The Gnostics

[Guest guest]

The Gnostics

 

Whilst we were puzzling over these discoveries [i.e. the similarities between

the tales of Osiris-Dionysus and the 'biography' of Jesus], we began to question

the received pictures of the early Church and have a look at the evidence for

ourselves. We discovered that far from being the united congregation of saints

and martyrs that traditional history would have us believe, the early Christian

community was actually made up of a whole spectrum of different groups. [break

Quote]

 

[Folks, here are some of the similarities between the tales of Osiris-Dionysus

and the 'biography' of Jesus, as the author puts it]:

 

Osiris-Dionysus is God made flesh, the savior and 'Son of God'.

 

His father is God and his mother is a mortal virgin.

 

He is born in a cave or humbled cowshed on 25 December before three shepherds.

 

He offers his followers the chance to be born again through the rites of

baptism.

 

He miraculously turns water into wine at a marriage ceremony.

 

He rides triumphantly into town on a donkey while the people wave palm waves to

honour him.

 

He dies at Eastertime as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

 

After his death he descends to hell, then on the third day he rises from the

dead and ascends to heaven in glory.

 

His followers await his return as the judge during the Last Days.

 

His death and resurrection are celebrated by a ritual meal of bread and wine

which symbolize his body and blood.

 

The Jesus Mysteries

Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God?

Chapter 1 - p. 6

 

 

[i remember Shri Mataji saying that Divine Incarnations have to fulfill the

prophecies made about them. That is something to ponder about with regard to

Jesus Christ - that he fulfilled the prophecies of Osiris-Dionysus. However,

with regard to the above similarities, it is the 'literalists' that follow them

to the letter. The gnostics don't follow them quite the same way. For example,

Shri Mataji said that Jesus did not die as a scapegoat for our sins, but that He

died to show that the Spirit does not die and that humanity can be resurrected.

Shri Mataji said that Christ opened the Narrow Gate (Agnya Chakra) within human

beings, so that they can resurrect to the Kingdom of God within, which Jesus

Christ talked about as a heavenly kingdom.]

 

[Resume Quote re the 'early Christian community being made up of a whole

spectrum of different groups']:

 

These can be broadly categorized into two different schools. On the one hand

there were those we will call 'Literalists', because what defines them is that

they take the Jesus story as a literal account of historical events. It was this

school of Christianity that was adopted by the Roman Empire in the fourth

century CE, becoming Roman Catholicism and all its subsequent offshoots. On the

other hand, however, there were also radically different Christians known as

'Gnostics'.[5]

 

These forgotten Christians were later persecuted out of existence by the

Literalist Roman Church with such thoroughness that until recently we knew

little about them except through the writings of their detractors. Only a

handful of original Gnostic texts survived, none of which were published before

the nineteenth century. (P.9) This situation changed dramatically, however, with

a remarkable discovery in 1945 when an Arab peasant stumbled upon a whole

library of Gnostic gospels hidden in a cave near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. This gave

scholars access to many texts which were in wide circulation amongst early

Christians, but which were deliberately excluded from the canon of the New

Testament - gospels attributed to Thomas and Philip, texts recording the acts of

Peter and the 12 disciples, apocalypses attributed to Paul and James, and so on.

 

It seemed to us extraordinary that a whole library of early Christian documents

could be discovered, containing what purport to be the teachings of Christ and

his disciples, and yet so few modern followers of Jesus should even know of

their existence. Why hasn't every Christian rushed out to read these newly

discovered words of the Master? What keeps them confined to the small number of

gospels selected for inclusion in the New Testament? It seems that even though

2,000 years have passed since the Gnostics were purged, during which time the

Roman Church has split into Protestantism and thousands of other alternative

groups, the Gnostics are still not regarded as a legitimate voice of

Christianity.

 

Those who do explore the Gnostic gospels discover a form of Christianity quite

alien to the religion with which they are familiar. We found ourselves studying

strange esoteric tracts with titles such as 'Hypostasis of the Archons' and 'The

Thought of Norea'. It felt as if we were in an episode of 'Star Trek' - and in a

way we were. The Gnostics truly were 'psychonauts' who boldly explored the final

frontiers of inner space, searching for the origins and meaning of life. These

people were mystics and creative free-thinkers. It was obvious to us why they

were so hated by the bishops of the Literalist Church hierarchy.

 

To Literalists, the Gnostics were dangerous heretics. In volumes of anti-Gnostic

works - an unintentional testimony to the power and influence of Gnosticism

within early Christianity - they painted them as Christians who had 'gone

native'. They claimed they had become contaminated by the Paganism that

surrounded them and had abandoned the purity of the true faith. (P.10) The

Gnostics, on the other hand, saw themselves as the authentic Christian tradition

and the orthodox bishops as an 'imitation church'.[6] They claimed to know the

secret Inner Mysteries of Christianity which the Literalists did not possess.

 

As we explored the beliefs and practices of the Gnostics we became convinced

that the Literalists had at least been right about one thing: the Gnostics were

little different from Pagans. Like the philosophers of the Pagan Mysteries, they

believed in reincarnation, honoured the goddess Sophia and were immersed in the

mystical Greek philosophy of Plato. 'Gnostics' means 'Knowers', a name they

acquired because, like the initiates of the Pagan Mysteries, they believed that

their secret teachings had the power to impart 'Gnosis' - direct experiential

'Knowledge of God'. Just as the goal of a Pagan initiate was to become a god, so

for the Gnostics the goal of the Christian initiate was to become a Christ.

