universal knowledge

Universal Knowledge of Matter and Spirit

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Adam was the first inventor of arts, because he had knowledge of all things as well after the Fall as before. … From this cause, it came about that his successors erected two tablets of stone, on which they engraved all natural arts. … Noah found one of these tablets under Mount Ararat, after the Deluge. In this table were described the courses of the upper firmament and of the lower globe, and also of the planets. At length this universal knowledge was divided into several parts. By means of this separation, one man became an astronomer, another a magician, another a cabalist, and a fourth an alchemist. Abraham … carried the art out of the land of Canaan into Egypt, whereupon the Egyptians rose to so great a height and dignity that this wisdom was derived from them by other nations. …

“So it was in the time of Moses when both the priests and the also the physicians were chosen from among the Magi—the priests for the judgment of what related to health, especially in the knowledge of leprosy, Moses, likewise was instructed in the Egyptian schools, at the cost and care of Pharaohs’ daughter, so that he excelled in all the wisdom and learning of that people. Thus to was it with Daniel who … became a cabalist. Witness his divine predictions. … These words can be understood by the prophetic and cabalistic Art. “ ~Paracelsus

Universal Knowledge

I’m not sure why Paracelsus says that Adam was “the inventor of arts,” but doesn’t mention science. Perhaps to Paracelsus it was all the same thing. In any case, I think it is safe to say that if we consider Adam the inventor of arts, we must also consider him the inventor of science. He is, after all, the symbolic first human being.

Paracelsus also says that Adam had knowledge of all things, even after “the Fall,” meaning that he retained heavenly knowledge even after “falling” from the dimension of spirit into the dimension of matter. This was fortunate in one way, for Adam probably would have perished very quickly without that knowledge to help him learn, develop, and feed and care for himself in this new place he was now living. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but be depressed about the situation he was now in while he retained the knowledge and memories of the much greater spiritual worlds. Continue reading “Universal Knowledge of Matter and Spirit” →

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nag hammadi

Nag Hammadi Library and the Return of Gnosticism

Posted on by Harold Boulette

If the Nag Hammadi texts had not been discovered, it is more than probable that the correct renewal of interest in Gnosticism would not have taken place. There will always be those who do not see eye to eye with mainstream ideas, so it is highly unlikely that Gnostic thought would have died out altogether. However, the texts that were found give new impetus to research into the early Gnostics. …

“The perennial questions of life needed answering. ‘How can a good God ________? What if for instance an A-bomb does destroy” Where do you go when you are dead?’ When this is added to the existence of a new freedom, both financial and moral, there was a need for a different way of thinking. … One of the core beliefs of Gnosticism became more prevalent. The only hope for humanity was to acquire the information it needed so that it could perfect itself and evolve out of its current physical state. … People began to realize that we had let the knowledge of our own Christ Consciousness pass us by.” ~Bernard Simon

Nag Hammadi Library

Almost everyone who has the slightest interest in spiritual matters has heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but before the discovery of those scrolls, another important library of ancient Gnostic writings was found: the Nag Hammadi Library. Like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi books were found in Egypt in 1945. Some of the books include the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. These and other books found were thought to have been completely destroyed by the orthodox Christian church. They are controversial because they contradict many things commonly believed by Christians at that time, and even today despite this finding. They include, for example, a statement that the belief that Mary, mother of Jesus, was a virgin.

The library is a collection of Coptic translations written about 1,500 years ago of even older documents. This puts them among the oldest copies of these gospels and other scriptural writings. But as Mr. Simon notes, their importance may be that they help reawaken interest in Gnostic teachings which help answer so many of the common questions of Christians and others that are not answered in the Bible. Of course, just as with the Dead Sea Scrolls, you need to understand the allegory used or much of the meaning will be lost.

How Can God

Mr. Simon says that the Nag Hammadi library and other Gnostic literature can answer the common question asked by Christians and others: “How can God ________?”. For example, “How can God allow evil in the world?” and “Why does God create death and disease?”. Those questions, and similar ones, are usually answered in the traditional Christian churches with the vague non-answers, “Who are we to understand God?” or “Who are we to question what God does?” While those answers do make a valid point, they don’t satisfy the curious and leave them disappointed. Gnostic scripture does have an answer, and it isn’t vague. The Gnostic answer is that the True God, the God of Spirit, did not create the physical world of matter. The realm of matter was created by the fallen angels known in Gnostic literature as the Demiurge. While there is some difference between various Gnostic sects and schools, they generally do not talk about the Demiurge as a truly evil being or group of beings, but simply beings who made a bad choice, an egotistical choice. Continue reading “Nag Hammadi Library and the Return of Gnosticism” →

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dependent soul

Dependent Soul Linked to God and all Souls

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“The material body is made up of parts, each holding its own place, some in mutual opposition and others in variously interdependent; the soul is in no such condition; it is not whittled down so that life tells of a part of the soul and springs where some such separate portion impinges. Each separate life lives by the soul entire, omnipresent n the likeness of the engendering father, entire in unity and entire in diffused variety. By the power of the soul the manifold and diverse heavenly system is a unit;through soul this universe is a God; and the sun is a God because it is ensouled;so too the stars; and whatsoever we ourselves may be, it is all in virtue of soul;

“This, by which the gods are divine, must be the oldest God of them all and our own soul is of that same ideal nature, so that to consider it, purified, freed from all accruement, is to recognize in ourselves that same value which we have found soul to be, honorable above all that is bodily.” ~Plotinus

Independent Body Parts

Most of us think of our physical body as a whole. We know that it is made up of parts such as organs, blood vessels, etc., but we think of them as just parts of the whole as the parts of a car or a vacuum cleaner. While there is a certain amount of truth to that, it isn’t completely true.

