Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00583)

Hi Andrew , It was actually an exposure to Gnostic ideas through a TV
documentary that got me first really to question J Ws-ville.
I think the program woke up the old Gnostic in me.

It really opens up a whole different world around Cristianity.

Prof.Elaine Paigels has writen what I think are very interesting and
readable introductions to Gnotisism, one The Gnostic gospels the other
called the Gnostic Paul she's also written one called 'the origen of
Satan' which I havent read yet.

What really got my attention in the Mahatma letters was the idea of
the Mamo-Chohans spoken about in letter 134 (Pasadena ed.)
Letter 30 (Chronological ed.) 

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/mahatma/ml-134.htm

This area is I think a vast and none that requires subtley of thinking
imo.

Regards
Perry
Mahatma Letters to A.P Sinnet :
"There are Dhyan-Chohans and "Chohans of Darkness," not what they
term devils but imperfect "Intelligences" who have never been born on
this or any other earth or sphere no more than the "Dhyan Chohans"
have and who will never belong to the "builders of the Universe," the
pure Planetary Intelligences, who preside at every Manvantara while
the Dark Chohans preside at the Pralayas. Explain this to Mr. Sinnett
(I CAN'T) -- tell him to read over what I said to them in the few
things I have explained to Mr. Hume; and let him remember that as all
in this universe is contrast (I cannot translate it better) so the
light of the Dhyan Chohans and their pure intelligence is contrasted
by the "Ma-Mo Chohans" -- and their destructive intelligence. These
are the gods the Hindus and Christians and Mahomed and all others of
bigoted religions and sects worship; and so long as their influence is
upon their devotees we would no more think of associating with or
counteracting them in their work than we do the Red-Caps on earth
whose evil results we try to palliate but whose work we have no right
to meddle with so long as they do not cross our path. (You will not
understand this, I suppose. But think well over it and you will. M.
means here, that they have no right or even power to go against the
natural or that work which is prescribed to each class of beings or
existing things by the law of nature. The Brothers, for instance could
prolong life but they could not destroy death, not even for
themselves. They can to a degree palliate evil and relieve suffering;
they could not destroy evil. No more can the Dhyan Chohans impede the
work of the Mamo Chohans, for their Law is darkness, ignorance,
destruction etc., as that of the former is Light, knowledge and
creation. The Dhyan Chohans answer to Buddh, Divine Wisdom and Life in
blissful knowledge, and the Ma-mos are the personification in nature
of Shiva, Jehovah and other invented monsters with Ignorance at their
tail)."



