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[Tau Malachi]

The Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection

The Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection is celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox – the point of the solar year when the light reaches the midpoint in its ascent and we witness the renewal of life abundant within nature. The theme of this rite of the outer continuum, as stated in its name, is the exploration of the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection as understood by Sophian Gnostics – hence, the power of redemption that comes through the revelation of the Risen Christ.

The outer, inner and secret teachings of the Holy Gospel form an integral vehicle within the Sophian Gnostic tradition. Thus, the essential points of faith in the outer church pose no conflict or contradiction to the esoteric teachings of the inner church – among Sophians we celebrate the mystery of an actual death and resurrection, and we celebrate the grace of redemption through a holy sacrifice, as much as celebrating the divine revelation that takes place through this vehicle, Gnosis of the Risen Christ. Of course, what this means to each individual initiate will differ, corresponding to their own faith, and their own experience of the Risen Christ – their own knowledge and understanding of the Holy Gospel. However, it must be said that, generally speaking, Sophian Gnostics do not view the advent of the Risen Christ as “mythical,” as though yet another mythical tale of the slain and risen god – rather, we view the mystery drama of the Gospel as the fulfillment of what sages in enlightened pagan traditions intuited, and what ancient Israeli prophets beheld in their visions: the emergence of enlightenment and liberation in humanity; the emergence of a Divine and Supernal Humanity.

The story is told in the Book of Nature: It is the story of the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, an earthbound creature that is completely transformed and that takes to the air in a most radiant and glorious fashion. This, exactly, reflects the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection as understood by Sophian Gnostics.

The focus of this rite will depend upon what is transpiring with the companions of a Sophian circle during a given year – generally speaking we do not focus as much upon the Passion and Crucifixion as the Roman Church or Mel Gibson would have us do, though some years we may place more emphasis upon it. If one studies and contemplates a Gnostic gospel, such as Pistis Sophia, one will gain insight into the most common emphasis: the teachings and revelation of the Risen Christ. As we see in Pistis Sophia, Gnostic gospels tend to begin where the canonical gospels end – with the advent of the Risen Savior; thus our focus is the revelation of the Risen Christ. Indeed, we may venture into the mystery of the redemptive action of the cross – the forgiveness of sin (or dispelling of negative karma) and the Sanctuary of Divine Grace made manifest (the mystery of ransom); but within and behind that is the dispelling of the ignorance through the revelation of the Pleroma of Light, the cessation of the cause of our bondage to the dominion of the demiurge and shadow of the demiurge – this, most often, is what we emphasize in the Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

There is something of the mystery of the holy merkavah (chariot) in this rite, for the Mystical Body of the Risen Savior is viewed as the Supernal Merkavah of the Great Resurrection and Ascension – the Savior descends into the deepest depths of the Entirety and ascends, drawing all in ascent with him that are able to cleave to him in faith and gnosis.

There is also something of the mystery of the Bridal Chamber – hieros gamos, the symbol of the cross, in the Sophian tradition, representing something akin to the lingam and yoni of Eastern traditions; the union of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, the Lord and Holy Bride, Messiah and Shekinah of Messiah. When this becomes the emphasis, the focus is upon the empty tomb, Risen Christ and the Holy Bride who first receives him.

Based upon the empty tomb, at times there may also be an exploration of the womb and tomb as one and the same gate, and the Resurrection as a Gate of Light leading into the Light Realm or Pleroma of Light – the Great Exodus.

There may also be a rather esoteric play upon the mystery of the interior stars, crucifixion of the Serpent Power (or the uplifting of the Serpent Power to repose in the crown), the generation of the Body of Light, and transference of consciousness – hence, the Cross on the Mount of the Skull, the Holy Remembrance of the Divine I Am seated on top of the head and in the Sanctuary of the Heart.

At times, very similar to the idea of a merkavah rite, we may explore the mysteries of the heavenly ministry of the Risen Christ, akin to what is written in Pistis Sophia.

