Skip to main content

Glorian averages 100 donors a month. Are you one of the few who keep Glorian going? Donate now.


Many centuries ago, there was a man who was very serious about his spiritual work, who was very knowledgeable in the mysticism that he was studying. And, he hated the Gnostics, so he devoted a great deal of energy towards persecuting the Gnostic groups of his time.

I am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, [and] taught according to the perfect manner [Kabbalah] of the law [Torah] of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

The word Gnostic (from the Greek Gnosis) did not refer to a particular movement or a particular group; it referred to a type of wisdom, a form of information that is distinct from worldly or materialistic knowledge. It is a science, mysticism, wisdom, or path that guides the Soul in the awakening of the consciousness and in the complete development of the human being.

So this man was well-known for persecuting, criticizing, attacking the various groups that taught the kind of knowledge that I am describing, because what they taught conflicted with his beliefs. But as he later stated, he saw the light. That is, he understood, he comprehended what Gnosis really is, rather than what he thought it was. You see, this man had built an idea about Gnosis, but he did not understand Gnosis. This distinction between an idea and understanding is very subtle for us, but very clear once you experience the truth.

What one believes and thinks about childbirth and parenthood before you have experienced them is very different from the experience. The one who has experienced them knows things that cannot be put into words. That inexpressible knowledge is Gnosis, at that level. Spiritually, the experience of the truth is even more difficult to put into words, because such experience is related to levels of existence that are beyond the intellect, language, concept, and belief.

conversion-paulThe idea of Gnosis is different from the actual fact or “the light.” The idea of Gnosis is not real, but Gnosis itself (experience) is real. When this man understood Gnosis, he wrote that he “saw the light.” This is symbolic of receiving the light of understanding, comprehension. In that moment he was changed. He even changed his name. Formerly known as Saul, his name became Paul, and he became a great apostle of Gnosis, a great teacher, and he wrote many of the books in the contemporary New Testament. He wrote the books of Corinthians, Ephesians, and many others.

Paul, in other words, was converted by the light of Christ, that light which emerged in his own consciousness by the grace of God. After this transformative experience, he began to teach Gnosis, because he had experienced it, and he began to spread the knowledge and help others to reach the understanding and experience that he had. Because of that, he spread the Gnostic teachings and helped many souls in their understanding. But he encountered a lot of problems, a lot of difficulties, and he wrote about them. In particular, in his letter to the Corinthians, he addressed a very significant problem, a problem which persists this day, and which in fact cripples every religion in the world, including the Gnostic Movement. Today in this lecture we will analyze this problem that Paul so beautifully addresses in the first few chapters of Corinthians.

Spiritual Divisions

He wrote in the first epistle of Corinthians:

Now, I beseech you brethren, by the name of our lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Sephas; and I of Christ.

In his effort to spread the teaching, Paul travelled from place to place, and taught how the souls could enter into their own direct experience of God. After he delivered the doctrine and introduced the souls to the teachings they would need, he would leave and go to a new place and teach new people. After a while, as you can imagine, in his footsteps there appeared many groups. Amongst these groups, discontent emerged. They began to claim allegiances, membership, relationships, and they began to compare themselves. And that is why he says:

Every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Sephas.

Each of these names are teachers who at that time were teaching Gnosis. The students began to say, “I am Paul’s student”, while the next student would say, “I am the student of Sephas,” and the next student would say, “I am the student of Apollos.” They began to compare and argue. This is a very common occurrence in religions and spiritual groups. The reason behind it both understandable and sad.

collective-mindIn Gnosis, we study the process by which the consciousness develops in the kingdoms of nature. We understand that the mind has to pass through a process of development, rising from simple kingdoms to more complex kingdoms, and along that path of development, the mind becomes more sophisticated. Throughout the process of evolution the mind is “collective” not individual: the minerals evolve in groups, the plants evolve in groups, and the animals evolve in groups. Amongst these levels of development, the individual mind does not exist. Thus when the consciousness enters into the humanoid kingdom, the humanoids band together in groups as a reflection of their evolutive past. This is why in primitive societies we always see tribes and groups who gather together in order to establish security. That is, the souls that have not developed individual mind always belong to groups, always follow groups, and do whatever the group does.

We are intellectual animals. We are souls (anima) who have evolved out of the lower kingdoms and entered the humanoid kingdom, and thus have received the intellect. But, our mind is not yet individualized. We are intellectual animals who think we are human beings, but we are not yet.

The difference between an intellectual animal and a human being is the individual mind. A real human being has a true individual mind, not a collective mind.

When we observe the psychology of the animal kingdom, we see the animals have collective mind. They travel in herds, packs, and groups; the vast majority of the creatures of nature travel in this way. It is only at the pinnacle of the development of the anima (soul) in the animal kingdom, that the consciousness begins to start showing signs of the individual mind, and this is why at the apex of the various families of the animal kingdom, we see animals that act alone, solitary. This is how they begin to prepare their own anima (soul) for the entrance into the humanoid kingdom, and the subsequent development of the solar mental body, which comes through initiation.

However, intellectual animals - humanoids like us who still have the collective animal mind - want to belong to a group. Those who are still in the level of the collective mind  seek protection, security, and safety in groups. This is why most spiritual aspirants want promises and guarantees. They want to be made to feel safe. They want to follow a person who gives a guarantee of spiritual safety. The intellectual animals attach themselves to whichever group or religion or teacher gives them a sense of security. This is because of the collective animal mind. And this is understandable when we grasp the nature of how the consciousness evolves in the mechanical kingdoms of nature, but it is also sad, because so long as mind of the intellectual animal grasps to that sense of security, it can never become and individual mind. Observe the chick who refuses to leave its shell. If the chick is to afraid to come out of the shell, the chick will die. The same is true for the soul. The soul must emerge, it must break free of that collective mind.

A true human being has individual mind. Such a person is exceeding rare, because they can only emerge through a specific work.

So when Paul wrote to his students, this is what he was addressing. That is why he wrote:

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or where ye baptized in the name of Paul?

