"Unlike traditional Hebrew and Christian beliefs, Gnostics do not believe in redemption so much as enlightenment through divine wisdom. God also exists as an unknowable absolute, whilst a demiurgic ‘lower god’ exists who became known as the ‘God of the Old Testament’. That is, Gnostic tradition holds that the acts of God in the Old Testament - such as the creation of the material universe and the setting apart of Israel - were in fact the acts of a demiurge seeking to keep humanity trapped within a prison reality."
Looks pretty spot on to me. An objective reading of the Old Testament shows Yahweh is a bloodthirsty, gaslighting tyrant with just enough blessings and mercy to keep the captives beholden. I think the original Gnostics were pretty much spot on in their worldview - our world is founded in deception, and the only way out seems to be its complete rejection - which is probably why they were wiped out by the early church, who then stole much of their writings for the New Testament, including Revelations: the greatest act of plagiarism in history.
If you think Gnosticism is the enemy and organised religion is here to save us... well, good luck with that!
This is not far from where I find myself. The last three years have revealed that we are ruled by demons in meat suits. While I ask help from any benevolent being who might be out there, I have no idea as to his true power in this realm.
All I can say is where were the hard headed women to teach these boys some lessons? Hard headed men help too. Talk about anti-evolutionary. The roots of the Culture Of Death. We do still have a choice but it is fading fast as the fog of ignorance, war, and genocide get thicker.
Thanks for a great summary. Gnosticism has been called 'Mystery Babylon - the River of Iniquity'. It seems to be the natural tendency of thinking man - both good and bad, (trapped in this world's Matrix of Self-ishness) - to gravitate towards it. It incorporates all the aspects of fertility cults as well - hence the Gaia Hypothesis and the Green agenda.
That is a very interesting observation. I (tried) to read Marx in high school and by my reading it was clearly a spiritual, enlightenment path. The economic aspect was entirely circumstantial in that the slog and drudgery of labor prevented man from having the time to spend on the pursuit of esoteric enlightenment. It was quite obvious at its heart and equally obvious that it was a futile endeavor.
What is this hard-on people have with Gnosticism? Does it barbecue their sacred cows? Is their faith so fragile it can't stand the examination and discussion of texts that the warmongering "Holy" Roman Emperor Constantine deemed unfit to include in Christian canon?
Somebody somewhere would spit them from his mouth for being lukewarm...
I believe O'Brien's thesis is that woke culture can track its roots back through different philosophical positions to a gnostic take on the nature of things.
Of course it's your prerogative to believe that gnosticism has had no part to play in today's woke culture, after all, you are obviously an expert after 20 years of study and O'Brien hasn't been alive much longer that that, so he's got a lot of catching up to do.
And I don't think at all that we are of a "fragile faith" that cannot stand to examine anything that opposes our core beliefs. It is also true, however, that we do not have the time, nor the inclination, to plumb the depths of every philosophy and esoteric doctrine that disagrees with our beliefs.
Having said that, I do appreciate the links to the gnostic society, a site I'm not unfamiliar, and other readers might like to do their own exploration of gnostisism - I'm all for other's doing their own heavy lifting and not just accept whatever we have to say.
I'm far from an expert. But I do read what those who are write, and have studied the Nag Hammadi.
The only thing I ask is if people are going to criticize any particular faith, they take the time to study it first. Trying to tie Gnosticism to today's "woke" movement is stupid. "Woke" is clearly an outgrowth of the Marxism (and possibly the Frankfurt School), which has it's roots in Satanism.
I've not studied the Gnostic Gospels as you have. If the school of thought taught by Valentinus is representative of what the Gnostic Gospels portray then I have enough of an idea to put a deep dive into gnostic writings to the side for the moment. However I don't think one needs a PhD level of study into a topic to make criticism.
The link between gnosticism-Marxism-Wokeness may not be as stupid as you suppose - but I'll take your criticism seriously and talk to O'Brien about it.
I've got the entire apocrypha to work though (some 15 books) as well as deeper study of the Bible - one can only stretch so far I'm afraid - so I'm not sure I'll take on the topic any further myself.
In my understanding of Gnosticism, I would argue that it is the very opposite of "woke". The Gnostics IMO had a glimmer of understanding of the infinite ineffability, a direct, inner knowing of God, and strove to know this fully. They appear to have achieved this to some degree, to me it seems that tiny slivers of light shine through the texts. I believe it to be the purest of Christ's teachings, and they attempted to hold onto them, and relay them.
