The Gnostic Movement at the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
Gnosis is a Greek word that means knowledge. The knowledge it refers to is not one gained from reading books or university degrees, but has been described as “the knowledge of the heart.” It is an inner knowledge of reality and spirituality gained from personal spiritual experience, and leads to enlightenment.
Most commonly, Gnosticism is associated with the early Christians. The texts of Jesus and the disciples that were kept out of the Bible are described as Gnostic Gospels today, however, the knowledge that Jesus and the disciples taught is one found at the core of many other religious traditions as well, as it is a universal, timeless, and ever-present and permeating knowledge found by whoever truly seeks it.
Today, the word “religion” holds many different connotations to people – some of them as a thing that is violent, bigoted, close-minded, cut off from and even oppressive of divinity and humanity. However, The Gnostic Movement teaches religion only in its root meaning, in that its purpose is to help the individual reconnect with the divine and thus attain spiritual enlightenment. Samael Aun Weor, who founded The Gnostic Movement, states, “Religion comes from the Latin word ‘religare’, which means to link again the soul with God…This is precisely Gnosticism in its purest form, knowledge of divine kind, analytic and profound esotericism, transcendental occultism.”
In The Gnostic Movement self-knowledge and personal spiritual experience are emphasized as being crucial to spiritual development, and the focus is on applying practices to achieve this development in one’s own life, rather than on belief and worship. The Gnostic Movement exists to help people achieve the purposes of universal spirituality, which is enlightenment, and provides an essential framework to learn, practice, and teach spirituality to others.
In recorded history, the earliest traces of the practice of this universal spirituality go back to the ancient Egyptians who were the survivors of an even earlier civilization called Atlantis. Amazingly, the same traces of this knowledge, and even sacred architecture and astronomy, can be found in sacred sites around the world including Teotihuacan in Mexico, the home of the Pyramid of the Sun, the high mountain city of Machu Picchu in Peru, and Easter Island, along with many others.
As all civilizations do, these rose and fell – many into violence and degeneration. The sacred knowledge of the original builders was left, often incomprehensible to those who followed, on the walls of temples and in sacred texts, but those who carried this “knowledge of the heart” had moved on. Esoteric schools were established, but often had to move and change their form in order to escape the continued persecution from often hostile and violent societies and cultures. Many famously, were persecuted by orthodox religions. The original disciples and followers of Jesus, who were taught in secret by Jesus, understood the esoteric message of his teachings that the divine—god, or the Kingdom of Heaven—could be found within oneself. However, as Orthodox Christianity became established in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, these esoteric practitioners were increasingly marginalized, labeled as heretics, forced to practice in secrecy and take the knowledge to the East, which was more open to mysticism at that time. These Christian mystics had many sacred texts that were excluded from the Bible and lost for centuries, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and the Gospel of Judas. The re-discovery of these ancient texts in the 20th and 21st centuries has thrust the knowledge of the early Christian Gnostics back into the forefront of public interest.
Later, this knowledge would return to Christian lands through the Cathars and medieval alchemists, some who had come into contact with Eastern mystics. For centuries, esoteric schools taught away from the public eye often under threat of infiltration, imprisonment, and death. However, in the 20th century this universal spirituality re-emerged on a large scale and in the public eye due to a need for it to come out into the open and reach people all around the world. Samael Aun Weor was the first enlightened spiritual teacher to publicly reveal all the essential parts of spiritual knowledge. He founded organizations throughout Latin America and Europe and was followed by a disciple named Rabolu who continued teaching and providing spiritual guidance after Samael Aun Weor died.
It is from this tradition that the present-day Gnostic movement springs. Currently Mark Pritchard, a disciple of Rabolu who writes with the name of his inner being, Belzebuub, is the teacher providing spiritual guidance to the world today. The Gnostic Movement is a not-for-profit spiritual organization established to disseminate the teachings of universal spirituality and to facilitate its practice. It was established in 1999 by former members of the Universal Christian Gnostic Movement, which was an organization founded by Samael Aun Weor in 1960. The Gnostic Movement considers itself the true heir of the work of Samael Aun Weor.
