“The gospel of truth is joy for those who have received from the Father of truth the grace of knowing him by the power of the word, who has come from the fullness and who is in the thought and the mind of the Father. This is the one who is called the savior since that is the name of the work that he must do for the redemption of those who have not known the Father. For the name of the gospel is the revelation of hope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him, because the realm of all sought him from whom it came. You see, all was inside of him, that illimitable, inconceivable one, who is better than every thought.

“Ignorance of the father brings error. This ignorance of the father brought about terror and fear. And terror became dense like a fog, so no one was able to see. Because of this, error became strong. But she worked on her material substance vainly, because she did not know the truth. She assumed a fashioned figure while she was preparing, in power and in beauty, the substitute for truth. This, then, was not a humiliation for the illimitable, inconceivable one. For they were as nothing, this terror and this forgetfulness and this figure of falsehood, whereas established truth is unchanging, unperturbed, and completely beautiful. For this reason, do not take error too seriously. Since error had no root, she was in a fog regarding the father. She was preparing works and forgetfulnesses and fears in order, by these means, to beguile those of the middle and to make them captive. The forgetfulness of error was not revealed. It did not become light beside the father. Forgetfulness did not exist with the father, although it existed because of him. What exists in him is knowledge, which was revealed so that forgetfulness might be destroyed and that the father might be known. Since forgetfulness existed because the father was not known, if the father comes to be known, from that moment on forgetfulness will cease to exist.”

-The Gospel of Truth

The Gospel of Truth is Joy

More accurately, Truth is Joy because we have been so trapped in the illusions of matter that having the Truth revealed to us is indeed a joyous event. Some may not see it that way initially because it will contradict many of their long-held beliefs, but eventually, they will see the joy in knowing the truth. The Father of Truth mentioned in the same sentence is, of course, God. God is the Father and Mother of all Truth, Wisdom, and Divine Knowledge. It is this truth and knowledge that was the goal of all great mystery schools and Gnostic schools, and it is achieved by reaching the highest levels of consciousness.

The Savior

The quote goes on to say that the Gospel of Truth is the Savior sent by the Father, so it is more than the written text from which the quote came, it is also a reference to Christ. Most of us know Jesus as Christ, but others have been Christ in different places and times, such as Buddha, and Quetzalcoatl.

Ignorance Brings Error

Gene Savoy, Sr. taught us that the only real sin was ignorance because the only way one could do wrong is to not know the Truth regarding God and the afterlife. So he would agree that ignorance brings error, especially ignorance of God which is the type of ignorance being referenced in the quote. Socrates also said: “The only good is Knowledge and the only evil is ignorance”.

Terror and Fear

Terror and Fear are indeed products of ignorance. Hatred and prejudice would also fall into that category. Indeed, nearly all forms of negative thinking and behavior is the result of ignorance of God and Truth.

Error Became Strong

Yes, error did become strong. When millions believe the same falsehoods, those falsehoods control their behavior making error strong. We see this in business and politics today, perhaps more than ever before. And the error makes us forget even more the truth regarding God and Heaven. But the good news is that a small number of people are awakening to the truth, and more will do so in time.

“I am first thought, the thought that is in light. I am movement that is in all, she in whom the realm of all takes its stand, the firstborn among those who came into being, she who exists before all. She is called by three names, although she exists alone, since she is perfect. I am invisible within the thought of the invisible one. I am revealed in the immeasurable, ineffable things. I am intangible, dwelling in the intangible. I move in every creature. I am the life of my afterthought that is within every power and every eternal movement, and in invisible lights, and within the powers and angels and demons and every soul in Tartaros, and in every material soul. I live in those who came into being. I move in everyone and I enter them. I walk upright, and those who sleep I awaken. And I am the sight of those who dwell in sleep. I am the invisible one in all. I counsel those who are hidden, since I know the whole realm of all that exists in it. I am numberless beyond everyone. I am immeasurable, ineffable, yet whenever I wish, I shall reveal myself. I am the head of all. I am before all, and I am all, since I am in everyone. I am a voice speaking softly. I am from the beginning. I am in the silence that surrounds every one of them. And the hidden voice is in me, in intangible, immeasurable thought, in the immeasurable silence. I descended into the underworld and shone down on the darkness. I poured water. I am hidden in radiant waters. I gradually dawn on all by my thought. I am weighed down with the voice. Through me knowledge comes. I am in the ineffable and unknowable. I am perception and knowledge, uttering a voice by means of thought. I am the real voice. I cry out in everyone, and they recognize it, since a seed lives in them. I am the father’s thought, and through me came the voice: the knowledge of everlasting things. I am as thought for all. I am joined to unknowable and intangible thought.”