--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew Smith" <aupanishad@m...> wrote:
> From The Gnostic Society
> Like Buddhism, Gnosticism begins with the fundamental recognition 
> that earthly life is filled with suffering. In order to nourish 
> themselves, all forms of life consume each other, thereby visiting 
> pain, fear, and death upon one another (even herbivorous animals live 
> by destroying the life of plants). In addition, so-called natural 
> catastrophes -- earthquakes, floods, fires, drought, volcanic 
> eruptions -- bring further suffering and death in their wake. Human 
> beings, with their complex physiology and psychology, are aware not 
> only of these painful features of earthly existence. They also suffer 
> from the frequent recognition that they are strangers living in a 
> world that is flawed and absurd.
> The Gnostic God concept is more subtle than that of most religions. 
> In its way, it unites and reconciles the recognitions of Monotheism 
> and Polytheism, as well as of Theism, Deism and Pantheism. In the 
> Gnostic view, there is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is 
> beyond all created universes and who never created anything in the 
> sense in which the word "create" is ordinarily understood. While this 
> True God did not fashion or create anything, He (or, It) "emanated" 
> or brought forth from within Himself the substance of all there is in 
> all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a certain sense, it may 
> therefore be true to say that all is God, for all consists of the 
> substance of God ["monism"]. By the same token, it must also be 
> recognized that many portions of the original divine essence have 
> been projected so far from their source that they underwent 
> unwholesome changes in the process. To worship the cosmos, or nature, 
> or embodied creatures is thus tantamount to worshipping alienated and 
> corrupt portions of the emanated divine essence. 
> The basic Gnostic myth has many variations, but all of these refer to 
> Aeons, intermediate deific beings who exist between the ultimate, 
> True God and ourselves. They, together with the True God, comprise 
> the realm of Fullness (Pleroma) wherein the potency of divinity 
> operates fully. The Fullness stands in contrast to our existential 
> state, which in comparison may be called emptiness. 
> One of the aeonial beings who bears the name Sophia ("Wisdom") is of 
> great importance to the Gnostic world view. In the course of her 
> journeyings, Sophia came to emanate from her own being a flawed 
> consciousness, a being who became the creator of the material and 
> psychic cosmos, all of which he created in the image of his own flaw. 
> This being, unaware of his origins, imagined himself to be the 
> ultimate and absolute God. Since he took the already existing divine 
> essence and fashioned it into various forms, he is also called the 
> Demiurgos or "half-maker" There is an authentic half, a true deific 
> component within creation, but it is not recognized by the half-maker 
> and by his cosmic minions, the Archons or "rulers". 
> Human nature mirrors the duality found in the world: in part it was 
> made by the false creator God and in part it consists of the light of 
> the True God. Humankind contains a perishable physical and psychic 
> component, as well as a spiritual component which is a fragment of 
> the divine essence. This latter part is often symbolically referred 
> to as the "divine spark". The recognition of this dual nature of the 
> world and of the human being has earned the Gnostic tradition the 
> epithet of "dualist". 
> Humans are generally ignorant of the divine spark resident within 
> them. This ignorance is fostered in human nature by the influence of 
> the false creator and his Archons, who together are intent upon 
> keeping men and women ignorant of their true nature and destiny. 
> Anything that causes us to remain attached to earthly things serves 
> to keep us in enslavement to these lower cosmic rulers. Death 
> releases the divine spark from its lowly prison, but if there has not 
> been a substantial work of Gnosis undertaken by the soul prior to 
> death, it becomes likely that the divine spark will be hurled back 
> into, and then re-embodied within, the pangs and slavery of the 
> physical world. 
> Not all humans are spiritual (pneumatics) and thus ready for Gnosis 
> and liberation. Some are earthbound and materialistic beings 
> (hyletics), who recognize only the physical reality. Others live 
> largely in their psyche (psychics). Such people usually mistake the 
> Demiurge for the True God and have little or no awareness of the 
> spiritual world beyond matter and mind. 
> In the course of history, humans progress from materialistic sensate 
> slavery, by way of ethical religiosity, to spiritual freedom and 
> liberating Gnosis. As the scholar G. Quispel wrote: "The world-spirit 
> in exile must go through the Inferno of matter and the Purgatory of 
> morals to arrive at the spiritual Paradise." This kind of evolution 
> of consciousness was envisioned by the Gnostics, long before the 
> concept of evolution was known. 
> To the Gnostic, commandments and rules are not salvific; they are not 
> substantially conducive to salvation. Rules of conduct may serve 
> numerous ends, including the structuring of an ordered and peaceful 
> society, and the maintenance of harmonious relations within social 
> groups. Rules, however, are not relevant to salvation; that is 
> brought about only by Gnosis. Morality therefore needs to be viewed 
> primarily in temporal and secular terms; it is ever subject to 
> changes and modifications in accordance with the spiritual 
> development of the individual. 
> As noted in the discussion above, "hyletic materialists" usually have 
> little interest in morality, while "psychic disciplinarians" often 
> grant to it a great importance. In contrast, "Pneumatic spiritual" 
> persons are generally more concerned with other, higher matters. 
> Different historical periods also require variant attitudes regarding 
> human conduct. Items of Gnostic interest may be found in much other 
> literature. The Hermetic writings, the writings of the Christian 
> mystics, the Jewish Gnosticism of the Kabbalah are some of these. 
> Some of the great poets of the culture, such as Dante, Blake and 
> Goethe incorporated valuable Gnostic themes in their works,which are 
> of interest. In modern times, the Nineteenth Century Occult Revival, 
> pioneered by H. P. Blavatsky, bore a decidedly Gnostic character and 
> thus produced some writings that are useful to present Gnostic 
> concerns.	+ Stephan A. Hoeller 
> (Tau Stephanus, Gnostic Bishop)