The Gnostic Movement has many spiritual practices, doctrines, and sacred writings, just as any other established religion would. These practices include meditation, practices to attain self-knowledge and spiritual transformation, mystical practices to have out-of-body experiences and remember dreams, and are practiced both individually and where appropriate, in groups. The Gnostic Movement teaches cosmology and theology, containing doctrines on creation, the purpose of life, the nature of God, the afterlife, spiritual and demonic beings, heaven and hell, and the path to enlightenment.
The Gnostic teachings are imparted in sacred writings both ancient and modern and taught in courses around the world and online. These are the main channels through which universal spirituality is disseminated today by The Gnostic Movement. As in any spiritual tradition, practitioners freely explain and teach their doctrines and practices. However, a core component of universal spirituality is the respect for religious freedom and individual free will. The Gnostic Movement teaches that only those who are interested should receive instruction and does not engage in zealous proselytization.
Additionally, as a religion in the mystical and esoteric tradition, The Gnostic Movement emphasizes spiritual practice and the attainment of individual spiritual experience over the adoption of a belief system per se. Practitioners are not required to believe in any doctrines but are rather encouraged to verify, explore, and gain their own knowledge using the spiritual techniques provided.
The Gnostic Movement has no official priesthood. However, similar to most religious traditions, there is an order of committed individuals who voluntarily take on the responsibility to disseminate the teachings and coordinate the activities of the group. These individuals are known as teachers and members, and they are organized into a structure that is well-established in spiritual tradition.
Those who take up the responsibility to become teachers or members do so willingly and through their own personal choice, and only after a period of training and study, during which they are trainee teachers. As part of this responsibility, these individuals also commit to certain codes of conduct in daily life and certain spiritual guidelines that are considered necessary for the practice of spirituality.
Members, teachers, and trainee teachers can step down from their positions at any point if they wish. However, to become and remain a member, teacher, or trainee teacher, these spiritual guidelines and codes are considered essential.
Today, despite the continued persecution that has always opposed genuine spirituality, and will continue to do so, universal spirituality remains unalterable, and ever-present, and those who practice it, just as motivated by, and in touch with the divine, as the many others who have shared in this spiritual quest since the beginning of time.
I am forever grateful for discovering the existence of Gnosticism, and for finding a real way to change what causes suffering in my life. From the beginning, just by doing the practices as fully as I could, I felt an amazing joy simply in being alive and appreciating what life has to offer.
I spent the Sundays of my childhood going to a Christian church. Somehow I ‘knew’ there was something there… but it was never clear – apart from some moral codes and the idea of being ‘good’.
It wasn’t until I got something practical that I began to understand the heritage of Christianity. And that is a beautiful gift – having the ability to do something to change and experience the spiritual in a wholly intimate way, and understand on a deeper level the teachings of Jesus and all other true spiritual teachers who have come into this world.
I feel the same way, Jon. I think a lot has been done throughout history to really hush this faith down, but luckily it’s can still be found and practiced, as I was so happy to discover it! And I’m grateful that The Gnostic Movement exists to give people access to these teachings so they can see their “amazingness” for themselves.
Hi Jon,
I have had a very similar experience! I was taken to a Christian church when I was growing up every Sunday, but it seemed to me that although everyone was trying to be a better person, and how to do that was taught in different ways, going to church was more about nice stories and singing hymns and didn’t really offer keys to real change. Eventually this led to me rejecting Christianity and starting to search spiritually.
I came across Gnosticism after many years of searching and trying different spiritual avenues and almost giving up having not found something to really change myself and get experience. When I first started attending the courses I was struck by the fact that they were free and that I was told not to believe what I was being taught, but to try the practices I was given and prove for myself whether or not what I was being taught was true.
Right from the early sessions I went too it felt like there was something different and very special about Gnosticism, and I am very grateful to have found something that I can use to have peace, bring about amazing changes in my life and to get spiritual experiences. I am also very grateful for The Gnostic Movement as it has allowed me to experience and practice the teachings of Belzebuub and given me the opportunity to help teach Gnosis to others so that they might have the same opportunities I have had!
Interestingly as a result of practicing Gnosis I feel much closer to Christianity now than I ever did when I was going to church (my mother who is still a Christian and still goes to the same church commented on the same thing recently). I feel like as a result of practicing and learning about the teachings of Gnosis I am able to reach to some of the deeper meanings in the teachings of Jesus and the disciples – they have become an amazing source of spiritual guidance in my life!
