Quotes About Gnosticism

The perpetual enemy of faith in the true God is not atheism (the claim that there is no God), but rather Gnosticism (the claim that God is known).

This fifth circuit is bonded into the right cortex and neurologically linked to the limbic (first circuit) system and the genitalia. These neural links explain the sexual metaphor of "kundalini" or "serpent" energy used to describe this circuit in systems as varied as Indian Tantra, Gnosticism and Voodoo, and the Chinese yin yang (male-female) energies associated with it.

Gnostics and Manichaeans argued that the good god created the spirit and the soul, whereas matter and bodies are the creation of the evil god.

in Gnosticism, the way of salvation lies in heightening consciousness and returning to the transcendent spirit, with loss of the unconscious side; whereas uroboric salvation through the Great Mother demands the abandonment of the conscious principle and a homecoming to the unconscious.

But if subjective pietism is not the real crux of this all-important Gospel, if it is instead belief in the plan of salvation, how are we not dealing with "salvation by (cognitive) works" and Gnosticism (salvation by special knowledge)? Fundamentalists hotly deny it, but isn't it finally a matter of believers in the right religion being saved and everyone else being disqualified?

Ginsberg, Burroughs, and Kerouac were all on the side of the savage. That their penny-ante gnosticism was not only perpetuated but mythologized and spread abroad as a gospel of emancipation is something for which we have the Sixties to thank -- or to blame.

Gnostics should practice meditation for at least 4 to 6 hours per day; practicing in the morning, the afternoon and almost the whole night until dawn...

In the 'Gospel According to the Egyptians,' Jesus proclaims: 'Men will be the victims of death so long as women give birth.' And he specifies: 'I am come to destroy the works of woman.' When we frequent the extreme truths of the Gnostics, we should like to go, if possible, still further, to say something never said, which petrifies or pulverizes history, something out of a cosmic Neronianism, out of a madness on the scale of matter.

The first principle of Gnosticism is the nonrecognition of reality.

Neoplatonists also believed that the vast variety of human thought, if traced back to the One Source—what Leonardo da Vinci called the Prime Mover—would lead to spiritual enlightenment and ultimately to God. This and the mystical texts that Ficino was translating led him to attempt a fusion of all mystical beliefs, from Greek gnosticism to Egyptian hermeneutics to Christian cosmology—and to Jewish Kabbalah.

Gnosticism is a system of thought based on interior, psychospiritual experience. This being the case, it is not surprising that Gnosticism emphasizes states of mind and regards actions as secondary in nature and importance. Gnostics have always held that consciousness, rather than external action, is the true indicator of moral worth.

Gnostics (and Buddhists) have often been labeled pessimists and world haters because of their willingness to look the dark face of the world in the eye. Yet, both of these traditions affirm that there is a way out of suffering and ignorance, and that this way out involves an essential, salvific change in consciousness.

Gnosticism has always been difficult to define, largely because it is a system of thought based upon and frequently amended by experiences of nonordinary states of consciousness, and thus it is resistant to theological rigidity.

Historically and geographically speaking, Gnosticism developed at the same time and in the same places as early Christianity, with which it was, and remained, entwined—Palestine, Syria, Samaria, and Anatolia, and later, Ptolemaic Egypt.

More accurately, the ego is in fact supplemented, not replaced, by the self. For the aim of both Gnosticism and therapy is, once again, the integration of ego consciousness with the unconscious, not the rejection of either one for the other: When, in treating a case of neurosis, we try to supplement the inadequate attitude (or adaptedness)

Where Voegelin seeks to show the Gnostic nature of modernity, Jonas seeks to show the modern nature of Gnosticism. Jonas draws parallels between ancient Gnosticism and modern, secular existentialism to prove that Gnosticism is existentialist, not that existentialism is Gnostic. For Jonas, both philosophies stress above all the radical alienation of human beings from the world.

Where Gnosticism regards the world as demonic and hostile, existentialism considers it natural and indifferent.14 In short, Jonas is far less intent than Voegelin in making Gnosticism modern.

In Gnosticism, the physical world did not ultimately matter - which meant physical suffering did not matter either. Seeking 'enlightenment' meant cultivating an attitude of detachment, even indifference.

Ma insieme, l'eredità ermetica e quella gnostica producono la sindrome del segreto. Se l'iniziato è colui che comprende il segreto cosmico, allora le degenerazioni del modello ermetico hanno condotto alla convinzione che il potere consista nel persuadere gli altri che si è in possesso di un segreto politico. Secondo

Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed a bridge: on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.

Gnosticism means "Direct Spiritual Knowing", being in direct experience with the Creative Source. Gnosticism has been called "forbidden self-discovery" by the Church, for it is a form of illumination. In other words, Gnosticism does not need the structure of a church to function. It is therefore, a threat to the existence of many churches.

There are many other beings that you will discover in the Gnostic Galaxy if you choose to delve more deeply into Gnosticism. For instance, there is Barbelo, who speaks of Herself in the Trimorphic Protennoia. While She appears in certain Gnostic texts such as The Three Steles of Seth and the above Trimorphic Protennoia, Barbelo is a very complex being, often portrayed as androgynous.

Gnosticism is the purest and most direct way of knowing God and the Universe.

Some Gnostic experts hold strange, incorrect and extreme opinions that they present in their books and presentations as the one and only explanation of Gnosticism. Beware of people who make scandalous claims for themselves, for example, who claim that they are an avatar, Bodhisattva, archangel, or the founder of Gnosticism. Focus on the spiritual books and methods that lead you to know the Divine directly. Do not become obsessed with particular individuals.