*GNOSTIC/*GNOSTICISM/*GNOSIS - also see KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING,ESOTERIC, MYSTIC, AWAKENING, SALVATION, TRUTH, LOGOS, ESOTERIC
Antonyms: IGNORANCE
See the web for Lesson 12 in Theosophy - where in Christianity the exterior (Catholic tradition) and esoteric (Gnostic) are 2 sides of the same coin. Note that Theosophy doctrine that each religion has a portion of the truth.
Wikipedia states that: humans are divine souls trapped in a material world. In order to free oneself from the inferior material world, one needs gnosis, or esoteric spiritual knowledge available to all through direct experience or knowledge (gnosis) of God.[2][3] Jesus of Nazareth is identified by some Gnostic sects as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnosis to the earth.
The Christian Gnostics emphasized spiritual knowledge rather blind faith as the road to salvation. They indicated that they possessed secret knowledge (i.e., "gnosis" in Greek) concerning the hidden meaning of the "resurrection." This was a part of the secret teachings of Jesus handed down to them by the apostles. This special knowledge was restricted to people who were given the public teachings of Christianity before qualifying to be initiated and receive the secret teachings. In contrast, the very term "Catholic" means "universal", implying that anyone could become a member of the Church by adhering to the public teachings of faith and rituals. The Christian Gnostics were harsh critics of the orthodox Church. The Christian Gnostics accused the Church of watering down the gospel in order to popularize it for the masses. The orthodox Church stressed salvation through faith alone and by the rituals of the Church.
This secret gnosis emphasized spiritual "resurrection" (i.e,. spiritual rebirth) and physical "resurrection" (i.e., reincarnation) as opposed to a resurrection defined as people sleeping in their graves until it is time their corpses to crawl out of their graves at the last day. Christian Gnostics held the view that if spiritual resurrection was not attained in one lifetime, then the soul would be subjected to as many reincarnations as it takes until spiritual rebirth is attained. To be called a Gnostic:
-The Gnostics posited an original spiritual unity that came to be split into a plurality.
-As a result of the precosmic division the universe was created. This was done by a leader possessing inferior spiritual powers and who often resembled the Old Testament Jehovah.
-A female emanation of God was involved in the cosmic creation (albeit in a much more positive role than the leader).
-In the cosmos, space and time have a malevolent character and may be personified as demonic beings separating man from God.
-For man, the universe is a vast prison. He is enslaved both by the physical laws of nature and by such moral laws as the Mosaic code.
-Mankind may be personified as Adam, who lies in the deep sleep of ignorance, his powers of spiritual self-awareness stupefied by materiality.
-Within each natural man is an "inner man," a fallen spark of the divine substance. Since this exists in each man, we have the possibility of awakening from our stupefaction.
-What effects the awakening is not obedience, faith, or good works, but knowledge.
-Before the awakening, men undergo troubled dreams.
-Man does not attain the knowledge that awakens him from these dreams by cognition but through revelatory experience, and this knowledge is not information but a modification of the sensate being.
-The awakening (i.e., the salvation) of any individual is a cosmic event.
-Since the effort is to restore the wholeness and unity of the Godhead, active rebellion against the moral law of the Old Testament is enjoined upon every man.6 (http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen06.html)
See the Gospel of St. Thomas.
The gnostic construct of reality views matter as the source of
evil and spirit as the source of good. (Transcend, p75)
Gnosis is insight, consciousness, intuition, contemplative self‑knowledge.
(Jung, p62)
One who has an esoteric (private, confidential, restricted to a small group) knowledge of spiritual truth to be essential to salvation. (Dict)
Ancient gospels tend to point beyond faith toward a path of solitary searching to find understanding, or gnosis. The Gospel of Thomas (discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt) acknowledges that with such exploration in simultaneously frustrating, troubling, and surprising: "Let the one who seeks not stop seeking until he finds. When he finds, he shall be troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be amazed, and shall come to transcend all things." (Buddha, Christ, page xxv)
AGNOSTIC - One who believes that any ultimate reality as God unknown and probably unknowable; non-committal. (Dict)