 

What particularly struck us was that the Gnostics were not concerned with the

historical Jesus. They viewed the Jesus story in the same way that the Pagan

philosophers viewed the myths of Osiris-Dionysus - as an allegory which encoded

secret mystical teachings. This insight crystallized for us a remarkable

possibility. Perhaps the explanation for the similarities between Pagan myths

and the biography of Jesus had been staring us in the face the whole time, but

we had been so caught up with traditional ways of thinking that we had been

unable to see it.

 

The Jesus Mysteries

Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God?

Chapter 1 - p.8-10

Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy

Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers')

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3

ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1

 

Notes:

 

[5] Conventionally these two camps are known respectively as 'orthodox' or

'catholic' Christians and Gnostics. In order to prevent confusion with the

institutions that use these names today, we have chosen to use the term

'Literalist' instead of 'catholic' or 'orthodox'.

 

[6] Robinson, J.M. (1978), 362, quoting 'The Second Treatise of the Great Seth',

60, 20

 

 

[but folks, we are now living in a New Era. There has been a great spiritual

breakthrough with the Advent of the Comforter, that Jesus Christ promised He

would send. Not only has He sent Her physical incarnation, but the Great Devi

has revealed Herself to humanity for the first time ever, between the years of

1993-2007. This is not a mythology. It is the Reality]:

 

" This is the first time the Great Devi has revealed Herself this way i.e.,

simultaneously and daily to three siblings from 1993-2007 who bore witness to

the Spirit World and the Kingdom of God. She has given irrefutable evidence that

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is Her incarnation, the Comforter promised by Jesus

Christ. Of even greater significance are Her revelations that She is the

Shakti/Holy Spirit of God Almighty entrenched in all religions stretching back

into time. But most important, relevant and comforting to humanity is Her Divine

Message and Sure Signs of the Resurrection--the promised redemption and

salvation of all humans--which is the heart and soul of Judaism, Christianity

and Islam.

 

We are Her disciples specifically empowered with the knowledge and faith to

bring about the salvation of lost souls:

 

" Jesus solemnly assures the disciples that they will, in the future, perform

even greater miracles than He. By this He means to say that through the power of

the Holy Spirit, they will bring about the greatest miracle of all – the

salvation of lost souls. "

(The Randall House Bible Commentary: The Gospel of John)

 

and even warn Muslims, " You persistently closed your mind to this promise " of

the Resurrection! (You need knowledge of the Qur'an to say so.)

 

So whether you are a pagan, atheist, gnostic or religious person the Divine

Mother has given the knowledge and evidence to establish a deep faith in the

Divine. The Great Mother/Holy Spirit/Ruh/Adi Shakti/Aykaa Mayee within

personally leads Her devotee to the highest state of human existence, the

'friendship and interior communion with God'.

 

However, all the bhakti--devotion and reverence for the Divine expressed through

rituals, sacrifices, ascetic practices, pilgrimages, donations, idols, hymns,

prayers, purifications--will not lead to this highest state. Thus all the

bathing at Benares, hajjs to Mecca, drinking holy water at Lourdes,

circumambulations of Mount Kailash, flagellations for Hussain, Golden Temple

recitations, Ramadan fasts, Navratri penance, and other manmade rituals will

never liberate. Of course that includes the rituals and treatments of SYSSR, the

Sahaja Yoga Subtle System Religion. Knowledge need not arise from even total

dedication of these external religious rituals, as has been the case for

millennia.

 

In the Devi Gita the Divine Mother proceeds to describe Her essential forms. The

Devi declares that prior to creation, She is the only existent entity, the one

supreme Brahman and is pure consciousness. The Devi Gita is clear about

salvation and attainment of eternal life: " Even when a person performs bhakti,

knowledge need not arise. He will go to the Devi's Island. Till the complete

knowledge in the form of my consciousness arises, there is no liberation. "

 

As we continue to extract ever more knowledge and evidence that progressively

eradicates our inherited religious ignorance and false indoctrination, our

consciousness and attention is slowly shifting through daily meditation towards

'friendship and interior communion with God' i.e., the complete knowledge in the

form of consciousness. The Holy Spirit/Adi Shakti/Aykaa

Mayee/Comforter/Ruh/Antaryamin within is nothing but pure consciousness. Your

spirit or soul too is pure consciousness. Conciousness is eternal.

 

The invisible Spirit is eternal, and the visible world is transitory. The

reality of these two is indeed certainly seen by the seers of truth. The Spirit

(Atma) by which all this universe is pervaded is indestructible. No one can

destroy the imperishable Spirit. Bodies of the eternal, immutable, and

incomprehensible Spirit are perishable. The Spirit (Atma) is neither born nor

does it die at any time. It does not come into being, or cease to exist. It is

unborn, eternal, permanent, and primeval. The Spirit is not destroyed when the

body is destroyed.

 

The Holy Spirit/Adi Shakti/Aykaa Mayee/Comforter/Ruh/Antaryamin within is

nothing but pure consciousness. Your spirit or soul too is pure consciousness.

Conciousness is eternal. Only the knowledge, friendship and interior communion

with Her--all in the form of pure consciousness --is liberation! That excludes

all rituals, baths, sacrifices, ascetic practices, pilgrimages, donations,

idols, hymns, prayers, treatments, circumambulations, flagellations, fasts,

recitations, penance and purifications required by religious institutions. The

highest state is when we understand the true meaning of the teachings of the

Divine Mother and begin experiencing the 'friendship and interior communion with

God'. The pagan civilization knew about Self-realization and " The Mysteries "

confirm they were far advanced, and still are today over the religions that

eradicated and replaced them. "

 

/message/9960

 

 

violet