The Faith Column
Every week a different believer gives the inside track on their religion or philosophy.
Gnostic psychology
- Posted by Giles Oatley
- 02 October 2007
It is only through self discovery that man may realise his true potential
There exist many different schools in the world that have methods to develop the many internal senses, but all this could lead us to disorientation and failure, if we did not begin by developing the sense of psychological self-observation.
The development of this sense of intimate observation leads us gradually towards knowledge of our self, permitting us to carry out a psychological inventory of what we have in excess, and of what we are lacking. Arriving at this stage of the knowledge of oneself, our other internal senses will also have been developed extraordinarily.
We discover that we contain many psychological defects, each personified in a specific “I” or “Self”. As it is that we have thousands and up to millions of defects, it is obvious that there are many people living inside us.
Therefore, by discovering ourselves- what we are internally- and eliminating that which is inside ourselves that makes our life bitter, we will unravel the enigma of our own existence and we will develop all our latent possibilities. This is why we are told by the Oracle of Delphi: "Man, know yourself and you will know the Universe and the Gods."
The human being has always aspired to know the answers to the questions of life: 'who are we?'; 'where do we come from?’; 'where do we go to?'; 'what is the reason for our existence?'. To conquer the integral knowledge of oneself and of the Universe, of our material and spiritual destiny, is the true objective of the Gnostic studies.
However, it is clear that we cannot access this knowledge by using the ordinary intellectual faculties, or by mere belief or ideology. Unquestionably, the Gnostic knowledge always escapes the mundane analysis of subjective rationalism.
The intellect is inadequate and terribly poor as an instrument of knowledge. We have to distinguish between the intellect and the consciousness. The intellect is educated intellectually; the consciousness is educated with the dialectic of the consciousness. We must never confuse the intellect, or the memory, with the consciousness, because they are as different as the light from a car's headlights, to the road upon which it drives.
The Gnostic knowledge is related to the infinite reality of each one of us, to that which we still do not have incarnated, to the internal Master, to the Being. Authentic Wisdom belongs to the Being. The self-realisation of self-knowing of the Being is a supra-rational process which has nothing to do with intellectualism. Only the Consciousness can know that which is the real, that which is the Truth; only the Consciousness can penetrate to the legitimate depths of the Being.
For those who perform "the esoteric work" upon themselves, at a very advanced stage, two distinct paths emerge: the Straight Path and the Spiral Path. The Spiral Path involves reaching a relative state of enlightenment and choosing to enjoy the superior worlds (Heaven or Nirvana), and occasionally returning to a physical body in order to pay out a little more karma and help humanity.
Samael Aun Weor refers to these as the Pratyeka Buddhas and Sravakas, and that the vast majority who reach this state choose the spiral path because it is very easy and enjoyable. The Straight Path is the Path of the Bodhisattva who renounces the happiness of the superior worlds (Nirvana) in order to help humanity.
Samael Aun Weor gives a very specific definition to the term Bodhisattva - it is not merely someone who has taken the Bodhisattva vows. Speaking in the language of the Kabbalah, it is the physical (Malkuth), vital (Yesod), astral (Hod), mental (Netzach) and causal (Tiphereth) vehicles – in other words the human soul – of a self-realized spirit, (Geburah-Chesed) who has chosen the Straight Path in order to incarnate the Christ (Kether-Binah-Chokmah).
In other words, the Bodhisattva is the "Son" of a self realized God who is attempting to return to the Absolute or 13th Aeon.
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
