“Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed.” -The Gospel according to Thomas

INTRODUCTION

Before we examine some of the specific features of Gnosticism. It is imperative for us to understand some basic concepts about spirituality in general. By this I mean that we are more than just body and mind; we have a spiritual ingredient to ourselves. This can be a calming thought to people, but my goal in explaining this material is to help make this thought an active part of your life. My hope is to awaken the spiritual part of us. Throughout the ages, belief in an inner spirit has been a unique aspect to mankind.

Our awareness of the spiritual is intuitive brought forth by some primal instinct that calls to us of the unity of all living things. It is spirit that encourages compassion for other human beings. It is the spirit that translates incident into experience, knowledge into Gnosis by divine grace. The focus of this book is the language of gnosis, which has usually been expressed in mystifying and symbolic form. It could not have been otherwise, because the profound truths within reach through gnosis cannot be exposed by the investigative power of the mind. Metaphor reveals more than literal depiction. If the symbolism is ambiguous, that was in part to safeguard those not yet spiritually mature to make the spiritual voyage that gnosis necessitates. In ancient cultures the special teachings of Gnosis were passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next.

When the teachings were finally written down the literature often had many levels of significance. Gnosis describes the flight of the spirit, transmuting the raw material of matter and the psyche into radiant and everlasting pearls of spiritual realization. On this spiritual voyage our exploring undeniably leads to complications when the seeker contemplates the relationship between body and spirit. This opposition is most patently felt as an absolute dualism. In Gnosticism attachments to the world is the cause of suffering.

The Gnostic Warrior endeavors toward spiritual self - awareness, he engages himself with these ideas in a way that makes sense to his worldview. The Gnostic Warrior examines his emotions and seeks their spiritual breadth, to uncover how they weaken the spirit. The Gnostic Warrior focuses his intention on how he can live spiritually with his own bodily cravings. The Gnostic Warrior knows his spirit has originated in a region distant, and beyond the limits of space and time. The Gnostic Warrior acting as an intermediary between the material world and the supernal realms, seek inner peace through prayer and meditation to create from the world’s incessant chaos a stillness in which it is possible to hear the needs of the spirit. In this safe haven of heart and mind, he can see the unity of being and accept the duality of pain and pleasure, good and evil, material and supernal as the very essence of his spiritual quest.