“The misguided fail to recognize the five elements, the five kinds of trees, the five kinds of animals”

–The book of Giants (Fragment E)

….

I hear the ocean beat upon the shore outside my room.
Calling me up from sleep to listen to her graceful tune.
She makes me feel alive, her power more than words can say.
Send shivers through my person, clears my head to face the day.
…I pray
…The tides will rise and fall again.
I see the sun rise up into a cloudless sky of blue.
Coaxing the shadows back to let the sun’s light shine on through.
I feel it touch my skin, its warmth glows through right to my bones.
Drifts softly through my body, heats my flesh then stirs my soul.
…I pray
…The sun will surely rise today.
…And I will not take for granted
That what is there for me.

–Reef (Mellow)

….

“Know that before there was any emanation and before any creatures were created a simple higher light filled everything. There was no empty space in the form of a vacuum but all was filled with that simple infinite light. This infinite light had nothing in it of beginning or end but was all one simple, equally distributed light. This is known as ‘the light of En Sof.’

There arose in His simple will the will to create worlds and produce emanations in order to realize His perfect acts, His names and His attributes. This was the purpose for which the worlds were created.

En Sof then concentrated His being in the middle point, which was at the very centre, and He withdrew that light, removing it in very direction away from that centre point.

There then remained around the very centre point an empty space, a vacuum. This withdrawal was equidistant around that central empty point so that the space left empty was completely circular. It was not in the form of a square with right angles. For En Sof withdrew Himself in circular fashion, equidistant in all directions.

The reason for this was that since the light of En Sof is equally spaced out it follows by necessity that His withdrawal should be equidistant in all directions and that He could not have withdrawn Himself in one direction to a greater extent than in any other. It is well known in the science of mathematics that there is no more equal figure than the circle. It is otherwise with the figure of a square, which has protruding right angles, or with a triangle or with any other figure. Consequently, the withdrawal of En Sof had to be in the form of a circle.

Now after this withdrawal of En Sof (which left an empty space or vacuum in the very centre of the light of En Sof, as we have said) there remained a place in which there could emerge the things to be emanated, to be created, to be formed and to be made. There then emerged a single straight line of light from His circular light and this came in a downward direction, winding down into that empty space.

The top end of this line derived from En Sof Himself and touched Him, but the bottom end of this line down below does not touch the light of En Sof.

By means of this line the light of En Sof is drawn down to extend itself down below.

Into that empty space He caused to emanate, He created, He formed and He made all the worlds.

Before the emergence of these four worlds En Sof was One and His name One in a wonderful, mystical unity of a kind beyond the comprehension even of those angels nearest to Him. For the mind of no creature can comprehend Him since He has neither place nor limit nor name.”

- Chaim Vital (Etz Chayim - treatise 1, part 2)

………

Mani’s revelation embraces many aspects of the universe, divine, natural and human. It is impossible to draw within it the kind of distinctions later drawn by Western Christianity between natural knowledge and revealed truth, or more crudely between faith and knowledge. That does not necessarily mean that Mani mixes things up: rather we might reflect that our separation of domains in their official representation which in living practice constantly overlap has led in part to the spiritual alienation of the West. For Mani, knowl­edge is charged with moral and religious significance. In his vision, we can never be ‘detached’ because our coming to knowledge is itself a manifestation of the on-going world-process, the struggle between Light and Darkness.

We concentrate first upon his vision of human nature. The reference books generally claim that Manichaeans were taught to hate the body, since they considered it merely an evil from which they should escape. In reality, Mani shows a considerable interest in the body, its inner workings and its active role in perceiving, knowing and remembering. We should recall that he was also a healer. In Manichaeism the created world is the instrument of the gods to defeat the Darkness, to bring meaning out of contingency, and on the human level the body is the domain in which we experience the conflicting tendencies directly. We are there in the position of a god in our own ‘little world’ or microcosm. Our primary need is not to reject but to understand the body’s relationship to the spiritual ‘fivefold man.’

That conception is perhaps a novelty to us: it is with the basic patterns of Mani’s thought that we need to begin.

–Andrew Welburn (Mani, the Angel and the Column of Glory)

………..

(19)

Jesus said,
“Blessed is he who came into being

before he came into being.
If you become my disciples

and listen to my words,
these stones will minister to you.
For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall.
Whoever becomes acquainted with them

will not experience death.”

–Gospel of Thomas (commentary http://magdelene.net/thomas19.html below)

Pistis Sophia

“he had not told them in which places

the five trees are spread”

The Works of Philo, Yonge, 1993

from Allegorical Interpretation

“the trees of virtue…he plants in the soul”

“the tree of life is that most general virtue

which some people call goodness; from which

the particular virtues are derived, and of

which they are composed.”

from On Husbandry

“I will implant in those souls which are of

a childlike age, young shoots, whose fruits

shall nourish them…I will implant…

the tree of prudence,

the tree of courage,

the tree of temperance,

the tree of justice,

the tree of every respective virtue.”

Eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil

produced “the fall”, because it brought about

the myth that duality is reality.
The truth is, good and evil are One,

therefore that tree is not
one of these five trees.

from Philo’s Allegorical Interpretation:

“the tree of life…Moses expressly says, that it is placed in the middle of the paradise; but as to the other tree, that namely of the knowledge of good and evil, he has not specified whether it is within or outside of the Paradise.”

I believe the five trees are the five Gnostic rites and may have been associated with actual plants as were the Greek gods and goddesses.

