Wisdom From Forgotten Gospels, PT. 3

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James Bean jamesbean

Gnostic Links: /links/spiritualawakening

 

WISDOM FROM FORGOTTEN GOSPELS, PART THREE

 

By James Bean

 

Copyright December 1997

 

 

KNOW THYSELF AS SOUL

 

The Greek axiom " know thyself " is often echoed in the writings of early

Christianity. In the Book of Thomas the Contender Jesus says, " It is

not fitting that you be ignorant of yourself .... For he who has not

known himself has known nothing, but he who has known himself has at

the same time already achieved knowledge about the depth of the All. "

These Nag Hammadi gospels of Egyptian and Syrian Gnosis present a very

clear view that our true identity is spirit or soul. Coming to know

our true identity as spirit makes it possible to reconnect with God again

and the Kingdom of God, the divine realm that our soul is part of. The

soul doesn't have to " go " anywhere in a physical sense -- it's already

there, but needs to become aware of itself again. This is what Gnosis

is all about.

 

The Gospel of Truth, authored by the Master Valentinus during the second

century, has been described by the scholar Bently Layton as " the earliest

surviving sermon of Christian mysticism. " (The Gnostic Scriptures, Doubleday)

A copy of this document was found at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt back

in the 1940's. The Gospel of Truth is one of the great scriptures of

Valentinian Gnostic Christianity, an enlightened spiritual movement that

flourished for several centuries.

 

Saint Valentinus described the abuse and violence of human history as

nightmares -- the bad dreams of souls who have lost their real identity.

This is from a section of his gospel on " The Nightmare State and Awakening. "

Thus they (humanity) were unacquainted with the Father, since it was

he whom they did not see. Inasmuch as he was the object of fear and

disturbance and instability and indecisiveness and division there was

much futility at work among them, and much empty ignorance -- as when

one falls sound asleep and finds oneself in the midst of nightmares:

running toward somewhere, powerless to get away while being pursued,

in hand-to-hand combat, being beaten, falling from a height, being blown

upward by the air, but without any wings. Sometimes too, it seems that

one is being murdered, though nobody is giving chase, or killing one's

neighbors until, having gone through all these dreams, one awakens...

Such are those who have cast off lack of acquaintance from themselves

like sleep, considering it to be nothing ... They put them away like

a dream in the night, and deem acquaintance [Gnosis] with the Father

to be the Light of Dawn. Joy to the one who has rediscovered himself

and awakened. " ( " The Gnostic Scriptures " )

 

According to Valentinus, this spiritual awakening of the soul to God

and the higher dimensions of Life is pure joy. " This gospel of truth

is joy for those who have received from the Father of Truth the grace

of knowing Him. " The Supreme Being is described as gentle and compassionate.

" For the Father is gentle and in His will there are good things...the

children of the Father are His fragrance, for they are from the grace

of His countenance. " (translation in " Love Does Not Condemn, " Kenneth

Wapnick, Foundation For A Course In Miracles) The self-realized soul,

through Gnosis (spiritual perception), is released from its former prison

-- the imaginary outer world of intoxication, sleep and nightmares. " He

who has knowledge in this manner knows where he comes from and where

he is going. He knows as one who, having become drunk, has turned away

from his drunkenness, and having returned to himself, stands in rest

[reaches real being and heavenly tranquility]. "

 

WISDOM FROM FORGOTTEN GOSPELS, PART THREE///

 

The next Part is titled, " The Process of Awakening, " and begins to delve

into the CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES of the Gnostics, the Methods used to

attain Gnosis.

 

In the Light,

 

James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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