I feel very privileged to be a part of this great spiritual tradition!
Thanks for the reply, and I agree about how amazing it was to reach Gnosis and to be encouraged not to believe, but to try it and see for yourself.
As well as yourself I feel much closer to Christianity now than I ever did!
Having being raised a Catholic I’ve always felt that something more was missing from my life. By the age of fifteen I had lost my yearning to search for God and sadly, this made it impossible for me to find any peace, love or happiness.
For many years I struggled through life until thankfully, one day during my adulthood, certain events in my life helped me to find the Gnostic teachings.
Everything about the Gnostic teachings began to make sense to me including its sad history. The information given and techniques taught allowed me to verify the Divine through direct experience.
Today, the teachings have changed my life in many different ways and continue to change it for the best.
I can now say that I truly feel compassion for others, happiness, peace and unconditional love. This does not stop with my wife, children and extended family but is also felt for humanity.
I have discovered that love, compassion, happiness and peace cannot be fabricated by the mind or by our actions; it can only be achieved through real inner change and direct experience.
The Gnostic teachings have been such a blessing and I’m very thankful to have found them. I really hope that Gnosticism will be able to finally flourish for all of humanity who are interested and have a yearning to discover more.
“However, unlike some other religions, self-knowledge and personal spiritual experience are emphasized as being essential to spiritual development in Gnosticism, and the focus is on applying practices to achieve this development in one’s own life, rather than on belief and worship.”
This is the thing that has always been so amazing about Gnosticism to me. I also was raised going to church, and for a long while I tried to really listen to what the preacher said, to understand the deeper meaning and application. I also watched everyone else in church, but the whole thing seemed so normal. Going to church was just like going to school or the grocery store, because underneath it all nobody was changing. We were all the same people with the same bad habits, and it was a let down for me as a child.
When I finally met people in The Gnostic Movement, it was immediately clear that people were actively pursuing spirituality, and that the foundation for it was found in personal practice and experience.
I know what you mean Dara, my experience was the same.
When I came across the Gnostic Movement, what struck me the most was the opportunity and the means to experience real inner change – to actually change your whole way of being. That is why I am here and that is why I have stayed so long with The Gnostic Movement, as guided by Belzebuub. I can feel the change within me, it’s an amazing experience and one I am thankful for with my whole heart …. where would I be without it?
Long live Gnosis and I hope its precious gifts reaches people far and wide!!!
I am very thankful to The Gnostic Movement for providing these teachings freely.
Being raised in France, and raised atheist, my choices in spirituality were equal to none – yet, I longed to understand the purpose of Life. I longed to understand “Memory”, “Death”, “Dreams” and “Ghosts”. Yet, these were not topics that you would expect from a child, nor from a young woman. And so, society and what was expected of me shunned my desire to understand.
Then, I saw a poster advertising a class on Dreams & Astral Travel organized by The Gnostic Movement, and I knew it was something I did not want to pass. I went, and I had my first Out-Of-Body experience within the 9 week course. It changed my life, to be able to experience other dimensions, and later to physically prove its reality was amazing.
And, it is something that everyone can do – it’s not a “special” thing, for “special people” – as Belzebuub says “Spirituality is for people. It’s for people”.
But this knowledge of the Esoteric side of life, of the spiritual, has been lost for so long and without The Gnostic Movement passing it on, I would have continued with what society expected me to do, because I did not think I had a choice about spirituality.
I am very happy to have been made aware of the choice, of what spirituality is about, that I can find the Divine within myself, that it’s not about believing in some type of credo, but it’s about me, what I do, what I say when I’m on my own or around other people. Spirituality is about becoming a better person.
And if many people did that, the world we live in would be very different. So I wish everyone to know about this choice that we have, but I also respect the fact that not everyone is interested in spirituality. And that is fine.
But I truly hope that people not interested in spirituality respects the fact that people who are interested in spirituality have made that choice on their own, and that this choice should be respected and is very personal to the individual – That choice is about reuniting with the Divine. While it may offend people the idea that we, as human, can re-united with the Divine, it does not in any way invalidates it.
Love to all