The gnosis of the mind

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THE GNOSIS OF ... THE MIND. .

.


WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR A'et.

Thrice Greatest Hermes (3 vols.) Fragments of a Faith Forgotten Apoli^onius of Tyana The Gospel and the Gospei^s - Did Jesus Live 100 B.C. - - Plotinus The Upanishads (2 vols.) - - -

-

30/-

-

10/6

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4/6

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9/-

3/6

i/-

3/-


ECHOES FROM THE

G. R. S.

GNOSIS

VOL

BY

MEAD I

TH E GNOSIS OF THE MIND

'^^^

THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY

LONDON AND BENARES 1906


PRINTED BY PERCY LUND. HUMPHRIES 4 CO., LTD. THE COUNTRY PRESS, BRADFORD; 3,

AND

6P^

/

AMEN CORNER, LONDON. E.G. BRIDGE STREET, MANCHESTER. ;

97,

2437-10


ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS, Under this general title it a series of small volumes,

is

proposed to publish

drawn from, or based upon, the mystic, theosophic and gnostic writings of the ancients, so as to make more easily audible for the ever- widening circle of those

some echoes

things,

many who

love such

their spiritual ancestry.

initiatory lore of

are

who

of the my.^tic experiences

love the

life

of the spirit,

and

There

and who

long for the light of gnostic illumination, but who are not sufficiently equipped to study the writings of the ancients at first hand, or to follow the

These

labours of scholars unaided. are therefore

to the study of the subject,

they even

and

it

is

may become heard

little

intended to serve as

of

more

difficult

hoped that for

the

some,

Gnosis,

literature of the

at the

who

volumes

introduction

same time

have, as yet, not

stepping-stones

higher things. G. R. S. M.

to


The

volume are to the recentlyGreatest Hermes : Studies Theosophy and Gnosis. Being a

references in this

published

work

in Hellenistic

— Thrice

Translation of the Extant Sermons of

the

Trismegistic

Literature,

Commentaries and Notes,

3

and Fragments

with

vols.

Prolegomena,

(London, 1906),


THE GNOSIS OF THE MIND. I have been spending much in a world of great beauty time my and of thought purity of feeling, created

For long

of

by the devotion and of the

intelligence of

one

theosophical fraternities of the ancient world. They called them-

many

selves disciples of Thrice-greatest Hermes, and sometimes spoke of their faith as the

Religion of the Mind. to

They were

and contemporary with

and earliest centuries of and they lived in Egypt.

What

the

prior

origins

Christianity,

remains of their scriptures and of their endeavour

what can be gleaned

7


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

made

has recently been

accessible in the

tongue, in such fashion as I have been able to reproduce their thought

English

and interpret it. The labour of many months is ended the task of reproduction is accomplished, and the echoes of the Gnosis of Thrice-greatest Hermes ;

are

audible

the

across

centuries

for

English ears in fuller volume than before,

and

I

It

hope in greater clarity. no small thing this Gnosis

—

is

ten-thousand-times-great

Hermes, enthusiasm

of

as

an ecstasy of calls has as its foundation the Single Love of God, it endeavours to base itself upon the True Philosophy and Pure Science of Nature and of Man, and is indeed one of the fairest forms of the Gnosis of the Ages. It is replete with

Zosimus

Him

;

in

for it

Wisdom

(Theosophia) and Worship (Theothe Religion of the

—

sebeia) in harm.ony Mind. It is in its

beginning 8

Religion,


devotion and piety and worship, based on the right activity and passivity of the Mind, and its end is the Gnosis of true

things-that-are and the Path of the that leads man unto God.

Do

I

claim too

much

the Gnosis

for

Thrice-greatest Hermes ? echo what He teaches in His of

(or rather those of

into is

English speech.

hearers.

the

many

used

by

I

do but

own words

disciples)

turned

The claim made forms of

for the Gnosis, not for the

expression

of

His

Good

its

learners

All these forms of

its

and

expression,

sermons, or sacred discourses,

the disciples of this Way, are but to lead men towards the Gnosis

means they

;

are

not

the

Gnosis

itself.

True,

that is set forth appears to me to be very beautifully expressed, and I have been delighted with many a thought and phrase that these nameless writers and thinkers of years long ago have

much

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

handed down tongue

;

to

all this

us in the fair Greek

however,

as a garment

is

that hides the all-beautiful natural form

and glory

What

of the Truth.

is

of

importance

is

that

all

these

Theosophists of the Trismegistic tradition declare with one voice a sweet voice,

—

that carries with it conviction within, to the true knower in our inmost soul that

—

is Gnosis and Certitude, full and inexhaustible, no matter how the doubt-

there

ing mind, opinion,' the counterfeit mind,

may weave

its

magic

of contrary appear-

ances about us. Seeing, then, that

mind

I

have now much

what has been written of this Religion of the Mind, I would set down

in

of

a few thoughts thereon as they occur to me, an impression or two that the contemplation of the beautiful sermons of the disciples of the Master-Mind has

engraved upon

my

memory. 10


And

would say that I as a great privilege to have been regard permitted by the Gods to be a hander-on in some small way of these fair things for indeed it is a great privilege and high honour to be allowed in any fashion to first

of

all

I

it

;

forward the preparation for the unveiling of the beauties of the Gnosis in the hearts of one's fellows,

a

way

— even

as that of

in so insignificant

translating

and com-

menting on that which has already been forth by greater minds in greater set beauty centuries ago. The feeling that arises is one of joy and thankfulness that so pleasant a task has been granted by the Providence of God as a respite on the

way And

(to

use

a

phrase

of

so, as in all sacred acts,

praise

and

thankfulness

Hermes teaches us. But when is there Master

will

interject)

II

Plotinus').

we begin with to

God,

as

(the disciple of the an act that is not

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

sacred for one " a procession

who

is

a

"

man " and not ? He who is

"

of Fate coming unto himself, who from the unconscious and the dead is beginning to return to consciousness and rise into life,

every act

his

self-consecrates

deeper realisation of the divine nature ; for now

for

mystery no longer

ever

of his

is he an embryo within the womb, nourished in all things by the Mother-Soul, but a

man-babe new-born, breathing the the greater of the Father-Mind.

spirit of

life,,

freer

the cosmic airs

And

so

is

it

that

every act and function of the body should be consecrated to the Soul and Mind the traveller on this Way should pray ;

by devoting

unceasingly,

unto his God

As or

;

this food nourishes the

the Bread of

Wisdom

when bathing

the

body,

so

his every act

thinking when

:

As

body, so

nourish the this

la

:

may

mind

;

water purifies

the Water

may

eating

of

Life


vivify the mind of impurities :

;

or

when

freeing the

body

As

these impurities pass so may the refuse of

from the body, opinion pass from the mind Not, however, that he should think that an3^thing is in itself unclean or !

divine substance

common, for all is of the and of mother-matter knows in his heart of lower members are not

he already hearts, but his this

;

yet knit tothey are as yet gether in right harmony awry, not centred in the perfect whole. as

;

He

as

point Point

;'

sees things from onl}^ one he has not yet realised that the

yet

is everywhere, and that for everyis a point of view whence it is there thing true and right and beautiful and good.