1.) BAPTISM = LILY (WATER) = JUNO
[goddess of childbirth- “born again”]
2.) EUCHARIST = VINE (WINE) = BACCHUS
[another dying and resurrecting god-man]

& WHEAT=DEMETER/MOTHER EARTH

[Goddess nourishing wheat from below]
3.) CHRISM = OLIVE (OIL) = MINERVA
[goddess of Wisdom/Sophia, “Spirit”]

4.)REDEMPTION = OAK = JUPITER

[god of the sky]

[meeting archons in ascent through heavens]
5.)BRIDAL CHAMBER = LINDEN

= PHILEMON & BAUCIS
[the eternal couple representing mutual love]

In the Pistis Sophia, Jesus augments all twelve of the standard-issue souls in his twelve chosen ones with special supercharged “powers”.

Pistis Sophia: Chapter 7

“when I entered the world I brought twelve powers with me, …which I took from the Twelve saviors of the Treasury of Light, …These now I cast into the wombs of your mothers when I came into the world,

and it is these which are in your bodies today.

For these powers have been given to you above the whole world, for you are those who are able to save the whole world, so that you should be able to withstand the threat of the archons of the world, …

and all their persecutions which the archons of the height will bring upon you.”

“the power which is within you I have brought from the twelve saviors…For this reason …you are not from the world; I also am not from it. For all men who are in the world have received souls from (the power) of the archon of the aeons. The power, however, which is in you, is from me but you souls belong to the height.”

John 6:68,70

Simon Peter answered him,

“Lord, to whom shall we go?”
Jesus answered,

“Have I not chosen the twelve of you?

Jesus’ choosing of the twelve disciples takes place after being baptized in the Jordan and going into

the desert for forty days and forty nights. This is analogous to Joshua’s choosing of the twelve men to represent the twelve tribes after coming out of the desert for forty years and then crossing the Jordan on dry land.

Joshua 4:2-8

“Choose twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and order them to take up twelve stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan, …They are to carry the stones across and place them in the camp …

These stones are to stand as a memorial among you.”

I can’t help but picture Jesus standing among these twelve stones, arranged like a zodiac wheel, when he says:

If you become my disciples

and listen to my words,

these stones will minister to you.

The stones represent the power of the 12 tribes,

present within the 12 disciples,

now transformed into 12 saviors

capable of saving “the whole world”.

it is easier to eat soup with a spoon instead of a knife.

concepts are concepts

maps are maps

bus time tables are bus time tables

but

Gnosis is Gnosis

….

It is too easy to think a bus time table is Gnosis, it is not and never will be….but of course some traditions would argue differently, and proclaim their bus time table is holy and is Gnosis…. to that, I simply smile.

Indeed, You alone know Yourself
by Your own potencies,
O origin of all,
Lord of all beings,
God of gods,
O Supreme Person,
Lord of the universe!

–the bhagavad gita

Father of the ALL

Thought of light,

Mind dwelling on high,

Above the regions below,

Light dwelling on high,

Voice of truth,

Upright mind,

Unattainable Word,

Ineffable voice,

Incomprehensible Father!

To these Norea calls out.

They heard and received her

Into her eternal place

They granted her the Father of Mind, Adamas,

And the two voices of the holy ones,

So that she might rest in ineffable Insight

And inherit the First Mind,

Which she has received,

And rest in the divine Self-Generated,

And generate herself,

As she also inherited the living Word,

And be joined to all the imperishable ones,

And dwell in the Mind of the Father,

So as to speak with words of life,

And remain in the presence of the exalted one

By taking possession of what she received

Before the world came into being.

She has the great Mind of the invisible ones,

And she glorifies their Father

And lives among those

Who…in the fullness,

And she beholds the fullness.

Days will comes

When she will attain fullness

And no longer be in deficiency

She has four holy helpers

Who intercede for her with the Father of the All

Adamas, who is within all Adams.

While he has the thought of Norea,

While she speaks of two names,

They mean a single name.

–The Thought of Norea (Marvin Meyer Translation)

….

The fifty two line Thought of Norea is more properly “an ode to Norea,” wife-sister of Seth, conceived as a manifestation of Sophia, the “fallen” divine Wisdom, who will be restored along with her spiritual progeny into the divine world by the very aeons from which she once departed. Named by modern editors after the phrase “the thought (noesis) of Norea” toward the end of the text, this short poetic text was originally untitled, nor can it be identified with other works entitled Norea mentioned by Epiphanius and in the Nag Hammadi treatise On the Origin of the World.

–John D. Turner

….

Aeon: These are characterized as emanations from the ‘first cause,’ the Father in some Gnostic schema. The word not only refers to the “worlds” of emanation, but to the personalities as well. Sophia, Logos, and the other high principles are aeons. ”A link or level of the great chain of being, the sum total which is
the ‘All’ or Pleroma…Can also mean a world age.” (See; Gaffney) ”According to other Gnostics, for example Valentinus, the first principle is also called Aeon or the unfathomable, the primeval depth, the absolute abyss, bythos, in which everything is sublimated…” translated by Scott J. Thompson from G.W.F.
Hegel’s ”Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie ii ,” (Theorie Werkausgabe, Bd. 19), Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp Verlag, 1977, 426-430] ( See also; Pleroma.)

