'All over Western Europe Cathars [Gnostics] are reincarnating as was foretold by a troubadour poet at the time of the Persecution. The seven centuries silence he foresaw has elapsed... Many of those who reincarnate remember their previous lives. All those so endowed have other psychic gifts. A person cannot have far memory without having also in varying degrees of development such gifts as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy and healing.' Dr Arthur Guirdham, A Foot in Both Worlds, pages 56-57.
In our current age, where religious fundamentalism is on the rise, and where those who follow fundamentalist beliefs prefer dogma over evidence and as a result seek to impose their narrow rules and regulations on others, which, often, results in others becoming, instead, averse to their oppressive methods (after all, what sensible person wants to associate themselves with individuals who blow bus loads of commuters to bloody pieces?) and therefore to the beliefs they expound too and where some of the established religions look less and less applicable to modern times wouldn't it be nice if there was a spiritual approach to life which was in harmony with the highest ideals, which was also measurable by science ...and which went some way to provide meaningful answers to some of the perplexing questions of our time that remain inadequately answered by many of the established religions?
It's All About YOU Not Them...
Unlike the institutionalised religions, which no longer evidence much in the way of genuine spiritual communication with Higher Realms, having instead become fixated on dogma and developed into hierarchical power structures which elevate those at the centre at the expense of those on the periphery, Gnostic Spiritualism, by contrast, teaches us that you personally can have a direct relationship with Spirit, not dependent upon any human intermediary. Dependent instead purely upon your genuine desire to pursue such a relationship. Gnostic Spiritualism presupposes that each individual can have a deep and meaningful relationship with benevolent beings from the Spirit Realm and, ultimately, with the Source, which is sometimes called God or Goddess, which is the Fullness of Love. Indeed, Gnostic Spiritualism suggests that this is the ultimate aim of all souls.
The Way of Gnosis...
The word 'gnosis' means to know: specifically to know in a spiritual context. It implies knowledge above and beyond that which is commonly understood by most individuals regarding the nature of the world and the reason for life, as it currently exists. It indicates a level of awareness that gives meaning to the 'way things are' regarding important spiritual issues which are perhaps not answered so adequately by the dogmatic religions.
Let's take a quick look at what someone who lives a life based on Gnostic Spiritualist principles might understand:
*We are spiritual beings having a physical experience.
*Our ultimate home is really the spirit world.
*We shall all return to the spirit world, either temporarily, before reincarnating again, or permanently, to continue the process of our spiritual evolution by progressing through ever higher realms of reality.
*There exists a Good God of Pure Love and a Negative Entity (sometimes called the Demiurge, or the Devil, amongst other names).
*The Good God is All Powerful in the Heavenly Realm, but only Most Powerful in the physical realm. The Negative Entity is at war with the Good God and as a result has injected its negative influence into the very fabric of the physical universe, which accounts for the mixed state of Creation, where good and evil coexist at a fundamental level.
*Living beings are souls which have become enmeshed in the co-mingled good and evil of the physical realm.
*The Good God, supported by many benevolent beings (including 'lesser' deities, angels and spirit guides, etc) is in the process of helping to free the souls which have become enmeshed in the physical realm.
*This process involves enabling those enmeshed souls to remember their true selves and true home and in the process finally awaken from the delusion that the Negative Entity has implanted into their minds, which has caused them to forget their true spiritual identity (to one degree or another). Once gnosis is achieved (remembrance of true identity) the process of liberation can begin, as the soul begins to sever the ties which have bound it to the cycle of reincarnation in order to enable the soul, upon returning to its true home, to be free of the pull to Earth and instead begin to ascend to higher levels of existence.
*Whilst embodied it is the goal of the spiritual person to seek to build good character and help to improve the state of the world by reducing suffering, by living a life based on compassion towards all other living beings (human and animal). In this context the Good God and other benevolent beings are able to assist embodied souls to utilise times of incarnation to learn valuable lessons, regarding, for example, how to make good decisions and about choosing to live compassionately, with love.
*Whilst embodied it's possible for human beings to communicate with inhabitants of the Spirit Realm, by re-awakening one's own psychic/mediumship abilities and/or by consulting with psychic/mediums.
*Genuine psychic/mediums can provide evidence of survival and of the existence of spirit guides, angels and in some cases (such as occurs with all true prophets) the Divine Source.