–Three Forms of First Thought

First Thought

In the conventional Bible, the first thing God says is, “Let there be Light.” In this Gnostic scripture, it says that this was the first thought, the one that created Light and the one that created the movement that is in everything.

Firstborn

The quote goes on to say that this first thought was the firstborn of all those who came into being. While that may be true, in a way, we must remember that spirits and souls were created and exist outside of the limits of time and space, so they are all ageless and eternal. The New Age types who are always talking about “Old Souls” don’t seem to grasp this truth. No soul is older than any other soul because age is meaningless in a realm where time doesn’t exist. It is also curious that the quote refers to this firstborn as “she” rather than “He”. The conventional male-centered churches would have us believe that God is in three persons, and all three are male, but then there would have to be another god for females to exist. So God has both male and female aspects, as he created both sexes.

I Awaken Those Who Sleep

The First Thought which is Light does indeed awaken us. Specifically, the Light from the Spiritual Sun awakens our spiritual faculties and develops them. This can happen automatically to a small degree, but if we intentionally look to the Spiritual Sun, with love, peace, and humility, it will happen to a much greater degree and have a much greater effect.

Perception and Knowledge

When we awaken and develop our spirits with the Divine Light, we do gain greater perception, wisdom, and knowledge. Not so much knowledge of the material world, but knowledge of the permanent realm of Spirit. That is the most important knowledge to have. Those who concentrate on learning about the material realm are like the person who stops to pick up pennies, not knowing that a treasure of gold coins is up ahead. We in Cosolargy seek the higher levels of consciousness where the gold of Truth, Wisdom, and Knowledge are found.

“The prophet Samuel mourned for King Saul, though he knew well that God had rejected him and his issue from being kings in Israel: this was because of his pride, and because he did not obey God and the prophet who spoke in His name. We may also read in the Gospel, that the disciples of our Lord pleaded with Him for the Gentile woman of Canaan, to send her away, that is, to do unto her that which she desired; for she cried after Him. So likewise I might say that we must mourn for all such deceived persons who think themselves to be kings or queens in Israel; for they believe themselves to be lifted up above other good people, into a lofty and God-seeing life. And yet they are proud and wittingly and willingly disobedient to God and the law. Like as Saul rents the mantle of the prophet Samuel, they endeavor to rend asunder the unity of the Christian faith, and all true doctrine and virtuous life. Whoever persists herein, they are separated and shut out from the Kingdom of Eternal Contemplation, just as Saul was shut out from the Kingdom of Israel. But that humble woman of Canaan, though she was Gentile and a stranger, had faith and hope in God, and so she received grace and health. For God exalts the humble, and fills them with grace and all virtues, while the proud remain empty of all good.”

–John of Ruysbroeck

Mourned for Saul

I think Ruysbroeck is trying to teach us here that we should treat all people the same: the Godly and the ungodly, the honest ones and the crooks, the rich and the poor, etc. He specifically talks about this with mourning, but I believe he means for us to take it in a broader sense. In other words, we should mourn the passing of anyone we love, and we should love everyone. We may not like how some people behave, but we still have to love the person because it is the only hope for them to change and become worthy people. When you hate people, you send negative energy toward them and that energy helps block them from changing.

Because of Pride

Pride is something we need to generally avoid if we are trying to develop our spiritual faculties. There are occasions where we should be proud of our real accomplishments, but many people are proud when they have not accomplished anything, or have accomplished things that are meaningless, or even bad, in the eyes of God. We have people who are proud that they have thousands of times more money than the average person, and they continue to seek more. Greed is, and always will be, wrong. There are people who are proud that they have been promoted to a high position in a corporation that sells tobacco, weapons, or other things that harm people. God does not see such activities as reasons to be proud.

Kingdom of Eternal Contemplation

I don’t think that title needs explaining. It is an obvious reference to Heaven. It should be noted, however, that even in Heaven those who have reached that level of consciousness do not sit around contemplating all day. They work on helping others in the fallen realm of matter to rise up to higher and higher levels until they too reach Heaven. As I have said before, we should not wish for the departed souls to rest in peace, because resting is not what Heaven is all about. It might be better if we wished them to live on in peace, or to do God’s work in peace.