Epiphanius: (310-403) ”In 367 his reputation for asceticism and learning brought about his nomination as Bishop of Constantia (Salamis) the metropolis of the Island of Cyprus. He wrote against Origen and Gnostics. He identified the existence of the Gospel of Judas Iscariot,” and ”Birth of Mary,” {”Gospel of
Mary’‘} which he says describes horrible and deadly things. (He admits to not having seen the Gnostic texts, but claims to know about them. ) He wrote in regard to an unidentified Gnostic Gospel…. ”Another Gospel (?) of similar tendancy was that which was used by the nameless “Adversary of the Law, and the
Prophets’ {Gnostics} whom Augustine refutes, and from which the following is quoted. ” The Apostles having asked the Lord what they were to think about the Jewish prophets, who were thought in the past to have foretold his coming, he was troubled that they even yet had such thoughts, and answered: Ye have given up (let go) the living on who is before your eyes and talk idly of the dead.” Epiphanius, also identifies the ”Apocalypse of Paul,” as being a book written by Canites, or Cananites, (Canaanites) and used by Gnostics. Paul is quoted in the text to have been taken up to the level of the ”Third Heaven,” which corresponds to the Nag Hammadi text. It does not correspond to the other ”Apocalypse of Paul,” which fragments exist in Greek, Latin, and Coptic. The Canaanites were an ancient tribe that lived in the basic area that is Israel today. ( “The New Testament Apocrypha,” James, Apocryphile Press, pages 19- 20, 525, 575.) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13393b.htm ,
www.mustardseed.net/html/pecanaanites.html

Pleroma: The word means “fullness,” and the ‘All.’ It refers to ”all existence
beyond matter. Refers to the world of the Aeons, the heavens or spiritual
universe, which represents being out of the state of matter. According to the
“Gospel of Truth” “….all the emanations from the Father are Pleromas.” see
Tractates 3, 2, Codices, I, and XII, Nag Hammadi Lib. Pleroma can have other
connotations according to the Gnostic school of thought, some differences in
Sethian and Valentinian (other) schools can be noted. Pleroma, is different than
Logos. (See; Logos, See aslo; Gaffney, p. 246.)

Seth: ”From Adam three natures were begotten. The first was the irrational, which was Cain’s, the second the rational and just, which was Abel’s, the third the spiritual, which was Seth’s. Now that which is earthly is “according to the image,” that which is psychical according to the ” likeness ” of God, and that
which is spiritual is according to the real nature; and with refer­ence to these three, without the other children of Adam, it was said, “This is the book of the generation of men.” And because Seth was spiritual he neither tends flocks nor tills the soil but produces a child, as spiritual things do. And him, who “hoped
to call upon the name of the Lord” who looked upward and whose “citizenship is in heaven - him the world does not contain.” (Theodotus, Criddle Collection.)

Sethian: It is a name for a specific sect of Gnostics, but also a category created by scholars to refer to a number of sects that are related to Valentinians. The Sethians as a group were known to Hippolytus who dedicated Book Five in his work, ”The Refutation of All Hereseys,” to denouncing them. (See Gaffney) Seth was a character of Gnosticism who represented a savior figure and third son of Adam, founder of the Gnostic race. Generally Sethian works include, “Pistis Sophia,” “Allogenes,” ”The Gospel of Mary,*” “Sentences of Sextus,” “Marsanes,” “Gospel of The Egyptians,*” ”The Apocalypse of Adam,*”
“Origin of The World,” ”The Gospel of Thomas,*” ”The Gospel of Philip,” “The Three Steles of Seth,” “Melchizidek,” ”The Apocryphon of John,” ”The Gospel of Judas,” Trimorphic Protennoia,” the un-named text in the Bruce Codex, and ”Zostrianos.” (Others) Some Sethian works suggest strong ties with
Jewish Gnosticism, as well as Platonic thought, as well as Zoroasterism. (They maintained three principles; darkness below, light above, and spirit in-between, according to work attributed to Dr. Roy Blizzard, University of Texas. See also; ”Sethian Gnosticism, A Literary History,” Turner) see also;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sethian ( * Indicates works from the Nag Hammadi Lib., with other works by the same name.)

Sethian Monadology: The system of the monad, constructed through the tetraktys
of the decad, which serves as an underlying philosophy in Sethian Gnosticism. It
is developed from the creation myths. The system is like, and based upon that
of Pythagoreans, and resembles the principles of the ancient Chinese philosophy
of the Tai Chi., which is based upon the ogdoad. The system is based upon
working variations of numerical values. Turner states, ”….vigorous
arithmological speculation on the first ten numbers, but especially the first
four numbers, comprising the Pythagorean tetraktys (the {mode} of the first four
numbers). This was carried on by such Pythagoreanizing Platonists as Theon of
Smyrna and Nicomachus of Gerasa, who in turn depend in part on similar
arithmological and mathematical theories produced by such early first century
Platonist figures as Dercyllides, Adrastos of Aphrodisias (a Peripatetic
commentator on Plato’s Timaeus) and Thrasyllos, a court philosopher under the
Emperor Tiberius. The harmonic ratios produced by these first four numbers and
the geometric entities of point, line, surface, and solid had been applied to
the structure and the creation of the world soul long before by Plato and his
successors in the Old Academy, especially Speusippus and Xenocrates. (See;
Turner, See also; ”The History of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. 2.,” by Fung
Yu-Lan, Princeton, 1953, See also; ”A Valentinian Exposition.”)

Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you may fortify me with the grace of your Holy Spirit, and give your peace to my soul, that I may be free from all needless anxiety and worry. Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to you, so that your will may be my will.

Grant that I may be free from unholy desires, and that , for your love, I may remain obscure and unknown in this world, to be known only to you.

Do not permit me to attribute to myself the good that you perform in me and through me, but rather, referring all honor to you, may I admit only to my infirmities, so that renouncing sincerely all vainglory which comes from the world, I may aspire to that true and lasting glory that comes from you. Amen

–St. Frances Cabrini

YES WE CAN !

….

One stroke has made me forget all my previous knowledge,

No artificial discipline is at all needed;

In every movement I uphold the ancient way,

And never fall into the rut of mere quietism;

Wherever I walk no traces are left,

And my senses are not fettered by rules of conduct;

Everywhere those who have attained to the truth,

And declare this to be of the highest order.