For their efforts, the Gnostics were mercilessly persecuted by a warmongering Roman emperor who sought to consolidate the disparate Christian sects in order to maintain empire.
It appears that someone can read and regurgitate other people's propaganda & criticism quite well, but does not really seem to 'get it'. They should go talk to Douglas Gabriel and/or John Lash about Gnosticism...
Gabriel suggests entering the "Inner Sanctum of the Temple of Wisdom, the Divine Feminine Trinity", so that Sophia (as Mother-Daughter-Holy Sophia) can "unveil her mysteries" to me and thus giving me a "spiritual home". Yep, that sounds like salvation by gnosis. I may not 'get' all the details of any of the multitude of gnostic beliefs but that doesn't mean we can't grasp the basic tenants and the influence they have had on philosophy, religion and politics.
Marxism is primarily economic... They make valid claims about the issues brought up during the industrial revolution. In fact, they predicted the current state of the world, where corporations and the government work hand in hand.
Focusing on the cultural stuff is like me focusing that most conservatives are religious, without looking at their reasoning why they think free markets work.
I believe Marx used economics as the primary lever for revolution, but there's some deeply anti-God sentiment behind his motivation. Today neo-Marxism embraces a social, not economic, lever for inciting revolution. I'm no expert, but James Lindsay is - if you want to go for a deep dive into the morphing of Marxism into what we see today in woke culture I'd suggest listening/reading some of his recent work.
Every truth gets hijacked by opportunists who turn it into a power trip.
That's how even religion got corrupted.
The original economics of Marx were accurate in predicting today. If we could see this, we wouldn't be arguing over god and culture and point the finger at the financial system which twists all forms of morality into mania.
Whatever manycry about as "cultural maxism" is no different than the 50th iteration of christianity which purposely ignored the teachings of Jesus in order to bring more division.
As usual mostly crapp, especially the last two paragraphs. which summarize the ideological prison ,or more correctly dark lightless psychosis that "Winston" is trapped in.
There is Only Light.
Light is all there IS.
All that IS is Light.
Light Is Inherently Indivisible, Non-Separate, and One Only.
Modern quantum science tells us that everything is light, that all of reality - every body both human and non-human, every object, every iota of space and time - is nothing but waves in an ocean of light. But what science does not tell us is that this light is not merely an impersonal force or a mass of energy. It is Conscious; it is Alive - in fact it is a Great Persn of Light, a Radiant Being of Infinite Brightness. Even better put, in Reality, Light IS the Divine Person, the Great One, Living as everything, Appearing as everything, and yet, paradoxically, Always and Only Conscious Light.
The most intimate presumption, the real presumption - that all of this is Light - should be sufficient to make your hair stand on end. Real Communion with Light, or True Spirit Baptism - founded on critical self-understanding - produces ecstasy, profound transformation of your entire body-mind-complex, liberates you from all of your fear-saturated separative psychology.
Light means something holy, something Divine. The notion and the sense of the Holiness or the Profundity of Light - and especially the Divine characteristic of Light, the Ultimacy of Light - is a universal feeling-idea. It is an integral part at the root of all religions, and even secular life as well. Light is fundamental in human experience and aspiration and meaning, indeed it is our True or Eternal Identity before we "fall" into the embodiment trap.
Mindless embodiment.
Consciousness without inwardness.
Thus it becomes obvious.
Every object is only Light, the Energy of Consciousness
Even so, there is no mind.
Only this stark embodiment, without inwardness.
First transcend the mind, not the body.
Inwardness is flight from Life and Love.
Only the body id Full of Consciousness.
Therefore, be the body-only, feeling into Life.
Surrender the mind into Love, until the body dissolves in Light.
Dare this Ecstasy, and never be made thoughtful by birth and experience and death
"As usual mostly crapp" - I wonder why you'd spend so much of your time and energy reading and responding to "mostly crapp" (albeit very bright crapp, since everything is light... right?).
Reading this, something horrible occurred to me. Gnostism has led to the ultimate inversion. The gnostics have become the demiurge that warps and disguises true reality and knowledge.
"Unlike traditional Hebrew and Christian beliefs, Gnostics do not believe in redemption so much as enlightenment through divine wisdom. God also exists as an unknowable absolute, whilst a demiurgic ‘lower god’ exists who became known as the ‘God of the Old Testament’. That is, Gnostic tradition holds that the acts of God in the Old Testament - such as the creation of the material universe and the setting apart of Israel - were in fact the acts of a demiurge seeking to keep humanity trapped within a prison reality."
