of Yin, and Yang, and the sexual energy called ‘Jing’. (See Allogenes, Tractate 3, Codex XI, of the Nag Hammadi
Lib. See also: Pistis Sophia, Ch. 8, BK 1, Askew Codex. See also: ”Apocryphon of John,” ”Marsenes,” ”The Gospel of the Egyptians,” ”Melchizedek,” ”TheGospel of Judas,” Trimorphic Protennoia,” ”The Three Steles of Seth, and Zostrianos”) “I cast into her the first power which I had received from the
Barbelo, which is the body which I wore in the height.” (”Pistis Sophia”) ”And I saw holy powers by means of the Luminaries of the virginal male Barbelo telling me that I would be able to test what happens in the world:” (Allogenes) ”Great is the first aeon, male virginal Barbelo, the first glory of the invisible Father, she who is called perfect.” (”The Three Steles of Seth”) ”O Mother of the aeons, Barbelo! O first-born of the aeons, splendid Doxomedon Dom[…]! O glorious one, Jesus Christ!’ (”Melchizedek”)

“She requested from the invisible, virginal Spirit – that is Barbelo – to give her FOREKNOWLEDGE. And the Spirit consented. And when he had consented, the foreknowledge came forth, and it stood by the FORETHOUGHT; it originates from the thought of the invisible, virginal Spirit. It glorified him and his perfect power, Barbelo, for it was for her sake that it had come into being.

“And she requested again to grant her INDESTRUCTIBILITY, and he consented. When he had consented, indestructibility came forth, and it stood by the thought and the foreknowledge. It glorified the invisible One and Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being. “

And Barbelo requested to grant her ETERNAL LIFE. And the invisible Spirit consented. And when he had consented, eternal life came forth, and they attended and glorified the invisible Spirit and Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being.

“And she requested again to grant her TRUTH. And the invisible Spirit consented. And when he had consented, truth came forth, and they attended and glorified the invisible, excellent Spirit and his Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being.

“This is the pentad of the aeons of the Father, which is the first man, the image of the invisible Spirit; it is the forethought, which Barbelo, and the thought, and the foreknowledge, and the indestructibility, and the eternal life, and the truth. This is the androgynous pentad of the aeons, which is the decad of the aeons, which is the Father. – Apocryphon of John

The Barbelo

This Gnostic figure, appearing in a number of systems, the Nicolaites, the “Gnostics” of Epiphanius, the Sethians, the system of the “Evangelium Mariae” and that in Iren., I, xxix, 2 sq., remains to a certain extent an enigma. The name barbelo, barbeloth, barthenos has not been explained with certainty. In any case she represents the supreme female principle, is in fact the highest Godhead in its female aspect. Barbelo has most of the functions of the ano Sophia as described above. So prominent was her place amongst some Gnostics that some schools were designated as Barbeliotae, Barbelo worshippers of Barbelognostics. She is probably none other than the Light-Maiden of the Pistis Sophia, the thygater tou photos or simply the Maiden, parthenos. In Epiphanius (Haer., xxvi, 1) and Philastrius (Haer., xxxiii) Parthenos (Barbelos) seems identical with Noria, whoplays a great role as wife either of Noe or of Seth. The suggestion, that Noria is “Maiden”, parthenos, Istar, Athena, Wisdom, Sophia, or Archamoth, seems worthy of consideration. http://essenes.net/gnostikoi.html

 

further: THE GNOSTIC THREEFOLD PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT The Ascent of Mind and the Descent of Wisdom Novum Testamentum XXII, 4 (1980) by JOHN D. TURNER

 

Sethian Gnosticism a Literary history by JOHN D. TURNER

 

GNOSTICISM AND PLATONISM THE PLATONIZING SETHIAN TEXTS FROM NAG HAMMADI IN THEIR RELATION TO LATER PLATONIC LITERATURE by JOHN D. TURNER

TO SEE THE LIGHT: A GNOSTIC APPROPRIATION OF JEWISH PRIESTLY PRACTICE AND SAPIENTIAL AND APOCALYPTIC VISIONARY LORE

 

Reflection for November 30, 2007:the Lord of Totality

Jesus said, “The souls of every human generation will die. When these people,

however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.”

