Sophian.org

[Brooke]

Jesus said, "The foxes have their holes and the birds have their nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head and rest."

+Tau Malachi's wonderful explication of this verse speaks very well to the difference between bestial and divine humanity. One point in the meditation I'm still unclear about has to do with the angels and demons. I thought all sentient beings have the potential for evolving -- even demons. Is it that demons (and angels) simply have to wait until the next world system?

Blessings in the Light of Messiah!
Brooke
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Lady Mary said, "If you are seeking, it is the Holy Spirit that is seeking in you, and so be assured you will find."

[Tau Malachi]

Greetings and blessings in the Light of the Messiah!

In the Judeo-Christian tradition the term angels and demons is applied to all manner of cosmic and spiritual forces, all manner of sentient beings; the subject of the many different types of sentient beings that exist in the various dimensions of the matrix of creation, and that, in effect, form the great matrix, is vast and complex. Among them there are greater and lesser divinities, or “gods and goddesses,” if you will, and there are archons or titanic forces, fierce spirits or hungry ghosts, celestial spirits, elemental spirits – all manner of spiritual beings-forces, all manner of sentient beings, along with animal beings and human beings.

In terms of the Kabbalah, the term “angels and demons” is typically applied to all cosmic and spiritual beings-forces in relationship to God, the True Light, indicating the existence of all as completely dependent upon El Elyon, God Most High – to God, the True Light, the Holy One of Being, even the greatest of all cosmic divinities is as an “angel,” and though all are dependent upon God, the Infinite and Eternal, and though God may be said to be the source of all and immanent in all, God is completely transcendent of all, dependent upon nothing in creation. This, of course, is to emphasize that though calling upon Divine Powers in our spiritual work, our worship is of God, the Supreme, and it is meant to speak of the Sacred Unity underlying all sentient experience – the primordial ground of Ain, Ain Sof and Ain Sof Or, from which all arises and to which all returns.

In commenting upon this passage from the Gospel of St. Thomas, of course, I’ve used an oversimplification to speak a mystery to those new to Christian Gnosticism and Kabbalah – it is something said for the sake of novice, as in an introductory commentary it is not the time or place to venture into more complex, subtle and sublime esoteric mysteries of various forms of sentient existence. Here, in this commentary in the book, I’m pointing at the vast duration some incarnations can span – at the level of great cosmic forces, a “single lifetime” spans and entire cosmic cycle or great aeon; in effect, from the perspective of all other sentient beings in that cosmic cycle, most of which pass through countless incarnations during the same duration of space-time, these great spiritual beings-forces do not appear to change or evolve – rather, they appear like a “constant” or “changeless reality.” In other words, I’m speaking of a relative perception within the context of the Great Matrix or Entirety.

That said, according to the Zohar in the discussion of creation in Bereshit (Genesis), there are “permanent” and “temporary” angels, which is to say that there are angels whose existence spans the entire cosmic cycle and there are angels whose existence is of shorter durations – of those existing in shorter durations, many will still seem to us to exist forever, existing for aeons and aeons during the cosmic cycle, but includes angels that might exist only for a day or the briefest moment; in other words, among “temporary” angels are angels of all various durations of existence, longer or shorter. “Permanent” angels, of course, do not appear to evolve from the perspective of all that is within a great cosmic cycle, but “temporary” angels do appear to evolve, the mind or soul-stream manifest as these potentially assuming many different forms of sentient existence during a great cosmic cycle.

In terms of “permanent” angels, these cosmic beings-forces are a great mystery. On one hand, among these, there are pure emanations of the True Light, great enlightened beings; and on the other hand, among these, there are immeasurably powerful beings that are not exactly pure emanations of the True Light and are not enlightened beings – perhaps in another great cosmic cycle they may evolve to become enlightened, but they are not enlightened in this cosmic cycle.

Now, what is being called permanent angels correspond to cosmic spiritual beings-forces at the level of Beriyah – the “World of Archangels,” and what is being called temporary angels corresponds to spiritual beings-forces at the level of Yetzirah – the “World of Angels.” Included in the category of temporary angels are also invisible spiritual forces within Asiyah – the spirits of things that appear, and so we also speak of the “angels of our Earthly Mother,” as well as the “angels of our Heavenly Father,” all in a mystery.

Coupled with this teaching in the Zohar, there is also a teaching that says that everything that appears in creation has an angel in heaven, and has its root essence in the World of the Holy Sefirot – even a blade of grass, we are told, has an angel associated with it!

As you might sense, the term “angel” is being used in many and diverse ways, in various contexts – but basically, it indicates the spiritual beings-forces within and behind what appears, which in turn have their root essence in the World of the Holy Sefirot, or in God and Godhead.

In all of this there is something of a mystery regarding this Great Matrix of Creation through which souls individuate and evolve towards the Highest of Life – in the midst of the impermanent creation or Realm of Becoming, there must be some stability, some foundation, in the flow of things in constant flux or change that retains developments and facilitates evolution – some remembrance and guidance in the play of creative evolution. In this sense, great cosmic beings-forces serve to hold this place – they hold this remembrance as other sentient beings pass through their countless incarnations, falling again and again into forgetfulness, unconscious oblivion; they hold the space of our coming into being, as though holding open a door through which we might pass, and serve to orchestrate movements the fields of sentient existence, the Great Matrix or Entirety.

All of these great cosmic entities, however, are not necessarily pure emanations of God, the True Light, and are not necessarily enlightened beings of the Divine Order – all of them are not of the Pleroma of Light, but many exist under the dominion of cosmic ignorance and the illusion of separation, the dominion of the demiurgos. Frankly speaking, the Great Matrix is a wild place – this metadimensional universe is not exactly tame, as is well reflected by the sorrow and suffering that pervades all of sentient existence, on all levels, and the play of chaos and darkness in it, the play of evil.