That all-embracing point one sense,

all-sense,

the sense of the

sensible

identical

the

of

view

common

is

the

sense,

the intelligence, in which and the intelligible are

and not apart. 13

It is the little

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THB GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

mind, the cession,

mind

that

the Great

in

man, the external

creates

fate-pro-

duality

;

Mind knows that the without

and the within are twain

in one, are self-

conditioned complements, the one within the other and without the other at one

and the same time. In this Religion of the Mind there is no opposition of the heart and head. It is

not a cult of intellect alone, it is not a it is the Path of emotion alone

cult of

;

Devotion and Gnosis inseparably united, the true Sacred Marriage of Soul and Mind, of Life and Light, the ineffable union of God the Mother and God the Father in the Divine Man, the Logos, the

Alone-Begotten of the Mystery of Mysthe All and

teries,

One

Effability eternally in

— Ineffability and simultaneous Act

and Passion.

And Mind

if you should object to the word as excluding other names of equal

14


dignity, know that this also has been spoken of again and again by the disciples of Thrice-greatest Hermes.

He

has no name, for

He

many names, nay, He is names, for He is Name

One of the One of all is

the

itself and all is and there naught that is things else, Nor is not He. He One alone, though He is the One and Only One, for He is All and Nothing, if such a thing as nothing

there can be.

But we, because of our ignorance, call Mind, for Mind is that which knows, and ignorance seeks ever for its other self, and the other self of ignorance is

Him

Gnosis.

And

seeking

own

whether view of what

Gnosis,

it

love or hate

it

seeks, ignorance is ever changing into of knowing, experiencing some

its

false

some form

novelty or other as is

it

thinks, not

knowing

But Mind experiencing itself. not only that which knows, but also

that

it is

15

THB GNOSIS

OF THB MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

the object of

know to know first

all

knowledge

;

for

it

knows

alone, there being nothing else to but Mind. It self -creates itself

itself

itself,

not

know

and

to

itself.

know itself it must Mind thus makes

ignorance and Gnosis, but is not either in itself. It is itself the Mystery that makes all mysteries in order that it may

be

self-initiate in all.

Thus we are taught that Mind, the Great Initiator, hood, Master of

all

master-

ignorance as weU as so we find the Supreme

all

And

knowledge.

Master of

is

addressing one of His Beloved Sons, one who has won the mastery of self, as "

Soul of

my

Soul and Mind of

My own

Mind."

The

perfectioning. opened up to

neophyte

Mind

is

pre-

initiation, of perpetual

The

into

the

of

Religion

eminently one of

the

vista

of

mind's these i6

possibility

eye of sacred

the rites


One

transcends credibility.

asks oneself

Can this be true again and again seems too good to be true.

?

:

But how can

It

Master smiles in reply) when the inevitable end of everything is the Perfection

The Good

of perfection, It

cannot be

nor too much,

What

then,

And fection ? we cannot but

?

good, for that out of its own self

too good is with the Good there

is

Itself

too

is

which but ;

neither too little

Perfection.

it is

we

feebly ask, is imperin the Master-Presence

It is the doubt reply too good" that is the imperfection of our nature we fear it cannot be for us, " " not knowing that the little one who

"It

:

is

;

catches some glimpse of the vista, the earnest of the Vision Glorious, sees not something without, but that which is

within himself. tTie

full

Sonship

It is all

of

17

there potentially,

the Father.

GNOSIS

OF THE

be ''too good" (the

it

THE

It

is

MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

there and here and everywhere, for the nature of our very being.

The

it is

glimpse of this Divine possibrought to the consciousness of the prepared disciple by the immediate Presence and Glory of the Master, accordfirst

is

bility

ing to the records of the followers of the But who is the Religion of the Mind.

Master is

tion

ripe,

;

"

so.

he who

\

;

?

Not is

without us

is He some one sets forth a formal instruc-

other

who

teacher

"

He someone

Is

?

He some

is

This race," that is to say, born in this natural way,

when the time is by God." some new thing it is

never taught, but its

memory

is

restored

It is not therefore not the becoming of something or other it is a return to the same, we become what we have ever been. The dream ;

;

is

ended and we wake to life. the marvellous so in one of

And

i8


descriptions of initiation handed on in the Trismegistic sermons, in which the disciple is reborn, or born in Mind, he " " is all amazed that his father and

below should remain there before him just as he ever was in his initiator here

familiar is

form, while the efhcacious rite " " by his means. The father " son is the link, the channel

perfected "

of this

of the Gnosis

;

the true initiation

formed by the Great

And

that this

is

is

per-

Initiator, the Mind.

so

from another sermon,

in

be learned which a disciple

may

of a higher grade is initiated without any intermediate link by himself, alone as ;

far as

any physical presence of another is concerned, he is embraced by the Great Presence and instructed in the mystery. The office of the " father " is to bring "

"

union with himself, so be born out of ignorance may into Gnosis, born in Mind, his Highest the

son

to

that he

19

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

Self,

and

so

become Son

of

the Father

indeed.