 

–Gospel of Judas

 

My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who truly knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.

–Matthew 11:27

 

My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.

–Luke 10:22

 

When Jesus and his disciples had finished eating, he asked, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than the others do?”  Simon Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I do!”

   “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus said.

    Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

   Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!”

   “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus told him.

    Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

   Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked him three times if he loved him. So he told Jesus, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.”

   Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep. I tell you for certain that when you were a young man, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will hold out your hands. Then others will wrap your belt around you and lead you where you don’t want to go.”

    Jesus said this to tell how Peter would die and bring honor to God. Then he said to Peter, “Follow me!”

—John 21:15-19

 

The Father of Greatness is Love – he who dwells in his glorious land. The entirety of the divine has been revealed (therein)!

These two are a single living body: the Father and his Love. For he has given himself for everything.

He exists in his aeons. Indeed, because of this they called the Father the Lord of Totality, ‘Love.’

For he gave victory to his aeons and his limbs.

—Kephalaia (Manichaean)

 

 

Reflection for October 26, 2007: the nature of Wisdom

But he came to water God’s Paradise and the enduring [generation], because [he]will not corrupt the [watering of] that generation but […] for all eternity.

Judas said to [him, “Rabbi] what type of fruit does this generation have?”

Jesus said, ‘The souls of every human generation will die. But when these people have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, then their bodies will die. Their souls will be enlivend and they will be taken up.”

Judas said, ”What will the rest of the human generation do?”

Jesus said, “It is not possible to sow upon [rock] and get fruit. In the same way […] the [corrupted] generation and the perishable Sophia […] the hand that created mortal people, so that their souls ascend to the eternal realms above.  Truly I say to you […]angel; […]power can see those […] […] holy generation […].”

After Jesus said this, he left.

 

–Gospel of Judas (April D. DeConick Translation)

 

 

“Every person born into this world represents something new, something that never existed before, something original and unique…..Every single person…..is called upon to fulfil his particularity in this world…..Every person’s task is the actualization of his unique, unprecedented and never recurring potentialities…..Rabbi Zusya…..said…..’In the world to come I shall not be asked: Why were you not Moses? I shall be asked” Why were you not Zusya?'”

 

– Martin Buber (The Way of Man According to the Teaching of Hasidism)

 

 

The fear of the Lord is glory and exultation,
and gladness and a crown of rejoicing.
The fear of the Lord delights the heart,
and gives gladness and joy and long life.
Those who fear the Lord will have a happy end;
on the day of their death they will be blessed.

To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
she is created with the faithful in the womb.
She made among human beings an eternal foundation,
and among their descendants she will abide faithfully.
To fear the Lord is fullness of wisdom;
she inebriates mortals with her fruits;
she fills their whole house with desirable goods,
and their storehouses with her produce.
The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom,
making peace and perfect health to flourish.
She rained down knowledge and discerning comprehension,
and she heightened the glory of those who held her fast.
To fear the Lord is the root of wisdom,
and her branches are long life.

Unjust anger cannot be justified,
for anger tips the scale to one’s ruin.
Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment,
and then cheerfulness comes back to them.
They hold back their words until the right moment;
then the lips of many tell of their good sense.

In the treasuries of wisdom are wise sayings,
but godliness is an abomination to a sinner.
If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,
and the Lord will lavish her upon you.
For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline,
fidelity and humility are his delight.

Do not disobey the fear of the Lord;
do not approach him with a divided mind.
Do not be a hypocrite before others,
and keep watch over your lips.
Do not exalt yourself, or you may fall
and bring dishonor upon yourself.
The Lord will reveal your secrets
and overthrow you before the whole congregation,
because you did not come in the fear of the Lord,
and your heart was full of deceit.

–The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus)

 

 

“Meditation is like a vehicle, a medium by which we can travel in consciousness, and it has nothing to do with what we ordinarily experience as the mind. The state of consciousness it induces is of a very different quality than we normally experience during our ordinary states of  wakefulness and sleep – it is a deep calm in which we are completely alert. Meditation is a medium, like a chariot, by which we bypass the intellect and enter the great ocean of awareness that resides within us all and that is one and the same with the universe and infinity. It is one of the most powerful tools of transformation known to humankind because it helps us voyage into the deep unknown recesses of our selves…..

