Gnosis and the Gnostics!

[Existanz]

no, no, no, you got it all wrong. There is still salvation but it is achieved through gnosis. From the Gnostic's point of view sin came because of ignorance. If that's the case, to cure sin ignorance must be eradicated. Adam and Eve have sinned as a result of ignorance.

Avatars like:Krisna,Buddha, Jesus were great teachers of gnosis. Their knowledge of gnosis were acquired by their disciples and it is handed down from one generation to another. In recent time, faithful individuals have attained gnosis for following the esoteric path carved by those great teachers of Light.

Okay, what are these 'gnosis' are all about that might help man 'cure' or perhaps limits his sinning inclination?
Don't tell me it's something 'secret' na sad that only 'gifted' few are capable to 'know' it...I can't accept a God who favored people with an IQ 90% up. Maybe my view of what 'gnosis' is all about is skewed...

By the way Malic, indeed there is salvation in Gnosticism but it is again through man's own efforts and not what is freely given by Christ death on the cross. There is no Savior in Gnosticism, everyman is a saviour for himself...

[Existanz]

^lisod ra ba na sabton from a fundamental christian viewpoint, malic. existanz need to have a paradigm shift para ma gets ni niya......

Bad news nang 'paradigm shift' for me hehehe...I just want to have some sense of it that's all.

[Existanz]

yes. just 'i-feel-like-good-this-day-so-good-i-feel-so-high-this-is-heaven-i-see-God-kinda experience' what a feelin! (no pun intended)

Ah..just like the song says "...feels like heaven..." ehehe

Perhaps, after much mediation one can force on oneself this transcendence 'elevated feeling', just like how some people can successfully fool a lie detector machine or those folks that attain high tolerance of pain...mind over your gray matter hehehe...

[Malic]

Okay, what are these 'gnosis' are all about that might help man 'cure' or perhaps limits his sinning inclination?
Don't tell me it's something 'secret' na sad that only 'gifted' few are capable to 'know' it...I can't accept a God who favored people with an IQ 90% up. Maybe my view of what 'gnosis' is all about is skewed...

I think I did mention it in my previous post. Ignorance is the cause of sin. Cure ignorance through knowledge.

By the way Malic, indeed there is salvation in Gnosticism but it is again through man's own efforts and not what is freely given by Christ death on the cross. There is no Savior in Gnosticism, everyman is a saviour for himself...

Correct, in the first page there was a point where the author made mentioned that Gnosticism rejects the concept of external Savior.

[Malic]

Ah..just like the song says "...feels like heaven..." ehehe

Perhaps, after much mediation one can force on oneself this transcendence 'elevated feeling', just like how some people can successfully fool a lie detector machine or those folks that attain high tolerance of pain...mind over your gray matter hehehe...

I believe the bible has stories of people seeing angels, Tongues of fire, burning bushes, hearing god's voice after or even while in the state of prayer. You don't believe in these things?

[Malic]

Gnosis is concious experience of reality, acquired through our own experience, as opposed to knowledge that we are told to believe in.- anonymous


In any Religious/Spiritual discipline,this is the best approach and being an imbiber of teachings is not. If you talk a lot about your belief but fail in the practical area of your religion/mystica/esoteric path then I guess you don't deserve to be called a true follower of your Religion/mystic school.

more explanation...
if you are a christian or Muslim but you don't actually pray,give tithes & charities, attend church activities then I guess you are only a Christian or Muslim by name and not by practice.

if you claimed to be a follower of a certain esoteric/mystic path and you don't give much effort in meditation and other practical disciplines prescirbed by your school then I guess you are only a mystic by name and not by practice. Meditation in most mystic schools is the way to illumination. so if one is not doing this then you are defeating the very purpose of the knowledge you have gained.

[regnauld]

Let me read again The Gnostic Gospels and learn from their ancient wisdom!

[Malic]

The Theosophical view is that we must consider Truth within ourselves. It must result from our experience rather from our belief.-condensed from THE QUEST by: Edward Abdill taken from Theosophical Digest No.82 vol.21 no.2


God begins where thought ends, where self ends.- Frater JL from the book Enligthenment

[Existanz]

I believe the bible has stories of people seeing angels, Tongues of fire, burning bushes, hearing god's voice after or even while in the state of prayer. You don't believe in these things?

Frankly, I've got problems with those...it's not that I had doubts whether those things happens, rather how did they happen from an unbiased point of view- to which literature is lacking.

I'm trying to make sense out of it ever since...

[Existanz]

Gnosis is concious experience of reality, acquired through our own experience, as opposed to knowledge that we are told to believe in.- anonymous


In any Religious/Spiritual discipline,this is the best approach and being an imbiber of teachings is not. If you talk a lot about your belief but fail in the practical area of your religion/mystica/esoteric path then I guess you don't deserve to be called a true follower of your Religion/mystic school.

more explanation...
if you are a christian or Muslim but you don't actually pray,give tithes & charities, attend church activities then I guess you are only a Christian or Muslim by name and not by practice.

if you claimed to be a follower of a certain esoteric/mystic path and you don't give much effort in meditation and other practical disciplines prescirbed by your school then I guess you are only a mystic by name and not by practice. Meditation in most mystic schools is the way to illumination. so if one is not doing this then you are defeating the very purpose of the knowledge you have gained.

Same rant with christian existentialism...the only difference is that one not only follow certain ideals but to live with it...own it.