The Humble Woman

Ruysbroeck did not randomly choose to refer to the woman of Canaan as “Humble”. He knew that having humility, the opposite of false pride, is important for those of us seeking to rise to higher states of being. If we don’t have humility, it is likely that we won’t see any need to change what we are already. Also, without humility, we are prone to take credit for all of our spiritual success, when the credit should go to God, who sends us the Grace, Light, and Wisdom needed for such growth. We do have to seek it out and work for it, but it still comes from God.

“The father is the One who beholds himself in the light surrounding him, which is the spring of living water, and provides all the realms. He reflects on his image everywhere, sees it in the spring of the spirit, and becomes enamored of his luminous water, for his image is in the spring of pure luminous water surrounding him. The father’s thought became a reality, and she who appeared in the presence of the father in shining light came forth. She is the first power who preceded everything and came forth from the father’s mind as the forethought of all. Her light shines like the father’s light; she, the perfect power, is the image of the perfect and invisible virgin spirit. She, the first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory among the realms, the glory of revelation, she glorified and praised the virgin spirit, for because of the spirit she had come forth. She is the first thought, the image of the spirit. She became the universal womb, for she precedes everything, the mother-father, the first human, the holy spirit, the triple male, the triple power, the androgynous one with three names, the eternal realm among the invisible beings, the first to come forth. Barbelo asked the invisible virgin spirit to give her foreknowledge, and the spirit consented. When the spirit consented, foreknowledge appeared and stood by forethought. This is the one who came from the thought of the invisible virgin spirit. Foreknowledge glorified the spirit and the spirit’s perfect power, Barbelo, for because of her, foreknowledge had come into being. She asked again to be given incorruptibility, and the spirit consented. When the spirit consented, incorruptibility appeared and stood by thought and foreknowledge. Incorruptibility glorified the invisible one and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being.

Barbelo asked to be given life eternal, and the invisible spirit consented. When the spirit consented, life eternal appeared, and they stood together and glorified the invisible spirit and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being. She asked again to be given truth, and the invisible spirit consented. Truth appeared, and they stood together and glorified the good invisible spirit and its Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being. This is the father’s realm of five. It is: the first human, the image of the invisible spirit, that is, forethought, which is Barbelo, and thought, along with foreknowledge, incorruptibility, life eternal, truth. This is the androgynous realm of five, which is the realm of ten, which is the father.”

-The Secret Book of John

Beholds Himself in the Light

The Father who is the true God does behold Himself in the Light because he is Light, and He is the Spring of Living Water, which is an allegorical reference to God’s Grace and God’s Word which flows out from Him like water flowing in a river.

He Reflects on His Image

God doesn’t care about physical bodies or anything material, except as something defective that needs to be repaired. God cares only about spirits, so he reflects only on spirits, and since all spirits come from God and are made in His image, He is always reflecting on His own Image by observing spirits everywhere.

The Father’s Thought Became Reality

God doesn’t create by carving things, painting them, or molding them on a potter’s wheel. God creates simply by thinking of something. As soon as God thinks of a thing, it becomes real. Since our spirits are created in God’s image, we also have that ability to some degree, but few of us are able to use it because we lack belief in such abilities. That is probably fortunate since most people don’t have the wisdom to use the ability to create. There is also the problem of conflicting thoughts. While thousands may be wishing for warmer weather, thousands of others wish for cold. Such conflicting thoughts tend to result in no change happening, which is why manifesting rarely works.

God Creates Barbelo

I think the being called Barbelo in the quote probably represents the first Angel created, although it isn’t clear. The quote isn’t very clear on who it is, but does give her great power. I thought she might represent Sophia or Wisdom, but the quote has Barbelo asking “the invisible virgin spirit” for various gifts and powers, so that sounds more like Sophia. Or it could be that Barbelo is Sophia, and the Invisible Virgin Spirit is the female aspect of God.

The First Human

Things Get even more confusing when Barbelo asks for Truth, and Truth appears, but as a separate entity. It is not clear what being the quote refers to as the first human. What is important, though is to understand that the first human was a spirit. A pure spirit with no physical body. Physical bodies came later when the false god created the realm of matter.

