Some of you are really, really not going to like this.
I'm going start up an "internet church" today. I'll make a nice website, start a Yahoo! group, call myself the Episcopus Emeritus or somesuch. I'll never meet a Parishioner, minister a Sacrament, visit a hospital, sit on a local panel of interfaith dialogue, or wash a dish at a function. We won't go in for any of that dogmatic stuff. Oh my site will be peppered with chunks of Gnostic Scripture, drizzled over almost-entirely-Protestant theology with a little bit of Vatican-bashing ("oppresses women, kept the true secrets of the Faith from the faithful in its Archonic appetite for power..." etc.) and maybe a nice Abraxas gif on the sidebar, right next to the "donate now" button. Ta da! I'm a Gnostic too!
And, being a discerning individual, you will visit my instant website cum church and state that my efforts are "not Gnostic". And probably not even a church. What gives you the right?
I mean, aside from reality, discernment, intelligence, and a genuine desire for the word "Gnostic" to mean something other than soggy Protestant-flavoured New Age-ism, anti-Catholic bigotry, papyrus backgrounds and badly pixelated jpg files?
I'm going to pick on Rev. Troy for a second. Hi Troy. Now, I look at what his Parish is doing, in stark contrast to the above. He's meeting real people in a real space, listening, teaching, learning, leading, paying chapel rent, publishing a calendar, buying candles, (no doubt) failing, forgetting, stumbling, but making something real and beautiful and present. Not to mention the fact that he spent several years of his life in Minor Orders, studying, serving at Mass, being challenged, questioned, examined, and proving not only his intellect and grasp of history and theology but also his praxis and caritas; his willingness to do the work, and his compassion.
I look at that and say "that's Gnostic". Shame on me! What gives me the right?
*Dismounts high horse*
Listen. There's a cave up there, and I'm pretty sure there's treasure in it. Let's go explore it together.
With what? Flashlights? Rope? Canaries? No, we're going to use other tools. Our intellect. Our education. Specific and meaningful language. Our imagination. Our wit and courage and compassion. Our discrimination: discrimination is what keeps us from being so open-minded that our brains fall out. This is how such caves are explored, how such treasures are always discovered.
So Gnosticism is admittedly not entirely binary, in the way, say, that Symbolist painting overlaps the Pre-Raphaelites, and yet is still distinct: the labels exist for a reason. Gnosticism is and must be defined by its soteriology: the idea that gnosis of one's relationship with the Divine is necessary for salvation from Ignorance. When we let it mean "whatever you want it to mean" the word becomes meaningless, and the language that has stood for millennia is no longer remotely useful to us as a tool with which to explore the cave and discover the treasure.
My Licentiate of Sacred Theology doesn't give me the right to this treasure. In fact just the opposite: it says that the ownership is explicitly not mine. The Tradition is there to remind me to hold the treasure in trust, to care for the rights of the next seekers into the cave. I didn't invent my Church, declare myself to be x, and start marking territory. My role is older than I am, and it will outlive me, those who inspire me, and those whom I teach and touch. It's humbling: that's what it's for.
25 comments:
Bravo! Something many of us often lose sight of-- thanks, JS+!
I forget Father, which degree did Jesus have? A STL? An M.Div? Perhaps even a DD!?
I always liked Proverbs. Don't really know why, but it always seemed like the most useful book of the Orthodox Bible. Tell me if you've heard this one:
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (23:7)
Doing the Great Work is everything you described in your post. I do not question that. But the Great Work is so much more than what you describe. It is so much more than a group of theologians (no matter the size) defining Soteriology. It's more than paying rent for church space, making beeswax candles in a monastery, or performing the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
Gnosis will not live or die based on your prudish need to have a defined, nicely packaged, Noah Webster worthy definition of what it "really" means. (In fact, all great words have so many meanings with so many layers that no one individual will ever know them all.)
Nor will your neo-gnostic lineage somehow mystically save the long since dead gnostic fire which was extinguished by the Orthodox church in the 8th Century.