The practice of Giving & Receiving reflects the essential mystery of the crucifixion – the generation of the Sacred Heart of love and compassion; this too may become our focus in this rite, as it is the very foundation of self-realization in Christ, the enlightenment and liberation of the soul.

There can also be all manner of explorations of the Mystical Body of the Risen Messiah – the Threefold Body of Melchizedek.

The feast on the equinoxes and solstices correspond to the directions of the Sacred Circle and to the Archangels of the Sacred Circle. Thus, this feast corresponds to the East, the place of sunrise, and to Archangel Raphael, the healing power of the Divine; these can also be mysteries explored in this feast, as well as mysteries to which they allude.

With all of the solar feasts it is all about a creative exploration and celebration of spiritual and metaphysical mysteries that flow from the basic theme of the rite – and every year this play in the Divine Spirit is different, depending upon what’s transpiring in circle and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps this might give some sense of the vast range of spiritual and esoteric mysteries that may be explored in the Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection within the Sophian Gnostic tradition – as with all of the solar feasts or rites of the outer continuum, there is a celebration of the Wedding Feast or Holy Eucharist within it.

May we be blessed with the Divine Gnosis of the Risen Christ so that we might abide in the Great Resurrection and Ascension in life and at the time of our death; amen.

Blessings & shalom!
_________________
Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

[Phillip]

Shalom Tau Malachi!

Whenever I contemplate the crucifixion, I cannot help but contemplate the mystery of transformation. As you say in the above post, "the Savior descends into the deepest depths of the Entirety and ascends, drawing all in ascent with him that are able to cleave to him in faith and gnosis," which sounds like a transformation of the karmic continuum of the individuals drawn up. Something of this seems to take the idea of the scapegoat in Judaic tradition to a whole new level.

As many will know, the Jewish people would send a goat out into the wilderness to be devoured by a demon and his hosts to keep them away and pacified during the real offerings to the divine so the prayers would ascend without being obstructed by these nasty beings/forces. This theurgic act by Yeshua, I have heard said, was this rite of the scapegoat enacted, "once and for all time" since it was by a conscious being, giving himself willingly as this offering. So whereas, in the Judaic tradition, the simple act of distracting and pacifying these dark forces sounds like a delay of the ill effects of one's karmic continuum, perhaps allowing one to build up positive merit to negate the negative, Yehsua actually brings the negative karma to cessation and actually transforms it into the substance of his own body!

In this sense, could the tikkune of our lives and the karma we encounter in this life be seen as "our cross" that we are to actively participate with the Risen Savior in order to to transform and Unify ourselves with the Risen Savior?

May we be drawn in Ascension in the vehicle of the Body of the Risen Savior!

Phillip

[Leslie Kaneel]

Shalom!

I am thankful for the 'scapegoat' commentary: Although I have come to understand the crucifixion as not having been a vile appeasement of God Most High, I still did not quite clue in on the appeasement part of the following teaching:
"This sacrifice is not to appease God Most High, but to appease the demiurge and archons - in other words, for the sake of a Divine Revelation that dispels karmic vision (ignorance)."
This all seems clearer now.

The Acts of John (sections 97-104) also has clarified many clouded truths about the crucifixion and resurrection. Thank-you for teachings posted in "Union With the Cross" - Order of St. Michael. I very much love this part of The Acts of John and especially the following quotes:

"And my Lord standing in the midst of the cave and enlightening it, said: John, unto the multitude below in Jerusalem I am being crucified and pierced with lances and reeds, and gall and vinegar is given me to drink. But unto thee I speak, and what I speak hear thou. I put it into thy mind to come up into this mountain, that thou mightest hear those things which it behoveth a disciple to learn from his teacher and a man from his God.