 

        The central kernel of Jewish meditation is Ayis or Ayn Sof. This is the infinite point of zero. Emptiness, in this sense, is not to be imagined as a state of sadness, regret, and discomfort….. Ayis is the opening of the heart to the infinity of wholeness, it is absolute, it is total. As the Baal Shem Tov wrote: ‘Merge your mind always in intimacy with the Infinite Divine, so that you are always in contact with your great feeling of love for Her – and merge with Her, and say always to yourself, How can I be more worthy that Her resplendent Light dwell in me?’…..

 

        The task of Jewish meditation is to open the heart to union with the infinite, this is the same fundamental and underpinning point that underscores everything else within the tradition. It is ‘Ehyeh asher Ehyeh,’ God in our breat, God and us in Oneness. When we meditate, we watch Zot, a feminine word that is both one of the names of God and the meaning of ‘thisness.’ When we meditate we naturally expand and cultivate Chesed – compassion and loving-kindness…..When we meditate we become healers not only of our own wounding, which we repair by connecting it to God, but also of the world around us.”

 

– Avram Davis and Manuela Dunn Mascetti (Judaic Mysticism)

 

 

“It is true that God is the One Who produces in our hearts both our good desires and their effect, ‘for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will’ (Philippians 2:13).

Nevertheless, if we do not ourselves freely desire and manfully carry out HIs will, His grace will be without effect:  since the effect of grace is to make us freely do His will.”

—Thomas Merton

 

reflection for august 15, 2007: sunrise ruby

In the early morning hour,
just before dawn, lover and beloved wake
and take a drink of water.

She ask, “Do you love me or yourself more?
Really, tell the absolute truth.”

He says, “There’s nothing left of me.
I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight.”

This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!

The ruby and the sunrise are one.
Be courageous and discipline yourself.

Completely become hearing and ear,
and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.

Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.

–the sunrise ruby (the essential rumi)

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“You who long for the Fatherly Light, sister and spouse, my Sophe, anointed in the baths of Christ with incorruptible, pure oil, you hasten to look upon the divine faces of the heroes, the Great Angel of the Great Council [the Savior] – the true Son, as you enter the Bridal Chamber and rise [immortal] to the bosom of the Father.”

 

Gnosticv Words for May 30, 2007 Fasting, Garment,Gehenna, Gematria, Glaucius, Gnosis, Gnostic, Gnosticism, Gospel

Fasting: ”Fasting according to the signification of the word, is abstinence from food. Now food makes us neither more righteous nor less. But mystically it shows that, as life is maintained in individuals by sustenance, and want of sustenance is the token of death; so also ought we to fast from worldly things,
that we may die to the world, and after that, by partaking of divine sustenance, live to God. Especially does fasting empty the soul of matter, and make it, along with the body, pure and light for the divine words. Worldly food is, then, the former life and sins; but the divine food is faith, hope, love, patience,
knowledge, peace, temperance. For “blessed are they that hunger and thirst after” God’s “righteousness; for they shall be filled.” The soul, but not the body, it is which is susceptible of this craving.” (Theodotus/Kirby Collection.)

Garment: Meaning clothing, but in Gnostic terms can mean the flesh covering the body. Sometimes used in various references to wearing the soul or the idea of social position as a philosophical covering. From the Un-named text in the Bruce Codex: “This is Man, begotten of mind (nous) ‘, to whom thought gave form. It is thou who hast given all things to Man. And he has worn them like garment.” (See
also; Cebes)

Gehenna: Meaning hell, hades, sheol, in Gnostic terms hell is, the darkness, desire, and ignorance of Agnosia. In the ”Gospel of Judas,” Satan is Saklas, meaning foolishness. (See Tartaros, See also the ”Gospel of Mary” for the ‘forms of wrath;’ See also; ”The Five Gospels,” p. 544.)