Your Church, and specificalaly your brand of Gnosticism is not Apostolic. Your ordination derives via the Orthodox Churches and a few hundred years of clerical heretics. There is no Gnostic priesthod line which survived from the early church. You're not the Lone Ranger out there fighting to keep the "truth" alive. You and your church could vanish off the face of the earth, and Gnosis will, as it always has, go on.
True Gnosis does include what you describe here Father. But it also includes a mother soothing a crying child, a social worker helping someone turn their life around, and even the garbage man picking up your trash every week. These people may not have the slightest clue what Gnosis is, but they are doing it!
Well said, Fr. Jordan! I stand with jp on this one.
I must disagree with you, Jason. I follow your argument right up until your attack on the Apostolic succession of the AJC. It is a shame that you make such an intelligent counter and then close it with a sermon on heretics, orthodoxy and Great Work in the acts of garbage men.
I agree that Gnosis is, has been and will always be . . . whether there is a single Gnostic still drawing breath. However, you fail to address the role of purpose in all of this. If my garbage man picks up my garbage because he feels he has to in order to earn a paycheck or because it is his job . . . then how is that Gnosis? In the Zen tradition we talk about doing things for the sake of doing them skillfully and being "present" while doing them. Thus the act becomes like a meditation and advances us on the path to enlightenment. It is also the same with Gnosis. Just doing something means nothing without the added level of reflection. If we all just did things, how on earth would we find Gnosis? Would we even care? That is where the Gnostic lineage comes in my friend. You say the Gnosis lives but that the Gnostic fire is long since dead. Interesting. You have eyes, man. Open them and see. The Gnostic fire is alive and well. I wish you peace.
"I forget Father, which degree did Jesus have? A STL? An M.Div? Perhaps even a DD!?"
Come on man, he never said his degree gave him special status. He said the opposite.
"It is so much more than a group of theologians (no matter the size) defining Soteriology."
Again, he didn't say that. He didn't say "this post is the entirety of Gnosticism: systematic theology."
"Gnosis will not live or die based on your prudish need to have a defined, nicely packaged, Noah Webster worthy definition of what it "really" means."
I assure you that if the archons have their way, and Gnosis is known and defined by its cliches, it shall die. Maybe not forever, but it shall die for the time being. As Gnostics, we have the right, and responsibility, to defend ourselves from false association. Wouldn't it be lousy if the poison-Koolaid-drinkers were defining it for us?
"You're not the Lone Ranger out there fighting to keep the "truth" alive."
Neither are you, Mr Spartacus.
"True Gnosis does include what you describe here Father. But it also includes a mother soothing a crying child, a social worker helping someone turn their life around, and even the garbage man picking up your trash every week. These people may not have the slightest clue what Gnosis is, but they are doing it!"
This is intriguing and perhaps I shall answer it in depth later. I withold having an opinion on the matter. But I ask a question as an exercise: is it GNOSIS (ie experiential knowledge - the word was used to describe intimate knowledge, like graduate level knowledge of a subject, or sexual knowledge of a person) if you're not AWARE of it?
If a butterfly doesn't understand the world around it, does it cease being a buttefly?
Certainly not. And so it is with humans. One will not cease being a human . . . but what has that to do with Gnosis. So humans do not stop being humans and Gnosis too shall not cease being Gnosis. But where do the twain meet without some sort of intervention? You still fail to make your point.
First of all, an apology, I've had you (Jason) confused with the Jason known as Spartacus in our blogosphere.
Though I'll admit I am a little relieved to know that it isn't Sparty that has your views.
As for your attack on the need for an organization, a priesthood and the whole like: This quote from my predecessor, I feel sums it up nicely.