“ These are the hidden sayings that the living Yeshua spoke and Yehuda Toma the twin recorded. And he said, Whoever discovers what these sayings mean will not taste death. Yeshua said, Seek and do not stop seeking until you find. When you find, you will be troubled. When you are troubled, you will marvel and rule over all. Yeshua said, If your leaders tell you, “Look, the kingdom is in heaven,” then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, “It’s in the sea,” then the fish will precede you. But the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty and you are poverty. Yeshua said, A person old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and the person will live. For many of the first will be last and become a single one. Yeshua said, Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. His students asked him and said to him, Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe? Yeshua said, Do not lie and do not do what you hate. All things are disclosed before heaven. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nothing covered that will remain undisclosed.”

-The Gospel of Thomas

Hidden Sayings

Even in the traditional Bible, it is made clear that Jesus taught things to the apostles and disciples that were not taught to the general public. So why is St. Thomas (Yehuda Toma is Thomas) putting them in his writings? He can do so because he uses allegory instead of saying things straight out. This was a common practice when spiritual leaders wrote and nearly all the scriptures of the world religions are written largely in allegory.

Will not Taste Death

Thomas says that whoever discovers (or learns) the true meaning of these allegorical sayings will not taste death. What he means by that, is such a person will have an eternal life in spirit, not in the physical body. Physically, we are all going to die, but if we awaken and develop our spiritual faculties before that happens, then we can have eternal life in Heaven.

Seek Until You Find

This is not about seeking random things that entertain or amuse you. Jesus is talking about seeking the hidden truths, the Wisdom that the Gnostics called Gnosis. It won’t be found in any book or classroom. It must be personally experienced by expanding our consciousness until we are able to communicate with the Beings of Light and with God.

Jesus adds that when you do find it, you will be troubled. That may be true for some because the truth regarding God, Heaven, and the life of Spirit is so different then what most expect.

Inside and Outside

Jesus then advises, in an allegorical way, that we should not look in the physical world for Heaven or the Kingdom of God. He then adds that the Kingdom is within us AND without us. That is an important statement. Many have been taught in the past, and are being taught today, that we must look within only to find the truth, but Jesus makes it clear that we must look without as well. He doesn’t say it, but we know that when we look without, we should be looking at the sun, with emphasis on the Spiritual Sun.

Ask a Child

Why does Jesus advise adults to ask a small child the truth? Partly, it is because a small child has not yet learned how to lie, and has not yet been filled with false beliefs. It is also because he is indirectly predicting the time when a small child, Jamil, will come into the world to lead the truly faithful.

What is Hidden

Jesus tells Thomas, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed.” What this means is that we must learn to recognize the physical world for what it is: a world of illusion. We look one way and think we see a tree, and in another and think we see a car, but all of those things are illusions. When we get beyond the physical mask of such things, we find something very different. Science is now catching up with the spiritual schools finding that on a subatomic level, there is nothing but energy and potential until it is observed.

“There are certain human beings existing who have evolved the higher powers of cognition in addition to the faculties of reason and feeling. It fell upon them to learn the facts of the higher worlds, and especially of the Mystery of the Christ-event by direct super-sensible perception. From these individuals there always flows into the souls of others as much as was intelligible and good for them.

“The first spreading of Christianity was to take place at a time when the capacity for super-sensible cognition was undeveloped in a great part of humanity. And this is why tradition at that time possessed such mighty power. The strongest possible force was necessary to lead mankind to a faith in a super-sensible world which they themselves could not perceive. There were always those, however, who were able to rise into higher worlds through imagination, inspiration, and intuition. These people were the post-Christian successors of the old Initiates, the teachers and members of the Mysteries. Their task was to recognize again, through their own [spiritual] faculties, what man had been able to perceive through ancient clairvoyance, and through the methods of ascent into higher worlds taught in the old Initiations, and in addition to this, to acquire the knowledge of the real nature of the Christ-Event.”

-Rudolf Steiner

Certain Humans

It is true that there have always been people who were predisposed to seek beyond the limitations of the physical realm for something higher and greater. In the earliest days of man, a majority of people had this ability, but as time went on, humanity became more densely material and less spiritual. This caused us to lose touch with God and the Spiritual realm. We have reached a point now where a large percentage of humanity doesn’t even believe there is a spiritual realm or an afterlife of any kind. We have fallen so low that we must turn now and move back toward the higher dimensions of spirit or be trapped in matter forever.