When we belong to a religion or a group, that religion has the responsibility to teach unto us the doctrine to develop the soul. That is the purpose of religion. A religion in the Aquarian Era is not intended to be a corral, a fenced in area where the sheep are kept safe. It is not intended to be a barn full of animals. The Gnostic Movement is not the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, or like any other movement in the world. All of these churches and groups and movements have played their role and had their importance, because they provided an antechamber within which the souls could have been prepared to become human beings, but those antechambers belong to the Piscean Age, which is already ended. The animas (souls) have already had centuries and centuries of promises of security and safety from their religions and their teachers, and humanity has not benefitted. Humanity is continuing to degenerate. Thus, the time has come for the religions to teach the human soul how to become a human being. This is why Samael Aun Weor repeatedly emphasized that the mind must become free of all schools, religions, countries, and flags, including the Gnostic one.

...the disciple must liberate himself from all types of schools, religions, sects, political parties, concepts of motherland and flags, dogmas, intellectualism, selfishness, hatred, anger, opinions, classroom arguments, authoritarianism, etc...

There is a need to search for a Guru in order for him to guide us along this internal and delicate way.

The Guru must be searched for within, in the profundity of the consciousness...

Each disciple must search for the Master inside, inside, inside.

The Master is found in the profundity of our consciousness. - Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose

The true spiritual Master is not a physical teacher. Therefore it is foolish to search for a Master in schools, groups, and movements. Yet, this is what intellectual animals do.

It is urgent to terminate egotism and cultivate Christ-centrism.  Thus, only in this manner can we make a better world.   It is indispensable to eliminate the covetousness and the cruelty that each one of us carries within.  Thus, only in this manner, by each individual changing, is how society will change, because society is just the extension of the individual. - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic

As the pluralized “I” dies from moment to moment, the psychic material accumulates within us, thus becoming a Permanent Center of Consciousness. This is how we individualize ourselves little by little.  By de-egotizing ourselves, we individualize ourselves.  However, we must clarify that individuality is not everything; with the event of Bethlehem we must move onto super-individuality [Christification]. - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic

The sole purpose of the real Gnostic Movement - which is the Gnostic Church - is to teach the soul how to become an individual, and then a Christified individual. It is not to build cathedrals or churches, or to build another Catholic church. Humanity already had that, and we do not need another one. What we need now is for the intellectual animal to become a human being, to become an individual, in other words to become responsible.

We are not interested in anyone’s money, nor are we interested in monthly fees, or temples made out of brick, cement or clay, because we are conscious visitors in the cathedral of the soul and we know that Wisdom is of the soul. We are not in search of followers; all we want is for each person to follow his or her self- their own Internal Master, their sacred Innermost because He is the only one that can save and glorify us.  - Samael Aun Weor

The intellectual animal, because it has collective mind, does not have individual will. This is why we observe that humanity always moves in groups. Everyone wants to join the latest group or fad. We claim that we want to be “individuals,” we claim that we want to be “nonconformists,” and we love these ideas of being an entrepreneur or the one who goes their own way, but in actual fact all we do is imitate. We copy. This is very easy to see in pop culture, when we see groups that say, like for example a rock-band who claims to be ‘doing their own thing’, but in reality all they are doing is copying others and putting a little twist on it, just enough to get attention, but that is all they do. Everything else they do - the way they dress, sing, write music, play music, the way they jump around, the way they move their bodies, the way they move their faces - is all imitation. The same is true of fashion; we claim we want to be individual and be different, but in reality we merely imitate what we see from others. This is all representative of collective thinking. These examples illustrate our desire to find security in the acceptance of a group. For us, if we are not accepted by a group, we feel that we are bad or doing wrong. Yet, when accepted by a group, we feel good or that we are doing what is right.

Although this might appear incredible, the fact is that all human beings are in a state of “collective hypnosis.” - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic

The Gnostic Church teaches the wisdom or the knowledge to break free of that collective mind, and to become an individual mind. The process to arrive at this is extremely difficult, because we have to be willing to act alone, without acceptance or a sense of security. Even more difficult, we have to renounce everything that we think we are. We have to awaken our consciousness. And, very importantly, we have to face our fear.

Gnosis is very profound and in fact can be terrifying. When we really see what the wisdom of Gnosis is, it can be terrifying and humbling. Unfortunately when we feel that  fear and terror, we want to feel safe, so we look for groups, schools, or teachers who will make us feel safe. People tend to look for leaders who give us a feeling of security, such as: “Now that I belong to this group, I am safe, and I am on the right path. I will be saved now.” This way of thinking is due to the collective mind, and is completely false. No group can save anyone, and neither can any teacher. The only one who can save us is Christ. This is why Paul said,

Is Christ divided?

The students he wrote to believed that by being associated with a certain teacher, they were saved. Yet the saviour of the soul is not the teacher, it is Christ, that energy that force at the base of existence. When these Paul’s students claimed to belong to Paul, Sephas, or Apollos, they were claiming allegiance to one group instead of another group, but they were missing the fundamental point, which is that Christ is not divided. That light is universal. Christ emerges in the heart, not in a group. This is why Samael Aun Weor stated that the Gnostic Movement is not seeking to build churches, cathedrals or big groups. Samael Aun Weor did not seek followers, or to make another Catholic Church. The purpose of the Gnostic Movement is to teach the souls how to become individuals, to become self-reliant. A true student of Gnosis is not reliant on a group, or teacher, but is reliant on their inner Self, the Being. That is how we discover that Christ is not divided. When we come to know our own inner Being, we come to know that mystery. The problem is that when we rely on a group or a teacher, we are not relying on our own inner God.

Gnosis is a science of self-knowledge, not intellectual knowledge, not belief. It is important for students to grasp this; the point, the purpose of the movement is to guide the soul to know their own inner Being and to rely on that. In fact, you can say that the purpose of the Gnostic instructor is to not have students.

The purpose of the Gnostic instructor is to teach someone to be reliant on themselves, not reliant on the teacher. The teacher teaches the disciple to become a master, and in turn that student is not reliant on their teacher, they are reliant on their inner Master, their Innermost Self. That is, Christ is not divided. When the student becomes the master, that student is in connection with Christ and Christ guides both, and then there is no division.