"There are three general "traditions" or spiritual "lineages" – the primordial, the experiential and the organizational. The Primordial is the single most important – it is the direct experience of gnosis itself. It forms and informs all else – and is absolutely necessary. Without the Primordial lineage – the other two are dead. The Experiential is the list of techniques that have been found to lead one to the experience of the Primordial. These are not fixed and unchangeable, but when certain techniques have been found to be reliably effective, they are given prominence. This lineage is held by specific *people* who have used these techniques and achieved some level of realization of the Primordial lineage thereby. And they, themselves, received them from someone who used them and achieved realization. And *they* received them from someone who…etc. This is almost as important as the Primordial lineage itself – as without it, there is *no* access to the Primordial lineage. Finally, and least important – though important still – is the organizational lineage. This is what most people think of when they think "church." This is the institutional list of rules and regulations that the *people* who hold and pass on the Experiential lineage access to the Primordial lineage agree to abide by for the sake of preserving the Experiential lineage, and creating a safe and open place to pursue the Primordial.
Without the Organizational lineage – the Experiential Lineage becomes polluted, white-washed, diluted, and worse – disappears. Without the Experiential Lineage, this particular tried and true path to the Primordial Lineage is lost."
John,
I retract my thoughless butterfly comment. I was at work (im now on lunch) and thought I would be witty. Now that Im re-reading your post, I must concede the Buddhist comment to you.
I was originally thinking along the Zen Buddhist lines that anything done with thought can be working towards enlightenment. In this sense, a thoughtful garbage collector could indeed be acheiving Gnosis.
The "gnostic fire" I spoke of was refering to the early Christian gnostic mythology. Not Gnosis itself, but the ecclesiology that was stamped out by the so-called Orthodoxy of it's time. I will try and be more clear in the future. My apologies.
Sparky,
I believe that Jordan used his credentials and "Tradition" against me. Why quote your degree, if you're not trying to establish yourself as an authority?
He is arguing that he is a representative of Gnostic theology, and therefore what he represents is above reproach.
I question that assertion. I doubt his assumption.
You worry that the Jim Jones or Heavens Gate cults could call themselves "gnostics" and thereby impune the reputation of all of us. I say, who cares? In my post that was deleted, I quoted Hermes, I shall quote it again (bear with Mead's cryptic English:
"But he who is a devotee of God, will bear with all -- once he has sensed the Gnosis. For such an one all things, e'en though they be for others bad, are for him good; deliberately he doth refer them all unto the Gnosis. And, thing most marvellous, 'tis he alone who maketh bad things good."
I think that applies to your concern. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.
Bishop Johannes,
I also maintain the "Spartacus" blog. Im the same person. That's my Freemason blog, but Im neglecting it for now.
I like your definition of Gnostic lineage. I don't disagree with it. It makes perfect sense. But only if you're an Eccleastical Gnostic.
What about those of us who are not? As John said, (and Buddhism concurs) can not any act done thoughfully place one on the path of Gnosis?
If gnosticism does pre-date Christianity (an unsubstantiated claim to be sure) then gnosis is greater than any attached mythology. Which means that you need not be an eccleastical gnostic in order to acheive gnosis. You need not believe in the Aeons and the Demiurge, Jehovah and Jesus, or even the Flying Spagetti Monster in order to attain Gnosis.
Gnosis stands on it's own, and any myth attached to it is secondary and used only by the individual to assist them. Hence, any soteriology of Eccleastical Gnosticism is inconsequential for anyone who seeks the Divine.
I hope I make more sense now.
Gnosis stands on it's own, and any myth attached to it is secondary and used only by the individual to assist them. Hence, any soteriology of Eccleastical Gnosticism is inconsequential for anyone who seeks the Divine.
But Ecclesiastical thought is NOT inconsequential, to the gnostic seeker who uses it to assist them to Gnosis. Gnosis does not develop in a vacuum, it develops in the communal sphere, as we are all connected whether we would be or not. Ecc. Gnosticism has very big consequences who use it as their path to seek.
Nothing stands on it's own. Any theory that requires "all things being equal" is a flawed theory. Even Gnosis, that awareness of the divine, does not exist in a vacuum. It must relate, for the wholeness is the inter-relations of the All with the All.