Higher Powers

What Steiner is calling “higher powers of cognition,” we would call today the development of our spiritual faculties, or spiritual Self. This is our Higher Self, our true Self that is permanent, as opposed to the temporary physical body and brain containing the faculties of reason and feelings.

Learn the Mysteries

It did fall upon those few who could learn the mysteries and awaken their higher self to do so and to teach others to do the same. This is true today, perhaps more than ever before. We are in the Last Times, the times when God is changing the universe of matter back into Spirit. He has been doing it over many years to allow humanity to change with it. He isn’t going to force us to change, though, because he gave us a certain degree of free choice. We must each choose to develop our Higher Self and reach for higher levels of Consciousness until we reach the highest level called Christ Consciousness. While the task is difficult because mankind, in general, has sunk so low into matter, we now have the promised Sun of Righteousness shining down upon us with the presence of God within it. The Light from this sun makes it easier for people to awaken and develop their spiritual faculties, but they still need guidance. That is why the Holy Child, Jamil, was sent into the world to start the new spiritual school of Cosolargy and the new Second Advent Church that will lead us into the new Golden Age of Light.

“And David in the Psalms,’ I believe I see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living.’ He also says, ‘Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.’

Solomon declares, ‘But the just will inherit the earth and live on it forever.’

Christ has ordered ‘not to swear by any part of the sky because it is the throne of god.’

When he says ‘throne’ he is surely thinking of David in Psalms when he says, ‘O god, your throne exists eternally,’

and again Matthew,’ not on earth, for earth is god’s footstool.’

It is our lord himself who adds, in Hebrews,’ because it is his footstool.’

David continues the footstool allusion in Psalms: Fear the lord, our god, and worship the footstool at his feet, for he is holy.

About creation, I wish to confess that our lord god is the creator and author, but not of the elements of the world, which are impotent and empty, and as Paul said in Galatian, ‘How can you now turn back to the impotent and empty elements under which you suffer a new slavery?’

The messenger also says in Colossians,’ If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use.’

Even less can we admit that our lord is the creator and author of death, and of the things that are, by their essence, in death, because, as it is written in the book of Wisdom, ‘God has not made death, and he does not rejoice at the loss of the living.’

There exists, then, with no doubt whatsoever, another creature or factor, who is the principle and cause of death, of perdition, and of all evil, as we have explained above with sufficient clarity.”

–The Book of the Two Principles

 

In the Land of the Living

The land of the living is the spiritual realm, not the physical realm. In the physical world, everything dies. Some things live long physical lives, others short ones, but all are mortal, all will end, and therefore, in a spiritual sense, it is not living at all since it is temporary. The second sentence in the quote, however, says: “ the just will inherit the earth and live on it forever.” That seems to contradict the idea that the physical world is temporary, but it doesn’t. What Solomon is talking about is a time in the future when the Earth becomes a spiritual world again, and therefore, immortal. In fact, the entire universe of matter will be changed by God back into its original state of Spirit, and that process is already happening. A lot of what is called “global warming” is actually this process of change happening.

Earth is God’s Footstool

The quote cites two different sources for saying that the Earth is the footstool of God. This means it is beneath God, at least in its present state, yet it is important to God as the footstool of a thrown is still a part of the throne.

God is not the Author of the Elements

Here is where we get to the most important point of the quote. God is the author (creator) of REALITY which is the realm of Spirit, but not the creator of the elements, or the realm of matter. The realm of Matter was created by the fallen angels, or as they are collectively called in most Gnostic literature, the Demiurge.

Regulations in the World

Here, we in Cosolargy differ with the directions of the quote. We should not ignore the regulations of the physical world, as recommended by Paul, the false preacher who was not, as he claims, Chosen by Jesus. While it is true that we shouldn’t let the Laws of Man prevent us from our spiritual development, we should still obey the laws whenever possible, and work to change the unjust laws. We do not want to invite the wrath of the world upon us individually as a group, which is what happens when we stop obeying the law. Even the Essenes, who opposed animal sacrifice, sent grain and honey as their required sacrifice to the Jewish temple.

God did not Create Death

This goes along with the idea that the real God did not create the realm of Matter. As the creator only of Spirit, God did not create death, disease, rot, decay, or any of the other ills of the material world. He did not create poverty. The greedy who take far more than their proper share of things do that. So as the quote summarizes at the end, God is not the author of any evil. Evil is from the Demiurge.