Furthermore, when we look at the various teachers in any religion or group, if the instructors are genuine instructors with experience, Christ is the same force guiding both of them, and Christ is not divided, so there is no reason for a student to claim allegiance to one teacher or another teacher, because both teachers are receiving guidance from the same source. That is why it is nonsense to claim allegiance to one group over another group, or to praise one teacher and to criticize another. Sadly, however, we hear this a lot from students who say (in so many words), “My master is better than your master.” This is like saying, “My master can beat up your master.” This is the behavior of immature people, but unfortunately this is what students do. In every tradition we see students who find a particular teacher or a group, they get involved, they begin to feel safe and secure, they become attached, and they get lazy. They feel like they are on a big boat that will take them to heaven. Then they begin to say to other people, “You should come to my group, my group is the best. You should come to my teacher, my teacher is a Bodhisattva. My teacher is a great master, my teacher is the incarnation of such and such, holy guacamole.” This is all evidence of the collective mind and it is sad, because that soul is neglecting their own development. Not only that, they are influencing others to do the same, to just belong to a group and avoid their own spiritual development, like humanity has been doing for thousands of years, for no good purpose and no good result. Paul wrote:

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified...

It is the tendency of the collective mind to always look for physical signs and to look for words, sensual information, physical proof, convincing arguments, logic, evidence, like for example: In the Gnostic Movement, if somebody hears, ”This teacher was a direct student of Samael Aun Weor,” immediately it is assumed that the teacher must be very  awakened and good. This is a ridiculous assumption, but is it very common. Or a student may say: “Samael Aun Weor wrote that Beelzebub was going to be born in France in the body of a woman and there happens to be a woman around the right age who is teaching Gnosis, so it must be her.” This is no way to arrive at any conclusion, and yet everyone is doing it: seeking signs based on information from the physical senses.

Paul said that the real Gnostics do not teach in this way. The real apostles do not manifest signs. The real apostles do not try to convince with words, but only with the power of the teaching. That power is in the consciousness, not in the collective mind. That power is in the soul, and that power only comes when we work seriously in ourselves. Then he explained:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

This is a sign of a real teacher. Paul came not to convince with brilliant speaking or convincing logic, not even with the very subtle wisdom - in other words, he did not come to show himself. It is clear if you read the writings of Paul, that he is extremely intelligent and very wise, but he did not seek to show himself.

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ...

He did not arrive to investigate people, to find out about their personal lives, to investigate their sins, to measure them, to judge them, to see if they were worthy of him. He came to teach the gospel, and that is all.

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

That passage has more significance then we really have time to describe in the lecture today. That passage is worthy of a great deal of meditation, because there is a lot revealed there. But the essence in context of our talk today is this: the “princes” of the world do not know Gnosis. The “princes of the world” are the leaders of the religions, the leaders of the groups, because “had they known it, they would not have crucified Christ” and the ones who crucified Christ were the religious authorities. Unfortunately, people usually read this literally, and think literally of “a prince in robes” who is due to inherit the kingdom. The prince is a symbolic term for an initiate, a person who knows something of the wisdom of the knowledge of religion, but “the princes of this world, that come to nought.” The princes of the world are those who like to show themselves as being great illuminated people, who always seek the limelight, who always proclaim themselves to be this and that and want to be at the head of the group, want to be the patriarch, the avatar, and they always crucify Christ. In other words, they always condemn the true prophets.

One must abandon the level of being a mere prince, and become a King (Melech). The Malachim are rejected by the princes of the world. Samael Aun Weor was condemned by all the religious powers. Jesus was condemned by all the religious powers. So was Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, Elijah, John the Baptist, Elias, Paul - all of them. The reason is that the true initiates do not play the game of the princes of the world. They do not play the game of building cathedrals or churches. They do not play the game of trying to acquire power in the world. They do not play the game of trying to get recognition or fame. Their sole purpose is to teach the doctrine and that is all. This is why Paul said: “When I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” And he continued about this, explaining how the real prophets are impoverished:

For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to man. We are fools for Christ’s sake. And even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled we bless, being persecuted we suffer. Being defamed, we intreat:  we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

The real apostles suffer and are persecuted even by their own students. The apostles renounce everything in order to deliver the doctrine and go from place to place forming schools and groups. In turn those groups revile, persecute,  and condemn them, claiming allegiances with other people, other students, other teachers. And so Paul says, “Ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, but not so many fathers.” And he says, “I am your father, because I needed the gospel.” And we see this in the Gnostic Movement; many groups love this or that instructor, but condemn Samael Aun Weor, criticize Samael Aun Weor, even edit Samael Aun Weor, adn they do not realize that the very wisdom that they received came from him. This is sad and the same as what happened in Christianity, with how the Christians edit their own teaching and condemn the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Paul even though their teachings came from them.

martyrs

Paul said:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Paul is addressing multiple things at the same time. In particular he is addressing this limitation of the collective mind to judge all things by appearances. Everyone on this planet judges a man by what he appears to be on the surface; and all religions do this. This is related to this tendency to attach ourselves to one teacher or group and condemn everyone else. There are even schools and groups in the world who claim to be the only true group, who claim to be “the saved ones,” as if they are only ones who will be saved from the cataclysm. This is pure arrogance, that they consider themselves so holy and all other beings so worthless, and the love and compassion of God to be so limited. Sadly, there are even Gnostic groups who make such claims about themselves. Fortunately, this is not the way it is. God loves all creatures and works to save all creatures through the messengers of God, the messengers of Christ, which are the apostles in every religion, all around the planet. All over the world there are messengers of God working to save humanity. Paul says:

What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

When we begin to study spirituality, we also begin hearing about people who make many claims about themselves, such as being various kind of incarnations or reincarnations or so-called “masters.” And they give a lot of supposed evidence and a lot of justifications and reasons for believing what they believe. But Paul says it very clearly: what man can know the spirit of another man? Especially if you do not even know yourself. None of us know ourselves, so how can we know what someone else is or is not?