And having thus spoken, he showed me a Cross of Light and about the cross a great multitude, not having one form: and in the cross was one form and one likeness. And the Lord himself I beheld above the cross, not having any shape, but only a voice: and a voice not such as was familiar to us, but one sweet and kind and truly of God, saying unto me: John it is needful that one should hear these things from me, for I have need of one that will hear...."

".....The Lord explains, 'Not every limb of him who came down has been gathered together' but he assures John that when the time comes: 'Those who presently don't hear will become as you are, and will no longer be what they are not, but exist above the cosmos as I do.'

Commentary from "Jesus & the Lost Goddess" (Freke & Gandy):
"When all those gathered around the cross recognize their true nature, then the Christ will be reunified. We are in the process of 're-membering' Christ. But until all the lost seeds of consciousness spiritually awaken and recognize their essential shared identity, the Christ will not be completely reunified. Jesus tells John: 'As long as some do not call themselves mine, I am not what I am.'"

This definitely reminds one of the need for the Great Work, out and in, the fields of sentient existence; Active compassion in the Sacred Heart of Christ!

May all be brought into the True Cross of Light; hopefully sooner than later! Amen.

Blessings to All!
Leslie.

[Tau Malachi]

Greetings Phillip and Leslie!

Yes, indeed, Brother Phillip, when we cleave to the Messiah and Shekinah of Messiah in faith, inwardly, the trials and tribulations we experience in life may become talismanic of the redemptive and liberative action of the crucifixion, our part of the grief and pain in life being our part of this holy sacrifice seeking to uplift the world, the Entirety. We see this in Giving and Receiving Meditation in which we take the suffering of others into our own suffering with the wish to liberate others from their suffering, as though exchanging places with others – we take upon ourselves the pain and grief of others and give them our light and joy in the Risen Messiah. This, exactly, is the love of the Messiah, and it is the transformation of suffering – what otherwise would seem purposeless becomes purposeful and meaningful in this way.

There is something to be said for the image of the crucifix, for it can be used as an object of meditation during times of sorrow and suffering – if we identify ourselves with the Christ-bearer on the cross our sorrow and suffering may be transformed into a vehicle of drawing near to Christ, a vehicle of cleaving. Likewise, it may facilitate a deeper recognition of the demiurge and shadow of the demiurge, the ignorance that is the cause of sorrow and suffering, and that binds us, strengthening our faith and our zeal in the spiritual life and practice. This is skillful means, for sorrow and suffering is unavoidable in life – there are many challenges; by using them we transform them, and we actively engage in the spiritual labor of tikkune-healing, shattering klippot and uplifting the holy sparks. Likewise, we guard our faith, for trials and tribulations are often a time of vulnerability to admixed and dark forces, and all too often may become a challenge to our faith – extreme sorrow and suffering has been the downfall of many through the loss of faith in God; but embracing sorrow and suffering as our part in the labor of redemption, the enlightenment and liberation of souls, our trials and tribulations serve to increase and strengthen our faith, and perhaps may facilitate gnosis.

The cause of our bondage is self-cherishing, attachment and aversion – the spiritual practice we are talking about dispels all three of these; thus in the mystery of the crucifixion we find deep wisdom.

There is something to be said of the Messiah becoming a holy sacrifice for the “remission of sin” – it is a movement of divine theurgy liberating beings from the karmic cords that bind them; hence, it a gesture of mercy, of love and compassion, the Sacred Heart. Yeshua Messiah makes his own body a talisman of the sin or negative karma of the world, so that cleaving in faith to the Risen Messiah, through Divine Grace, our sin or negative karma is dispelled. Such cleaving, however, is something more that a collective and vicarious salvation through atonement, for in cleaving to the Risen Messiah we take up our cross – our part of the sorrow and suffering, and enter into the same theurgic movement, seeking the enlightenment and liberation of all sentient beings. Thus we read in Pistis Sophia that the disciples of Yeshua Messiah are also called “saviors,” having their own role to play in the deliverance of others from their bondage.