Looks pretty spot on to me. An objective reading of the Old Testament shows Yahweh is a bloodthirsty, gaslighting tyrant with just enough blessings and mercy to keep the captives beholden. I think the original Gnostics were pretty much spot on in their worldview - our world is founded in deception, and the only way out seems to be its complete rejection - which is probably why they were wiped out by the early church, who then stole much of their writings for the New Testament, including Revelations: the greatest act of plagiarism in history.
If you think Gnosticism is the enemy and organised religion is here to save us... well, good luck with that!
This is not far from where I find myself. The last three years have revealed that we are ruled by demons in meat suits. While I ask help from any benevolent being who might be out there, I have no idea as to his true power in this realm.
Immanuel Kant was anti enlightenment? Huh.
An interesting read O'Brien, thanks for keeping it short-ish 😁
All I can say is where were the hard headed women to teach these boys some lessons? Hard headed men help too. Talk about anti-evolutionary. The roots of the Culture Of Death. We do still have a choice but it is fading fast as the fog of ignorance, war, and genocide get thicker.
Thanks for a great summary. Gnosticism has been called 'Mystery Babylon - the River of Iniquity'. It seems to be the natural tendency of thinking man - both good and bad, (trapped in this world's Matrix of Self-ishness) - to gravitate towards it. It incorporates all the aspects of fertility cults as well - hence the Gaia Hypothesis and the Green agenda.
That is a very interesting observation. I (tried) to read Marx in high school and by my reading it was clearly a spiritual, enlightenment path. The economic aspect was entirely circumstantial in that the slog and drudgery of labor prevented man from having the time to spend on the pursuit of esoteric enlightenment. It was quite obvious at its heart and equally obvious that it was a futile endeavor.
Funny, I've been studying Gnosticism for 20 years and can't find any woke in it, at all. The one I'm most fond of is Valentinian Gnosticism: http://gnosis.org/library/valentinus/Brief_Summary_Theology.htm
Here's a list of other Gnostic sects, maybe there's some woke in there, but I doubt it https://infogalactic.com/info/List_of_Gnostic_sects
What is this hard-on people have with Gnosticism? Does it barbecue their sacred cows? Is their faith so fragile it can't stand the examination and discussion of texts that the warmongering "Holy" Roman Emperor Constantine deemed unfit to include in Christian canon?
Somebody somewhere would spit them from his mouth for being lukewarm...
Transgenderism is basically gnosticism. My body is a prison. The natural order of male/female is false, etc etc
That's so incorrect it's practically retarded
I believe O'Brien's thesis is that woke culture can track its roots back through different philosophical positions to a gnostic take on the nature of things.
Of course it's your prerogative to believe that gnosticism has had no part to play in today's woke culture, after all, you are obviously an expert after 20 years of study and O'Brien hasn't been alive much longer that that, so he's got a lot of catching up to do.
And I don't think at all that we are of a "fragile faith" that cannot stand to examine anything that opposes our core beliefs. It is also true, however, that we do not have the time, nor the inclination, to plumb the depths of every philosophy and esoteric doctrine that disagrees with our beliefs.
Having said that, I do appreciate the links to the gnostic society, a site I'm not unfamiliar, and other readers might like to do their own exploration of gnostisism - I'm all for other's doing their own heavy lifting and not just accept whatever we have to say.
I'm far from an expert. But I do read what those who are write, and have studied the Nag Hammadi.
The only thing I ask is if people are going to criticize any particular faith, they take the time to study it first. Trying to tie Gnosticism to today's "woke" movement is stupid. "Woke" is clearly an outgrowth of the Marxism (and possibly the Frankfurt School), which has it's roots in Satanism.
I've not studied the Gnostic Gospels as you have. If the school of thought taught by Valentinus is representative of what the Gnostic Gospels portray then I have enough of an idea to put a deep dive into gnostic writings to the side for the moment. However I don't think one needs a PhD level of study into a topic to make criticism.
The link between gnosticism-Marxism-Wokeness may not be as stupid as you suppose - but I'll take your criticism seriously and talk to O'Brien about it.
I've got the entire apocrypha to work though (some 15 books) as well as deeper study of the Bible - one can only stretch so far I'm afraid - so I'm not sure I'll take on the topic any further myself.
Thanks, I appreciate it. There's a lot to be appreciated in the Apocrypha as well, it's all worth reading.