Many of our body parts are more independent than we believe. They operate with their own limited intelligence for their own benefit. Usually, what benefits them also benefits the whole body, but not always. Sometimes, they actually operate in opposition to other parts, or to the health of the rest of the body. This is why we need to be aware of our body and what is happening in it.

If some part is not functioning to the benefit of all, we need to convince it otherwise or take conscious control for a while. We can do that by visualizing that part working properly. Or we can keep telling it on a conscious level what we want it to do until it sinks in.

Dependent Soul

Plotinus says the individual souls never behave in an independent way. They are connected to each other like the cells of a single being. One knows what the others know. What one thinks is proper behavior, the others do as well.

This means that the human soul has access to all the knowledge and wisdom in the universe. It has, in Gnostic terms, achieved Gnosis. But there is a catch to this.

Dormant Soul

First, while the fully conscious soul has all that knowledge and wisdom, we come into the world of matter with our soul in a dormant state. It is very similar to a person who is in a coma. It must be awakened before it can become fully conscious. And only when fully conscious does it have that link to all other souls that give it direct access to all truth, all knowledge.

Second, the now awakened and dependent soul may be linked to other souls, but it may not be well linked to your conscious mind. It may not even be communicating well with your subconscious. So one of the tasks of the spiritual student is to get this dependent soul communicating with the mind. It is not an easy task, but it can be done.

Oldest God

Plotinus says the soul is a part of the “Oldest God”. His is an unusual way to put it, but it does make sense. It is logical to say that the oldest God is the one, true God. All false gods have been created by the oldest God, or by the imaginations of men. So the linked, dependent soul is linked to the true God of spirit, not the false god of matter. Some even say that the soul is part of God. They say the collective consciousness of all souls is God. That may be true. It is not, however, a good idea to think of ourselves as being God. It is better to think in terms of being just a small part of God. Thinking that we are God usually results in an inflated ego, which is not what you want at all when developing your spiritual self.

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Knowing God Requires Spiritual Awakening

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Beloved mind, behold, consider this, this now is God and His heavenly Kingdom, even the eternal element and Paradise, and it stands thus in the eternal Original from eternity to eternity. Now what joy, delight, and pleasantness is therein, I have no pen that can describe it, neither can I express it; for the earthly tongue is too much insufficient to do it; it is like Dross compared with Gold, and much more inferior. … All is too dark and too cold in the whole man, so that he cannot express so much as one spark thereof sufficiently. We will defer it until we come into the bosom of the Virgin; here we have only given a short hint of it. … We are but a very little drop out of the fountain of Wisdom of God; and we speak as a little sparkle, but high enough for our earthly understanding.” ~Jacob Boehme

Knowing God

Advance spiritual masters know God. At least they do in as much as it is possible while still trapped in the material world. But knowing God on a spiritual level and communicating that knowledge to others is two different things. We will use an analogy to express why.

Let us think of the soul as a speaker that has great music coming out of it. The mind is like an ear listening to that music. But there are screens between the speaker and the ear. Screens of false beliefs and limitations. Screens of language that allow for no other means of communicating. They block much of the ‘music” from reaching the mind. Still, the mind of the awakened person knows more than others. But when he tries to tell them, he finds he has no words adequate to do so. As Boehme says, what he ends up communicating is like “Dross compared to Gold.” It is like someone from as advanced civilization trying to explain computers to primitive people still living in the stone age.

At least he can express to other that knowing God brings one great joy and delight. He can advise other that they too must open their minds and souls so they too can truly know God.

Too Dark and Cold in Man

The major reason we are unable to comprehend God is because we have descended deeply into the darkness of matter. The fact that many don’t see matter as a darkness to be overcome shows how deeply we have sank.

He coldness is part of that also. Many of us have become indifferent (cold) to the plight of others. We walk past the homeless and hungry without a thought. We kill millions in wars so we can steal their natural resources. Yet we say we are Godly people. Perhaps if you are worshiping the god of death, otherwise known as Satan.

But that darkness and coldness are like symptoms of a disease. They are not us, but an illness we have called materialism. We can be cured of this disease. But as the psychiatrists say about mental illness, the first step is to admit that you are ill. Once we acknowledge that materialism needs to be cured, it is actually not such a hard thing to cure. We have to do it carefully and gradually, but we can do it. Knowing God is certainly a motivation for doing so. Continue reading “Knowing God Requires Spiritual Awakening” →

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