–Zen discussion on Satori

…

Change is a foreign policy that doesn’t begin and end with a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.  I won’t stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what’s not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years – especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.

We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must.  It’s time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future.  It’s time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home.  It’s time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda’s leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century – terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.  That’s what change is.

Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy – tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn’t afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for.  We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy.  That’s what the American people want.  That’s what change is.

Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it.  It’s understanding that the struggles facing working families can’t be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation.  It’s understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.

–Barack Obama

Satori (悟 Korean oh; Japanese satori (from the verb satoru); Chinese: wù) is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment. The word literally means “understanding”. It is sometimes loosely used interchangeably with Kensho, but Kensho refers to the first perception of the Buddha-Nature or True-Nature, sometimes referred to as “awakening“. Kensho is not a permanent state of enlightenment, but rather a clear glimpse of the true nature of existence. Satori on the other hand is used to refer to “deep” or lasting enlightenment. It is therefore customary to use the word satori, rather than kensho, when referring to the enlightened states of the Buddha and the Patriarchs.

According to D. T. Suzuki, “Satori is the raison d’être of Zen, without which Zen is no Zen. Therefore every contrivance, disciplinary and doctrinal, is directed towards satori.”^[1]

Satori is also analogous to the concept of creativity, in the sense that it reconciles apparent opposites. It is also known as the “Eureka!” moment of discovery - upon the clarification of a paradox, which is a moment of catharsis, or purification.

Understanding the Secret Christianity

by

Tom Saunders

The secret teachings of early Sethian Christians can remain a mystery to most people who read the Sethian texts, because they don’t understand the underlying philosophies, and they don’t have the right vocabulary.  Sethian texts are filled with ‘new’ words and ideas most common Bible Dictionaries don’t list, and most Christians never heard.

One basis for Sethian Christianity is an underlying philosophy called a Monadology, which is based upon a Pythagorean principle most modern scholars have never figured out.  In fact both the Pythagorean and Sethian Monadologies are based upon the higher principles of the Chinese philosophy of the Tai Chi.  To be specific, a Monadic sequence of ‘types,’ works almost exactly like the sequences of trigrams or ’ba gua,’ used from the Tai Chi icon.  This study of the trigrams in Chinese philosophy is known as Ba Gua Science. (See also ”The History of Chinese Philosophy,” Fung Yu-Lan, Princeton Press.)

No one Sethian text explains the Monadic system. I discovered it when I studied Ba Gua Science and how it is applied in the real world. It became obvious when I studied and compared the Sethian system, that they were almost identical systems.

Only parts of the Monadology are mentioned in bits and peices in the Sethian texts. It takes some time to study these systems, but I find them fascinating. Any mention of a part of the Monadology, like the Ogdoad, or Sacred Tetrad, is really a reference to an entire system.  The study of the Monad, is the basis for the metaphysical aspects of Sethian spirituality.

So, how does Seth fit into this picture?  Seth is the third son of Adam and Eve, the one the pre-Christian Sethians declared was divine.  This meant that Seth became what is called an Aeon, a Monogene, or Autogene, which is a power that fills the universe, from the power of the Pleroma, or the ‘All.’  The Monad in this theory is the first thing that fills the ‘great void’ or Wu Chi, which is represented in the Sethian model as ‘Silence.’

Jesus in Sethian Christianity became the primary force or power of all the Aeons, in effect from Silence, Jesus became the Monad, i.e. the Word. All Sethian monadic sequences, start with ‘Word’ and in most instances when the Sethian texts refer to ‘Word’ it means Jesus Wisdom, (Sophia or Holy Spirit).

The primary goal of the Sethian Gnostic is to become bonded with the Holy Spirit.  The primary tool of the Sethians to learn this bonding trick, are the ”Secret Sayings of the Living Jesus,” commonly known as the ”Gospel of Thomas.”  Most people read it and never realize the hidden dynamic.

Contained in the ‘Thomas’ text are thirteen parables. According to Clement of Alexandria, (”Stromata”) and several Sethian texts that mention them, they serve a special function.  These

sayings are mixed among the other sayings in the text.  Most people read the Thomas Gospel,

without realizing that the parables create a dynamic of using your own intellect, with the ‘Wisdom of Jesus’ you glean from the other sayings. The object is to learn to think in terms of using the Jesus Wisdom.

In other words you start wondering about what the parables mean, but you do it using a syzygetic bonding with the Jesus’ Word.  The obvious intended goal is to carry this knowledge and method of reasoning into your own life as if you are the primary character of your own living parable.  This method of bonding seems to be sort of a primer for the more advanced study of the Monadology, and the Gnostic sacraments.

There are some other major concepts about the secret Christianity that need to be understood.  Man’s existence in the earthly state is considered to be flawed, because man is outside the element of being a  total Pleromic entity.  It is because of this flaw that Gnostic transcendence, known as the living resurrection, is required for salvation and redemption.  This is the primary goal of the Gnostic Bridal Chamber sacrament, and again it starts with the bonding of your Mind, with the Word. Without this bonding the Soul is considered doomed.

The nature of ‘faith,’ ‘hope,’ ‘love,’ ‘evil,’ ‘gender’ and ‘truth’ are also very different notions in the Gnostic system. The power of the ‘Word’ is not that of a sentient being with dominion over the earth, the power comes from using the Word, in your own actions in the real world. This is the nature of ‘faith’ in the Sethian system.

The nature of evil, and demons in the Gnostic system, is purely psychological.  This is in spite of the way they are written about in the Sethian texts.  Demons like Saklas, are references to mental foolishness, and this may not be clear at first. There are no sentient evil beings, there are only states of darkness, desire, and ignorance, related to one’s lack of Gnosis. The Seven Forms of Wrath, mentioned in the ”Gospel of Mary,” are a good example of a monadic sequence, aimed at pure evil. This set can be used as a weapon, or for healing.  I’ve used it first hand.