Ecclesiastical Gnosticism is one vehicle toward enlightenment, true. But it is a distinct vehicle, and definitely not inconsequential. It may be inconsequential TO YOU, and that is as it may be. I make no comment on that.
Perhaps I might be so bold as to offer a few words of my own to the discussion.
First, though in some sense I agree with the statements that an "organizationally based church" is not necessary for one to attain gnosis, it was the lack thereof that allowed for the gnostic movement to be deterred. The fragmented followings that were present at the time were no match for the imposing structure that was the emerging catholic (universal) church in the 2nd century and the well-established and efficient organization by the 7th and 8th century. The internal journey is not an easy one and was not near as attractive as the "salvation-in-a-box" offered by the orthdoxy at the time and even to present day.
Having said that, some sort of organization, represented for example by Father Jordan and the Apostolic Johannite Church is not a bad thing either. Quite the contrary speaking from the stand point of someone such as myself, who was raised in an agnostic home. It gives would-be travelers a point of origin or a starting point for there own journey towards gnosis. It also provides a reference point, a guiding star if I may throughout that journey. It is comforting to know that there are others trying to achieve the same, to have a place to share those experiences, and to have teachers that have attained some level of gnosis to assist you. To level accusations, generalizations and assumptions on what Father Jordan was attempting to share with us is at best unfair, at the worst counter-productive and does a deservice to all who are trying to follow this same path. A difference of opinion is merely that, a difference of opinion. It is not about right or wrong. That, I feel, is what makes us gnostics and it is a beautiful thing.
As to John's refutation of your statements that people with no notion of what gnosis is, can attain it simply by acting in loving ways is correct in the most fundamental ways. Whereas their actions cannot and do not affect those around them detrimentally, if they have no knowledge and there is no reflection on these actions, how can it possibly further them along the path of gnosis? There needs to be an inner knowledge, a conciousness of these actions, for enlightenment to begin. This I understand even in the infancy of my own journey.
Peace
Shawn
Jason -
You continue to deliberately misrepresent my statements and my positions, to what possible purpose I cannot imagine.
"I believe that Jordan used his credentials and "Tradition" against me. Why quote your degree, if you're not trying to establish yourself as an authority?"
Paranoia in the extreme. Against you? I mention the Licentiate in that post in response to Troy+, who made a comment about "theologians". An STL is also not a degree, but a permission slip.
"He is arguing that he is a representative of Gnostic theology, and therefore what he represents is above reproach. "
Of course no sane English-speaking person could read this blog and come to any such conclusion.
I have NEVER stated that Ecclesiastic Gnosticism is the only path to gnosis. I have stated the contrary COUNTLESS times in the history of this blog - a blog specifically dedicated to Ecclesiastic Gnosticism. If you're looking for a roll-your-own small g gnosticism, good for you, there's lots of good stuff out there, but this is not the place.
I don't know that kind of dogmatic boogey-man you fear, but I'm not a screen for your baseless projections.
You started this completely leftfield charge that I was saying who was Gnostic and who was not. This was based on NOTHING. You then said that I was the source of my own authority - based on what? And now I'm using Apostolicity "against" you?
"Hence, any soteriology of Eccleastical Gnosticism is inconsequential for anyone who seeks the Divine."
So, you get to be Gnostic specifically because you reject... um, Gnosticism?
Your comments are rude and boorish, and you're making all the perfectly-valid small g gnostics (those whose gnosis is not rooted in Gn tradition, ecclesiology, myth, or scripture - and God bless 'em) look bad. If you ever had a point to make, your appalling behaviour has obfuscated it to the extreme.
Future comments from you will be deleted automatically. I wish you well in your stay-away-from-this-blog future.
Dogen Roshi wrote “A hairs-breadth of difference and heaven and earth split apart.” Unless you mistake one of the greatest Zen masters for a (post)modern definition warrior, then there is something else.
