Introduction to Gnosis

Gnosis in the 20th Century

We have to-day a Gnostic movement in the anonymous masses which exactly corresponds psychologically with the Gnostic movement nineteen hundred years ago.  Then, as to-day, solitary wanderers like the great Apollonius spun the spiritual threads from Europe back to Asia, perhaps to remotest India.       (C.G. Jung, from The Secret of the Golden Flower)

.       .       .

In the last part of the past [19th] century and the beginning of the present [20th] one, distinguished personages recognized as Masters, among whom we will mention Helena P. Blavatsky, don Mario Roso de Luna, Charles Leadbeater, Krishnamurti, Rudolf Steiner, Sivananda, Francisco A. Propato (Luxemil), Arnold Krumm-Heller (Huiracocha), Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky, publicly taught the first parts of the Secret Doctrine, but without spending much time on the analysis of certain Gnostic aspects that would have to be unveiled starting from the year 1950 and onward.  Rudolf Steiner himself, one of the most prominent representatives of the Gnosticism of the 20th century, declared in 1912 that they, the Initiates of their era, had only communicated a nascent, simple, elemental teaching, advising at the same time that later on an esoteric doctrine of a higher order, of a transcendental kind, would be delivered to humanity.

In addition to the authors mentioned (men and women who established the Gnostic principles within themselves), many learned person have become interested in knowing the roots of Gnosticism and have set out to know if Gnosis is truly, as some say, “a heap of extravagant fantasies and strange myths”, or if on the other hand, as others rightly point out, it is “a transcendental knowledge infinitely superior to reason that, united to the original Primordial Wisdom, is the wellspring of all the religions of the world.” 

Besides the authors mentioned (men and women who established the Gnostic principles within themselves), many learned person have become interested in knowing the roots of Gnosticism and have concerned themselves with knowing if Gnosis is truly, as some say, “a heap of extravagant fantasies and strange myths”, or if, on the other hand, as others rightly point out, it is “a transcendental knowledge infinitely superior to reason that, united to the original, Primordial Wisdom, is the wellspring of all the religions of the world.”  On the foundation of this interest, through authors such as Eugene de Faye, W. Bousset, Hans Hans, Jean Doresse and many others, old Europe was able to discover that the Gnostic doctrines “are something more than heresies immanent to Christianity and that if Gnosticisms are indeed diverse, they constitute an existential attitude with characteristics of its own.”

Gnosticism, say the pioneers of the Gnosis in the contemporary world, “is a conjunction of ideas and scientific, philosophical, artistic and religious systems that tend to incessantly reappear in times of great political and social crisis.”

Now then, we cannot deny that such marvelous jewels of Gnostic or pro-Gnostic literature accomplished their goal, awakening general spiritual restlessness and helping in the opening of schools of theosophy, yoga, “Fourth Way”, etc., founded on the limited theoretical and practical information that the above-mentioned persons were able to communicate.  But the true revolution in this field was produced with the appearance of the book The Perfect Matrimony, written by the Master Samael Aun Weor precisely in the year 1950, a book that “caused great enthusiasm among the students of the diverse schools, religions, orders, sects and esoteric societies and the result of which was the appearance of the Gnostic Movement, which began with a few understanding people and became completely international.”

Esoteric traditions as cultural manifestations obviously have a continuity.  The Perfect Matrimony and more than 50 books masterfully delineated by Samael Aun Weor during his last 25 years maintain the thread of Gnostic continuity, making those texts into true mines of hidden knowledge, wisdom that cannot be disdained by those advanced currents, which is to say by those groups that seek living knowledge and not just simple belief or theory.

Samael Aun Weor is then, above all, a continuer of the work begun by those illustrious intelligences of the Gnosis of the beginnings of the [20th] century.  It has fallen to him to clarify and simplify, and also to unveil certain doctrinal aspects that such notable esotericists omitted or didn’t come to know.  Such is the case, for example, of the Sexual Mysteries, or the adequate techniques for the dissolution of the “I”, the “Ego”, the “myself” (the psychological factors that keep the human consciousness bottled up, keeping it in a state of sleep), or of the analysis of the evolutive and involutive laws, a topic that at that time was only touched on superficially.

The aims and purposes of this knowledge that today reappears outside of dogmas, of false spirituality and the pseudo-schools that have unfortunately become places of business, are expressed by the Master Samael in the following words:

We don't want idolizers of masters, nor are we interested in followers. We are signposts, so don't become attached to us because our labor is not one of proselytizing. With logical thought and exact concept we point out the path to follow so that anyone may reach their Inner Master, the one who dwells in silence within each of you.

We inform you that wisdom belongs to the Innermost and that the virtues and spiritual gifts are not a matter of poses or of feigned meekness, but they are tremendous realities that turn us into powerful and gigantic oaks so that against our strong personality the blustery winds of thought, the threats of the tenebrous, the envy of tyrants and the abuse of the evil are dashed to pieces.

This course is for all of the rebels of all schools; for those who don't compromise themselves for schoolmasters; for those of all belief systems who don’t conform; for those who still have some courage and a spark of love left in their hearts.

We're not interested in anyone's money or excited by monthly fees or halls of brick and mortar because we are conscious attendants of the Cathedral of the Soul and we know that wisdom and money don't go together…

We are not in search of followers, we only want that each person follows himself, his own Inner Master, his sacred Innermost, because that Innermost is the only one that can save us and glorify us…We don't want more comedies or farces or false mysticism and false schools. We want living realities now, to prepare ourselves in order to see, hear and touch the reality of those truths. We grasp the sword of the will in order to break all of the chains of the world and throw ourselves intrepidly into the tremendous battle for liberation, because we know that salvation is within the human being...