The nature of the Soul is that of a special spirit.  Spirit refers to energy, like the energy in the syzygetic bonding of the Mind, and the Word.  Monadic sets expand into higher forms by adding ‘types’ or units to the set. When you read a ‘list’ in the Sethian texts, more than likely it is a Monadic set.  The sets below are related to the Sacred Tetrad, explained by Valentinus in ”A Valentinian Exposition. The Sacred Tetrad, is Word, Man, Life, and Truth (Church). Here are three complex sets from Sethian works that are representations of the qualities of the Gnostic Soul…

”The Apocryphon of John,” (Codex III NHL)

1. Word, 2. Form, 3. Thought, 4. Memory, 5. Life, 6. Grace, 7. Understanding, 8. Perception,  9. Conception,  10. Prudence, 11. Truth, 12. Will, (Knowledge.)

“The Gospel of the Egyptians” (Codex III, NHL)

1. Seth (Power of Autogenes)  2. Grace, 3. Perception, 4. Understanding, 5.Prudence, 6. Memory, 7. Love, 8. Peace, and 9. Life. (Note that if this were a Christian sequence of the Monad the first element would be Word meaning Jesus Wisdom as the Monad, or an equivalent. This sequence is pure pre-Christian Sethian.)

“Unnamed Text in the Bruce Codex,”

1. Light (Word), 2. Life, (resurrection) 3. Love, 4. Hope, 5. Faith, 6. Truth (Church), 7. Peace…. (8. in the Sethian system the last or controlling unit ‘type’ is Gnosis or Knowledge. This type represents the power of the individual Gonstic who receives knowledge through the Ennoia, or syzygetic bonding of the Mind with the Pleromic Word.)

In the Sethian tradition these ‘types’ are all connected in forming the non corporeal veil or ‘garment’ which is seen as being worn by the Gnostic, as part of his spiritual being. In the Orthodox records of Pauline letters these folks were observed by Paul, who called them gifted by the Holy Spirit.  They were called Pneumatiphoroi.

In the Sethian texts, when you read any of these words listed above, you should keep in mind the Sethian connotations to the Moandic system. It gives the scripture its intended semantic content.  Adding the Monadic elements to the scripture to me makes it ‘come alive.’  See for yourself….

The Nag Hammadi Library, contains the bulk of Sethian texts.  Most of what has been said about them is based on people’s understanding, which has not included a viable explanation of the Monadology.  This has bolstered the idea that Sethian Christianity started as a second century phenomena.  My personal response to this theory is, Bullshit!

One of the best kept secrets of Sethian Christianity, is that Christianity started, and starts, when you realize Jesus is the Monad. This did not start in the ‘Second Century’ it started with the Apostles in Galilee. It started with the followers of John the Baptist, and others like Dositheos, Philip, Mary (Mariamne), Simon Magus, and others. All the Apostles in Sethian texts are associated with the Monad, which is mentioned in the pre-Christian texts associated with Hermes Trimigistus, and Zoroastrians. Did somebody perhaps forget to tell Jesus about this idea?

The first text in the following index, is the ”Secret Book of John.”  Many of the concepts presented in the text are Zoroastrian. It says so. However, to John, and the other Apostles, Jesus, fullfills the role of filling the great void, (Silence) of the Mind, and the Heavens.  Jesus has bonded with the Pleromic emanation of Pisitis-Sophia, the Autogene of supreme Wisdom from the Pleroma. John uses the Zoroastrian ‘angels’ to glorify the newly created power of the ‘Word’ and Holy Spirit.

(Nobody waited until the Second century to think this up!  I hate most Bible scholars, they’re all ass/souls, and minions of Saklas for leaving an 888, lb. gorilla in the room called the Monad.

What possible sense does it make to believe that the Pythagorean theories were resurrected and adopted by Second Century Christians?  This makes no historical sense considering the entire Alexandrian church became the late first century home of Pantaenus, Barnabus, Mark, Basilides, Isidore, Carpocrates, and more.  The Sethian texts are in fact part of ‘their’ Christian Library. The ’secret’ one.

If this was not the case probably Clement, Valentinus, Theodotus, Heracleon, and Ptolemy, would not have carried on the earliest Gnostic traditions, or preserved their texts. Not even the works of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, or Eusebius, can show Gnostics like Simon Magus, did not exist in the very beginnings of Christianity. Perhaps the only thing modern Bible scholars have right about the Sethian texts is that most of them studying the ”Gospel of Thomas,” see it lots earlier than the Bible gospels.)

The index below starts with Codex III of the ‘Nag Hammadi,’ and the reader can apply the information I have written above to what is written below, and see for himself if ’above is as below.’  Some of these texts are damaged, but by the time you get through Codex III, filling in the blanks can be done with a little better insight into the Sethian epistemology.  I hope the explanations of these ideas above help make the following enjoyable reading….One text actually claims to be written by Jesus, who explains the Monad in short.