Thus we may speak of archangels and arch demons, and of emanations of the Pleroma of Light and emanations of the Dominion of the Demiurge at the level of great cosmic beings-forces; hence, the level of Beriyah, the level at which the illusion of separation (perud) enters into play.

In this, perhaps, we may gain insight into the teachings of St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians, and perhaps we may take his teachings to heart when he writes: “God [the True Light] put his power to work in Christ [the Human One of Light] when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age [aeon] but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (1:20-22); and also: “For our struggle is not with blood and flesh, but against the rulers [archons], against authorities, against cosmic powers of this present darkness [ignorance], against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places” (6:12).

If this play of Light and Shadow reaches into the level of the great cosmic forces, the very height of the Entirety, we can only imagine the more radical conflict of spiritual beings-forces that pervades the lower regions of the Entirety; in the midst of this play of spiritual beings-forces, of course, unless we seek God, the True Light, and seek the enlightenment and liberation of the soul (Christ), rather than divine and holy beings-forces, or enlightened beings-forces, what we will attract and link with will be admixed or titanic beings-forces at best, or else dark and hostile beings-forces; hence, we will not attract spiritual forces that will serve to facilitate the enlightenment and liberation of our soul, but rather we will attract spiritual forces of cosmic ignorance (demiurge) that will keep us in bondage to the ignorance.

We can see this very clearly throughout much of modern “alternative spirituality,” the new age and pop-occultism; as individuals experience an opening of consciousness in an impure state, devoid of a true spiritual education and the proper cultivation of the spiritual life and practice, they come into contact with all manner of impure spiritual beings-forces that do not speak of God or lead souls towards enlightenment and liberation, but quite the opposite, they distract and lead astray, and they steal the light-power of souls that might otherwise be awakening. Essentially, if one listens and hears what these spirits are saying to people, there is nothing about God or enlightenment in it, but rather, generally speaking, it only caters to ego-grasping, and the play of egoistic desires and fears – it is all a grand deception, a continuation of the same old ignorance. There is little or nothing divine or enlightened about it; if and when there is some spark of truth, always it is mixed with much falsehood – corrupted.

In this, of course, we come to understand the necessity of the Divine Incarnation in the person of Yeshua Messiah, as well as the various adepts and masters, or tzaddikim and maggidim, that appear among us – through the Divine Incarnation and events of the Holy Gospel a sanctuary of grace is made manifest, so that putting on the Blessed Name and cleaving to the Risen Messiah we might be empowered to discern between spiritual beings-forces and attract to us the true Divine Powers of the Pleroma and God, the True Light. Indeed! It is on account of this great play of spiritual beings-forces that reaches into the height of the Entirety that the Savior or Gnostic Revealer had to appear among us, and why that Light-presence and Light-power must continue to appear among us – we have great need of this divine assistance, for the Entirety is extremely deceptive and the force of ignorance is very powerful in it.

In this we may also understand what we are taught in the Gnostic Gospel, such as Pistis Sophia – the ministry of Adonai Yeshua is not only to human beings, but also to cosmic and spiritual beings-forces, all sentient beings on all levels of sentient existence; thus, in the Human One of Light, our spiritual labor to extend the True Light is not only a labor in Christ for human beings, but is a labor to “preach the gospel” to all sentient beings, visible and invisible, small and great, just the same.

Indeed, assuming that an admixed or dark spirit wishes to draw close to the Light-presence and Light-power in me in order to deceive and lead astray, rather than take to heart what such a spirit might say, instead I’d be inclined to extend the Divine Light and speak the Gospel of Truth – I’d be inclined to seek the enlightenment and liberation of that spirit, but then if not that, I’d be inclined to subjugate, banish or dispel that spirit; I certainly would not entertain its deception or give power to it.

In this respect we carry a vision of the uplifting of all in the Risen Messiah and the evolution of all towards enlightenment and liberation – a universal salvation; it is only that for many it may take a very long time, while for others it will come to pass relatively swiftly – all in due season.

In this you may also understand why we are very cautious as to what we sponsor in this world – actively discerning with regards to teachings we support and advocate; while indeed there may be a place for all things, serving souls of various grades in their development and evolution, taking up the labor of the harvest of souls, the Great Work, we seek to support and sponsor what facilitates the actual Light Transmission, and do our best not to give power to the influence of admixed and dark spirits in the world. Indeed, the problem is not the blood and flesh, or apparent persons, it is the spiritual beings-forces that are linked with, the influence of which becomes channeled through apparent persons espousing, facilitating and enacting the influence of impure and deceiving spirits; the most common ploy of such spiritual forces is to take a little truth and light and mix it with much falsehood and darkness, then to present it all as “equally true.”

All of this said, in truth, we need not concern ourselves that much with the play of spiritual forces; specifically, we need not concern ourselves that much with the dominion of ignorance or darkness in the world – it just is as it is, and it’s sacred as it is. Rather, we focus on the Divine Light, and the generation of the Light-presence and Light-power in ourselves and in the world, the illumination and liberation of souls.

In terms of self-purification that allows us to open to God, the True Light, and empowers us to discern spiritual forces, it is letting go our ego-grasping, attachment and aversion, and the generation of the Sacred Heart – active love and compassion; it is this that all authentic wisdom traditions teach and focus upon in the spiritual life, and it is this that all righteous spirits encourage and facilitate.

May we be blessed and empowered to invoke true Divine Powers and to walk in the company of the Shekinah of Messiah – the presence and power of the Human One of Light; so may all beings be blessed – amen.

Blessings & shalom!
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Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

[Brooke]