Gnostica

Or, G = AL + AS

Gnosis must be a deeply personal experience, but not every deeply personal experience is gnosis.

According to this contemporary approach, true Gnosis (G) requires three variables:

A: An Awakening Event– This might be an epiphany, a theophany, a revelation, etc., but it must be personal and must be experienced.

L: The Word, or Logos– An informational context into which one can place the awakening event. Remember that one of the meanings of Logos is “word,” but it also means “faculty of reason,” “discourse,” “law,” “pronouncement.” Jesus Christ, as the Logos, represents the deliverer of discourse– in Buddhist terms, we may find similarities to the Buddha as the Living Dharma. In the Sethian tradition, Jesus carries forth the Discourse as an extended faculty of reason initiated in the Pleroma by the Divine Seth. The preexistent Logos within the Pleroma is the Christos, which manifests within the World of Forms as living information. He is the instructor who institutes the sacraments– information. He teaches the Way to his disciples– information. He facilitates the presence of the Nous within each of us– information.

S: Wisdom, or Sophia– The wisdom to apply the awakening event through praxis within one’s holistic life. This is our Blessed Mother Sophia, tempered by faith, who carries us forward in our day-to-day existence. She delivers the essential Wisdom necessary to apply the teachings of the Logos to day-to-day life. With her infinite compassion, she descends through the spheres of the Archons to engage the spirit in each of us and allow us to develop compassion for all beings. She allows us to perform the sacraments presented by the Logos wisely, and fills our actions with content, keeping us moving forward and upward as we climb the ladder of emanations towards the realms of the Pleroma.

It is certainly possible to have any combination of these variables, but without all three, we cannot say with any amount of certainty that gnosis has been acheived. The equation allows us to investigate gnosis as an internal collaboration between these three elements. These scenarios are presented for self-analysis, not for application to other people. Also, keep in mind that these scenarios are appropriate for those who are pursuing or attempting to understand contemporary Gnosticism, not Buddhism or Islam or Sivaism, etc.

x (L + S): Without the awakening event, one has a context devoid of content. A person may have the information taught within the tradition, and the wisdom to apply it, but sans the awakening event, gnosis has not yet emerged. This is likely the most common state of the contemporary Gnostic who has not yet acheived gnosis, but this is positive, as through the medium of the Logos and Sophia, one can certainly pursue the flash of awakening which then establishes gnosis in one’s being.

A (x + S): One may be wise and awakened, but without the information provided by the Logos, one is aimless and wandering. This person may not have encountered the teaching of the Logos, but as soon as he or she has been touched by the Christos, he or she can apply their wisdom within a framework.

A (L + x): A situation necesitating great caution; the person who has experienced an awakening but has not yet been embraced by Sophia is in great danger of ego-inflation. This is a scenario in which we often find ourselves pseudo-messiahs or judges.

A (x + y): Awakening with no context. Another situation in which we often find seekers new to the Gnostic path. It is imperative that our awakening is tempered with the proper context presented by Wise application of the Word.

x (L + y): This scenario represents someone who may have book learning or base information, but no other kind of contextual support. It is doubtful that someone in this situation would be interested in pursuing the Gnostic path.

x (y + S): It is of course perfectly possible to be a wise person without any formal information or any desire for an experience of awakening.

Viewed in this fashion, gnosis must be Gnostic. A Buddhist who experiences satori has not experieced gnosis. If that Buddhist places that satori event into the context provided by the Logos and Sophia, he has experienced gnosis.

The cultivation of gnosis is gnosis. The Path and the Goal are identical. Every step on the Way is the first and last step. Once one has achieved gnosis, that person is charged with the awesome responsibility to continue walking this Way, supporting those fellow travellers who stumble and helping awaken those who sleep.