THE FOG – The Knots of Virtue
We are but a guest in this world. Therefore to progress in the light of virtue we must learn to take on difficulties while they are still small and easy to measure. Beware of people who offer a quick and easy way, for this path brings many difficulties. The practice of living virtuously only becomes difficult when we let the little things grow to block the flow of virtuous energies. The more virtue becomes blocked the more we may feel all tied up. When one knot begets another the more difficult they are to untie. People can see their lives as a metaphorical big ball of string tied up in copious knots. Just thinking about unraveling this ball of knots may be overwhelming. But once we learn to live in the present we can unravel one knot at a time.
This is what gnosis can do for us. It is not secret knowledge which the world would have us believe. It is a wisdom which is available to each and every one of us through direct experience of the One. All we have to do is possess the will to look for it. The first question we must answer is “am I ready to look for gnosis?” The next question will logically be “where will I look?” The answer to both of these questions is the same. Look within. We must look at ourselves.
We must turn to the therapeutic community within our collective consciousness. Then the church of the mind can become the true temple of the Holy Spirit and the grace of personal healing. Once we realize that all answers are within us then the One will become alive in our lives and the dependency on Guru’s will end. Once we discover our inner sage we will also find others who have embarked on the same journey from their own perspective. As we unravel our ball of knots we will meet others who can help us along our personal path of discovery. Likewise we will also become helpful to others as they progress on their journey of healing. There are many simple examples of this type of peer support available to us. For example take a close look at any 12 step movement. However for those searching to ignite Homo Spiritus they will surpass the limits of any human construct of the mind.
Today the world is saturated with religious and political systems which are fueled more and more by frustration, anger and violence. The right demigod at the right time and who knows what will be born. This is why dogma and theology must always come second to the healing arts. The therapeutic process is paramount for the evolution and growth of consciousness. It is only through a healthy consciousness that any direct democracy or participatory social system can become a true and worthy mechanism for change.
Let us return to the time of the Magi as it was experienced by the Therapeutae. The meaning of the therapeutae is “healers”. The therapeutica were an ancient order of mystical ascetics who lived in many parts of the ancient world but were found especially near Alexandria, the capital city of Egypt. This pre-Christian group of ascetics is known today from the writings of Philo of Alexandria, who described the group in his De Vita Contemplativa (On the Contemplative Life), written around 10 C.E. Philo compared the Therapeutae to the Essenes as both sects were known for their exemplary religious devotion and ascetic practices. According to Philo, communities of Therapeutae were widely established in the ancient world but the particular sect near Lake Mareotis, Egypt, was quite famous for its healing arts. The Therapeutae were renowned for both their asceticism and healing abilities. Indeed, the English words “therapy” and “therapeutic” are etymologically connected to the name of this ancient spiritual order, indicating that medicine, religion, and healing were deeply connected in the ancient world. In fact healing was seen as a religious art.
The Therapeutae are forerunners and the model for the Christian practice of ascetic life. The practices described by Philo were considered as one of the first models of Christian monastic life. Eusebius was so sure of the identification of Therapeutae with the earliest Christians that he deduced that Philo, who admired them so, must have been Christian himself.
We must also acknowledge and respect that as the Therapeutae was active in one part of the world, it was also occurring in cultures everywhere on Mother Earth. For example in a part of the world which became known as the America’s the same process of healing existed. Only today the Therapeutae is a history lesson for many cultures, while the Shamanic culture of the America’s is still present and relevant. The growth and spread of the healing energies of the Shaman is a gift to all of us and must be recognized by main stream religion. As the Orthodox Church loses its relevance in contemporary society as evidenced by the empty pew, the rise of Shamanic and Shamanka culture is now once again taking its rightful place. Now that years of oppression and attempts to systematically exterminate Shamanka and Shamanic culture has failed, aboriginal, First Nation, Inuit and Metis spirituality is once again offering a way back to gnosis and harmony with Mother Earth.
Having barely survived genocide the oral traditions of native peoples across the planet have now become our saving grace. Just as the early Europeans were saved from extinction by starvation in the wilderness of Turtle Island by its native people’s centuries ago, todays aboriginal peoples are once again prepared to turn the other cheek by embodying the Christian virtue of forgiveness towards their oppressors.
The evidence that we must return to the healing arts is obvious as technologies continue to grow but are not reducing the pain and suffering in the world. Not because it cannot. But because people lack the will or proper political leaders who can consolidate a creative solidarity among the peoples of Mother Earth. We must remember that technologies are inanimate and when manipulated by greed they can become a destructive force just as easily as they can become a constructive force when motivated by enlightened generosity.
The role of the individual, cleric, priest, priestess, elder, tau, shaman or shamanak is to grow personally and spiritually then share what they know with others. Then they can become a means for the companion seeker to grow personally and spiritually. We don’t need to make a better computer. We only need to make a better self. Then maybe the children of Mother Earth will have a better chance at solidarity.
This solidarity can only come to pass by embracing gnosis. As we grow in gnosis we will pass through higher and higher levels of gnosis until we reach full awareness and enlightenment. I believe we have all been born with an intrinsic desire to achieve full consciousness. So what is stopping us?
In doing so we must remember the words of Luke 2:52 when Jesus sat with the elders in the temple.
“… and he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he continued in subjection to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.”