The truth is, as long as we are in the ignorance, in the body, and as long as we are the doer, there is always karma – the play of the law of cause and effect. Strive as we might to engender only positive karma, inevitably we also engender negative karma, “sin”; in other words, there is always some admixture of negativity, of shades and shadows in all that we do – of our own power we can do nothing to change this, nothing to bring about the tikkune-healing of this. Thus, through the cross, Adonai Yeshua takes all the negativity of the world and its consequence upon himself, and through this theurgic or magical action he liberates all who have faith and cleave to him; he brings negative karma and the cause of negative karma to cessation, “nailing it to the cross,” as St. Paul teaches. In this way he dispels the dominion of the klippot, the cords that bind us to the demiurge and archons, and to the shadow of the demiurge, so that cleaving to the Risen Messiah we might draw near to El Elyon, God Most High, the True Light.

As much as our deliverance from sin or negative karma, through this theurgic action and the Divine Grace that flows from the Risen Messiah – the power of the Holy Spirit, we also become empowered to take upon ourselves the sin or negative karma of others and dispel it; hence, the power to release and to bind that Yeshua Messiah communicates to his disciples in the resurrection. This is the natural extension of faith in the forgiveness of sin, for set free from sin through the cross, identifying with the cross we are no longer bound by the law, and by sin and death – we know the empty or void nature of sin and all that appears; thus we are empowered to dispel it in the Light-presence (Christ) and the Light-power (Holy Spirit).

In truth we do not dispel anything – we do nothing of ourselves, but it is the Light-presence and Light-power in us that accomplishes everything; herein is the real secret, for sin or negative karma and its consequences remain in effect so long as we are the doer, but no longer being the doer we are free from it, free from the law of cause and effect, abiding in the repose of the Risen Messiah, the repose of the Human One of Light (Messiah) in union with the True Light (El Elyon, Eheieh). This, exactly, is what Adonai Yeshua teaches in the Gospel and what he shows us through the cross – for he says that the Son does nothing of himself, but that he does what he sees the Father doing, and in the same way we do nothing or ourselves, but we do what the Light-presence and Light-power in us does, the emanation of the True Light, the “Living Father.”

This wisdom is in the *rite of baptism*, celebrated in the solar feast preceding this one, for it is our theurgic action linking us to the theurgic action of the crucifixion; going down into the water the klippah of the doer is dissolved, and rising up out of the waters it is the Light-presence (Christ) and Light-power (Holy Spirit) that becomes the doer in us – we are reborn from above, reborn as the child of light, the Human One of Light (the Great Seth, Shin-Tau)

Of course, all of this has its foundation in the recognition and realization of the nature of mind, consciousness or soul – the recognition of the Ain Nature of the mind and the Ain Nature of all that appears, and the recognition of all that appears as a radiant display of the mind, consciousness or soul. In the ignorance, in the dualistic state of consciousness, we believe in an independent and substantial self experience, separate and apart from all that appears, and separate and apart from the source of being, God, the True Light. Thus, there is the appearance of sin and death, and the relative reality of our bondage. However all of this is illusory in nature, for it is based upon the illusion of separation; through our experience of the Risen Messiah, the Gnostic Revealer, this illusion is dispelled.

The reality of the forgiveness of sin through the cross is, in truth, a matter of skillful means – sin and death have never substantially existed, and are illusory; yet, in the ignorance. we believe in sin, and so we become bound up in sin and death, the gilgulim (transmigrations of the soul). Thus, since in the vision of ignorance sin and death become a relative reality to us, according to this karmic vision a Sanctuary of Grace was manifest so that through faith in our forgiveness we might know our freedom – the perfection of the Human One of Light in us, the Light Realm within and all around us.

Look and see! What do we behold in the Risen Christ? If the crucifixion and resurrection is more than a mythical tale, then what we behold is the illusory nature of this relative display of reality, and the illusory nature of sin and death; though suffering and dying upon the cross, Adonai Yeshua is raised from the dead – apparently, sin and death are not what they seem to be, and neither are any other appearances here!