What is most striking in the whole of the tradition of the Mind-doctrine is impersonal nature. In this it stands out in sharp contrast with the popular Christianity and other saving cults contemporary with it. It is true that the its

sermons are

set forth

of instruction of

mostly in the form

We

teacher to pupil.

learn to love Hermes and Asclepius and Tat and Ammon, and become friends with all of them in turn they seem to ;

be living men, with well-marked characters. But they are not historical charThere is an acters they are types. Ammon, a Tat, an Asclepius, and a Hermes, in each one of us, and that is " why we learn to love them. The holy " four are in the shrine of our hearts ;

;

but transcending the

Shepherd

of

all,

all

20

embracing men, the

all,

is

Love


Divine that through the lips of our HeiTnes teaches us as Asclepius or Tat as we have ears to hear or Ammon

—

—

the words of power, or eyes to see the splendour of the teaching.

gnostic

Nay, more than this and true as

such instruction, may be, is not the highest teaching of the Mind. They who are born in Mind, are taught by Mind beautiful

every

it

and every thought and The Mind eternally

act

by every

;

sensation.

instructs

and mind

the ;

man

for

know through

through body, soul

now

the

man

begins to

he is changing from the little mind and soul and body that he was to the Great Body and Great Soul and Mind of the Great Man. He no longer seeks a teacher, for all things teach him, or rather the One Teacher teaches him through all. All that there is transforms itself for him mto the nature of the Gnosis of the Good. all

of

21

these,

for

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

No longer is he a hearer, but the Hearer for

he has ears on

voice of Nature,

all

of the Divine,

Spouse

in everything that breathes

seems to have no winter and

life

summer

—the

and

all

that

simultaneous

of the Lord.

he a No longer for he has eyes on is

;

sides to hear the

but the Seer

seer,

;

sides to see the

all

beauty of the whole, and fairest things most foul. No longer is he a doer, but the Doer for all he does is consecrated to the Lord who dedicates Himself to acting in the man. in things that are

;

And

so all of his senses

are set on the Great in the Mysteries of

illumined

by

perfectioning,

and

his energies

Work of self-initiation God his life becomes ;

the

glory

of

perpetual

and he no longer thinks

that he has ever been other than is.

For memory

is

and the memory

now he

ever present with him,

of Jhe.. Mind is of_ tlie

22


nature of eternity, which transcends

all

THE

and future and

all

GNOSIS

time,

and

sees all past

present in the

instant that endures for

MIND.

evermore.

And what does the Religion of the Mind teach us of God, the universe and

man

?

It

teaches

us

many

of

things

and

solemnity joyous presage but one thing especially it seems to teach, and that is the impossibility of human

great

;

speech to tell the mystery. For^ every is but a letter in the language of so that all that a man may the Gods

man

;

no matter how well stocked his mind may be with systems of the world or of theology, or with the science of the human state, no matter how exactly he may reproduce his thought and trick write,

it

forth in fairest

that he can express of

his

Word.

OF THE

human language— is

The Words

written with the general 23

^^all

but a single letter of

God

are

purposed acts


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

of

men, and are not uttered by

their

individual spoken speech or penned with written words. The Words of God are

spoken by the energies of Nature, and are not written on the surfaces of things ;

the surfaces of things are scribbled over with the false appearances that men project from their

How

then can

unknowing minds.

men

describe the uni-

except by their inscribing of themselves upon the fields of space ? verse,

To describe the universe as it is they must become the universe, and then they will describe themselves and to describe ;

themselves they will be able to discover no better way than that in which the universe

gives

utterance

to

itself.

It

speaks perpetually the Language of the Gods, the Universal Tongue, for it is God for ever givmg utterance unto Himself.

The Tongue

of the Eternal

24

is

the

Mind


of

God.

It is

by Mind, the Reason that

Self-subsistence,

speaks forth

He

of

His

perpetually

all things.

Thus we learn that the Religion of the Mind is pre-eminently the Religion of the Logos, and throughout the whole of our tractates no name comes more frequently before us than the word For the Logos is the Word of Logos. God, not in the sense of a single Word,

Trismegistic

but the

Word in

the sense of the Universal

Scripture of all worlds

And

so

it is

of the Gods.

the Gods

and

of all

men.

Hermes is the Scribe Not that Hermes is one of

who

that

a scribe for the rest, as though they could not write themselves but Hermes is the Logos of God, and the is

;

Words he

men

writes are Gods.

Word or our has the glorious destiny before him, nay, the actuality even now in his universal nature, of being a God, a W^e

God

;

for

are letters of our

man

25

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

Divine Being, of

GNOSIS

and Joy and Subsistence. That Word has written itself manj^ times in the world, now one letter and now another

OF THE MIND.

the nature of Gnosis

;

spells itself in many ways, in sequences of lives of men, and of other lives as well. it

And

time will be when each and every in its own proper turn, will in all its glory, not letter by

God- Word, sound forth

but the whole Word simultaneously on earth and a Christ will be born and all Nature will rejoice, and the world of men will know or be ignorant according to the nature of the times and the manner letter,

;

of the utterance of the W^ord.

Such are some of the ideas aroused by some of the leading conceptions of the Religion of the Mind, or the Pure or as the Single Love, of called Hermes disciples Thrice-greatest their Theosophy some nineteen centuries

Philosophy,

ago.

26


The most general term, however, by they named their science and it philosophy and religion was Gnosis almost every sennon and occurs in excerpt and fragment of their literature which we possess. The doctrine and the which

;

discipline

of

Mind, the Feeder of

men

and Shepherd of man's soul, are summed up in that fairest word Gnosis. Let us then briefly consider the mean-

ing of the

name

as the followers of this

Way understood it. Gnosi^^is.^KnaW" but not discursive knowledge of ledge T the nature of the multifarious arts and sciences known in those days or in our pmi

i

» «*

;

i

l

'

own.

On

this

"

noise of

words," these

multifarious knowledges of the appearances of things and vain opinions, the followers of the True

Science and Pure

Philosophy looked with resignation while those of them who were still probationers ;

treated

them with even 27

less

tolerance,

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

declaring that they left such things to " " the for Greeks "; Egyptians," of course, nothing but Wisdom could suffice. At any rate this is how one of the less

instructed editors of one of the collections of our sermons phrases it. For him Egypt was the Sacred Land and the while the Egyptians the Chosen Race and Greeks were shallow upstarts The like-natured Jew of the reasoners. ;

period,

on

the other while

hand, called

the

Judsea was the

body "Egypt," Holy Land, and Palestine the Promised Land, and Israel the Chosen of God and so the game went merrily on, as it does ;

even unto this day.

But the

knew

real

otherwise.

writers of

Gnosis

the sermons

for

them was

superior to all distinction of race the Gnostic was precisely he who reborn, regenerate, into the Race,

;

Race

of true Wisdom-lovers, the

28

for

was the

Kinship


of

the Divine

Fatherhood.

Gnosis for

them began with the Knowledge of Man, to be consummated at the end of the perfectioning by the or Divine Wisdom.

