by Conscious Reminder
Gnosticism is not really new on this planet. It traces its roots to the Greek ‘gnostikos’ which meant being in possession of knowledge and was first mentioned between the 1st and 2nd century A.D.
Many people are mistaken into believing that Gnosticism is a religion. It is not. It is just a way of thinking, and there are many religious beliefs and philosophies which agree with the principles of Gnosticism.
Through the ages it has been molded and influenced by other schools of thoughts. So what we now know as Neo-Gnosticism is the most recent and modern form of Gnosticism. Now it is an integral part of spirituality of this age.
Though it has gone through a lot of changes, it is still very influential to this day. Many people don’t even know that many of their beliefs can be traced back to Gnosticism.
Here are 6 beliefs which are integral to modern Gnosticism.
The imperfection of the material world
This can be found in almost every religion in the world. The world that we interact in and occupy is full of imperfections and sufferings. There are flaws everywhere in the creation. And we don’t create these flaws.
God meant the universe to have these flaws and thus they will always exist. Humans and all other forms of creation are thus necessarily flawed.
The One God
Like many monotheistic religions, Gnostic beliefs are also built around the presence of one divine God. However, unlike say Christianity, this God did not make the whole creation out of a void.
He created everything from himself and thus all the creation is a part of this God. There are also some deities who help this God. These deities or Aeons are the bridge between man and God.
Divine spark
From the previous point, it is clear that Gnosticism believes that we were made from God. Thus we all have the divine spark within us because we come directly from him. Everyone holds this spark but not everyone is aware of this.
Those who are, are the ones who will ultimately achieve liberation once they have discovered that the material world is a farce and are able to pursue their true spirituality.
Salvation
Gnosis means salvation. And for salvation or liberation we need to focus on our spirituality. Every human possesses this Gnosis. But not everyone is able to access it. One needs to stimulate it through seeking salvation and dedicating ourselves to spirituality.
Only those who are able to access to their spiritual wisdom can hope to find the path to the ultimate light of salvation.
There are no rules to be followed
In Gnosticism you don’t have a set of rules which when followed will take you towards salvation. As mentioned in the point above, salvation is something that we all possess within us.
To achieve salvation, an individual has to focus more on themselves and their spirituality rather than the outside world or some random code of conduct. However it has been noted that certain things might help in doing so. Not getting attached to people or things and respecting the freedom for all is encouraged.
Our destiny
Our ultimate destination is to be reunited with the God of whom we are a part. But to do so, we will first have to discover the Gnosis which is buried deep within each of us. If we are not able to reach it in one life, we will be reborn to start the search once again.
There is also the danger of becoming entangled in the Demiurge, a realm which is equated to the concept of hell in Christianity.
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