Very intelligent and learned people can play with ideas endlessly and disagree about them. It becomes the “Glass Bead Game” Herman Hesse wrote of in Magister Ludi. Where do such games of mind lead? Where does “everything is Gnosis” lead? No Gnosis. Where does “Gnosis is only what I think it is” lead? Again, no Gnosis. Are these the only options? No. And no one doing the work thinks that is the case.
What Jordan said might be summed up as: we've been there, we've done that. We've done our homework, we've seen not only our own journeys but those of others. It is always a tender-spot to devote your life to a difficult if not impossible task, and get confused with everything you are working to rectify. Often with a great deal of vehemence directed at you personally, for daring to actually do something. Our work keeps us more grounded, most of the time. We've been through the seemingly important insights you, Jason, are having, and moved far beyond them. They are at best a stage in your liberation, not absolute Truth. However, human nature will start by trying to declare “there is no other before me.” As you go along, you find countless tracks and path markers.
Rain is a source of water, however just standing with your mouth open to satisfy your thirst isn't very effective. Does collecting rain in a cistern to have a source of water, go against the rain? (Couldn't resist the pun.) Rain falls on the just and unjust on those seeking and those trying to avoid seeking. Want to build a cistern, or just dance in the rain? Go for it. Want to break the cistern I and so many others use? Not on my watch. Tear down your own house first, for that is your prison. Mine is far far away.
And Rev. Troy lands a two pointer from the far end of the court: swoosh! nothin' but net.
Amen, bruddah.
I have come to the conclusion that being on the internet anasthesizes any real sense of being in the company of others. While I am not the patient, I see indicated in the symptoms a rather dreadful potentional of contagion. I do not wish to go there. Hereafter I will interact at an even less direct way on the Internet, I will eventually reconstruct and heavily edit everything on my blog and keep concentrated to certain writing projects on the literary level and on the practical level, actual in-person service to my parish. I always find vaccuuming, cleaning and buffing up the brass, sorting lectionary readings (we don't have a book, we have a shoal, always translation in progress), meeting, greeting and helping people with the library (I am studying to become ..a librarian, according to one "enemy" (only one I know of),the lowest possible form of organical life, so be it. OOoook back at ya.)
- and dining together, we have a tradition of sunday evening potluck, breaking fast, it is really constructive and puts everyone at such ease that there's basically no chatter at "Church coffee", tranquility blessed...well, it contributes a focus as well as instructive and intuitive humility.
Im just tired of wearing this piece of cardboard were it says "Internet Gnostic". If thats to be classed with the denizens of alt.religion.gnostic or a thousand similar forums, groups and internet hobby projects, I don't feel I fit in with the rest of the crowd. Its not a matter of better or worse off, just, kinda very different.
As per your sentiments, I just know from bitter experience that there is no defense for what we are doing with our lives and our priorities from the outside in. Gnosis does not make your sneakers fit better, as Stephan insisted in one of his earlier lectures... well, it may not only, it does, make them fit worse. But thats where you take that predicament, overcome it, and move onwards without spending too long a time aboard the whalefish with Jonah (Evagrius way of telling us to not pay excessive attention to details, even if they give us such incredible rich meals of intentional or unintentional symbolism)...
Damn, Jordan(+)=(fragments???) Remind me again just how much you and Troy get PAID to undergo such negative criticism? I get roughly 70K plus Exp. per annum and I would only take this "crap" from a member (I am an organizational, ecclesiastic nut myself) who was giving at a level of 7K or more per year to support me! I have lots of degrees and ordination documents, etc. and they are not just permission slips--they do have power and protections! I thought some Unitarian Universalists could be Ass Holes, but WOW this guy is "beyond belief" (no pun intended, in re: Elaine Pagels). As a matter of fact I would recommend a wonderful book written by a friend of mine: Asshole No More--just google it and you will find it--it is actually part of the Asshole Trilogy!
I really didn't expect this of Gnostics or gnostics, but I am somewhat relieved--I have never been around any denomination/church where there wasn't fighting in the trenches--so Ecclesiastical Gnosticism is "normal" afterall. I currently work as a congregational interventionist and Conflict Manager.