Knowledge

of

God

This Knowledge was far other than the knowledge or science of the world. Not, however, that the latter was to be for all things are true or despised untrue, according to our point of view. If our standpoint is firmly centred in the ;

True,

whereas if we wander in error, even the truest, become things,

meaning all

things can be read in their true

all ;

misleading for us. The Gnosis began, continued and ended in the

knowledge

tion of the

of one's self, the reflec-

Knowledge

of

the

One

Self,

So that if we say that Gnosis was other than the science of the world, we do not mean that it excluded anything, but only that it regarded all the All

Self.

29

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND,

human

arts

and sciences as

insufficient,

incomplete, imperfect. Indeed it is quite evident on that

the

writers

of

the

all

hands

Trismegistic

tractates, in setting forth their intuitions of the things-that-are, and in expressing

the living ideas that came to birtli in their hearts and heads, made use of the

philosophy and science and art of their It in is, day. very deed, one of the stories of their endeavour that they did so for in so doing they brought the ;

great truths of the inner life into contact with the thought of their age.

There is, however, always a danger in for in proportion as any such attempt ;

we

involve the great intuitions of the soul and the apocalypses of the mind in the opinions of

the day,

we make the

ex-

position of the mysteries depart from the nature of scripture and fall into the

changing

notions

of

30

the

ephemeral.


Human

science

we

forth such glimpses of

set

ideas as

and living

we can

forms

of

ever changing

is

of

verities

in

obtain,

evolving

;

and

if

the sure

the Gnosis

the ever-changing science,

we

may,

indeed, do much to popularise our glimpse of the mysteries for our own time ;

but the days that are to come will accuse us of clothing the Beauty of the Truth

compared with the fairer own improved opinions. garments The documents that have been preserved from the scriptoria of the Trismegistic tradition are by many hands and the product of many minds. Somein

rags

as

of their

times they involve themselves so closely with the science of their day that the current opinion of the twentieth century will turn from them with a feeling of

on the other contemptuous superiority hand they not infrequently remain in the paths of clear reason, and offer us an ;

31

THB GNOSIS

OF THB MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

unimpeded view of vistas of the Plain But even when they hold of Truth. most closely to the world-representations and man-knowledges of their own day they are not without

interest

;

for

may be that in their notions of living nature the very antipodes of our modern day opinions based on the dead surfaces of things they may have been with regard to some things even nearer the truth than we are ourselves in this so

it

—

—

boasted age of grace and enlightenment.

Be

this

as

it

may, there are many

examples of clean and clear thinking

in

the logoi or sacred sermons, or discourses, and one or utterances, of the School ;

of

the most attractive

elements in the

whole discipline is the fact that the pupil was encouraged to think and question. Reason was held in high honour a right ;

use of reason, or rather, let us say, right reason, and not its counterfeit, opinion, 32


was the most of

knowledge the means

of

precious

instrument

of

man and

the cosm.os, and self-realisation into that

Highest Good which, among many other names of sublime dignity, was known as

Good Mind

the

Reason (Logos)

or

of

God.

The whole theory of attainment was by the fact that man in soul and mind was a world in himbody,

conditioned

—a

true, so long as " is content to play the part of a pro" cession of Fate but his Destiny is self

little

world,

it

is

he

;

than that

greater

us say, his

Awareness little

individual, all

is

rather, is

be his Destiny.

let

Fate, his Man is a

the sense of personal, but a world for separate little in

—a monad.

;

And the destiny of that he should become the Monad

that

man

or

Unknowingness

will

world,

Fate,

monads, or the Mind of God the Cosmos itself, not only as perceived by of

33

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

the senses as

GNOSIS

moves and moves

OF THE MIND.

that

all

is,

not,

both that which which is the

Great Bod}^ and Great Soul of things but also as conceived by mind, as that ;

Intelligible

Greatness of

Idea of

the

Reason

of

all

God

ideas,

all

greatnesses,

the

Mind and

own

Himself, His

Self-

created Son, Alone-begotten, the Beloved. On this transcendent fact of facts

founded

is

method

whole

the

and The

discipline of the Gnosis of the Mind.

Mystery of mysteries is Man or Mind. But this naming of the Mystery should not be understood as excluding Soul and Body. Mind is the Person of persons, the

Presence

of

all

presences.

Time,

space, and causality are conditioned by the Mind. But this Mind, the True Man,

not the mind in bondage to causality, On the other hand, space and time. is

it

is

just

**

procession

this

of

mind Fate," 34

in

bondage, the

"

this

servant's


which

the

appearance that hides the potentiality of becoming the form,"

All, of

—that

is

becoming the ^Eon, the Presence, the Subsistence of

all

things at every moment of time, and present, point of space, and every instant causeIt is and-effect in the Bosom of Fate. is,

true that in the region of opinion, body, soul and mind seem separate and apart ;

they are held by the man in separation as the fundamental categories of his existence and truly so, for they are ;

the conditions of ^.r-istence, of standing gut of Being, that environment of incom-

— the

pleteness of which

is

complement or fulfilment ^c-stasis, whereby the man

goes forth from his limitations to unite himself with Himself, and so reaches that Satisfaction

and Fulfilment, which

our Gnostics

the Pl3r3>ma

call

over

when

set

against the conception of space, and the ^on when set over against the

35

THE ^^^f.^^

0? THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

time, and the Good when contrasted with the notion of Fate.

idea of

But Being Soul and

is

the Three in One, Mind, Life and Sub-

Body—Light,

stance, co-eternal together and co-equal. It therefore follows that he who would

be Gnostic, must not

foolishly divorce

within himself the mystery of the triple Partners, the Three Powers, or the For him the object of Divine Triad.

endeavour is to consummate the Sacred Marriage within himself, where " " Three must marry to create that so he may be united to his Greatest Self and become at-one with God. Body, his

;

soul,

and mind

Gnosis

spirit is

{or

spirit,

frequently a

for

in

this

synonym

of

mind) must all work together in intimate union for righteousness. The body of man must be regarded as

—

a holy temple, a shrine of the Divine the most marvellous House of God that

36


than the

exists, fairer far

raised

with

For

hands.

THE

fairest

temple

this

natural

temple which the Divine has wrought for the indwelling of His beloved sons, is a copy of the Great Image, the Temple of the Universe in which the Son of God, the Man, dwells.

