The Doctrine of Predestiny that serves as a core philosophy for Calvinist Christianity has an echo among some physicists that take the explosion of the Big Bang Theory to have set particles in motion in a mathematically pre-disposed manner. For them, eveything that has happened is, has been, and will be inevitable. So to assert that there is such a thing, as Free Will is as radical a notion, as anything that Gnostic philosophy has ever brought forth.
The alarming amount of meaningless words and phrases that are poured into our brains in a constant stream on a daily basis is an immanent and potent danger to our individual beingness. In order to gain clarity of mind and self-determination, we need to get the clutter out of our mental closet and return it to the trash heap that is our consumer culture. What this onslaught offers us is an opportunity to practice the process of attaining Gnosis, simply by paying attention to that which we generally ignore in our day-to-day experience of culture.
Spiritual awareness is so much more than otherworldly contemplation. Indeed, without the mind dwelling in both that higher dimension and this so-called lower dimension is vital. The integral fullness that comes from an awareness of both Heaven and Earth, is a fullness that encompasses the breadth and depth of being. We are simply incomplete as human beings to be only aware of either without the other. If we find ourselves completely absorbed in Heaven, we prove ourselves psychotic on the Earth. And if we find ourselves totally absorbed in Earthly concerns, our soul just withers and dies.
The core of Gnostic thought can be expressed as opening your heart to yourself and to the world. In order to do this, practically, one needs to begin by finding meaning in and for your life. This can take as many forms as there are people, and one has to manufacture this for oneself. Indeed, you might find a certain work that resonates with your own sensibilities, and apply all your effort to that work.
Samsara might be said to be accurate perception, our intuition taking first the apprehension of the object of perception within oneself; its perfect form and moving it forward towards the object to create an intimate understanding of that object. Placing all objects and the whole of our perception in a functional paradigm allows us the imagination to create both ourselves and our world. This is the effective and practical use of the Maya; and not make the assumption that it is all so unreal. But rather to know that it can be molded into something that is very real, and is born of both the spiritual and the material planes of being.
Time spirals in a forward direction; moving from the past into the present, as we dream the future ahead of us. We are the creators of our lives and have but to see that our linear thinking is not necessarily the way in which we actually engage the world. The formula we may use is simple enough: past + present = future, or our memories, added to our cognition of the present gives us the dreams that are at present, creating our future. And when we examine our lives in context of these cycles, we come to a greater understanding of who and what we really are.
With today’s populism, information on the Schools of Magick has become one lot of confusion. Pseudo Theosophical schools are the worst at generating this with their six, eight and ten schools plus schools plus their various rays that represent modalities of spiritual authority. There’s really only three schools of Magick; built on the philosophy of Monism and Dualism. And let’s assert here that there’s no such thing as a left and right hand path.
Meaningful coincidence is created out of the meaning we create for our lives. We are the creators of ourselves; each of us deriving meaning for our lives from the depth of our own experience of life. And when we are on a serious spiritual path, there will be moments that emerge that will become special markers along the way. So that as Robert Frost said, the path you choose will make all the difference.
The Hermetic Axiom: Know Thyself is said to have existed over the entry door to Pythagorus’ ancient mystery school. And it sits as the central idea in the Western Mystery Tradition. Unfortunately, today, all too many mystery schools have just about forgotten this completely. And Hermetic practices have become more about prurience and vice, rather than virtue and nobility. Worse, it’s been made to seem like one has to become some knight-monk before one can hope to access this knowledge of the self. And yet, it can be a simple practice that when incorporated into your daily life can bring a great reward by just becoming more and more conscious of your thoughts, as you go through your day.
Righteousness from the Gnostic point of view is about developing your own relationship with the L.V.X. (Light); being willing to receive such from that which informs your being and opening yourself of to a greater awareness of yourself and the world around you. And then, learning to give the L.V.X. to others by finding the Divine in everyone and everything.