What is worse is when students and instructors condemn, criticize, and attack other students and instructors, or those from other traditions, as if somehow “we are better.” Paul says: How can you know anything of anyone else? The only one who can know the spiritual level of another is the spirit within that person. Paul is a beautiful example of this. Paul once persecuted the Gnostics. The tradition says that he was actually hunting and killing them; personally I’m not sure if that is the case, I think it is probably symbolic. Nonetheless, Paul was attacking, condemning, and persecuting the Gnostics. But he became converted by the Christ and realized his mistake. So what of all of us who are now condemning and attacking other people? Who can truly say if that other person is or is not on the path?  Who can know if the friends you have today will be your friends tomorrow? Moreover, the enemies you have today could very well be your friends tomorrow. Therefore, it is better to keep silent and cease judging by appearances or by “what we heard” from someone else. It is important for us to have a longer range perspective, a wider view of how we deal with each other, especially in relation with the soul.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. - John 7

Paul also emphasizes that we cannot rely on our senses, personality, or our terrestrial existence, for spiritual guidance. He is saying that only the Spirit can give us that knowledge: “even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” To know what Gnosis is we have to be in touch with that Spirit inside of us. And that only comes through meditation, practice, and work. That takes effort, and requires that we not be lazy, that we teach ourselves to stand on our own feet.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

This is also a very important passage. There are many people in this world who accuse Samael Aun Weor of being a plagiarist. They claim he “stole” his teaching from others. It is understandable why they would say that, because they still have collective mind and have no experience of the truth. But the fact is, if you go to Nepal, take a photograph of Mount Everest, and come back home to show it to your friends, does anyone call you a plagiarist? Of course not! The teaching is the teaching, just as the mountain is the mountain. The knowledge of Christ is the knowledge of Christ. It belongs to no man. Spiritual truth is exactly like that mountain: it is there, it exists, if you learn how to see it. There is no plagiarism when relating a fact. And that is why Paul said:

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Gnosis describes laws that exists beyond this physical world. We may not like it, but it is what it is, and we can only know that when we enter into the experience of it. That is only possible through work.

Spiritual Discernment

Paul continues:

But the natural man (which is us; terrestrial man) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Thus the teachings of Gnosis cannot be known by the terrestrial person, they can only be known by the consciousness. This is a contributing factor, as to why so many students fall by the wayside; they study the teachings, practice a little bit, start to believe in it, they start to follow a particular teacher, and then they stop, because they do not awaken their consciousness. They do not understand how to meditate, they do not practice and learn for themselves. They do not discern using the eyes of the Spirit. They merely believe, but there is no growth in the consciousness. Therefore, eventually they wander away, entranced by life or by some other belief or theory.

The only way to know Gnosis is to discern spiritually, as Paul said, and he explained how to do it:

He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? We have the mind of Christ.

This is the clue: the mind of Christ, the Christ-mind, as Samael Aun Weor described it in his many books, but especially Igneous Rose. A Christ mind is that type of mind that is born again. It is not a collective mind, it is an individual mind. Christ mind is related to the sphere of Netzach, the fifth dimension, the world of the mind. The Christ-mind is the  solar mental body. We have to create this mind. Very few have it, because it must be constructed through work on oneself.

tree-of-life-bodiesIn order to build the solar mental body, we have to become an individual. Observe the great spiritual masters: they are not meek sheep who follow the crowds, but are powerful individuals who define themselves psychologically through upright action. Such an individual does not imitate or conform to rigid moral codes, but instead listens to the guidance of the Innermost, and as such always goes against the current. The crowds follow each other. The Master follows the Divine.

In order to develop the solar mental body, we have to stand on our own two feet. We have to become adeptus, an adept, a child of our own works, not an imitator, not imitatus, one who merely imitates, but an adept, a master.

When someone has created the mental body, they have reached a level of mastery in relation with the mind. This is to have completed the fourth initiation of Major Mysteries. This initiation unites the mind and heart. Such an initiate has completed the work that allows their Innermost to become a Buddha. In this way, they are an individual. Yet, they are only the beginning of the development of the individual. They are “new masters,” who are yet spiritual beginners.

The fully developed Buddhas do not belong to any group, because they have renounced groups. They do not belong to any flag, country, or religion, because they have renounced them, they have transcended them, they do not need them, because they have God within. It is not to say that such an initiate is free of ego, because they are not, but they have their feet under them and they can walk. This is why Paul says: “We have the mind of Christ.” Christ mind is a creation in the world of the mind, a vehicle, a vessel that reflects the light of Christ, Gnosis, that wisdom that illuminates the soul and provides understanding. But Paul continues about this and says:

And I brethren cannot speak unto you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ.

Remember, Paul is addressing this tendency in his students to claim allegiance to one teacher or another if as there is a difference amongst them, as if somehow that gives them some benefit. He is pointing out very explicitly is that they are babies, children, who are not spiritually developed, but who are carnal, meaning they are still identified with the flesh, with the senses, with the personality. They are still identified with belonging to a group, attached to a leader, and that is why Paul cannot speak to them as mature initiates. He says:

I have fed you with milk and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

This is really important, especially in relation with spiritual groups and the Gnostic Movement today. When studying the profound beauty of the doctrine of Christ, which was given in this age by Samael, many students and groups become very arrogant. They suddenly believe that they are “the chosen people” and that they have great spiritual knowledge, when in fact all they have done is read a few books. This is the height of arrogance and blindness. There are cases where these so-called Gnostics, believing themselves to be super-elevated because they have read some books, criticize others, and this creates an extremely bad impression of the teachings of Samael.  These people are full of themselves and have no comprehension of Gnosis. The primary virtue of the Gnostic Church is TOLERANCE, not criticism of others. Such persons need to learn to humility and respect for others. We should use a little more discretion. Furthermore we have to get past the limitations of the flesh.

If we want to receive “the meat,” the real nourishment that Christ can offer, we have to stop being “carnal”; it is necessary for us to move beyond the limitations of our physical senses and the limitations of our personalities. The terrestrial personality loves groups, flags, and countries. We always hear so-called spiritual people asking about one others country, or what group they belong to. Spiritually, gnostically, these things are meaningless. They are mere illusions. Yet, too many people judge others based on their country or group.

To comprehend Gnosis, we have to open the eyes of the spirit. We can only do that if we meditate: seriously meditate, not just doing concentration exercises, not just repeating mantric vowels. Meditation is not just simply sitting down and quieting yourself; that is only a preliminary exercise. Real meditation is not just sitting and repeating a mantra, that is only preliminary. You only enter genuine meditation when something new arrives: something new. This enigmatic statement appears throughout the teachings of Samael yet very few understand it, because very few really learn how to meditate.

The Truth cannot be studied, read, or known by the mind.  The Truth is absolutely distinct to all of that which can be read, studied, or known by the mind.  The Truth comes unto us when we have decapitated and dissolved the “I.” - Samael Aun Weor

Some students are able to imitate the practice of meditation, to look like they meditate, or to talk like they know how to meditate. We might be able to speak beautifully with a lot of eloquence about meditation, with a lot of what appears to be wisdom. And there are thousands of spiritual instructors like this, in every religion. But to really understand what it means for “the newness to arrive” requires a specific method of work and that method is difficult, because it requires that we abandon the “I”. Few are able to abandon their “I.” In fact, many who call themselves instructors have built a very fat “Instructor I,” that sees itself as a great authority.