Codex 3, of the Nag Hammadi Library

The Apocryphon of John

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/apocjn.html

Gospel of the Egyptians

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/goseqypt.html

Eugnostos the Blessed

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/eugn.html

The Sophia of Jesus Christ

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/sjc.html

The Dialogue of the Savior

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/dialog.html

Related Texts to Codex III, Sethian Epistemology, and Metaphysics

The Trimorphic Protennoia

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/trimorph.html

The Treatise on the Resurrection

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/res.html

The Second Treatise of the Great Seth

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/2seth.html

A Valentinian Exposition

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/valex.html

Mentioned in these texts above in Tractate III, is the work, and concepts of ”The Pistis Sophia.”

http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/search-ps.htm

Mentioned in ”The Pistis Sophia” are the “Books of Jue.”

http://www.gnosis.org/library/1ieo.htm

http://www.gnosis.org/library/untitl.htm

Gnostic Gospels

Gospel of Thomas

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/gosthom.html

Gospel of Philip

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/gop.html

Gospel of Judas

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/document.html

Gospel of Mary

http://www.gnosis.org/library/marygosp.htm

Gospel of the Egyptians

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/goseqypt.html

Gospel of Truth

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/got.html

Pre-Christian or Philosophically Gnostic, and Sethian Related Texts

Asclepius (Hermetic/Trimigistus)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/asclep.html

Discourse to the Eighth and Ninth  (Hermetic/Trimigistus)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/discorse.html

Zostrianos (Zoroastrian)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/zostr.html

Plato’s Republic (Hellenistic/Platonic)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/plato.html

The Three Steles of Seth (Sethian, written by Dositheos)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/steles.html

Melchizedek (Sethian)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/melchiz.html

Marsanes (Sethian)

http://www.gnosis.org:80/naghamm/marsanes.html

As the sun is the joy to them that seek for its daybreak, so is my joy the Lord;

Because He is my Sun and His rays have lifted me up and His light hath dispelled all darkness from my face. In Him I have acquired eyes and have seen His holy day:

Ears have become mine and I have heard His truth.

The thought of knowledge hath been mine, and I have been delighted through Him.

The way of error I have left, and have walked towards Him and have received salvation from Him, without grudging.

And according to His bounty He hath given to me and according to His excellent beauty He hath made me.

I have put on incorruption through His name: and have put off corruption by His grace.

Death hath been destroyed before my face: and Sheol bath been abolished by my word:

And there hath gone up deathless life in the Lord’s land, And it hath been made known to His faithful ones, and hath been given without stint to all those that trust in Him.

Hallelujah.

–Odes of Solomon (15)

“The things we really need come to us only as gifts, and in order to
receive them as gifts we have to be open.  In order to be open we have
to renounce ourselves, in a sense we have to die to our image of
ourselves, our autonomy, our fixation upon our self-willed identity. We
have to be able to relax the psychic and spiritual cramp which knots us
in the painful, vulnerable, helpless ‘I’ that is all we know as
ourselves.”

–Thomas Merton

….

Using the Sethian Christian Monad as a Heuristic Device
by Tom Saunders

Those interested in the Gnostic Gospels and the related Sethian texts have read passages about the Monad, and other terms related to the Sethian Monadology. You may have also read a lot of words you did not recognize as part of the Monadic system. Reading bits and pieces about it, does not explain how it works. Codex III of the Nag Hammadi Library mentions several aspects of the idea behind the Monadic device, but does not divulge the system. The following explains the Monadic system…

The Sethian Monadology is based upon the Pythagorean adaptation of the Chinese philosophy of the Tai Chi. This discovery will be presented below to qualify the systems as alike. The way the Monad in Pythagorean philosophy, and Sethian Christianity are used, is the way the Chinese learned to map the energy they call ‘Chi.’ Once you understand how the Monad works the Sethian texts like in Codex III of the Nag Hammadi Library (NHL) make lots more sense.

Below, compare the examples and you will have little problem realizing they are virtually describing the same system. The ”Tai Chi,” as the One, is in effect the same thing as the Monad, both mean One.

1a.) “Wu Chi {The Great Void} creates Tai Chi, Tai Chi is the one Chi. One Chi generates Yin and Yang, and Yin and Yang can change in infinite ways.” (From “The History of Chinese Philosophy,” Fung Yu-Lan, Princeton Press, 1953.)

1b.) ” Tao produced oneness. Oneness produced duality, Duality evolved into the ten thousand things. The ten thousand things support the yin, and embrace the yang. It is the blending of the breaths (of yin and yang) that their harmony depends.” ( from “Lau Tzu,” or the “Tao Te Ching” sixth c. B.C. ).Ibid, Fung Yu-Lan)

Compare the word similarity, order, and corresponding meaning of…

2a.) “As I said earlie, (said Jesus), among the things that were created the Monad is first, the dyad follows it, and the triad, up to the tenths. Now the tenths rule the hundredths; the hundredths rule the thousandths; the thousands rule the ten thousands. This is the pattern <among the> immortals. First Man is like this: His monad [...]. ( is His God, my insertion.) (From “Eugnostos the Blessed,” Nag Hammadi Library, Codex III, Robinson, 1990.)
2b.) Again it is this pattern that exists among the immortals: the Monad and the thought are those things that belong to Immortal Man. The thinkings are for <the> decads, and the hundreds are the teachings, and the thousands are the counsels, and the ten thousands are the powers. Now those who come from the [...] exist with their [...] in every aeon [...].” (From “Eugnostos the Blessed,” Nag Hammadi Library, Codex III, Robinson, 1990.)

The Monad comes about from the Sethian version of Wu Chi or the ‘great void’ which in ‘Sethian’ is ”Silence.” However the Monadic systems and the Tai Chi extend out to larger sets, and these sets form heuristic devices. A “heuristic device” is an abstract concept or model useful for thinking about social and physical phenomena. The icon of the Tai Chi, is the Yin and Yang circle, surrounded by eight trigrams.

The study of the eight trigrams of the Tai Chi is called Ba Gua Science. Not only do the above axioms correspond as being the same system, but Monadic sets, and sets of ‘Ba Gua’ work almost exactly alike.

