Introduction to Gnosis


Book Description

In ancient times, the Gnostics sought for salvation through personal, experiential knowledge of the Divine. Their methods of self-reliance and their sublime knowledge profoundly impacted society, such that the dominant powers felt threatened and the tradition was forced to disappear from public view. Now, after centuries of obscurity, the Gnostics have re-emerged, still carrying their profound message of Gnosis: knowledge of self and the Divine. In a simple and elegant way, Samael Aun Weor explains the basic methodology for people in today's world to begin to approach the greater mysteries of the Gnostics. In this basic and practical guide, Samael Aun Weor offers a breadth of exercises guiding the reader to discover within themselves a wealth of insight and understanding. Gnosis, after all, is Greek for knowledge, and the seeker is told, "Know thyself, and thou shalt know the universe and its Gods." "A great author deduced that the human being needs eight important things in life: health and the conservation of life, nourishment, sleep, money and the things money can buy, life in the beyond, sexual satisfaction, the well-being of his children, and a sense of proper importance. We synthesize these eight things into three: 1. Health 2. Money 3. Love "If you really want to acquire these three things, you should study and practice everything that this course teaches you. We will show you the path of success." - Samael Aun Weor Includes the lecture "How to Make Light Within" and the pamphlet "Marriage, Divorce, and Tantra." Topics include: An Exercise to Control Your Anger; The Power of Thought; Mental Force; Concentration of the Mind; The Law of Karma; Favorable Circumstances; The Descent of Cosmic Vibration; Prana; The Names of the Tattvas; Properties of the Tattvas; Money; Clairvoyance; Alcoholism; Meditation and Intoxication; Osmotherapy; Mental Relaxation; Concentration; Meditation; Contemplation; The Universal Mind; Imagination and Will; Mental Action; Mental Epidemics; Mental Hygiene; Vegetarian Diet; Self-observation; Chatter; “I’s” in the Five Centers; Matrimony, Divorce, and Tantra; and more.




The Gnosis


Book Description

Goes back to the initial teachings that were used in the creation of the Christian religion and demonstrates that they were actually derived from the Gnosis, or Ancient Wisdom. Gnosis is a Greek word meaning knowledge, or to know. In the early Church those who were mystics, or Gnostics, were rejected and considered heretics. What makes this book so important is that it identifies certain mystical teachings from early times as rightfully belonging in the Church. According to Kingsland, this is the real Christian message as originally understood by the Gospel writers.




The Gnosis and the Law


Book Description




The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead


Book Description

Jungian psychology based on a little known treatise he authored in his earlier years.




A Gnostic Book of Hours


Book Description

From the Nag Hammadi Library with the different times of day and days of the week. She reveals for us the macrocosm of human experience in the microcosm of the passing hours and days. Reverent introspection in the moment yields recognition of the sacredness and eternity of who we are and what our lives mean. Book jacket.




Gnosis


Book Description

This introduction to Gnosis by Christoph Markschies combines great clarity with immense learning.In his Introduction Markschies defines the term Gnosis and its relationship to 'Gnosticism', indicating why Gnosis is preferable and sketches out the main problems. He then treats the sources, both those in the church fathers and heresiologists, and the more recent Nag Hammadi finds. He goes on to discuss early forms of 'Gnosis' in antiquity, Jewish and Christian (New Testament) and the early Gnostics; the main representatives of Gnosis, especially Valentinus and Marcion; Manichaeism as the culmination and end-point of Gnosis; ancient communities of 'Gnostics'; and finally 'Gnosis' in antiquity and the present.There is a useful chronological table and an excellent select bibliography.




The Gnostic New Age


Book Description

Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today. In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism's next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.







The Nag Hammadi Library in English


Book Description




The Gnostic Gospels


Book Description

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.