For the newness to arrive, for real meditation to occur, there can be no I there, no sense of self, no ego. That is the only way you can penetrate beyond “the carnal flesh,” beyond the senses, beyond the personality, beyond the ego. And, that is how we receive “meat,” spiritual meat: the real teaching. The Gnostic teachings that Samael gave are very robust, very powerful, especially if you look at them in context of the history of religions, and this is why many people choke on Gnosis, cannot digest it, and leave. But let me tell you something: the 70+ books and the thousand of lectures in our tradition are really just spiritual milk. The teachings in the physical world are merely milk for the soul. The meat of the teaching has not been given in the physical world, because we are still “carnal,” we are weak, babes, who can only handle milk. We are not spiritually mature enough to receive the meat of the teaching.

Only when we become spiritually mature can we receive “meat” and then really grow. That begins in the Major Mysteries; that is when we start receiving “meat.” Until then, we are babes, children. Paul explains that here:

I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye carnal.

How can the students of any religion claim to be spiritually advanced when amongst them is envying, strife, and division? Yet, we see these everywhere in spiritual groups who fight with each other, who are envious of one another, who compete with one another. We see groups dividing and splitting, due to politics, accusations, gossip. We see groups angry against one another. None of these qualities reflects spiritual maturity. Instead, it reflects a very immature spirituality.

Disgracefully, the younger Gnostic brethren have not studied; they have not lived my doctrine which I have delivered throughout so many years in order for them to attain the psychological liberation.  Thus, they themselves have wanted to sabotage the Great Work of the White Brotherhood... - Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic

Who can consume the meat, the real knowledge, when among all the groups - even Gnostic groups - there is envy, strife, and division? They cannot. Therefore, these groups are spiritually immature. He says it clearly here:

...for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planted any thing, neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planted and het that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

Paul beautifully demonstrates that we are idiots when we claim that one teacher is better than another, when we claim that one group is better than another group, because the one who gives the wisdom is God. We should not be attached or concerned with the one who plants the seed or waters the seed, they are just laborers of the field. The one who makes the seed grow is God, Christ. So why do we elevate someone onto a throne and kiss their feet and worship them as thought they were better than anyone else? The one who has the glory is Christ, is God, the Innermost Buddha, not any terrestrial person.

Humanity does not need masters on thrones. We have had thousands of years of following “masters” and what has it gained us? Worldwide, suffering is worse.

Humanity has had thousands of years of belonging to groups and building retreat centers, cathedrals, temples, and churches and what has it gained us? War, poverty, violence, and worst of all: envying and strife and division in spiritual groups.

In spite of the rise and fall of thousands of religious groups, humanity has not become spiritual, but remained carnal. That is why in the Aquarian Era, the new expression of the light of Christ does not seek to build cathedrals or groups. It seeks to spread the light, to create individuals, and that is all.

The Story of the Gnostic Movement

The goal of Christ is to teach as many souls as possible to become real human beings. We need to transcend the flesh. Paul says:

For we are labourers together with God, ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and another builded thereon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Christ.

Now if any man build upon this foundation: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

In literal sense, what Paul is describing is how he went from place to place, taught the doctrine of Gnosis and founded schools. He laid the foundation, which is Christ, that universal force at the base of all existence: the flame of life, pure love. He travelled from place to place and founded these schools by teaching, then is his wake came others who watered, who built the building, who watered the seeds, who built the structure, who helped make the groups strong. Then, these students began to to divide themselves, saying: “I’m with Paul” or “I’m with Sephas,” or “I’m with Apollos.” The same thing has happened in the Gnostic Movement.

Samael Aun Weor travelled extensively and built the foundation, which is Christ, and following after him were his disciples who watered the seeds, who encouraged the seeds to grow on that foundation, which is Christ. But unfortunately, the students began to divide themselves, and say: “I’m with Samael.” Another said, “I’m with so and so.” Another said, “I’m with this movement,” and “I’m with that guy.” Strife was born. This is why Paul said:

And I brethren cannot speak unto you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ.

How can Christ give us spiritual meat when we are children who can only handle milk? Psychological, we are not spiritual, we are “carnal,” we are “of the flesh,” meaning that we judge and act based on terrestrial circumstances. Spiritually, we remain ignorant. Consciously, we are asleep. This is true in Gnosis, Buddhism, Christianity, and every religion. In Buddhism, we see thousands of people being worshipped as Gods, merely because they inherited a title; they are not Gods, but they are worshipped and followed as if they are. In Christianity, we see the same: people are elected to sit on chairs, where they are treated as gods. Foolishness! Can an election held by intellectual animals determine who is holy?

Paul said very clearly:

...now he that planteth and he that watereth are one.

In this Aquarian Era, the Logos Samael planted the seeds through his bodhisattva Samael Aun Weor. The Logos Samael delivered that light. His apostles are the ones who water the seeds, but his apostles are not just in Mexico, or in one group or another, nor just in one place or another according to the eyes of the flesh. His apostles are spiritual apostles, not physical apostles. His apostles are all over the world and cannot be recognizes by physical signs, but only by internal, spiritual signs. Sadly, all the students continue to look for physical signs, thus they are easily deceived.

Paul said:

And every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour.

The seed of the soul can only be born if we work for it. It cannot be born just because we claim to be with Samael or Jesus or some other instructor or teacher. We receive according to what we do, not according to what we believe. And that is why Paul said:

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ.

Like Paul, Samael laid the foundation of the doctrine, which is Christ. Christ is not a person. Christ is not an individual. Yet, Christ can become individualized in his apostles, and that is why Paul said:

The planter and the waterer are one.