Chinese philosophy is based upon following the flow of energy (Chi) in the pattern of the Tai Chi. Sethians learned to use their device in much the same manner, but from Pythagoreans. The study and application of the Sethian Monadic system fullfills both an epistemology and a metaphysics which studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and beliefs for this system. This heuristic Monadic device facilitates a metaphysics which aligns with the epistemology, including the relationship between mind and matter (body), substance and attribute, fact and value, spirit and soul.

One, ‘Tai Chi’ or the Monad, emerge as spirit or “Chi” from the ‘great void,’ or Silence. By doing so the energy creates the dyad, or Yin and Yang, and this represents all kinds duality, and not just opposites. This duality is an energy so strong it permeates all the rest of the forms in the set from the triad, tetrad, pentad, etc. Whole sets can be good or evil, male or female, offense or defense, etc.

This energy is not magic, its like the energy of a ’special word’ that circulates through a particular group of speakers. The academic study of this flow of energy or word in a group is the focus of the linguistic science, Sociolinguistics. The flow of word or spirit, in a group is a similar matrix to the Monadic or Tai Chi schema. Its measurement, and its science.

The Chinese system traditionally uses the schema called the ‘heaven sequence’ which builds sets of eight units. First is the Wu Chi, the Tai Chi, the Linang-Yi, the Si Xian, and then the eight ba gua. The sets grow by sets of eight. These units in the Sethian system are called ‘types.’

Three types form a trilogy, or trinity, and a ‘triangle,’ which forms a center, which is in effect, a representation of an internal empty space, like Silence, or Wu Chi, or the ‘blank slate’ of a trained Mind. The “San Ti or Taoist Trinity” postulates that man, (Man’s Mind) is the same as heaven and earth. This means in Chinese philosophy that man’s mind in the state of Mu Shin, (emptiness), is like (works like) the great void, called Wu Chi or the Sethian ‘Silence.’ A passage from Aristotle confirms in two separate passages that Pythagoreans also used this concept.

“The Pythagoreans too said that the empty exists, and that it enters the heavens from the limitless breath, as though the heavens actually inhale the empty which distinguishes natural things and is sort of a separation and distinction of contiguous things. They hold that this occurs first among numbers ; for the empty separates their natures. (Aristotle, Physics, 213 b22-27.) (”Early Greek Philosophy” Penquin Classics, pg. 171.)

In the Sethian system the first thing to come into the Silence or the empty void, is Jesus Wisdom acting as the Monad This means that the Monad in the Sethian system is the Word. This is like the Word in the “Gospel of John…”the Word was God.” All the Sethian Christian Monadic sets start with ”Word.” Where does the Word come from?

Among the Sethian texts of the Nag Hammadi Library is one called the ”Secret Sayings of the Living Jesus,” otherwise known as the ”Gospel of Thomas.” The Word from this text comes about from the use of the parables. In the Thomas gospel, the parables serve as ‘almost’ empty voids. You learn to fill those voids by reading and analyzing the context of these passages, and all the other ”Secret Sayings.”

What you find yourself doing is analyzing these ‘parable-voids,’ using what you know and what you glean from all the other sayings in the Thomas text. This means you used your own, and Jesus’ Wisdom’ to think about these passages. That is where the Word comes from. That is how you use Jesus as the Monad, and create his vision in your Mind. When you step out of the parables to become your own living parable, you enable yourself with the same skill.

The Word or Monad, influences everything in the set as the primary source of spirit or energy. Duality forms the triad, and the triad becomes the tetrad. In Sethian philosophy according to Basilides and Valentinus, the Sacred Tetrad is Word, Man, Life, and Truth (Church). (See G.R.S. Mead, ”Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.”) (These words as types have specific meanings that can be found in the Sethian scripture. All the words present in a Monadic set represent a reference to the Moandology in the Sethian texts.)

In the Chinese system the tetrad is called the ‘Si Xiang,” yin and yang split into four. In both systems the last unit of the set is seen as a controlling unit, or gender unit. This is because the controller of the set can generate new forms while using it. In both systems the tetrad, becomes the pentad. The pentad forms a circle, and as your skills grow, it grows and its usefulness to you also grows.

The process of growth in the Sethian system is controlled by what is called ‘limit.’ This means there is a limit to how many types go into different sets. Limit is how you tell one thing from another. The Chinese found eight units to be ideal sets, represented in the Tai Chi’s ‘heaven sequence,’ of even numbered sets.

The Sethians added the last type or unit of the set with the concept of Gnosis, or Knowledge. Sethian Monadic sets always start with Word, and end with Knowledge or Gnosis, which signifies the Gnostic himself controls the heuristic device, as an entity bonded with the Word.

This device at the level of the Pentad, transforms from the triangle, to and from the tetrad, or square, and then transforms it into a circle. Higher forms of the hexad, hebdoad, ogdoad, ennead, and decad, etc. remain as a circle, which creates a visionary void for contemplation in the Mind. When the Gnostics used the term ‘treasure’ it refers to the Mind, and when Jesus is the Monad, you’ve bonded with the Word, Light, Logos, Holy Spirit, Sophia, Law, Wisdom, etc.

Sethians used the Monadic system to define the Soul. They understood that both the Monad and duality permeated every aspect of Man, and that is why there are good Monadic sets and evil ones. There are Monadic sets in known texts from Pythagorean influence, and they are obvious once you understand a list as a Monadic set and heuristic device.

The following passage is from the :Bruce Codex” and no doubt directly related to the “Book of Jue,” and ”The Pistis Sophia,” and other texts which mention the Monadic system in one way or another. The text reveals the following Monadic set, neatly hidden in the scripture below. It was a common practice of all Pythagoreans to treat the Monadic sets as occult, and Sethians were no exception.