Gematria: The study or science and art of number and letter manipulation. This would include geometric forms such as the Tetraktys of the Decad. ”I {Jesus} have turned their (periods of) influence and their quadrangles and their triangles and their figures of eight , since their (periods of) influence remained turned to the left from the beginning, together with their quadrangles and their triangles and their figures of eight.” (”Pistis Sophia,” See also; Tetraktys of the Decad.” See also; ”Marsenes.” )

Jewish Perspective:

Gematria is one of a number of methods which Kabbalists, and others I might add, employ to uncover “hidden meanings” in Hebrew words and expressions. Simply Gematria is the art of calculating the numerical value of a word by adding together the value of each letter. Once the numerical value of the word is known, words or combinations of words having the same value can be carefully scrutinized and compared. In this manner one number can become representative of several ideas, all of which are understood to be intrinsically related.

A famous example often quoted by commentators and authors addressing this specific topic is Genesis 49:10 which reads “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” By Gematria the words “until Shiloh” – y’voh Shiloh (Yod [10] + Bet [2] + Alef [1] + Shin [300] + Yod [10] + Lamed [30] + Heh [5] = 358), align with the Hebrew word for Messiah – Mashiach (Mem [40] + Shin [300] + Yod [10] + Chet [8] = 358]). Hence, according to Kabbalah, there is a direct connection between the terms “until Shiloh” and “Messiah.” Associated here is the Gematria of Numbers 21:9 which reads “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the Serpent of brass, he lived.” The serpent of brass is called Nachash (Nun [50] + Chet [8] + Shin [300] = 358). So there is a connection between “Messiah,” “until Shiloh,” and the “Serpent of brass.” Using this set of Gematria associations, Christian Kabbalists later assumed that the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the desert was a prefiguration of the Christian Saviour on the Cross. There are however other meanings such as the Nachash.

Using Gematria, Kabbalists arrive at many remarkable Holy Names or the names of Angels, revealing the mysteries of the world of the Merkavah (the fiery Chariot Throne and the Angels). An example is that the Gematria of the entire verse of Song of Songs 6:16: “I have gone down into the nut garden,” is equivalent to a verse in the Midrash (a Sacred Biblical Commentary) which reads “That is the depth of the chariot (Merkavah).”

There is really no limit to what can be yielded by employing this simple Gematria method explained above, but over the years the application of this system became more and more complex, and many more ways of practising this art were devised. I certainly cannot go into all of them in this short missive, but I should mention that there are two schools of thought in Kabbalah regarding the use of Gematria. One favours it, the other uses it very rarely, however both of them used it, hence Gematria is a key system in the “Letter-number Mysticism” of Kabbalah.

As said, Gematria became more and more complicated over the centuries. However, generally the most important types of Gematriot are:

1. The numerical value of one wore is equal to another word. This is the method explained above. Another example is the word Gevurah [Severity] (Gimel [3] + Bet [2] + Vav [6] + Resh [200] + Heh [5] = 216). The Gematria of this word is equal to the word Aryeh [Lion] (Alef [1] + Resh [200] + Yod [10] + Heh [5] = 216). A connection is therefore recognized between the ideas of “Severity” and “Lion” in Hebrew.

2. The reduction of numbers to single units. For example the value of Shin (300) is reduced to 3 or Kaf (20) to 2.

3. The squared number is calculated by squaring the numerical values of each letter in a word. for example the Tetragrammaton YHVH squared equals (Yod) 10² ( Heh) 5² (Vav) 6² (Heh ) 5² which equals 186. This is in turn equated with the word Makom [Place] (Mem [40] + Kof [100] + Vav [6] + Mem [40] = 186). Makom is also a Divine Name.

4. Adding up the value of all letters preceding a letter in an alphabetical numerical series. For example, the letter Dalet is the fourth letter of the Hebrew letter-numbers (alphabet), and the use of this type of Gematria in this case, requires one to add the values of the letters preceding Dalet, thus 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10.