“Deep companion of the beings of light! In your mercy, give me your strength and help me with your own hand. Dress my soul, O lord, and speak to me. Help me when enemies close in. Their deceitful body would ravage and torture me. Beneficent friend, free me. My soul is crying in my body at every blow and dagger stab. My hour of life and this form in flesh is over, and all its days of turbulence. My hour tumbled about as on troubled water, pain after pain ravaging my inner place. I walked in anguish, fire at my ankles, fog a smoke in my face. Springs of darkness opened, and the giant fishes transfixed me with fear. My soul fainted before those dreadful forms, hideous to look at. Their bodies lack a human shape. These are the demons, the banished princes, transfixing me with terror. Their fury assembled like sea bodies of fire. They rose to drown me. In every neighborhood there were storm winds. Rain, the mist of all fogs, lightning and drums of thunder, shores of clouds, hail, crashing sea. The skiff rose over the crest of a wave and glided into a hidden trough. All the clamps got loose, iron rivets fell out. With the drownings the sails swallowed water, and the masts shook together in the turmoil. The rudders dropped into the sea. Those left on board turned to stone. The helmsmen and his pilots wailed bitterly at the top of their lungs.”

-Parthian Songs

Companion of the Beings of Light

The companion of the Beings of Light is God. Why the writer of this song chose to say it that way, I don’t know, but God is, of course, a companion of the Beings of Light that dwell in Heaven. The song asks God to speak to the one singing and to help when enemies close in. Enemies do not mean other people, but the beings and forces of Darkness: Devils and Demons.

My Soul is Crying

This line that ends with the singer being hit and stabbed makes us think that it is a martyr doing the singing, although it is possible that the line is allegorical. The next line makes it clear that this person is dying, and probably not of natural causes. The person properly indicates that it is just his body of flesh that is dying.

On Troubled Water

This part is definitely allegorical. Now this person is relating his dying state racked with pain as being on troubled waters. The allegory continues when he adds that “springs of darkness opened and “giant fishes transfixed me with fear.” The giant fishes represent demonic beings in frightful forms. He makes this clear a few lines later saying that: “These are the demons, the banished princes, transfixing me with terror.” That is, of course, one thing demons do. Sometimes they take forms that are frightening to us. Other times, they take forms that we like so we will listen to their lies.

There Fury Assembled

The song now seems to take a turn from describing what is happening to one dying person to the more general attacks on people by demons. The writer does stick with his allegory of being on Troubled Water, but now he talks of a ship with a number of sailors on board. First, he says there were storms and wind, lightning and thunder, hail and crashing waves. The demonic “storm” tears the ship apart drowning, or turning to stone, all of those aboard. This allegory is tricky to decipher, but here is my opinion. I think the ship and the sailors on it represent one of the many false churches that teach their members they are saved simply by belonging to the church and donating to it. In the End Times, represented here by a great storm, the demons destroy the false church, or at least the false teachings. We in Cosolargy know that all falsehood must be cleansed from the world as part of the process of returning it to its original state as a World of Light.

Japanese-style Second Advent Cross PHOTO: Yukako Kawai

“As the portrait painter keeps an eye upon the king’s face as he draws, and when the king’s face is toward him, he draws the portrait easily, but when the king turns his face away, he cannot draw. In like manner, Christ, the good artist to those who believe in him and gaze continually at him, straightaway portrays after his own image a heavenly person. Out of his own spirit, out of the substance of Light itself, the ineffable Light, he paints a heavenly image. If a person does not gaze constantly at Christ, the Lord will not paint his image with His own Light. We must, therefore, gaze upon him, believing him and loving him, throwing away all else and attending to him in order that he may paint His own heavenly Image and send it into our souls, and thus, wearing Christ, we may receive eternal life, and have full assurance and be at rest.

“As the golden coin, if it does not receive the imprint of the King’s image, does not come upon the market, but is discarded, so the soul, if it has not the image of the Heavenly Spirit in Light, is not fit for the treasures above.”

–St Macarius the Egyptian

The Portrait Painter

It seems odd to think of Christ as a portrait painter, but this is an obvious use of metaphor and allegory.

While I’ve never been a portrait painter myself, I can understand how one would get frustrated if the subject kept turning away or changing position. That is why many portrait painters today will take photos of the subject, and then work from the photos, perhaps only asking the subject to sit for a short while at the end to complete the final details.

