In Circle this past week we talked about practical Gnosticism or in other words, what do we “do” as Gnostics or Mystical Christians. I thought it would be good to talk about this here because it is such an important topic. Our Tradition is about enlightenment and liberation of all beings. Enlightenment is raising consciousness and reaching a higher vibratory state which enables us to eventually reunify with God (the All, the Light Continuum, etc).
First, we study. Study is an important part of Gnostic practice. As you probably know, gnosis means knowledge, but we generally interpret it to mean experiential knowledge. We are all about experience, but to experience and to communicate we need some kind of ground to work from. Study is that ground. In our Tradition the main things we study are: Kabbalah (Sefirot), Netivah (paths/Hebrew letters), Interior Stars, and how to study Scripture from a Sophian perspective. These are important subjects because they give us ground to communicate, meditate, and grow. It also does something else very important – it builds new neural pathways. These topics make us think differently and thus are important to the biology of enlightenment. This process of studying is a bit different for everyone. Some people dig very, very deep and some not as much. Study is very important, but it will look somewhat different for everyone as we are all different and need different topics and levels for our path.
Second, we practice. Practice is the discipline of meditation and prayer. Meditation takes many forms from Buddhist silent meditation to guided visualizations to intoning. Meditation is very important because it does a number of things for us as it clears our mind, helps us to focus, helps us move energy, and prepares us for the process of dying. One of the most prevalent forms of meditation in Sophian Tradition is Partzuf meditation. This is where we focus on an image of God (Mother, Father, Son, Daughter, etc) where we picture them, dialog with them, and exchange energy. This is so important because it helps us prepare to build a body of light and transfer our consciousness. Prayer is very much like meditation but it is more of a dialog and less formal. In Hebrew there is a term called Hitbodedut which means constant prayer. This is about dialoging with God and our True Self continually through our lives. It is important to remember that all people are different and practice will also look somewhat different for each person. The real key to practice is consistency. So, even 10 minutes a day is better than several hours once a month.
Third, we do inner exploration. Sophian Tradition has a practice called Silent Witness. In this practice we do non-judgmental self-observation. The part about not judging is super important because as humans we tend to look at everything we do either from an angle of our failure or our success. This ends up giving us either the feeling that we are inadequate or that someone else is. Silent Witness is designed to help us look inside and see our motivations for what they are. We look at our thoughts, feelings, and actions and try to get at the root of why we think, feel, act as we do. It is helpful to think of it like reading a book. Look at a particular situation as if you are reading a book and you are reading about a character from that book. Distance yourself from the situation like it is not you, but someone else. That helps to remove judgment and to give you the ability to look at the details. If we can’t look at ourselves and understand where we’re coming from and why we’re motivated, we can never get anywhere with our spiritual path.
I think it is important to understand the true meaning of the word Sin. Sin actually means missing the mark. This means that it is something we do that keeps us from getting closer to who we truly are and who we want to be. This is not a judgment and not about bad things we do, but about what is good for our path and what isn’t. It is also important to understand that which makes me miss the mark is totally different then for someone else, so I can’t sit and make a list or decide for someone else what is going to make them miss the mark. The other word that is important to understand is repentance. This word means turning the other way. It does not mean stopping the bad things we do and becoming perfect or feeling bad for being bad. It means turning back and starting to again move closer to being who we truly are. This means that when we repent we are stopping that which causes us to miss the mark and trying to get back to a path that takes us closer to God and our True Self. There is no condemnation or judgment in these words. We need to make sure we do not judge ourselves or others.
Fourth (and most important), we are in relationship. We are constantly in relationship with ourselves, God, and others. This is so very important because this is how we live out our path every day. Remember that we are not islands; we are connected to others and to God whether we “feel” it or not. Also… we are here to bring about enlightenment and liberation of all beings. To affect others, we must show this unity and love to those around us. It changes us and it changes them.
Love is such a difficult word in our culture because in English the same word is used for loving our significant other, our children, our friends, food items, entertainment, etc. This makes it difficult at times to take love seriously. But love is so important because it affects us and others in so many ways. Love is not a feeling, but instead love is a verb. It is about action; it is about respect; and it is about compassion. We have to remember that all beings are sparks of the divine and have the same potential for enlightenment as we do. There are going to be people we like and people we don’t but that doesn’t affect our love. Love is about not beating others up for their mistakes as we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over our mistakes. We need to be there to help others and be the example of what God’s love is really about. The key to this is remembering we are all tied together and all part of the Pleroma (all). If we are all connected and all our destinies are intertwined, it makes it a lot easier to want to help others and root for their success.
This concept of love is so important that it is mentioned over and over again in both the traditional and Gnostic scriptures. I did 2 very quick searches that found the following verses and logions.
Scripture Love Passages
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)
You have heard that the law of Moses says, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end... And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13)
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love
God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:19-21)
Jesus said, "Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye.” (Gospel of Thomas 25)
Faith receives, love gives. [No one can receive] without faith, no one can give without love. Therefore we believe so that indeed we shall receive, yet we give so that we shall love. Otherwise, if one is accustomed to give without love, he derives no benefit from having given. (Gospel of Phillip 49)
Love [does not take] anything, for how [(can) it take anything when everything] belongs to it? It does not [say ‘This is mine’] or ‘(That) is mine’, [but rather it says] ‘They are thine.’ (Gospel of Phillip 117)
Mary said, “Know how to love and you will be undivided. This is the repentance the Lord taught, and it the perfect baptism.” (Secret Gospel of Mary 25)
Mary said, “Weave for yourselves garments of light, so that when you go before the Queen of Heaven to be received you do not appear naked. With faith and the fullness of knowledge, do good works and love one another, and in the Spirit of the Lord you will have garments of light.” (Secret Gospel of Mary 92)
Mary said, “If you cannot love, you cannot be united. One who is divided is destined for destruction. Therefore the Savior taught us to love so that we might have life.” (Secret Gospel of Mary 129)
Mary said, “Knowledge, understanding and wisdom are not superior to love, for these come from union and it is love that unites. One who has love will have knowledge, understanding and wisdom, but without love no one is wise. If there is power apart from love, it is evil and will give birth to evil, but where there is love power is exercised in wisdom. All good things come by way of love.” (Secret Gospel of Mary 136)Mary said, “If you have all knowledge, but lack love, then you lack
So, in the end, of all the things we do love is the most important. It is the way we join all our interior stars so they can function correctly. Love is also the most important because without it none of the others mean anything and are useless.
Blessings, Yonah