Every atom and every group of atoms, every limb and joint and organ, is laid down according to the Divine Plan ;

an image of the Great Seal, Heaven-and-Earth, male- female in one. But how few know or even dream of

the body

is

the possibilities of the Divine of the

We

!

dead

;

temple of

this living

are

sepulchres,

our bodies are

for

tombs half-

only to the things of Death, and dead to the things of Life. The Gnosis of the Mind thus teaches atrophied,

us to

let

channels

alive

the Life of

our

flow into the

corporeal

invoke the Holy Breath of 37

dead

nature, to to enliven

God

GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

the

substance

GNOSIS

the

Divine

OF IHE

our

our

other

frames,

so

may bring divine complement,

our

self,

that

first

Quickener

birth in us our

to

MIND.

of

spouse,

long-lost

and then we may ourselves with ungrudging love and fair wooing of her bring our true selves to birth, so becoming regenea trinitj^ of Being, not rate or reborn,

—

a

unit

of of

vegetative

existence,

or

a

man-animal nature, but the

duality Perfect Triangle jewelled with

sparks of perfected

all

three

manhood.

very evident, then, that if the idea of this Gnosis be carried out logically, the hearer of this Mathesis must strive ever to become a doer of the Word, and It is

so

self-realise

himself

in

every portion

of his being. The object that he has in view is intensification of his whole nature. '"

He

does not parcel out his universe or

compartments, but he. strives ever_to_refund himsdf^into ever himself

into

special

.

38


more intimate union with himself ing ness

he

by ;

is

this ;his for there

ever-present is

— mean-

conscious-

nothing really that

not.

Indeed features

it

of

is

one of

the

the Trismegistic

pleasantest Gnosis, or

rather, one istic,

may say its chief charactera characteristic which should speci-

ally endear

it

to our

present age, that

throughout it is eminently reasonable. It is ever encouraging the pupil to think and question and reason I do not mean that it encourages criticism for the sake ;

of

pedantic the sake of

carping, or questioning for idle curiosity, but that it

ever insisting on a right use of the and the striving to purified reason, the mind and soul and body, so clarify is

they may become a crystal prism through which the One Ray of the Logos,

that

the All-Brilliancy, as Philo calls it, may shine with unimpeded lustre in clean 39

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

and

GNOSIS

Qj ^Yie truth in manifestation.

OF THE MIND.

clear colours according to the nature

And here we may attempt to compare, though not with any idea of contrasting to the disparagement of the either, greater simplicity of the Gnosis of the Mind with the dazzling multiplicity and endless immensities of the, perhaps for

my of

readers,

more

familiar

the Christianised

two aspects

Gnosis.

revelations

They

are

the same Mystery but whereas the former is conditioned by the of

;

clear thinking of philosophic reason as set forth pre-eminently in the Logic of

Plato,

and refuses

to

sever its contact " " here as well

with the things-that-are as

"

there,"

the

latter

soars into such

transcendent heights of vision and apocalypsis, that it loses itself in ecstasies

which cannot possibly be registered in the waking consciousness. I, for my part, love to try to follow 40


the seers of the Christian Gnosis, in their heaven-storming, love to soa-ring and

plunge

into

the

depths

and greatness

of their spiritual intuitions yet it cannot of that this intoxication but be admitted ;

a great danger for any but minds. Indeed, it is highly probable that such unrestrained outpourings of divine frenzy as we meet

the spirit the most

is

balanced

with in some of the Christian Gnostic Apocalypses, were never intended to be circulated except

among

those

who had

already proved themselves self-restrained in the fullest meaning of the term.

The such

show us that and visions were also the " them who are in Gnosis ";

Trismegistic sermons rapts

privilege of

but they did not circulate the revelations of such mysteries and though they the to dare all things in taught disciple ;

perhaps more daring terms than we find recorded in any other scripture, they 41

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

again and again force him to bring all to the test of the practical reason, that

substance received from be rightly digested by the pure mind and fitly used to nourish the nature below. so

the

above

But

vital

may

as for us

who

are hearers of the

Gnosis, of Theosophy, wherever

it

is

to

would be unwise to reject any experience of those who have gone Whether we call before upon the Way.

be found,

it

the Gnosis of the

Mind with the followers

of Thrice-greatest of the Truth as

Hermes, or the Gnosis Marcus does, or by

it

another

many

name

Gnostics of that day, the great fact is that

given it by the it matters little ;

there

is

Gnosis,

and that men have touched her sacred robe and been healed of the vices of their and the mother-vice of the soul souls ;

is

ignorance, as

ignorance

is

not

Hermes

says. ignorance of

42

But

this

the arts


and of

and the

sciences

God

it is

;

superstition heart, — the

rest,

but ignorance

the true a-theism, the rootof the human mind and

that prevents a man of his true self with the oneness realising the Divine. ilkision

The dawning

of this sacred conviction,

the birth of this true faith,

ning of Gnosis the Gnosis of

Sorrow as

flees

His wings

Joy,

the

the beginthe Glad Tidings,

is

whose shining

at

This

away.

Basilides

the Sun of in

it

;

is

the Gospel, conceived it,

is

Gnostic

Righteousness with healing that is to say, the Father ;

—

dove the Father o^ over the sacred vessel, Light brooding or divine chalice, or cup, the awakened in the likeness of a

spiritual nature of the

first

new-born son.

the true baptism, and also the the Gnosis of the miracle, as in

This

is

Fourth Gospel, when the water of the watery spheres is turned into the wine 43

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


"

THE

of the spirit at the

GNOSIS

But perhaps my readers will say But this is the Christian Gnosis and not the Gnosis of the Mind My dear friends (if you will permit me, I would reply), there is no Christian Gnosis and and Trismegistic Gnosis there is but one Gnosis. If that Gnosis was for

first

marriage." :

OF THE MIND.

!

;

certain

purposes either

associated with

name and mystic person of the Great Teacher known as Jesus of Nazareth, the or

handed on under

the

typical

per-

Great Hermes, it is not for us to keep the two streams apart in heart and head in water-tight compartsonality of

ments.

The two

traditions mutually in-

terpret and complete one another. are contemporaneous they are ;

part and parcel

Read

They both

the same Economy. the fragments of these two forof

gotten faiths, or rather the fragments of the two manifestations of this forgotten

44

^


and you

faith,

THE

will see for yourselves.

again, some one may say (as a matter of fact not a few have already

But

said)

What do we want with

:

a for-

gotten faith, fragmentary or otherwise ? We are living in the twentieth century

;

we do not want of

to return to the

modes

thought of two thousand years ago create a new Gnosis that will ;

we can

interpret the facts of present-day science

and philosophy and too

I

religion.

dawn

await the

of

that

New

doubt that the Gnosis of the Age New Age will be new. Certainly it will be set forth in new forms, for the forms can be infinite. The Gnosis itself is uot it is we conditioned by space and time ;

but

I

;

who

are conditioned

manifestation.

by these modes

He who

man

of

reborn into

I have heard, the and space, and passes from into the state of Super-man and

the Gnosis becomes, as

Lord

is

of time

45

GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

Daimon and God, as a Hermes would have phrased it two thousand years ago, or of Bodhisattva and Buddha, as it was phrased five hundred years Christ, or

before that.

