What is Gnosticism?

How much do you know about Gnosticism? This question is a little more difficult than what it first appears. While many would say Gnosticism goes back to the beginning of the current era (first century), its roots probably go back much further. There are different groups of Gnostics, each of which contain diverse subgroups.

I first became interested in Gnosticism when I learned its basic definition as “inner knowing”. As I strove to better understand its foundations, I found great diversity of tradition and belief. Some may be aware that in the early days of Christianity, the Council of Nicea excluded and even destroyed many of the early Christian Gnostic ideas and texts.

Carl Jung was one of the modern students of the Gnostics with the finding of the Nag Hammadi texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. His studies along with modern scholars such as Elaine Pagels and Karen King have brought this early development of Christianity back into focus.

For those who would like to learn more, I recommend Stephan Hoeller’s Gnosticism, New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing, as well as Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Paul, Beyond Belief and Reading Judas, The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity written with Karen King.

Here is my personal list of books on Gnosticism:
Hoeller, Stephan A. Carl Jung and the Lost Gospels, Insights into The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. Illinois: Quest Books, 1990.
Hoeller, Stephan A. Gnosticism, New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing. Illinois: Quest Books, 2002.
Meyer, Marvin W. The Secret Teachings of Jesus, Four Gnostic Gospels. New York: Vintage Books, 1986.
Meyer, Marvin W. The Gospel of Thomas, The Hidden Sayings of Jesus. New York: Harper, 1986.
Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Paul. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1992.
Pagels, Elaine. Beyond Belief, The Secret Gospel of Thomas. New York: Random House, 2003.
Pagels, Elaine and Karen L. King. Reading Judas, The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity. New York: Viking, 2007.
Patterson, Stephen J., Robinson, James M., and Hans-Gebhard Bethge. The Fifth Gospel, The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998.
Randolph, Kurt. Gnosis, The Nature and History of Gnosticism. California: Harper and Row Publishing, 1987.
Robinson, James M. general editor. The Nag Hammadi Library in English. California: Harper, 1988.

Life’s True Adventure

A trip to a far away place?
A mountain climb?
A profession fulfilled?
Or a search for the fountain of
Absolute truth?
A choice to be made,
To look deep within
Right here, right now
To drink from the well of
Inner knowing.
To be more real
To live a life in wisdom.
A philosopher on a
Search for grace,
A journey for truth.

The Simple Truth

Does it make any sense to you that your true nature would be hard to find? Does it make any sense that you would need to ask some other person, see a miraculous display, or think a fabulous thought?

Isn’t your true nature your inner knowing? Isn’t it the precious gift that you received with your auspicious human birth? Do you really need to see a sign, dream a dream, or travel to some exotic place?

Is your inner spirit far away? Is this the search for a complexity beyond a complexity or a riddle within a riddle? Does any of that make any sense?

The simple truth is that your true nature is just beneath the surface of who you think you are, waiting patiently for you to find your way home.


Simple Is

As simple as it is
No simpler please
That is what we seek
For the ego loves the puzzle
The master of complexity
A storyteller, who
Lives from the crowd’s reply
To stoke the ego’s fire
But this is just the magician
Hard at work again
Pulling the rabbit out
Good for a laugh
Part of the distraction
The illusion of it all
If we only knew that
The true reward is
The simplicity found inside.