5. Then there is the method of Gematria termed Millui meaning “filling” or “spellings.” In this method the values of the letters comprising the names of the individual letters are calculated. In Hebrew each letter is a word, and is spelled as follows:

Alef— Alef–Lamed– Peh [Feh]
Bet— Bet–Yod– Tav
Gimel— Gimel–Mem– Lamed)
Dalet— Dalet–Lamed– Tav

Heh can be spelled:
Heh–Alef
Heh–Heh
Heh–Yod

Vav can be spelled:
Vav-Alef-Vav
Vav-Yod-Vav
Vav-Vav

Zayin—Zayin-Yod-Nun
Chet—Chet-Yod-Tav
Tet—Tet-Yod-Tav
Yod—Yod-Vav-Dalet
Kaf—Kaf-Feh
Lamed—Lamed-Mem-Dalet
Mem—Mem-Mem
Nun—Nun-Vav-Nun
Samech—Samech-Mem-Kaf [ Chaf]
Ayin—Ayin-Yod-Nun
Peh—Peh-Heh
Tzadi—Tzadi-Dalet-Yod
Kof—Kof-Vav-Peh [ Feh]
Resh—Resh-Yod-Shin
Shin—Shin-Yod-Nun
Tav—Tav-Vav

Using this type of Gematria the value of Alef (Alef [1] + Lamed [30] + Feh [80]) = 111; Bet (Bet [2] + Yod [10] + Tav [400]) = 412, etcetera. These Millui or fillings are very important in the construction and permutation of Divine Names. Take for example the earlier mentioned YHVH, in which the letter-numbers Heh and Vav have different fillings, that is different spellings. As indicated already, the letter Heh can be spelled Heh-Alef, Heh-Heh or Heh-Yod, and Vav can be spelled Vav-Alef-Vav, Vav-Yod-Vav or Vav-Vav. So with these letters one can use three different kinds of fillings, traditionally called:

Millui de-Alfin (Alef filling);
Millui de-He’in (Heh filling); and
Millui de-Yodin (Yod filling).

Applying these to the Ineffable Name, YHVH, the Sacred Tetragrammaton can be varied accordingly to give the so-called “Forty-Five Letter Name of God,” “Fifty-Two Letter Name of God,” “Sixty-Three Letter Name of God,” and “Seventy-Two Letter Name of God.” In fact each of these names correspond to one of the Four Worlds of Kabbalah, respectively the worlds of Assiah, Yetzirah, Briah and Atzilut. This is done in the following manner:

Yod-Vav-Dalet Heh-heh Vav-vav Heh-heh comprises the “Fifty-Two Letter Name of God,” and in Gematria the word Ben (Bet [2] + Nun [50] = 52). The word Ben (son) is thus representative of the “Fifty-Two Letter Name of God.”
Yod-Vav-Dalet Heh-Alef Vav-Alef-Vav Heh-Alef comprises the “Forty-Five Letter Name of God,” which corresponds in Gematria to the word Adam (Alef [1] + Dalet [4] + Mem [40] = 45). The word Adam (man) therefore symbolizes the “Forty-Five Letter Name of God.”
Yod-Vav-Dalet Heh-Yod Vav-Alef-Vav Heh-Yod comprises the “Sixty-Three Letter Name of God.”
Yod-Vav-Dalet Heh-Yod Vav-Yod-Vav Heh-Yod comprises the “Seventy-Two Letter Name of God,” which according to some is related to what is called the “Name of Seventy-Two Names.”

Of course I have barely touched on this topic, and there are still a few Gematria techniques which I have not listed at all. This is purely because I am address more extensive details in this short message, but I hope I have been able to shed some light on this intriguing topic.

Glaucius: Glaucius and Mark, if by only legend where employed in recording the records of Peter, in Alexandria, around 44 C. E. (See; Works of Henry Barchlay Swete, 1835-1917.)

Gnosis: While the literal translation for this word is “knowledge”, it’s meaning is closer to “insight” or, to use another concept, “enlightenment.” It may imply more in some cases than a purely intellectual understanding. It may imply complete comprehension that comes from both rational and intuited means. Gnosis is bonding the soul (nous) with wisdom, in both Sethian,Valentinian, and other Gnostic schema, which link this act through Jesus. The process of Gnosis may have different schema, or criteria as to secular practices. The process of Gnosis seems to be transitional or a transcendence in a learned process.

