Let us begin with a seemingly revolutionary statement....: The term "Gnostic" is just another term for a Spiritually Enlightened individual, or someone who is naturally curious about the facets of Life that seem to exist just beyond the grasp of ones brain and its thinking.
You see.... there is an outside part of Man, and an "inside" part of Man [that the mystics refer to as "within" Man], and the outside is not capable of discovering the inside. The inside dimensions of Man have traditionally been referred to as the "Esoteric" dimensions of Man [research Esoteric Here .
The term Gnostic refers to the person who studies "Gnosis" [Greek for Knowledge, which is another name for Truth], which is just another name for the "Energy" or dimension of Spirituality. So, Truth, Knowledge, and Spirituality all refer to the same "Energy". This web site perhaps seems almost child-like in its simplicity, and the reason for this is.... it is childlike. That is, when one can view Life from ones faculty of Intuition, then Life seems relatively easy to understand. On the other hand, if one tries to understand Life [the Reality of Life] using ones brain and its thinking, one finds it very difficult to understand Life... and one attempts to do so using ones brain, and this requires a great many words, and still one is left dissatisfied.
This is called "intellectualism". And those who find themselves using a great many words do try and describe the "Whole of Life" [or those parts of Man that lie "within" Man] find themselves confined to what I call the "Malady of Intellectualism", or "M-I".... explained Here .
In the West, and certainly in America, we are told that use of the brain and ones intellectualism is a wonderful thing. What we never, or rarely ever hear is that use of ones faculty of Intuition is a superior way to discover things! We don't hear about Intuition because those who tell us intellectualism is great, do not make use of their Intuition. And the reason is a peculiar fact of Life.... Research "Intuition" Here.
Intuition is unknown in the field of education today because Intuition has nothing to do with the physical brain or its thinking. The brain and thinking are physical activities, and this is the normal way most people relate to life. Intuition is part of ones Spirituality, or ones Spiritual dimension.... Or that which resides "within" Man. And people who have access to Intuition are natural Gnostics.
And a natural Gnostic is someone who is seeking Knowledge, Truth, or Reality, and this is true, regardless whether or not the person realizes this or not? So, it is quite possible to be a Gnostic and not even realize this. Isn't this a strange thing?
What this means, oddly enough, is that the term "Gnostic" is not confined to individuals who lived centuries ago, at least not only to such people... The term Gnostic also refers to people like myself, and perhaps yourself... if you believe in God? Because if you believe in God, you do so for a reason. You may not know what that reason is.... but the point is your belief is not an accident. Your belief is due to some level of "Enlightenment".
And here again.... ones Enlightenment takes place "within" oneself, it is not something ones brain is going to "know". Although rare, it is possible that a highly Enlightened Soul might not realize the fact of his or her Enlightenment. And the only telltale of ones Enlightenment might be that one is more aware of the negativity of Life. Well, and one is also likely to sense oneself being strangely not part of life. More detached, in other words.
This is simply "displacement". The more Spiritual Energy one accumulates, the less attached to the illusion of life one becomes. And this is often experienced as oneself being a stranger, even within ones own family.
So, being a Gnostic simply means one is [knowingly or unknowingly] pursuing ones own discovery of Knowledge, Truth, or Spirituality.
And as soon as one can accept this "condition" as part of ones reality, one is automatically part of the Esogist Brotherhood [people knowingly seeking Truth]. Can one be a Gnostic and not even realize it? As I just said, many people are Gnostics, even though they know nothing of this term, and they have not labeled themselves as such. The term Gnostic is just a label. It is an abstract word, and it points to some phenomenon that exists as a reality somewhere in space and time, but not as part of this physical plane.
This is not unlike ones own Soul. The Spiritual Energy within oneself we call a Soul, but who has seen this Soul? Who has met ones Soul? And never having met ones Soul, how then does one "know" one has a Soul? What makes one believe one has a Soul is ones level of Spiritual Evolution, or where, on the Ladder of Life ones Soul is perched? Research Ladder of Life. As soon as ones Soul ascends the Ladder of Life high enough, ones Apapsyche [Operational Energy of ones Soul] awakens to the fact that one has a Soul. This is about the time that ones belief in God changes from an intellectual question, to an experiential bit of Knowledge. We refer to this Knowledge as "faith".
As ones Spiritual Evolution [the result of completing Karma over many, many lifetimes] increases, faith slowly turns to Knowledge, and this Knowledge cannot be shaken. One pursues Gnosticism until ones collection of Knowledge outweighs ones MIND. When this happens, ones Soul no longer listens to its MIND, but is Intuitively guided by its own Knowledge, or Truth. This is called Gnosis, or the Spirit of God is active within oneself.
Having opened the door, and crossed the bridge, ones Soul will no longer be satisfied with anything other than Absolute Truth. And Such Souls do not remain part of the Creation very long.
Peace
Brother James [Docjp]