You must known that Christ is not an individual.  The Cosmic Christ is impersonal, universal, and is beyond individuality, personality, beyond the “I.”  Yet, Christ is a cosmic force that can express Himself through any human being who is properly prepared. [...] In order to rise up to the Father, we must incarnate Christ within ourselves.  No one reaches the Father except through the Son.  We all are one within the Christ.  Within the Lord, there are no existing differences between one human being and another, because we all are one within Him.  In the world of the Lord, individuality does not exist, nor does the personality.  Within Him, there are no hierarchical differences.  Whosoever incarnates Him then becomes Him, Him, Him.  “Variety is unity.” We must finish with the personality and with the “I” in order for the Being to be born within ourselves.  - Samael Aun Weor, The Path of Initiation in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah

There is no division in Christ. Those who have Christ are one with Christ. Those who are true apostles of Samael are one with Samael. Those who are true apostles of the Buddha are one with Buddha and express the light of Buddha. Thus, it is an idiot who says one is better than another, when they express the same light. The apostles of Christ are all over the world, in every religion. The carnal-minded cannot see that, because they only see with the eyes of the flesh.

We need to build our own foundation on the foundation of Christ, which was been established by all the avatars. If we build anything else on that foundation, it will be destroyed. Unfortunately, we all build upon false foundations - all of us, without exception. Why? Because we get into a group or follow an instructor, and we build ideas about them in our mind; we build a concept in our mind that is not real. We project images in our mind about our spirituality. Why? Because of our collective mind. We want security, so we want to believe that our instructor is truly illuminated and awake and a apostle of Christ. Many hold to this belief even if all the evidence is of the contrary. We want to believe it, and so we will believe it, thus we build a false structure on that foundation. And when the truth comes to the light, which it will, that structure will burn down and we will have nothing. This has already happened numerous times, just in the Gnostic Movement, just in the last 50 years, even less 25 years, it happened many times, because people want to feel safe, to feel saved, to feel secure, to belong to a group, and to believe, “Now I’m okay; now I have a real master who is better than everybody else.” Then the truth comes out and the illusion of that person that we made becomes revealed as a lie we told ourselves, and what we have left is nothing. We build nothing with an illusion. This has happened with many, many, many students - in every religion, and in Gnosis - and the saddest part is that when their illusions are revealed as illusions, they wander away, disappointed, and fail to realize that they are the ones to blame. They blame the instructor or “master,” or their friends, or other students, but they never see that the illusion was constructed in their own mind based on their own fears, attachments, and mental projections. Because of this, they abandon the work for their own Being. This is part of why the apostles of Christ are so direct in their teachings, and hated, reviled, and criticized by the groups and instructors, because the apostles do not support the building of false structures. To build confidence in schools and groups is wrong.

Paul says this:

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

Reflect upon this!

...let no man glory in men.

A little bit later he says:

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful, to Christ. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against the other.

We should not be worshipping men, we should not be raising up men, but we should be raising up the doctrine, the teaching. Unfortunately, men like to be raised up. Men like to be put up on thrones, followed, admired, and envied, and groups like to elevate them. Groups like to feel they have a strong leader, that they can trust their leader, and that they will be saved. The apostles always reject this. This is why Samael said:

Do not follow me.

This is why Buddha said

Do not believe me. Find out these things for yourself.

And this is why Christ said to follow his example.

For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou had not received it?

Why do we want to receive praise for something we did not create? Why do instructors and teachers want to be admired and praised for a doctrine they did not create, for a teaching they did not originate? For a teaching that belongs to God? And yet we see it everywhere: teachers, instructors, gurus, and “masters” who love to be praised and admired, and love titles and thrones, and love to have big groups and followings, and they work very hard to build big groups. Why? Why is it that they want souls to depend on them, when the doctrine of Christ is to be reliant on Christ, to rely on the Being?

Why do we see so many groups claiming to be "the only true movement"? Is this not contradictory to the very nature of Christ, the universal force of compassion that emerges inside every genuine Master? Can we accept the notion that Christ will only appear in one group, and ignore the rest of the world? Personally, I cannot accept such an idea, that reeks of pride and exclusivity, and appears driven to manipulate others through fear.

Paul said:

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

In order for us to receive the real meat of the doctrine of Christ, we have to renounce these tendency to remain limited by the eyes of the flesh and our collective mind. The only way that we can do that is by becoming individuals, by becoming self-reliant, to not depend on anyone outside of ourselves - anyone, not even our spouse - but to depend only on our Innermost.

The purpose of the Gnostic movement is to spread the teaching. It is not to build a big movement; that is not the intention of the real apostles. Samael Aun Weor stated this very clearly. The intention is to spread the knowledge to as many people as possible. Thus, we have to question groups who lose sight of this goal. Why do we see Gnostic groups comprised of students who have been studying for years, who know the teachings very well and are therefore qualified to teach, yet who do not? Why is it that there are billions of souls on this planet who do not yet have the light of the doctrine? Why? It is because in these groups they are not being taught to be individuals. These students are “not allowed” to teach because of rigid politics or control. These students are afraid to step out as individuals, to follow the guidance of their Innermost, to go help the souls. These students are afraid of being “kicked out” of their beloved groups. In some groups fear is used to control the students. They think,”Maybe I’ll make a mistake.” Or, “I don’t have direct instruction from my Being,” as if God is supposed to come down out of the clouds and speak to them physically. Sadly, many students think, “I don’t have the approval of my instructor or my group.” Some groups have elaborate requirements that must be met, and these are often simply politics veiled as policy.

So, these students who should be teaching do not teach because they are afraid or restricted by politics, so they do not act, and therefore humanity is entering into the Abyss, in ignorance. What a tragedy! There are hundreds of students who could be teaching, but who are not. And humanity, having not received the instructions that they need, is dying.

Fear is the cause. Instead of teaching students to be self-reliant and individuals, some groups stimulate fear and collective mind. They cultivate fear and use fear to build their groups. Fear is used to build dependency, to build a nest or a corral, a place where all the animals can be kept together to feel safe.

Individual Action

In Igneous Rose, Samael Aun Weor stated:

I know many brethren who fight indescribably to correct their defects and to purify themselves.  Yet, they do not remember others...  They feel alone, they fight for their own spiritual progress and for their moral self-development.  However, they do not remember that they have brothers and sisters and that all of us are children of the same Mother.

Their spirituality is selfish spirituality.  Therefore, the Masters do not owe them anything.  There is nothing to pay them because nothing is owed to them.  They do not assist anyone.  They do not sacrifice themselves for anyone, nor do they fight for the spirituality of anyone.

Every Initiation is a payment that must be given to the human being.  Yet, if nothing is owed to the human being, then nothing is given to him.  Therefore, even if he screams and cries out asking for an Initiation, he will become old before receiving it.

Initiations are payments given by the Logos to the Soul. If we want to create the mental body, we have to help humanity.