Gnostic: A person regarded as a student of Gnosis. Can refer to specific sects mentioned by historians, and heresiologists, The term can be used as a category for a number of sects and individuals that believed “Gnosis” had a salvational purpose. Gnostic sects are known to have existed in pre-Christian Jewish
communities and later in Christian movements, according to information in the “Nag Hammadi” text by Robinson. Gnostic views differ, as do secular characters of the Pleroma in the creation myths. The term or versions of it, are used very early in regard to Christian learning, this quote from Book 3 of Clement of
Alexandria’s “Stromata.” “Joannis autem vitae institutum gnosticum quis imitabitur?”

Gnosticism: The word was adapted by modern scholars to refer to the sects of the ‘Late Antiquities’ that shared a similar cosmology and soteriology. More recently the definition has been widened in some circles to mean any form of mysticism or esotericism. Gnostic scenarios both differ, and are alike in the
cosmic reasoning for the creation, making them ‘creation myths.’ Gnostic texts use different names for the characters of the creation stories for characters from the Palermo. Gnostics all believe that man, through learning the perspectives of his psyche, earthly, and pleromic self can attain life after death in a corporeal state by bonding with the higher entities. The ‘Light,’ ‘ Sophia,’ (Wisdom). (See also; ”The Five Gospels,” by Funk, Hoover, Harpper-Collins, 1993, p. 544.)

Gospel: Means ‘good news.’ Gospels were used to relate evangelistic teachings. Gnostic writings appear to have been based upon all existing Gospels attributed to Apostles. Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as Pauline letters are mentioned in some Gnostic texts. The ”Gospel of Thomas” appears
to be a main source of Bible Gospel, and Jesus reference in the Nag Hammadi collection, as well as other Gnostic works. The ”Gospel of Mary,” and the ”Gospel of Phillip” are in the Nag Hammadi Lib. The ”Gospel of Phillip”contains some New Testament references. , Jn 6:53, 8-32, 8-34, Mt. 3-10, 3-15,
15-13, 16-17, Paul, 1 Co 8-1, 1 P 4-8. See also ”The Gospel of Judas,” and ”The Gospel of Truth, and Gospel of the Egyptians.”

 

Dualism, Pantheism or what?

We do not see things as they, are but as we are

—-kahlil Gilbran

Salvation comes not from the self, but from the true self.

The Christ.

The I before is I and WE, the I after is I, as there is no WE….

Thomas Aquinas stated that there are ONLY 3 movements in the universe….

straight line….. masculine..the penis…the rod..the sword..air and fire

circular…vagina…womb…cup..shield…water and earth

and
obtuse…..a unification of male and female…changing direction mid-flow…serpentine….the kabalistic lightning flash..the chord…quintessence…aether..the Christ…..
SO we see the idea of the alchemical unity…..
A “chemical wedding” (the Rosicrucian term)…a marriage of opposites to form a new whole…..

Dualism: God is the creator, “his” creation is not “him”

Exoteric Christianity perceives otherwise. It likes to insist that the Father is not the creation. Or the father is not the mother/daughter. This is a stance reliant on doctrin,

and logic that proclaims separation. Thus God is not creation, everything is not holy. This helps keep the divine lofty, far away and beyond reach. Through interaction in prayer we see that we can communicate…with the seperate “being.”

God is not man. Man is not God. Rocks are not God, God is not Satan, Satan is not God.

Non duality: We see that everything is interconnected. All is one. A simple way is to think of a spider’s thread, an ecosystem of just the human body. In science we find the old Chestnut; one cannot separate the observer from the observed. In Shakespeare we find in the merchant of Venice, the declaration that one needs a pound of flesh and yet not one drop of blood, illustrates how things are inseparable. In physics and in Kabbalah we find the principle that “nothing can exist in a vacuum.” Try as you might nothing can truly be separate from anything else.

There is nothing that is not God. All is one.

Duality is a product of the intellect, or episteme. One looks at a tree and thinks, I think therefore I am. Thus I am not a tree. Thus this means God is the creator and not the creation. I can plainly see and think using my intellect that I am not God, nor is that tree over there.

