There are many kinds of knowledge. Modern society takes for granted that all these varying forms of knowledge are equal. But they are not. We believe them to be equal; we experience them in our limited conscious capacity as equal, but in truth most of what we understand as knowledge is actual conceptualisation…it is thinking. It is illusion.
The following short video describes in greater detail the crux of the issue when it comes to knowledge, and the kind of knowledge we are referring to when we use the term Gnosis.
As the video explains, Gnosis is Greek for experiential knowledge. This puts Gnosis in a category above any other form of knowledge we can conceive of. Just consider the most valued aspect of a resume. Is it the “education” or the “experience” section potential employers focus on? If conceptual or book knowledge were so valuable, why don’t all college graduates automatically get hired? Why don’t employers ask candidates what their grade point average was?
The fact is, Gnosis can only be acquired through conscious experience. Another word for it could be wisdom, although using that word in place of Gnosis presents its own problems. Wisdom results when one has acquired Gnosis, but it is not Gnosis. This is subtle, but anyone with any experience will comprehend the difference.
Gnosis is so powerful a word, so pregnant with meaning, that it requires TWO words to describe its antithesis: hypnosis and ignorance. Hypnosis is that state when our consciousness is identified with illusion, such as when we become fascinated. We sit in front of the TV completely mesmerised and forget ourselves. We fall in love with an imported handbag or exotic sports car and we think: “I want that…that will complete me.” Likewise, we identify with the never ending stream of thoughts and emotions flowing through our head and we think “those are mine…that is who I am;” thus we become ignorant to the truth. We are the observer of the goings-on in our mind. There is nothing outside of us that can complete us. And there is nothing our minds can think which is anything more than a form, expression, or shadow of the truth…but it is not the Truth. To believe what we think is absolute Truth is to be at once hypnotized by our own ego-mind and ignorant to the facts.
So where does Gnosis exist if not in the mind? The CONSCIOUSNESS. And knowing the difference between ego-mind (our false self) and consciousness-Being (our True Self) is critical to the process of awakening. Note: knowing as in Gnosis…to experience the difference is key; not to come to sites like this one and read conceptual descriptions of the two and believe we know the difference! That is how/why so many blogs on the Internet simply add to our hypnosis and ignorance. They don’t feed the consciousness; they don’t provide an avenue to experiential knowledge…they fill our heads with more concepts, theories, beliefs, et al.
Attlas.info is not like that. Our URL is ironic. On the surface it says “information” but its deeper esoteric meaning is In Formation. To Be…to become, through a process of being undone. For our Self is formed from the pieces extracted from the broken down self. And we know we are progressing on the path of Gnosis when we begin to know ourselves not merely as “I” but as “We”…our Innermost Being and His humble servant, vehicle, vessel on earth.
If you have been following along our blogs for a while, none of this should come as any surprise to you. But seeing as we’re taking Attlas.info to the next level, it seemed like a good enough time as any to offer this little refresher in a format that
Comments