If you decide to delve into the Nag Hammadi, I'd suggest to start with "The Thunder, Perfect Mind" http://gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html
In my understanding of Gnosticism, I would argue that it is the very opposite of "woke". The Gnostics IMO had a glimmer of understanding of the infinite ineffability, a direct, inner knowing of God, and strove to know this fully. They appear to have achieved this to some degree, to me it seems that tiny slivers of light shine through the texts. I believe it to be the purest of Christ's teachings, and they attempted to hold onto them, and relay them.
For their efforts, the Gnostics were mercilessly persecuted by a warmongering Roman emperor who sought to consolidate the disparate Christian sects in order to maintain empire.
In my not-so humble opinion.
I’ll look into it
It appears that someone can read and regurgitate other people's propaganda & criticism quite well, but does not really seem to 'get it'. They should go talk to Douglas Gabriel and/or John Lash about Gnosticism...
Gabriel suggests entering the "Inner Sanctum of the Temple of Wisdom, the Divine Feminine Trinity", so that Sophia (as Mother-Daughter-Holy Sophia) can "unveil her mysteries" to me and thus giving me a "spiritual home". Yep, that sounds like salvation by gnosis. I may not 'get' all the details of any of the multitude of gnostic beliefs but that doesn't mean we can't grasp the basic tenants and the influence they have had on philosophy, religion and politics.
Marxism is primarily economic... They make valid claims about the issues brought up during the industrial revolution. In fact, they predicted the current state of the world, where corporations and the government work hand in hand.
Focusing on the cultural stuff is like me focusing that most conservatives are religious, without looking at their reasoning why they think free markets work.
I believe Marx used economics as the primary lever for revolution, but there's some deeply anti-God sentiment behind his motivation. Today neo-Marxism embraces a social, not economic, lever for inciting revolution. I'm no expert, but James Lindsay is - if you want to go for a deep dive into the morphing of Marxism into what we see today in woke culture I'd suggest listening/reading some of his recent work.
Every truth gets hijacked by opportunists who turn it into a power trip.
That's how even religion got corrupted.
The original economics of Marx were accurate in predicting today. If we could see this, we wouldn't be arguing over god and culture and point the finger at the financial system which twists all forms of morality into mania.
Whatever manycry about as "cultural maxism" is no different than the 50th iteration of christianity which purposely ignored the teachings of Jesus in order to bring more division.
As usual mostly crapp, especially the last two paragraphs. which summarize the ideological prison ,or more correctly dark lightless psychosis that "Winston" is trapped in.
There is Only Light.
Light is all there IS.
All that IS is Light.
Light Is Inherently Indivisible, Non-Separate, and One Only.
Modern quantum science tells us that everything is light, that all of reality - every body both human and non-human, every object, every iota of space and time - is nothing but waves in an ocean of light. But what science does not tell us is that this light is not merely an impersonal force or a mass of energy. It is Conscious; it is Alive - in fact it is a Great Persn of Light, a Radiant Being of Infinite Brightness. Even better put, in Reality, Light IS the Divine Person, the Great One, Living as everything, Appearing as everything, and yet, paradoxically, Always and Only Conscious Light.
The most intimate presumption, the real presumption - that all of this is Light - should be sufficient to make your hair stand on end. Real Communion with Light, or True Spirit Baptism - founded on critical self-understanding - produces ecstasy, profound transformation of your entire body-mind-complex, liberates you from all of your fear-saturated separative psychology.
Light means something holy, something Divine. The notion and the sense of the Holiness or the Profundity of Light - and especially the Divine characteristic of Light, the Ultimacy of Light - is a universal feeling-idea. It is an integral part at the root of all religions, and even secular life as well. Light is fundamental in human experience and aspiration and meaning, indeed it is our True or Eternal Identity before we "fall" into the embodiment trap.
Mindless embodiment.
Consciousness without inwardness.
Thus it becomes obvious.
Every object is only Light, the Energy of Consciousness
Even so, there is no mind.
Only this stark embodiment, without inwardness.
First transcend the mind, not the body.
Inwardness is flight from Life and Love.
Only the body id Full of Consciousness.
Therefore, be the body-only, feeling into Life.
Surrender the mind into Love, until the body dissolves in Light.
Dare this Ecstasy, and never be made thoughtful by birth and experience and death
"As usual mostly crapp" - I wonder why you'd spend so much of your time and energy reading and responding to "mostly crapp" (albeit very bright crapp, since everything is light... right?).
I realize I wasn't the only one who read 1984 and noticed that it was talking about Gnosticism...
Reading this, something horrible occurred to me. Gnostism has led to the ultimate inversion. The gnostics have become the demiurge that warps and disguises true reality and knowledge.