At first, it sounds like St. Macarius is saying that Christ is painting a portrait of us, but if you read the quote carefully, you will see that he is painting a portrait of Himself upon our Soul.

Macarius tells us we must be continuously looking at Christ for this to happen. That is impossible to do, in a literal sense, and still function in the material world. What it really means is that we must keep a mental image of Christ in our minds at all times. In Cosolargy, we are taught to keep an image of the Cosolargy Cross in our minds at all times, which is the same thing as that cross is a symbol of Christ.

The Ineffable Light

Those of us who have been in Cosolargy for more than a few months know that when we talk about the Light, we don’t mean the basic light of a light bulb, or even the light of the material sun, but we seek out a greater Light that is Spiritual and comes to us through the Spiritual Sun. St. Macarius calls this “the ineffable Light, which is a good name for it. Ineffable means something so great or powerful that it can’t be described accurately in words. That is the Light we all seek.

Believe in God and Love God

St. Macarius tends to use Christ and God as if they mean the same thing, but we in Cosolargy know that they are not the same. Macarius is correct in saying we must believe in God and Love God if we are to receive God’s greatest gift, that Spiritual Light that awakens and develops the spirit into a conscious Soul, and makes us truly immortal.

The Golden Coin

This is another allegorical way to tell us that we must have Christ in our spirit and soul, we must have that Divine Light in our soul if we are to reach heaven when we leave the world. While it makes many people happy to believe they will get to heaven without having to do anything to earn that great privilege, it is a fantasy. The great mystery schools of the world and the founders of the major religions never taught that. They have always taught that getting to Heaven was a privilege that had to be earned.

“Out of the deep, slow brooding and pondering on some mystery, some incomprehensible link between himself and the Real, or the deliberate practice of loving attention to God, the contemplative—perhaps by way of a series of moods and acts which his analytic powers may cause him ‘nicely to distinguish’—glides, almost insensibly, on to a plane of perception for which human speech has few equivalents. It is a plane which is apparently characterized by an immense increase in the receptivity of the Self and by an almost complete suspension of the reflective powers. The strange silence which is the outstanding quality of this state—almost the only note in regard to it which the surface intelligence can secure—is not describable, Here, as Samuel Rutherford said of another of life’s secrets, ‘Come and see will tell you much: come nearer will say more.” Here the self passes beyond the stage at which its perceptions are capable of being dealt with by thought. It can no longer ‘take notes’: can only surrender itself to the stream of an inflowing life, and to the direction of a larger Will. Discursive would only interfere with this process: as it interferes with the vital processes of the body if it once gets them under its control.”

–Evelyn Underhill

Pondering Some Mystery

When Ms. Underhill says that the mystic is “pondering some mystery,” she is not talking about mysteries such as are found in Agatha Christie novels, but pondering the greater mysteries of life beyond the physical realm, or as she calls it: the “Real,” meaning the spiritual.

Loving Attention to God

This is also an important part of spiritual growth. We need to pay attention to God and we need to have love for God. Without these, our spiritual progress will be limited, at best. On the other hand, the love of God alone won’t make you spiritual or fully develop your spiritual faculties, but it is a good start. You still have to practice the Solar Techniques as taught by Cosolargy.

Plane of Perception

Spiritual development will bring us to new planes of perception, which are also called higher levels of consciousness. Those who have experienced these higher planes do find human speech inadequate to describe such places as our languages are for describing the material realm, and fall short when trying to describe the spiritual. Not that it really matters because having someone describe these levels of consciousness to you is not important, experiencing them for ourselves is what matters.

Receptivity of the Self

It is true that at higher levels of consciousness, we become more receptive to the greater Knowledge found at those levels while at the same time, finding that we do not question and reflect on such Knowledge because we simply know that it is true. When you know that something is true, there is no need for reflection, no need to question.

Surrender to In-flowing Life

We do need to surrender our ego to the greater Will of God to receive this in-flowing Life, this stream of Divine Knowledge that the Gnostics called Gnosis. Not everyone is capable of doing this when they began their spiritual practices, but it is something we must develop. We do not need to destroy the ego, as some are teaching today. The ego is useful for getting things done. But as we develop our spiritual Self, we must keep the ego under control so it doesn’t work to prevent such development.