It is said that if you meet Yeshua on the Road--Kill Him! That's your starting point. And Jason, if you are interested I can offer you a significant price reduction for therapy sessions for Anger Management--I am really good at it. You would be appropriately presentable to enter "the fullness" when we are done and all these regurgitations of ad hominiem and twisted logic episodes will subside--like the Men's Warehouse--I guarantee it!
And Jordan--I just dropped by to say I am about finished reading your book and it is a breath of fresh air. I am trying to figure out a time to get up to Victoria and visit and also attend one of those authoritarian physical services of yours--I am a high-risk taker. And I promise I won't picket or heckle--though you may find me in full prostration as I submit to Gnosis.
Cheerfully,
Roger Kuhrt
UU Minister & Psychologist
Tacoma, WA
PS: Jordan, though originally written about me I dedicate this to you!
i beheld
the grail in your eyes
its radiance
undimmed
by the ashes
of scandals
that passed through our hands
like wind -
no one
may ever proclaim you evil
or even
that by now
you are covered
with the scum
of the world
your face
like that
of any robber
gambler
pusher
tinted
with the dust of this world -
for i
beheld
the grail in your eyes
its radiance
undimmed
and that
only matters
and not
how
far
you strayed
from the path–
Cheerfully, Roger Kuhrt
Mike - You're of course absolutely right.
Roger - Thank you for your kind words of encouragement! And glad you're getting something out of the book.
Pax,
J+
Dear Rev. Troy,
I liked your allusion to the rainwater and the cistern. I found it a very poignant example but as I considered it some issues arose in my pondering.
Rainwater in a cistern becomes stagnant. It then becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria, disease and in my neck of the woods mosquitoes. Only the free flowing water of a river (mother nature’s cistern) remains clean, clear and pure from these infiltrations. Can you survive on water from a cistern? Sure, all the cities of the world give testament to that, but you must treat it with chlorine and sterilizers in order to remove all of the nasties that have accumulated and truly what is left? So why use a cistern when there is beautiful, bountiful and pure source right there in the river? In all things man seems to have a need to try and ‘improve’ that which has already been provided in its perfect form and to create a world that goes against nature.
If you take any metaphor to such a ridiculous extreme it becomes likewise meaningless.
Yep,
And besides, Anon, all of the streams around here are contaminated. ;)
Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on form, for you form/no-form dualists out there.
Kurt, we actually pay to do this! (In my case, more than my actual income.) Can *we* get a discount on therapy? ;)
oy vey
[Padre G throws his sombrero into the ring, and in his best vato accent shouts: “Orale!”]
Fr. Jordan: Huzzah! To expand on Rev. Troy’s remark, down here in Hollywood, folks pay large sums of money for all sorts of abuse. Thanks to the internet, you can access an unlimited supply for FREE!
I’ll leave the theological support for Apostolic Gnosticism in this thread to the Bishops, Doctors and Priests. FWIW, please indulge me for adding mi dos pesos, by sharing my own practical experience.
For the entirety of my 44+ years in the corporeal world I have had transcendental experiences with the Divine. I never talked about them to anyone save my mother. Growing up in a culturally Catholic family I knew to keep such things to myself.
About 25 years ago, while earning my audio engineering degree, I happened upon some books in my school library that had a word for my experiences. Back then most folks thought you’d forgotten the ‘a’ when using the word Gnostic. There were no Barnes & Nobles stores where you could find a plethora of books about it. Being the bibliophile that most Gnostics are, I became obsessed with this ancient religion and searched everywhere I could for books about it. Back then the internet was something one logged into with a phone-coupler modem and did a lot of typing and waiting. Studying Gnosticism was a lonely and fragmented endeavor. The biggest difficulty was the haphazard way in which the information was scattered and the utter lack of anyone to discuss it with. For about 15 years I professed to be a “Gnostic” despite having no organized way of studying or practicing my faith.