Just as Jesus had to grow in awareness and consciousness so must we all grow personally and spiritually! Then after our time in the desert we to will discern our life’s purpose. Therefore the role of Homo Spiritus is to bring humanity to the next level of self-awareness and healing. If religion wants to remain relevant it can no longer be about dogma, rules and regulations. It must now embrace healing and offer itself as a sacred space for all peoples to heal. Likewise if corporations want to remain relevant then they too must embrace healing. If they do not then they will have to prepare for a future of preppers and anarchy. However the longer they resist healing the more irrelevant they will become. The only thing that can save secularism and religion is an awakened humanity led by an enlightened Homo Spititus. We do not need to reinvent the wheel unless we break it completely. In this case Mother Earth will give us what we ask for through climate change. However, if we chose to restructure corporate board rooms under the guidance of Homo Spiritus then humankind can discovered fire for the second time in history. Only this time the great fire will burn within the hearts, minds and spirit of an evolved Homo Spiritus.
A still mind can easily hold the truth.
The difficulties yet to come can be easily avoided.
The sage desires that which has no desires,
and teaches that which cannot be taught.
They rest in tranquility,
and do not value the objects held by a few,
but only that which is held by everyone.
They guide the seeker back to their own treasure,
and helps all things come to know the truth they have forgotten.
Tao Te Ching
Much of what humanity espouses to be spiritual is antidotal. There is no proof that this type of revelation is from the One. This is not to say that this type of direct experience is not valid. In fact it is an important part of our spiritual journey. However it is only the beginning. Antidotal experiences cannot be taken as gospel. Nor can they be ignored. What we need to do with these experiences is properly discern them. We must determine where a direct experience is directing us. There is much to learn along the path of gnosis which must be clearly understood.
“Beware of those who come to devour in my name. Always put goodness as well as evil to the trial as a test for the Holy Spirit. For the resurrection is here now and always. Remember those who are only beginning will think differently about these things”
Gospel of Gnosis
True gnosis may seem merely antidotal on the surface. This is why we must look deep into its meaning. Like the layers of an onion we must peel back its surface to uncover deeper and deeper purpose and meaning. This is why in our interior life we must honour our spirit guides. Spirit guides can protect us and bring into the light both truthful and false interior movements of the soul. For instance here are some simple guide lines to discern the difference between the holy and unholy. There are many others to choose from. One common principle to keep in mind when doing so is to remember that anything which attempts to take away your freedom in anyway shape or form should be avoided. For the Creator seeks to liberate and foster a free thinking spirit which is confident and willing to challenge both the God and Goddess within all sentient life.
- In the beginning souls are easily tempted because they are steeped in ignorance. This ignorance is supported by the lower-self which is easily distracted.
- An easily distracted soul will fall prey to false consolations
- Once false consolations are resisted desolations such as shame, guilt and fear become more apparent
- Discern the source for intention. For over time intention may be altered.
- Good intentions bring consolations that direct interior movements towards the good
- Bad intentions direct false consolations away from the good.
- False consolations cause beguilement
- Pure consolations cause joy and peace.
- Even in the case of pure consolations, the beginning, middle, and end, of any interior movement must be discerned.
- The One will never cause desolation but may permit it to happen due to free will and choice. However the One can always convert a false consolation or false desolation into a real consolation
- A real consolation can never be turned into a false consolation or desolation by evil. However evil may attach itself to this interior movement with the hope of influencing it at some time in the future.
- All desolation has at its root ignorance of the Divine Self within.
- At times spiritual growth may seem dry but this should not be confused with desolation.
- When dryness occurs the lower self of ignorance may try to convince the higher self to abandon the work of the soul. This is another form of beguilement.
- Interior emotions are not meant to hurt us. They are meant to guide us to perfection. Therefore emotional defilement is to be understood as another form of beguilement.
- Rituals and habits are not part of our true self. Rituals and habits may instill unconscious trance behavior or conscious mindfulness. Therefore like everything else we must discern the intellectual visions which rituals and habits admit into our professions of faith.
- The practice of mindfulness and the examination of daily encounters should be discerned within the daily cycles of birth, death and resurrection.
The human narrative is both luminous and nebulous in nature. It possesses the luminous in its ability to guide us into a deeper awareness of who we are. In the nebulous it keeps alive the mysteries of life which will always be waiting to lead Homo Spiritus safely through the “Way” of “Gnosis”. As Homo Spiritus awakens they will mature beyond simple antidotal insight. As this evolution unfolds the unknowable mysteries of life will unfold as part of a new conscious awareness. This new awareness will no longer be indebted to a simple faith which has been susceptible to abuse for far too long. Acts of faith will become acts of knowledge based on a more formidable comprehension of the One. The “Way” will become clearer and the road we follow will become knowable. As the mysteries of the unconscious become knowable, Homo Spiritus will be offered the divine clarity of gnosis to rescue humanity from their self-imposed bondage of ignorance.
Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will rule over all.”
Gospel of Thomas
To save ourselves and arrive at this place of gnosis we only need to do one thing. Look within. Then follow the healing graces which can free humanity from millennium of generational pain and suffering. Then love will be spread across the planet and the arms of Mother Earth will embrace us across the cosmos.
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7
Humanity has now come to a great evolutionary tipping point. We have come to a point when we all possess the ability to call forth Homo Spiritus within. All we have to do is ask. Those who ask will develop the mindfulness to see beyond the precipice. Those who refuse to embrace the future of humanity will be at risk of falling into a great abyss. Let us now choose gnosis and make a conscious decision to return to the religious arts of an enlightened contemporary therapeutica. May we individually and collectively seek the healing of the human race so we can once and for all eternity return to our rightful place within the Gardens of Paradise.
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