Applications of TAPs

Dear Gail:

I’d like to discuss another subject about which you’ll be hearing during your studies in this field. That is Gnosticism.

This is a philosophicoreligious movement of prechristian times. Later it had many forms in the pagan and orthodox religions, all of which have been characterized by the central doctrine that concerns—emancipation through knowledge (gnosis is the ancient Greek word for knowledge), the possession of which saves the initiates from the clutches of matter. In medicine and psychology the word denotes a combining form that pertains to cognition or recognition, an insight to a truth. In metaphysics it denotes positive knowledge, or the knowledge of spiritual truths as claimed by the Gnostics.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have brought to light much new knowledge in the field of Gnosticism. The Coptic writings reveal much of the Gnostic thought, and the Jewish Apocrypha contains a lot of their ideas. The early church fathers were followers of the Gnostic systems: Justin, in Rome, about 100-165; Irenaeus at Lyons, 180; Hippolytus, in Rome, 230; and Epiphanius in Cyprus 375. Three of the Gnostic writings from the 5th century are: Gospel of Mary, The Apocryphon of John, and Sophia of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Truth was found in 1945 in Egypt, in a 5th century Coptic Gnostic Library. It went into Carl Jung’s Institute in Zurich.

Defining Gnosticism is a difficult task. It is in a way the mystic side of the early Christian church. The very word gnosis shows that the Gnostic knows. He doesn’t know because he has learned; he knows because revelation has

been given to him. He doesn’t believe, for faith is inferior to gnosis. And his gnosis, “the knowledge of the ineffable greatness,” is itself perfect redemption. (This is antagonistic to the Christian religion today!) The early leaders Clements, Origen, Barnabas, etc. were great writers but they believed that knowledge was greater than faith, therefore this idea was against the principles of the church, and their writings have been cast out.

The Gnostic has self-knowledge. He knows by revelation who he is, that is, his true self; other religions are in varying measure God-centered, but the Gnostic is self-centered. The Gnostic approach to life is thus a “passionate subjectivity”

which counts the world well lost for the sake of self-discovery. Therefore it might be said to be a religion of saving knowledge, and the knowledge is essentially self-knowledge, recognition of the divine element which constitutes the true self. They differ from the orthodox Christian who says the “basic problem of the self is caused by conventional morality,” and that redemption is the release from conventionality.

Mythology is a significant feature of the Gnostic system.

It represents an attempt by the Gnostic to explain how this situation arose and how he can get out of it. It is significant because of its very nature, that is to express and illuminate his understanding of himself. In its sacred literature myth is as significant as in the sacred literature of the first chapters of Genesis, which stimulates the imagination of the Jews, Christians and Gnostics alike. Gnostics have always been devoted to a freedom of imagination therefore speculation and mythology were aspects of this freedom, which involved freedom from astral spirits, from the God of the Old Testament, from the tyranny of the creation, from Old Testament law and many other laws. Gnostic self-knowledge,

the result of revelation, is salvation; it issues in freedom and a fresh sense of creation.

The origin of Gnosticism is four-pointed. It arose out of (1) Hellenistic philosophy, (2) Oriental religion, chiefly Zoroastrianism, (3) Early Christianity, and (4) Heterodox Judaism. After the death of St. James, sectarian teaching was introduced into Christianity and thus Gnosticism got its start in Jewish Christianity.

Here again as in the Cabala, you find the angels as the mediators between God and man, and that it was Jesus who descended to win the fight over the evil angels who had taken the earth as their Possession, and restored it to the good angels. Even today there are croups in which Gnosticism is expressed, however they may not be aware of it. Recently in Utah a small group of believers anticipated a cosmic catastrophe and believed space ships would arrive to rescue them, after which some of them turned to Gnosticism in expression at least. These expressions are: social maladjustment, increased nonconformity, breakdown of social controls, social disorganization, and questioning of customs and social unrest.

I tend to think that the Calendar came from the Gnostic observance of a time scheme. After making a study of the angels, they claim four archangels serve the Lord; they are:

Michael, Suriel, Raphael and Gabriel. Under these are the subordinate angels who have many duties and tasks. I’ll discuss this planetary ladder in another letter. The Gnostic makes claims that Jehovah of the Old Testament is really Satan—and when you come to study the narrow, hidebound laws he laid down you might agree. In order for the Jivatma to reach heaven it must go through the lower heavens governed by the rulers, as I’ve explained in The Tiger’s Fang.

Gnosticism has three redeemers, or saviors: Jesus, Simon Magus, and Menander. One interesting item here is:

Remember the question you asked about the third heaven? In the Acts of Apostles Paul speaks of a man caught up in third heaven. The Gnostics believed Adam came from the third heaven, their idea was taken from Paul’s writings. The account of Simon Magus, the great magician, is given in The Acts of the Apostles. In Chapter 8, Verses 9 and 10, something mysterious is spoken of, and Simon is called by others, the “Great Power of God.” In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is a gospel called the Simonian doctrine, concerned with the worship of Simon as a descended savior. His teachings were helpful inasmuch as they advised on how to live in this world, primarily; whereas Jesus’ teachings pertained to saving from original sin, for the most part.

Menander tried to bring the teachings of both into a single thought; that is to say, he attempted to combine the two.

The philosophy of the Gnostics is: Everything emanates from the Supreme Father, known only by revelation, who helps the Jivatma or divine spark in its struggles against the body. His angels help the Jivatma remember its divine origin, and escape upwards to unite with him. The main difference between Gnostic and orthodox philosophical theology seems to lie in their attitude toward the world. For any Gnostic the world is really hell. For the Christian the world is one which God made, a world whose history he governs.

The Gospel of John and the writings of Paul are purely Gnosticism. However if you should ask any clergyman about this he might give you a cold stare but no answer. One thing which the Gnostics taught was the sound current, yet not as strong as VARDAN does for the Gnostics’ teachings are taken from VARDAN as all other spiritual works have done.

They actually believed the cross was a gateway to paradise

and not the savior. St. Ignatius, 16th century, seemed to have been a Gnostic by his words and writings. Much study could be done on the subject; naturally, I can only cover a little by letter.

More later.

Sincerely, Paul

42. Tibet