We do not help humanity simply by going to a spiritual class or by belonging to a group. We help humanity by working, sacrificing, giving our energy and time in right action, by renouncing our fear, by overcoming our carnal limitations and our collective mind. By stepping beyond the limitations of our senses and “seeking a sign.”

We help humanity most by aiding in the spread of the light of Christ. Some of us should teach, while others should support the teachers. Each one has a duty that only he can discover inside. No one can tell you your duty but your Innermost.

Our Innermost speaks with us through hunches, through our conscience, through our dreams. But if we do not listen, there is little he can do. Most of the time we do not listen, we are too afraid. And when we do feel something that we must do, we are usually too afraid to do it, so we go around asking for everyone’s opinion. “Do you think I should do this? Do you think I should teach? Do you think I should move to that city?  Do you think I should go there? Should I do this, should I do that?” This is collective mind, who wants the approval and guidance of others. We never inquire of the one who gives us real instruction. We never listening to the clarification of that instruction, from the one who gives it, who is our Innermost. Instead, we want our teachers and our friends to give us approval. We have collective mind.

The purpose of the Gnostic Movement is to train us to become individuals, to stand on our own feet, to be reliant only on the one who is inside of us, no one else. No one can force us to do that, it is up to us to do it or not. But in the end we will receive according to our works. If we are studying Gnosis, it is because we are interested in the development of the soul. If we are going to develop the soul, we need to start working right now, and that development is not easy, it is very painful. It hurts, a lot. We have to be willing to take that suffering, to be like Christ, carrying our cross up the road, and receiving the spit, abuse, rocks, and foul language of all the carnally-minded animals who do not understand the way of Christ. This is why Paul said:

If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

In the eyes of the world, the apostles are always fools, and that is why we should not judge anyone. The apostles, the ones who truly follow their inner Being, cannot be judged by appearances, because their actions look contradictory. Apostles always go contrary to the collective mind, contrary to groups, contrary to the spiritual authorities, the “princes of the world.” Real apostles are rebels.

This teaching of Gnosis is the direct path. This is not the spiral path. This is not an easy path. The direct path is very hard, but if you hold seriously to it and hold seriously to the one who is inside of you, he will carry you through it, and you will suffer, and you will die. But through your death, you will find resurrection. There is no other path to the Absolute, but through your own heart. It is not outside, it is not in any group, it is not in any other part of the world, it is where you are right now, according to your karma.

The real path is walked by paying your karma and by helping humanity. It does not matter if you belong to a group or not. It does not matter if you believe or disbelieve in Samael, Christ, Paul, or Jesus. What matters is that you as a collective mind die, and that you as a solar mind are born, and that is a very specific science; it has very specific requirements that cannot be skipped or negotiated.

The path is built upon laws of nature. You walk that path according to your own steps and in fact, that is the only way to walk it. According to your own pace, according to your own taste, your own sense of how you are being guided internally. In other words, a true apostle does not answer to any terrestrial authority, ever. This is why the spiritual authorities hate the martyrs, apostles, and prophets.

jesus-mocked

Yes, the princes of the world, the authorities, the rulers hate the apostles. In all religious stories, the apostles are jailed, persecuted, tortured - this represents how the apostles are treated psychologically. Anyone who seriously follows the Gnostic doctrine will find the same in their life: the world does not celebrate when we become better, but only when we become worse. When we are seriously working to eliminate our ego, the world is outraged and condemns us.

If you are coming to Gnosis seeking a “lovey-dovey, feel-good” spiritual group, you should turn around and leave. Gnosis is not that, and it cannot be that. What you will find is real love, sincere love, which is honest, which hurts, but which heals.

No genuine instructor of Gnosis will tell you lies to make you feel good. What is there to feel good about when we are ninety-seven percent trapped in a lie? What is there to feel good about when we are the cause of all the violence, rape, poverty, starvation and suffering on this planet? How can we dare to feel good about ourselves amidst the tragedies unfolding right now on this planet? It is a very arrogant desire to seek a “feel good” religion.

What we need is to be honest, to be sincere, and to change. A real Gnostic instructor will be that way. They speak the truth, and compassionately.

The Gnostics long for a better planet and a better world. The Gnostics long for people to find true happiness. But that happiness resides only when God is within our hearts. Real happiness can only be known when the temple of God, which is your heart, is clean, pure, and holy once again.

We are the temple of God, but defiled. There is nothing to feel good about what we have made ourselves into. We have made our heart temple putrid, corrupted, polluted with the most disgusting and filthy things you can imagine. That is all in our own temple. No outside person can make us feel better about that. No outside influence or group, no security blanket, can hide the truth of our inner temple.

We have to clean our psychological temple. If we clean it, if we build a clean strong temple, based in Christ, we will receive our reward. If we do not, we will receive what we deserve, which is fire to clean it, which is pain. Therefore, let us not seek security in groups, teachers, masters, gurus - in anything except our Innermost, who is inside… now. Not later! You have to remember your Innermost from moment to moment. Remember that, and work with continual consciousness of your Innermost, and eventually, with patience and work, you will know joy.

Samael Aun Weor never said that one must belong to a certain group in order to be saved. Here is what he said:

It so happens that people think that by belonging to this or that faith, to such and such religion, or to one or another sect, that they are already saved. Naturally, this is false. A seed never germinates because of what a person believes or stops believing.  An insect is never born because of what a human being thinks or stops thinking.  A man is never born from the parchment of theory.  This subject matter is sexual and in this, the Angel is no exception.

The members of all religions, schools, sects, and beliefs say, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  People from all over the world repeat it and presume (as is normal) that they are the chosen ones.  Nobody considers himself lost. They believe that with their belief, theory, study etc., they are already saved. However, this is a false and absurd thing, because the problem of being born cannot be the result of beliefs, theories, or concepts.  The reality is different. To be born is a totally sexual problem. [...]  Only the one who becomes an Angel is saved.  The Angel must be born within our very Selves.  To be born is an absolutely sexual problem, and the only path is the Path of the Perfect Matrimony. - Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony

Questions and Answers

Audience: Are you trying to say, don’t trust anyone but your own divine Being, or are you saying just listen to your Being, period?