A dozen or so years later, I began using an emerging technology called “the Web” to continue my obsession. One night, while searching for “Rosicrucian”, I stumbled upon a new site called Gnosis.org. Like Balinus in the cave, I beheld the Emerald Tablet. Much to my astonishment I saw that there was a Gnostic church in Hollywood, near the studio I worked at. I couldn’t believe there had been a church there all along and I’d driven past it hundreds of times without even noticing. I attended Mass the following Sunday and had found ‘My People’. At that time only a couple of folks at Ecclesia Gnostica were ‘wired’ and those that were told me that I was the first person to find them via the website. I began to attend Mass twice a week and a few years later was initiated into the clergy by Rt. Rev. Hoeller.
Despite his acute attention to Liturgical detail, Bishop Hoeller, his clergy and his parishioners never passed any judgment on me or any other newcomer regarding my habits outside of church. There were no rules against sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, which was great for me because I was making my living mixing Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop records and participated in all of the extracurricular activities associated with those art forms. Funny thing though, my fellow Gnostics helped be get a handle on my substance abuse where therapy, 12-step and law enforcement programs hadn’t. By studying Gnosticism in an organized fashion, and consistently participating in Gnostic sacramental practices, I cleaned up inside and the outside followed suit. Now I don’t claim to be a Santo. I’m just a guerro fortunate enough to have found “a publicly practicing, overtly Gnostic, sacramental church within the Apostolic Succession.” Sure, you can be a Gnostic without a Gnostic church. Due to the lack of Gnostic churches most Gnostics are compelled to be solo. All I can say is organized sacramental Gnosticism is not only valid but is necessary for the continued growth of our ‘movement’.
As of late, I’ve been enhancing my Gnostic experience by studying with the Inayati Sufis. I’ve been studying Sufism independently almost as long as I’ve been studying Gnosticism and I’ve been working with Sufi musicians for several years now. I once asked one of these musicians what they called a Sufi without a Sheik. He laughed and retorted:
“A Goofy”
‘Though I had a good working knowledge of the Sufi path I didn’t really get it until I began training with teachers from an established order. The words mean so much more when you have a guide to show you the experiential dimension that comes with the practices, in exactly the same way that one’s experience of Gnosis is exponentially enhanced by partaking of the Eucharist (Bishop McCann, thanks for sharing the brilliant explanation). Along the way, I’ve met quite a number of American Sufis who have told me that if there were a Gnostic church in their town they’d attend. There’s a dire need for Gnostic churches like EG and AJC. I’m living proof of it.
Paz
Rev. Gil
I'm going to start up an "Ecclesiastical Gnostic Church" today.
I'll hop on over to http://pokrov.org or http://www.concentric.net/~Cosmas/ficob.htm
and convince or pay someone to consecrate me as a bishop.
Then, I'll split from the guy who consecrated me, and call myself the Grand Patriarch of Gnosis, the Grand Wizard of Holy Wisdom, or somesuch.
I'll never meet a Parishioner, minister a sacrament, visit a hospital, sit on a local panel of interfaith dialogue, or wash a dish at a function.
We won't go in for any of that dogmatic stuff. Oh my site will be peppered with chunks of Gnostic Scripture, drizzled over almost-entirely-Roman Catholic theology with a little bit of Vatican-bashing ("oppresses women, kept the true secrets of the Faith from the faithful in its Archonic appetite for power..." etc.) and maybe a nice Abraxas gif on the sidebar, right next to the "donate now" button. Ta da! I'm a Gnostic too!
My church will have more bishops and priests than parishioners but, hey, that's okay--gnosticism is really about a bunch of 30-something white guys getting together to talk about how superior we are.
Meanwhile, we will be absolutely Outraged (Outraged, I tell you!) at anyone who dares to call themselves gnostic without the blessings of our fraternity.
Uh, you realize that you're making my point, right? That there has to be more laity than clergy, that there has to be praxis, in order for us to be anything other than some instant club?
Why is it that the semi-clever and self-contradictory smug-if-not-for-being-incoherent comments always come from anonymous posters
Bravo. LOVE IT.
Post a Comment