Non Duality is a product of the intellect and experience. Experiential knowledge (if anyone knows the two Buddhist terms for both types of knowledge please do say, this idea of two types of knowledge is found in many “cultures”) as opposed to intellectual knowledge or Gnosis is how we can actually experience and KNOW non duality. This requires more than just thinking about something. This requires interaction. This requires, arguably, actually becoming.

This is the difference between one who writes about apples, and one who just eats them. One can compose great sonnets to apples; discuss its skin…how joyous they are. However eating an apple is a totally different thing.

So dualism deals with beginning and end. God is here, and ends there. A tree is here and is not there. Thus we have clearly defined boundaries. This is intellectually sound and helps us to cope with the paradoxical nature of the reality. Indeed it is “few” who have really experienced this unity beyond the intellect.

Dualism is faced with saying this is the end, this is the beginning. The problem is that if one delves beneath the surface one finds that the beginning is the end.

2 polar opposites…let say crown and Kingdom…..let’s call them past (crown) and future (kingdom)….

now if these were 2 imaginary points…polar opposites…that stretch out for infinity in opposite directions…Math/Science states they reach a point of infinity…and eventually come back upon them selves.. Thus the end is the beginning is the end……
This fits in nicely with many ideas such a Hindu and Buddhist thought that states the end is indeed the beginning…..a cycle of birth and death for all existence…

We can also see this in western esoteric thought….the divine trinity of creation destruction and redemption…..which is the same as the Rosicrucian trinity (from the Bible) of

“Ex Deo nascimur.

In Jesu Morimur

Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.”

We are born in God…we die in Christ and are reborn in the Holy Spirit…….

Creation destruction redemption is again much like the kabbalist (and many others) idea of a return to a better state…..the end is the beginning is the end….

So dualism like Newtonian Physics is great for the surface, but you require a deeper and different focus below the surface. This does not make duality wrong; it just shows it is a map not the territory. But then you could argue if the end is the beginning then there is no end OR beginning. In Gnosticism this is precisely what we find. Thus there is no need to return to a better state as we are already in it. Gnosticism argues we just have to open our eyes to this “fact.”

Ultimately the divine is beyond words, thus any concept such as duality, pantheistic are all wrong; as they are concepts. The divine is beyond any concept.

“The Creator has no body, physical stature, image, or form at all…..The glory is an appearance of the resplendent light, which is called Shechinah , and the will of the Creator shows and images that very light to the prophets according to the hour, to this one as that [form] and to the other as that…..From the resplendent light He created His glory…..the appearance of the vision is in the heart of the one who sees…..The Creator is one and makes the glory appear according to His will…..The appearance of His splendor, which is His glory, is like a consuming fire, and they called it Shechinah …..According to the will of the Creator is the appearance of His glory. Moses saw the splendor of the glory, the great resplendence, more than all the prophets. Within the vision are images, [as it is written] ‘and through the prophets I was imaged’ (Hosea 12:11 )…..The appearance of the images is according to the desire of His decrees, sometimes in the image of an anthropos and sometimes in another image, in accordance with His will He shows His glory in the place that He wills.” – Eleazar of Worms (Sha’arei ha-Sod ha-Yichud v’ha-Emunah )

 

Prayer for April 23, 2007:Remember we are one

There lies before us, if we choose, continued
progress in happiness, knowledge and wisdom.
Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot
forget our quarrels? We appeal, as human beings,
to human beings: Remember your humanity
and forget the rest.

—Albert Einstein

You, the one
From whom on different paths
All of us have come.

To whom on different paths
All of us are going,
Make strong in our hearts what unites us;

Build bridges across all that divides us;
United make us rejoice in our diversity,

At one in our witness to your peace,
A rainbow of your glory.
Amen.
–Br. David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B.

We all drink from one water
We all breathe from one air
We rise from one ocean
And we live under one sky

Remember
We are one

The newborn  baby cries the same
The laughter of children is universal
Everyone’s blood is red
And our hearts beat the same song

Remember
We are one

We are all brothers and sisters
Only one family, only one earth
Together we live
And together we die

Remember
We are one

Peace be on you
Brothers and sisters
Peace be on you
–Anwar Fazal (Malaysia)