Instructor: I am exaggerating a little bit the extremity of our need to develop a relationship with our Innermost. The fact is, until we have solar mind, we have a collective mind, therefore we need groups. Groups play an important role in spiritual life, but the purpose of the group is to guide us to become an individual mind. You see, to become a good individual, one has to be a good member of a group. Why? Because an individual mind will then lead others to become individuals. Therefore, an individual will lead a group. One who does not know how to be a part of a group can never be a good leader.

To create the individual mind (solar mind), we need to learn to rely on our own inner Being. No matter what our level now, we need to start that reliance now, but because we have so much ego and are trapped in this collective way of thinking, it is hard for us to know what that guidance is. It is hard for us to hear what our Being is telling us. In that way, we need our instructors, teachers, groups; we need a sanga, a community. These things are important, because they help us to go from pure animal collective mind into a more spiritually oriented mind, into individual mind. Unfortunately, few groups remember this principle, and instead seek to make the biggest groups possible, as if the size of the group is an indication of its spiritual value. And of course, others believe that if a group is big, it must be good. Obviously, this is untrue.

Throughout the development of the mind towards becoming a real individual, we have to maintain our center of gravity in our Innermost, inside. If we have a conflict or a problem in our life, or if we need to make a decision, let us first meditate. Let us first go to our Innermost. Let us be serious. Let us not waste time with the opinions of others. Remember, Paul states very clearly:

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

Thus, how can anyone give you accurate advice if (1) they do not know what your Being wants for you, and (2) they do not even know what their own Being wants for them? Moreover, if you do not know what your own Being wants for you, how can someone else know that? Yet, we always go to others for advice. And if we act on it and we make mistakes, then we blame them, not ourselves.

You can ask for advice and receive advice and can benefit from the advice of others, but you need to test it against your own sense of what is in your heart.

Audience: So, whenever an instructor gives an answer, it is technically theory. However if you ask that same question towards your own Being, eventually you will get a true answer, correct?

Instructor: Well, in my opinion a good instructor or someone who gives good advice will help you to see the answer that you already know, but are not willing to see. Most of the time we already know what we need to do, but we do not want to see it. Usually, when we seek advice, it is to find someone who will give us a reason to do what we should not do. Generally, we seek to avoid what we know we should do. And so, someone who gives good advice helps us to see that. Unfortunately, that is rare. Usually what we will find is someone who gives advice according to their own convenience (what serves them), or according to their own limitations, and regarding what you truly need, they can be totally wrong.

Audience: Why did Paul not have to work on himself, but the grace came to him and he became transformed, without him having worked on himself, why didn’t he do anything to himself?

Instructor: He did. Paul was a spiritually developing person, but not in a Gnostic group. The key here is this: Paul had something inside and God helped him, just like anyone of us. Any one of us can receive help from God at any moment. Even in the midst of committing a crime, we still have a Being within who can show us the right way. That can come in a experience, a dream, or intuitively. There are many stories in history of people who, even in the midst of doing something horrible, all of a sudden realized what they were doing was wrong. That is what happened with Paul. He does not explain specifically what happened, he tells it as an allegory; that he was “travelling on a road and the light came from heaven and showed him the true path,” but that is allegorical. All of the teachers and writers of the Piscean era wrote in allegories. Now in the Aquarian era, we are more specific. Samael Aun Weor had similar experiences to Paul. He was not on the path, not pursuing his Being, but his Being came to him and gave him spiritual experiences in order to put him on the path. This is what happens to all of us. ALl of us have our own story, that is like Paul. The question is, do we do what we should do, or do we listen to our fear?

My own example is the same. I was following the foolishness of the world, just like everyone, but circumstantially an event occurred that showed me that I was mistaken. I did not deserve it, but the grace of God gave it to me. However we come to the teaching, it is by the grace of our Innermost.

Audience: So there is a need for a community?

Instructor: Of course.

Audience: What is the difference between a community and a strong group?

Instructor: Remember the teachings of the three gems, the three jewels. In Buddhism, we learn about the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. We gave a few lectures about that recently. The sangha reflects levels of community.

Paul is addressing specifically in these chapters that those who are still carnal, relying on their carnal personality and carnal senses, can only be fed carnally. They cannot be given knowledge spiritually, because they do not have that development. In other words, they cannot receive the real knowledge in the astral plane because they are unable to awaken their consciousness in that level. Therefore they belong to a group that is “carnal,” in that level, and they are known by their strife, division, and all the problems that happen in groups at that level of spiritual development. To advance higher and receive the “meat,” we have to become individuals, meaning we belong to a different sangha, another level of group.

There are many levels of the sangha or community, and those levels are depicted on the Tree of Life. Those levels are marked by stages of initiation. Each time we rise a level of spiritual initiation (which is internal, not physical) we receive different forms of instruction, “meat,” and that relates to sanghas, groups, temples, that we gradually enter in to, learn from, and belong to, and eventually may teach within. Again, this is not physical, it is internal. These levels are in the internal worlds, also called “heavens.”

The sangha, the spiritual community, exists all the way up through the heavens or superior dimensions, even unto the Absolute, but it is difficult for us who are psychologically “carnal” to comprehend this, especially when we reach the sephirah Chokmah. In that world, there is no “I,” there is no individuality. Christ is one, and yet there is a sangha of individuals, who are not individual. It is hard for us to grasp, but it is that way.  In the sephirah Kether, the sangha is even more elevated, a form of community which is very difficult for our carnal senses to comprehend, which is also called Elohim, it is also called the Guardian Wall. There are many names for this level of understanding. Beyond the sephirah Binah, we find the true Rosicrucian brotherhood, which is a sangha, but of Resurrected Masters.

Audience: Where is it?

Instructor: That sangha is active in all dimensions, even physically, but their level of conscious development, their level of Being, is at the sephirah Binah or beyond. Their groups do not meet physically, but each individual may have a physical body.

Audience: Why not?

Instructor: There is no need.

Audience: Why is there no need to get together?

Instructor: Well, they might, but they do not announce it to those of us in kindergarten.

Audience: So there has never been a solar community?

Instructor: There are many solar communities. Even physically, there have been solar communities.

Audience: Can you give an example?

Instructor: In the Egyptian, Mayan, and Tibetan cultures, there were solar communities. In the Atlantean and Lumerian ages, there were solar communities. Those are usually at the beginning of an age, before it begins to degenerate. For example, the next race will start with a solar community. There will be no problems like we see now. There will be a kind of sangha that is totally different from what we have now.