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Gnosis and Mysticism

Gnosis and Mysticism

The Owl symbolizes our third or spiritual eye and is thus associated with inner knowledge.

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Gnosis
Ignorance
Truth
Witness
Meditation
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I Am

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Created 6-4-95 / Last Modified 4-14-96
Church of the Great Spirit / Atma Jyoti / Rev. H. Heinz

Gnosis means knowledge, usually of deeper, inner, spiritual truths, based on direct experience.Spiritual knowledge has been sought by human beings since the beginning of time. We seem to be motivated by three basic drives: survival, pleasure, and knowledge. Our history is filled with many great spiritual leaders, from the Buddha to Christ, who taught on two different levels: exoteric and esoteric. Gnosis and mysticism is concerned with the latter. It is an intuitive, right brained, inner approach to to spiritual knowledge It relies on our own, individual direct experience of the divine, from within ourselves. This knowledge is not taught in or acquired from the exoteric, institutional churches of today. Rather, it is obtained in an inner, spiritual journey which we must personally pursue. It is a state of being, of permanent union with the divine. We become one with the source that is within yet beyond this physical world. This source is neither male nor female, but encompasses both and is beyond both. "Om kara sat nam sri wahe guru." - One sound, essence of truth, O Mother Creator of the Universe, awesome knowledge that dispels ignorance, we pursue thee!

All that you seek is already within you. It is there all the time, and if you give it time and are still, it will make itself known to you. May your being be centered on the goodness, the Divine, that rests within you. As Christ said: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you". You are a droplet of the Divine whose purpose is to fit the Divine ocean in your droplet, while embodied, here in Earth School. Life's purpose is to attune to the inner master or teacher (Sadguru). You must wake up to this reality. There is only one, all inclusive, all powerful principle, life, being, existence, mind, spirit... All our souls are unified in this one Great Spirit. Be still and know this Great Spirit. Meditate! The whole of evolution is a lifiting up of energy, vibration towards more complex refinements, towards greater individuation, towards a greater oneness with Spirit. We are all manifestations in form derived from Divine creative thought which thinks everything into being. We create our own realities with our thoughts. Reality is thought fixed in time and space based on the Law of Causation (Karma). We need to know ourselves as Spirit. What separates us from Spirit is a failure to recognize our inner foe or enemy. We need to know that our real foe or enemy is within us and can be overcome. It is our own fear or internal schism or compromise, or failure to surrender truly to the Great Spirit. Spirit gives us tests in life which are actually opportunities to overcome our inner foes and unite permanently with Spirit. May you pass every test!

Ignorant folks identify themselves with external things: material possessions, social positions, children, job, home, etc. The real Self is consciousness (Spirit) that is pure, eternal, and blissful. This consciousness is the witness or illuminator of all illusory things, from external objects to our internal egos. Solitude and meditation are helpful in controlling the senses (taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing) which link us to the external world or reality. When the senses are controlled, the mind is controlled; when the mind is controlled, the ego is controlled. Ego control is followed by union with Spirit (Bliss). We need to cultivate dispassion for all external objects and detachment towards body, senses, and mind. Attachment to any one of these binds us to external realilty; we cannot unite with Spirit. Spirit is wisdom, purity, and eternity; Spirit is beyond time, space and causation. So must we to unite permanently. We must learn to go through life (Earth School), but stay above it, as the Witness. May you be victorious!

Be still, meditate, focus on the inner light. Ask yourself: "Who am I?" Realize you are not the mind, body, or emotions. Your are Spirit. How can emotions effect you. You are the witness of these emotions. Nothing can disturb you.... "Ask why has this thought arisen? Whom does it concern? Who am I?"

Meditation creates a vortex of stillness which harmony and love can descend. The source of all life is love itself. Both you and Spirit are Love. Through your own direct experience in meditation, you can know Spirit as truth, knowledge, and bliss (SAT, CHIT, and ANANDA). "I am the way, the truth, and the light." "Be still and know that I am God".

Lead me from darkness to light, from unreality to reality, from death to immortality! Jai Bagwan. Victory to the Soul.

Different spiritual paths are tools; they offer different facets of Truth to help us meet our individual needs based on our individual spiritual growth, evolution, or awareness. Use them! For more information on spiritual paths, click here. I use the term "metaphysics" to capture it all. For more information on metaphysics, click here. For information on spiritual teachers and the historical evolution of Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, click here.

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