This all sounds to incredible, so fanciful – but what if the reality of our experience is dream-like, a magical display of the mind, consciousness or soul, and what if Adonai Yeshua is like a lucid dreamer, entering into this collective dream to reveal the dream-like nature of this reality and to awaken us in the dream, and ultimately to awaken us from the dream? It is incredible and fanciful only so long as we are asleep and dreaming, unaware that we are dreaming – then it seems either “supernatural” or “impossible.” However, if this reality of our experience is, in fact, like a collective dream, a radiant or magical display of the mind, consciousness or soul, then the wonders he performs are quite natural, quite possible – not so incredible or fanciful at all. Believing the wonders he performed to be “supernatural miracles,” as in fundamental and orthodox teachings, may miss the greater truth of the Gospel; likewise, disbelieving that he performed such wonders, that they are “mythical” and “impossible” may also miss the greater truth of the Gospel – they may be two sides of the same ignorance, the ignorance of one who is asleep and dreaming, and who believes that the dream is substantially real, an objective reality separate and apart from the subject, the observer.

Yes, indeed, at times we speak of the crucifixion as akin to the sacrifice of the scapegoat, an offering upon which the sins of Israel were placed that was sent out into the desert to appease dark and hostile forces – there is something of that mystery within the mystery of the crucifixion. Yet, the idea of the scapegoat is often associated with the sacrifice of John the Baptist in our Gnostic tradition – distracting the rulers to allow time for the Messiah to fully come into being and enact the Gospel; after all, John the Baptist also gave his life for the revelation of the Messiah and the Gospel, this Supernal Light Transmission.

There is, however, another more direct association with the crucifixion of the Christ-bearer; the Pascal Lamb, the lamb that was slain at Passover, just before the exodus from Egypt. The blood of the lamb was placed upon the doorframes of the homes of the Children of Israel as a sign to the angel of death to “pass-over” or “pass-by” the homes of the faithful, so that the angel of death would not strike down the firstborn of their house. In a similar way, Yeshua Messiah makes himself the Pascal Lamb for the Great Exodus from the Entirety, the dominion of the demiurge and archons, the Body and Blood of the Messiah becoming the empowerment of the Great Resurrection and Ascension, the Great Liberation. Thus, we read in the Gospel of Philip: “Do not despise the lamb, for by it you see the door” – the exit from the Entirety, the gate into the Light Realm (the “kingdom of God).

Studying the Passover, remembering the Last Supper transpires on the Passover in Jerusalem, this becomes a very deep contemplation of the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection, and the Wedding Feast, the Holy Eucharist.

Here we may hint at an open secret in the Christian Kabbalah – following the Passover, when the children of Israel departed from Egypt, at the Red Sea there was the revelation of the Seventy-Two Names of God, representing redemptive and liberative power. According to masters of the tradition – Christian Kabbalah, the full power of these names does not come into effect until Easter Morning, the Risen Messiah. Thus, the full light-power of these names – the Supernal Light-power, is within the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection, in the Risen Messiah, Hayyah Yeshua (the Living Yeshua). Therefore, the association of the crucifixion with the Lamb of God, the lamb of Passover, holds deeper esoteric implications – the empowerment of the Blessed Name, within which is the Light-power of all Names of God, the True Light.

Through the Threefold Rite of Baptism, Chrism and Wedding Feast the power of the Blessed Name is communicated, and yet more through the intonation of the Mystic Word (or Living Word), Radiant Holy Breath and Laying-On-Of-Hands which forms the inner dimension of the Threefold rite, as when the Risen Messiah communicates the power of the Holy Spirit to his disciples in the upper room on Eastern Morning.

These Seventy-Two Names of God are said to bear the power to “bind and release,” which is the power of the Holy Spirit that Yeshua Messiah communicates to the disciples, the holy apostles – in this we gain insight into a deeper mystery within and behind the celebration of the Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection within the tradition.