A Monadic set from the Unnamed Text in the “Bruce Codex,”

1. Light (Word), 2. Life, (resurrection) 3. Love, 4. Hope, 5. Faith, 6. Truth (Church), 7. Peace…. (8. in the Sethian system the last or controlling unit ‘type’ is Gnosis or Knowledge. This type represents the power of the individual Gonstic who receives knowledge through the Ennoia, or syzygetic bonding of the Mind with the Pleromic Word.)

“Because of this work, the Father of the All (pl.), the indescribable one ‘, sent a crown in which is the name of the All (pl.) ‘, whether endless, or unutterable, or incomprehensible, or imperishable, or unknowable, or still, or all-powered, or indivisible. This is the crown of which it is written: “It was given to Solomon on the day of the joy of his heart.” The first monad furthermore sent him an ineffable garment ‘ which was all light and all life and all resurrection, and all love and all hope and all faith and all wisdom, and all gnosis, and all truth, and all peace, and all-visible ‘, and all-mother, and all-mystery, and all-source, and all-perfect, and all invisible, and all unknowable, and all endless, and all unutterable, and all deep, and all incomprehensible, and all pleroma, and all silence, and all unmoved, and all unbegotten, and all still, and ) all monad, and all ennead, and all dodecad, and all ogdoad, and all decad, and all hebdomad, and all hexad, and all pentad, and all tetrad, and all triad, and all dyad, and all monad.

And the All is in it, and also all found themselves ‘ in it, and knew themselves in it. And it (the monad) gave light to them all with its ineffable light. Myriads upon myriads of powers were given to it, so that at one (and the same) time it should establish the All. It gathered its garments and made them into the form of a veil which surrounded it on all sides. And it poured itself over them all, it raised them all. And it divided them all according to rank and according to ordinance and according to forethought.”

The above appears to be based on the idea of the Soul being in the Pentad sequence, ”Form, Perception, Conciousness, Action and Knowledge.” This Pentad is from three sources, ”The Heart Sutra, “The Sutra of Cause and Effect and Salvation,” (Chinese Gnostic Christian ’scripture’ based upon the Tai Chi. It is from Martin Palmer’s ”The Jesus Sutras.” ), and the “Acts of Thomas.” ( This text contains ‘language specific’ links to the Sethian vocabulary.)

Here are examples of two more Monadic sets found in Sethian works…

”The Apocryphon of John,” (Codex III NHL)
1. Word, 2. Form, 3. Thought, 4. Memory, 5. Life, 6. Grace, 7. Understanding, 8. Perception, 9. Conception, 10. Prudence, 11. Truth, 12. Will, (Knowledge.)

“The Gospel of the Egyptians” (Codex III, NHL)

1. Seth (Power of Autogenes) 2. Grace, 3. Perception, 4. Understanding, 5.Prudence, 6. Memory, 7. Love, 8. Peace, and 9. Life. (Note that if this were a Christian sequence of the Monad the first element would be Word meaning Jesus Wisdom as the Monad, or an equivalent. This sequence is pure pre-Christian Sethian.) This set seems to be based upon the tetrads mentioned in the ”Gospel of Philip,” but after Jesus became the Monad and replaced Seth and all the other Aeons. (Autogenes, Monogenes.)

The following evil Monadic set from Sethian works comes from the “Gospel of Mary.” An evil Monadic set in Sethian epistemology is without the Word, and aimed at evil. However, the set works the same because the last ‘type’ is the gender unit in the set. Pythagorean, Sethian, and Chinese philosophies all recognize these heuristic devices can be used for evil. The following describes what a Sethian sees as a demon. It is called 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 Gnosis, is called the ‘Evil Trinity.’ }

I stated above that the ”Gospel of Thomas,” was full of parables used as heuristic devices to employ Jesus Wisdom. One parable in particular stands out to martial artists, saying 98. { Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would be steady. Then he killed the powerful one.”}

In Pythagorean lore, the ’sword’ can also represent the Monad. The sword is also mentioned in the Sethian text, “The Dialogue of the Saviour,” Codex III. of the NHL. {Judas said, “How is the spirit apparent?”
The Lord said, “How is the sword apparent?” Judas said, “How is the light apparent?” The Lord said, “[...] in it forever.”}

The Monad as a sword thrust in the wall, means the “Wall” represents the tetrad, which always leads me to believe the parables are the next step up from looking into the ‘triangle.’ (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.) But the circle grows and the things that can influence the ‘empty space’ multiply. And when you command the use of these sets you can develop extrodinary skills. Like practicing martial, or verbal skills. A fight, is a form of communication, so the Monadic paradigm works in thought and deed.

All my adult life I’ve been a student of Isshinryu karate which is based upon the Tai Chi. I have formulated the Ba Gua sequence for Isshinryu karate and identified forty units. I also know a large number of other Isshinryu Karate-ka, have learned the karate system of Isshinryu is traditionally based upon the Tai Chi, and its used in many ways. This is why I value the Sethian and Pythagorean methods as very valuable tools.

All karate starts with understanding that ‘kara’ of karate, means empty, and ‘te’ means hand. This represents ‘Hand’ being the first skill of the set, to come from the Wu Chi. The ‘kara’ or the voids like the mental emptiness of “Mu Shin” are where the skills enter, virtually. The karate fighter’s ‘octagon’ comes from the voids of fighting, the dualities like offense and defense, soft and hard, grappling and boxing etc. Following the ”heaven sequence” the tetrad (Si Xiang) are boxing skills, grappling skills, joints/balance control ( called Qin Na), and counters. This leads to the Karate Fighter’s Octagon…(Tom Saunders is registered in “Who’s Who of American Martial Arts,” 1975.)