Indeed, essence of

man

if

believe

I

the Gnosis

can

transcend

rightly, is

the very

the faith that,

the limits

of

the

makes him man, and become a consciously diyiiie being. The problem duality that

He has to solve

is the problem of his day, the transcending of his present limitations.

The way submit,

to do so

by

knowledge

in

not, I venture to

is

his exalting present-day science or philosophy or

religion at the expense of the little can learn of the imperfect tradition

he of

the religion and philosophy and science of the past, handed on to us by the forgetfulness of a series of ignorant and careless generations.

The feeding

present-day vanity on

46

of

our

the husks from


the feasts of other days for

one who would

is

a poor diet

be Gnostic.

very true that, speaking

It

is

we

generally,

do know more of physical observation, know analysis and classification, we do more of the theory of knowledge, and

many

other things in the domain of the

lower

world

of

appearances

do

but

;

a living we know more of religion experience than the great souls of the do we know more of the Gnosis past as

;

than

the

doubt

We our

of

other

days

?

I

are beginning once more to turn in the direction of the

attention

Greater

JEon

Gnostics

it.

Mysteries

are,

I

the

;

believe,

cycles

once more

of

the

set in a

configuration similar to the mode of the Time-Mind when such illumination is possible for for

stra}^

numbers individuals

of

souls,

only.

and not But the

conditions of receiving that illumination

47

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

same now as they have ever been and one of the conditions is the power

are the

;

to rise superior to the opinions of the Hour into the Gnosis of the Eternal JEon. It therefore follows,

if

I

am

premises, that the illusion of

which we must that of the Lord

right in all

my

illusions

transcend

strive

to

of the

Hour;

it is

is

just

the general opinions and pre-suppositions and prejudices of our own day against

which we must be on our watch with There are certain greatest vigilance. forms of knowledge, forms of religion, and foiTQS of philosophy, that dominate these forms every age and every hour are most potent, for they are alive with the faith of millions and therefore it follows that it may be we shall find less to pierce difficulty, in our endeavour ;

;

through the clouds of living ideas beyond, that are no longer

48

if

opinion

to

the

we study forms

charged

with

the


—

passions of mankind, with that storage of the hopes and fears of incarnated

minds, the shock of which few are strong enough to withstand. It may thus be that the forms of the Gnosis of the past

may

be read more

seen through

However

more

this

dispassionately

and

clearly.

may

be,

it

would be

manifestly absurd to go back to the past and simply pour ourselves once more this would be into these ancient forms " redeath and a mental and spiritual " incarnation backwards, so to speak. It is precisely this absurdity which so ;

many

literalists

attempt

in theology,

to find themselves stranded

with

forms life far

On who

the

tide

of

only

among dead the

spiritual

out.

the other hand, there may be some that in what has been said

feel

above, the artist and lover of the Beautiful be sacrificed entirely to the

in us risk to

49

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

Philistine.

GNOSIS

there are such things as the scripture Non refert quam multos sed best books.

There

is

such

a

thing

as

;

OF THE MIND.

bonos libros

legas ; it is not the the but quahty of the books quantity we read that is of importance. The Gnosis is enshrined in scripture, in bibles and not in books. And I doubt not that even to-day there are enough biblelovers, in the wider sense of the word,

quam

among us

to

appreciate

the

beautiful

and permanent in literature. The Trismegistic sermons have a com-

mon language with the writers of New Testament books, and they

also

use the language of

can,

Plato.

They

the

therefore, hardly be said to be out of vvhile as to date even as to their form ;

their content, as far as their

venture

main ideas

say that they belong to the great books of the world, they are part of the world-scripture, are

concerned,

I

50

to


THE If, then, any would learn of the Gnosis GNOSIS of the Mind, they will not lose anything

bv

what

readins[

the

disciples

of

this

form of the Wisdom-Tradition have handed on to us. They may prefer more modern expositions, or they may

OF THE

MIND

some other scripture of the past more but if they are suitable to their needs

find

;

lovers

of

comparative

are persuaded that he

theosophy,

who

and

is

acquainted theosophy only does not know theosophy truly, even as he who is acquainted with one language only knows no language really, they may learn much by comparing the theosophy of the Hermes-Gnostics with the theo-

with one

mode

of

sophy of the Christian Gnostics, or of the Buddhist or Brahmanical lovers of the Gnosis.

In

conclusion,

I

would

add

a

few

quotations touching the Gnosis from the for, as Lactantius, Trismegistic sermons ;

51


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

the Church Father, tells us of the Holy Scribe who inspired these scriptures :

"

He

wrote books, indeed many of them, treating of the Gnosis of things divine, in which he asserts the Greatness of the Highest and

One and Only

God" (iii., 233). Yes, He wrote many books, whether " " we call Him Hermes or by any other For as He says in of His many names. another scripture of that Day of Sunshine, writing of the inner history of the ChristMystery, most probably before even there

were as yet any Christian scriptures " Wherefore, send me, O Father Seals in my hands, I will descend

:

!

Through .-Eons universal a Path

will I

;

make

;

Through mysteries a All

The

Way Forms

all

I'll

open up

!

of

Gods

Secrets of the

52

will I display

Holy Path

;

I will


hand

And Yes,

THE

on,

call

He

them Gnosis wrote

sermons and

GNOSIS

192).

books,

many

sacred discourses, entitled "

:

(ii.,

(i.,

many

by many names, one precisely Gnosis of

"

the

An

them

of

Introduction

Nature

of

All

called

the "

to

Things

68).