*Such communications can assist in the process of gnosis while providing evidence that the bond of love between people and animals exists beyond physical death.
*Ultimately Good shall triumph over Evil, in a way that we cannot fully comprehend while we remain incarnated and subject to the limitation of perceptions that this causes, nevertheless we can all look forward to the absence of Evil and the victory of Ultimate Love.
Sensible And Evidence Based...
Gnostic Spiritualism is, remember, not a perspective based on dogma, but is rather founded on evidence of spiritual realities obtained by gnosis, and science ...and based on the reality of the state of the world around us. Gnostic Spiritualism is therefore flexible and open to modification, based on new evidence. It's a sensible approach to life and the hereafter. And it's not based on out-dated power structures, but is instead founded on the understanding that anyone can have a direct relationship with Spirit.
A Call To Gnosis?
Have you often wondered why the physical realm is such a mixed-up place, full of contradictions, where great good occurs, side by side with terrible evil? Have you ever pondered on the evidence of life after death, as demonstrated by mediums and others (such as those who have Near Death Experiences) and wondered what it all means?
Perhaps you're sensing a call to gnosis?
If you are, you're in good company as some of the wisest people who've ever lived have followed a gnostic approach to spirituality too. If you are, you might sense, as did I, that as the process of gnosis unfolds suddenly 'everything makes sense' and with this awareness a profound sense of relief and associated optimism develops about the ultimate outcome we're all destined to achieve, which is to be fully reunited with the Divine Source, in a Realm of Pure Love, enjoying an eternity of marvellous experiences that are too elevated for us to even begin to fully comprehend just now, but which that part of us that we call a soul recognises and yearns to move towards. It's when this awareness begins to unfold that the process of gnosis begins.
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Here are some useful links to a few books containing more information on this subject:
A Foot in Both Worlds: A Doctor's Autobiography of Psychic Experiences, by Dr Arthur Guirdham:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Foot-Both-Worlds-Autobiography-Experience/dp/0852072465
Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing, by Stephan A. Hoeller:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gnosticism-Light-Ancient-Tradition-Knowing/dp/0835608166/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352213909&sr=8-1-spell
We Are One Another: A Record of Group Reincarnation, by Dr Arthur Guirdham.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-One-Another-Reincarnation/dp/0852072481/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352213949&sr=1-1
Obsession: Psychic Forces and Evil in the Causation of Disease, by Dr Arthur Guirdham.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Obsession-Psychic-Forces-Causation-Disease/dp/0854352716/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352213972&sr=1-1
The Gnostics, by Tobias Churton:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gnostics-Tobias-Churton/dp/0760704783
One Last Time: A Psychic Medium Speaks To those We Have Loved And Lost, by John Edward:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Last-Time-Psychic-Medium/dp/0749919795/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352581818&sr=1-1
We Are Their Heaven: Why The Dead Never Leave Us, by Allison DuBois:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/We-are-Their-Heaven-Never/dp/141652679X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352581891&sr=1-1
Living With The Gift, by TJ Higgs:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Gift-TJ-Higgs/dp/1846041953/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352581968&sr=1-3
The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death, by Dr Gary Schwartz:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Afterlife-Experiments-Breakthrough-Scientific-Evidence/dp/0743436598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352582036&sr=1-1
Mediums and their Work, by Linda Williamson:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mediums-Their-Work-Linda-Williamson/dp/0709047398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352582150&sr=1-1
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'We are not of this world and this world is not of us.' (A Cathar saying.)
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See also my articles: (1) Sant Mat and Gnosticism, (2) Santeria And Gnosticism, (3) Dualism, (4) Gnosticism, (5) The Convergence of Radha Soami Beliefs and Gnosticism, (6) Our Spirit Origins, (7) A Divine Frequency, (8) Does God Exist?, (9) A Crisis of Faith?, (10) Empathic Vulnerability, (11) Spiritual Awakening, (12) If Everyone Goes To Heaven, Then It Won't Be Heaven, (13) The Divine Aeons, (14) Divine Emanations, (15) Aeons Vs. Archons, (16) Deconstructing The Matrix: Gnostic Themes in a Virtual Reality, (17) Gnosticism and Vodou's Shared Cosmological Visions, (18) Gnostic Spiritualism, (19) Transcendent Principles And The Collective Unconscious, (20) The Spectrum of Devotion: Understanding the Difference Between Godly and Ungodly.