Not that

there

of the Gnosis or

is

any precise beginning any definite introduction

confined to any formal

may

be presented in

instruction

the learner and hearer, for

Great Original. And so we read

is

it

;

modes

infinite

like

it

to

unto

its

:

"

For to the Good there is no other shore It hath no bounds It is without an end and for Itself It is without beginning, too, though unto us It seemeth to have one the Gnosis. " Therefore to It Gnosis is no berather is it that Gnosis doth ginning ;

;

;

—

;

53

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

afford to us the first beginning of

" being known

And

(ii.,

Its

90).

we

find a Jewish mystic, who wrote just prior to the days of Paul, quoting from some scripture of the Gnosis so again

probability from one of the lost sermons of our School) which sets forth (in

all

the matter in

aphorism

striking

"

greater clarity in the

still :

The

beginning of Perfection but Gnosis of God Gnosis of Man " ;

Perfect Perfection

Thus Hermes

178). in teaching his

is is

(i.,

beloved

son, the seeker, the suppliant and hearer, how to set his feet upon the path of selfrealisation,

points out

the

way

in

the

wise and gentle words " Seek'st thou for God, thou seekest One is the Path that for the Beautiful. leadeth unto It Devotion joined with :

—

Gnosis

And

" (ii.,

again he

114).

sets forth the

54

boundary-


marks ments

of the

Way of

the

Good Command-

admirable instruction, saying The Seeds of God, 'tis true, are few, but vast and fair and good virtue in

—

is

devotion.

self-control,

God-Gnosis

Devotion

and he who knoweth

;

God, being filled with all good things, thinks godly thoughts and not thoughts like the

" are,

think.

many

For

this cause

not

please

many

them.

they

the

They

who

Gnostic

many, nor the

are

thought

mad

and laughed at they're hated and and sometimes even put to despised, ;

death. "

GNOSIS

:

"

and

THE

.

.

.

But he who

bear with

all

is

a devotee of God, will he has sensed the

— once

For such an one all things, e'en though they be for others bad, are for him good deliberately he doth refer them all unto the Gnosis. And, thing most marvellous, 'tis he alone Gnosis,

;

55

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

who maketh bad things good " (ii., 131). The devotee of God is the Gnostic, and " " stand in the they who are Gnostic " original as they who are in Gnosis." It is of

more than ordinary

interest to

simple statement of fact " " addressed to those in Gnosis with the

compare

this

well-known words "

adapted from

some "

early collection of Logoi of the Lord " for the comfort of those in Faith."

What

the Sayings preserved by the first and third evangelists may have been in their original form, we do not know, " though any day the Oxhyrhynchus rub-

" bish-heaps may yield us a clue. Some " " of these which Sayings of the Lord in their original form circulated in the inner communities, were, in the highest probability, subsequently adapted to the prophetical mood by a Christian evangelist

prior

synoptists.

to

our

Thus we 56

first

and

third

find the writer of


our First Gospel handing on one of these Sayings as " Blessed are ye when they shall

THE GNOSIS

:

you and persecute you and shall all manner of evil against you,

revile sa}^

lying, for

My "

sake." "

Here the is lying evidently the of some scribe who knew gloss scrupulous there were some things that could be said whereas the third against them justly ;

evangelist

keeps closer to his

original,

writing " Blessed :

are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you forth (from them), and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the

sake of the Son of the Man.'' But even so there still seems to be a blend of two traditions before the Saying reached the hands of our third evangelist. The antithesis between " men " and " Son of the Man " is familiar to us in our 57

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

Trismegistic sermons, and would be under" '' all who knew of the Myth of

stood by

m

Man it is

"

the

'*

Mysteries

139-198)

(i.,

;

clearly to be distinguished from the " of the first evangelist. sake

My

Whereas the separating

forth

and the

casting forth of the name as evil are, I believe, to be understood as expulsion of

members from

a

removal of their

community and the names from the list of

the brethren.

But is

else

True Piety

than the Gnosis of

tantius, quoting

Latin

Devotion

to return to the Gnosis.

God-Gnosis.

(ii.,

243).

" is

God

"

—nothing as Lac-

Hermes, phrases This

piety,

it

in

however,

something other than pious exercise and the practice of devotional worship " the complete or allleads unto it and embraces perfect contemplation,"

is

;

"

learning of the things-that-are, the contemplating of their nature and the

the

58


knowing God

words, the being taught the nature of the all and " And the Supreme Vision (ii., 264). ";

in other

or,

'*

that

Supreme

Vision,

if

I

understand

is no rapt into regions beyond the a Seeing of the Good in everybut sky, For the Master of this Way thing. his teaches disciple concerning the Gnosis

aright,

of the

Good, that

saying

:

is

the Gnosis of God,

"

For only then wilt thou upon It gaze when thou canst say no word For Gnosis of the concerning It. Good is holy silence and a giving holiday to every sense." " all sense," the It is the gaining of the " " the sense of the common sense," intelligence."

"

For neither can he who perceiveth

nor he who else, nor else on on It, aught gaze gazeth hear aught else. It,

perceive aught

;

.

59

.

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


"

THE GNOSIS

OF THE

And

shining

It shines

mind, and draws

MIND. all of

him

it

then

all

through his

round his whole soul,

out of body, transforming

to essence.

"

For it is possible, my son, that a man's soul should be made like to God, e'en while it still is in a body, it doth contemplate the Beauty of

if

Good

the

This

is

"

"

(ii.,

the

"

144). " deification

man

or

"

apo-

he becomes like unto in that he a God. The becomes God, Beauty of the Good is the Cosmic Order and the mode of meditation was that of theosis

of a

;

;

self-realisation

whereby

the

soul

is

brought into sympathy with the Cosmic Soul.

nd

so speaking of such a soul, of one gnostic in true piety, Hermes writes " But on the pious soul the Mind :

doth mount and guide it to the Gnosis' And such a soul doth never Light. 60


in

tire

songs of

to

praise

on

God and and

men, pouring blessing doing good in word and deed to all, in imitation of

And

its

Sire

all

"

(ii.,

155).

so again in the outer

preaching,

warning the multitude against the "fierce flood" of ignorance, the misin

sionary of the Gnosis and evangelist of Salvation exhorts them, saying " Be then not carried off by the :

fierce

flood,

rent,

ye who

but using can,

make

the shore-curfor Salvation's

port, and, harbouring there, seek ye for one to take you by the hand and

lead you unto Gnosis' Gates. " Where shines clear Light, of every darkness clean, where not a single soul is drunk, but sober all they gaze with their hearts' eyes on Him who willeth to be seen. " No ear can hear see

Him, nor can eye Him, nor tongue speak of Him, 61

THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

but only mind and heart " (ii., 121). And from this preaching we learn the very interesting fact that there was some great association that the Gnostic evanregarded as Salvation's port, a harbour of refuge for many but even

gelist

;

when

safe within the quiet of the discipline that could calm the waves of the fierce

there

flood

was

of

still

passion and ignorance, a further adventure for

the soul before the Light of the New Day dawned. A guide who knew the Way to the Gates of the Spiritual Sun must be " " in Gnosis found, one who was and " not only in Faith."

For faith is conditioned upon feeling, upon sense, and not knowledge; as Hermes says " But Gnosis is far different from sense. For sense is brought about by that which hath the mastery o'er us, while Gnosis is the end of science, and :

62


science

God's

is

" gift

(ii.,

THE

147).

a refuge can be found in the Harbour of Salvation by means of but Salvation itself is Gnosis. Faith " This is the sole Salvation for a It is true that

;

man— God's

Gnosis.

This

is

the

Way

to the Mount.

up

"

By Him

alone the soul become th not whiles is good, whiles evil, good, " but good out of necessity (ii., 150).

And "

He says virtue of the soul

again

The

:

is

Gnosis.

For he who knows, he good and pious " is, and still while on the earth Divine (ii.,

146).

For in this view of the mystery, in consonance with the teaching of the Buddha, and with Indian theosophy in "

general, And so

of virtues

tinence,

the soul's vice

we

—

is

ignorance."

find Gnosis

heading the list Gnosis, Joy, Self-control, Con-

Righteousness, 63

Sharing-with-all,

GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE

Truth a septenary consummated in the divine triad of Life, Light and the ;

GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

Good

(ii.,

For Gnosis

246).

doth distribute all,

and good

life

to all

to

is

and hght to

all,

296).

(ii.,

that which

And

so the

Master, in the spiritual theurgic rite at which he consecrates his beloved son to

the holy life, declares " Gnosis of God hath come to us, and :

and when knowing "

its

away

(ii.,

225).

For

it is

comes,

my

son, not-

cast out.

Gnosis of

and on flee

this

is

to

by

Joy hath come

to us,

coming, son, sorrow will

them who give this

"

it

room "

enformation accord-

"

that the man is made like ing to Gnosis unto the Great Man, the Good Mind or

Reason of God. This Gnosis is not only Light and Life, the father-motherhood of God, but also Love. It is this Love of the Gnosis, of that which gives light and 64


it to all, that urges on the disciple the Breath of God Himself energizing

life is

It is the the heart, inspiring us. Providence or Foresight of God, the Holy And so in one of the sacred Spirit. " The Perfect Sermon," discourses, called

in

we read " To them, sunk :

in

fit

silence rever-

and minds pendent on thus Love Divine began

ently, their souls

Hermes' to speak

lips,

"

(iii.,

260).

To be Knowers we must be Lovers we must have " the Single Love, the ;

of wisdom-loving, which consists in Gnosis of Divinity alone the practice of

Love

—

perpetual

contemplation

and

of

holy

piety" (h., 330). Of such Lovers and such Gnostics we read

THE

;

:

"

the}^ whu have received some of God's gift, these, son, if we portion judge bv their deeds, have from Death's

But

65

GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

bonds won their release for they embrace in their own mind all things, things on the earth, things in the heaven, and things above the heaven ;

—

if

"

they be aught.

And having

raised

themselves so

and having they sight the Good look sighted It, they upon their sojourn here as a mischance and in disdain far

;

;

both things in body and the bodiless, they speed their way unto that One and Only One. " This is, my son, the Gnosis of the GodMind, vision of things Divine " is for the is Mind God's it, knowledge of

all,

;

(ii.,

88).

Hard as it may be to we have grown used

leave the to,"

the

" things

things

habitual, it must be done if we are to enter into the Way of the Gnosis. But

no new Path

is this,

new lands (though

it

66

no going forth into may have all the


THE

appearance of being so). The entrance GNOSIS on the Path of the Gnosis is a Going OF THE Home it is a Return a Turning-Back MIND. (a true Repentance of the whole nature). " We must turn ourselves back into the " Old, Old Way (ii., 98). And for those who will thus " repent," there are promises and words of fair comfort spoken by the Mind Himself " The in the Gospel of the Gnosis called

—

;

Shepherd

of

Men

"

:

"I, Mind, Myself

am

present with

men and good, the pure and merciful, men who live piously. holy *'

To such my Presence doth become an aid, and straightway they gain Gnosis of all things, and win the Father's love

by

thanks,

their pure lives,

invoking

on

and give

Him

Him

blessings

and chanting hymns, intent on Him with ardent love'*

And

(ii.,

14).

to the truth of this, testimony

67

is


THE GNOSIS

OF THE MIND.

borne by one of those in Gnosis who had heard and had believed and had known, when he writes " But I, with thanks and blessings unto the Father of the universal :

Powers, was freed,

full

Power

of the

He had poured

into me, and full of taught me of the nature of

what He'd all and

the

the

loftiest

vision

"

17).

(ii.,

And "

of

so he begins to preach to

men

Devotion and of the Beauty '* Gnosis for he cannot refrain from uttering the Word, now that he has become a knower, a doer, and not a He prays no longer for hearer only. himself, but that he may be the means whereby the rest of human kind may the

of

;

come to Light and Life, saying "Give ear to me who pray that :

may is

ne'er of Gnosis

our

common

fail,

being's nature

68

I

Gnosis which ;

and


fill

this

me

with

THE Thy Power, and with

Grace of Thine, that

I

GNOSIS

may

give the Light to those in ignorance of the " Race, my brethren and Thy sons (ii.,

20).

With these

brief

indications

of

the

Gnosis of the Mind, drawn from a wealth of like noble teachings, we bring to an "

Echoes end the iirst volume of these from the Gnosis," in the hope that there will turn to the fair may be some who " and read, mark, learn and originals, )Âť them. inwardly digest

6Q

OF THE MIND.


SOME PROPOSED SUBJECTS FOR FORTHCOMING VOLUMES THE THE THE THE

HYMNS OF HERMES. VISION OF ARlDiEUS.

HYMN OF JESUS. CHALDEAN ORACLES.

A MITHRIAC LITURGY.

THE GNOSTIC HYMN OF THE PRODIGAL SON.



Date Due OCT ^

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Library Bureau Cat. No. 1137


imm-

ClAPP

3 5002 00102 798 Mead, G. R. S. Echoes from the Gnosis

BP 565

Mead,

.

G.

/

M4 E27 1906 R.

S.

1

1863-1933.

Echoes from the Gnosis



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