Next Friday evening we will be celebrating the Feast of the Crucifixion and Resurrection in the outer continuum, making it a little easier for our companions who attend from out of town; as it turns out, however, tonight we will be celebrating a Merkavah Rite of the Mystical Body in the inner continuum, using the Seventy-Two Names of God as the central focus of our theurgic work. Thus, our outer and inner continuum are intersecting in an interesting way this year, quite spontaneously, through the timing of things and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the dance of the Shekinah of Messiah.

May the Rays of the Spiritual Sun go forth into all realms, worlds and universes of the Entirety, and shine upon one and all alike, the Pleroma of Light in the Risen Christ granting every heart-wish; amen.

Blessings & shalom!
_________________
Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

[Leslie Kaneel]

Shalom +Malachi!

Ah, I believe you helped loose a major knot!

Entanglement from incomplete outer church wordage on the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Hearing this ad nauseam in liturgies associated directly with the "collective and vicarious salvation" preached by orthodoxy, a shutdown occured about anything to do with the crucifixion being related to "the Lamb." To be honest, as soon as the title of your above post was read, there was a definite sense of resistance to accept this analogy.
You may say, "the Lamb" has been spoken of in other parts of the forum. Well, it is not always the right time and space for deeper, more thorough contemplation of certain Mysteries. Perhaps this is the right time.

Having deeply accepted Sophian teachings such as "the illusory nature of the Reality that appears; and the illusory nature of our bondage, sin, and death," your complete explanation above concerning the Pascal Lamb is very Freeing. 'Complete' in the sense that you actually say what the Pascal Lamb is for - "for the Great Exodus from the Entirety, the dominion of the demiurge and archons....." The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in direct comparison to the Exodus from the Entirety, or Cosmos.
Travelling out from the cave of the cosmos into the Light Realm - the Supernal Abode. This links the Lamb to a participatory Salvation with an active purpose in the here and now. Wonderful!

"The Body and Blood of the Messiah becoming the empowerment of the Great Resurrection and Ascension, the Great Liberation."

The Pascal Lamb --- now, the resistance is gone!

May we cleave to the Risen Messiah and move through "the gate into the Light Kingdom." Amen.

In much Gratitude!
Leslie.

[Tau Malachi]

Salutations Leslie!

I’m happy the contemplation proved helpful, my friend – the need for tikkune-healing you mention, or “loosening of knots,” was the intention behind the post and seems very important. Many who come to Christian Gnosticism have a deep need for reconciliation and healing from negative experiences with the outer church – a need for the restoration of their original faith, the fullness of their faith, which may have become compromised by struggles with dogmatic creed and doctrines. At the very outset we are called by the Holy Spirit, the Mother Spirit, to the Gospel – there is an intuitive sense of the truth and deeper mystery of the Messiah and the Gospel, and a heart connection with the Messiah; in a word, the dawn of faith. Then, however, we are confronted by dogmatic creed and doctrines, which becomes as the “letter of the law” that slays our Spirit-connection and distracts from the deeper spirituality and mystery we sense – we end up presented with creed and doctrine to believe, rather than our original faith, our original intuition of the Spirit of Truth.

The difficulty, of course, is that there are profound truths within the essential points of the outer teachings, but they become so encrusted by the addition of dogmatic doctrines that we end up in a sever reaction, a vital recoil, and we reject those truths because they have become synonymous to us with the klippot of dogma. Thus, as we enter into Christian Gnosticism, naturally, there must be something of a process of tikkune-healing, shattering those klippot – husks of darkness, and drawing out the sparks of spiritual truth that became bound up in them. This can be something of a challenge, though, on account of the grief and pain in our experience, the mental and emotional wounds, and even spiritual wounds, left behind; the words used to express spiritual truth and mysteries in the Christian stream of Light Transmission have become “super charged” for us mentally and emotionally (psychically) – therefore their spiritual and esoteric meaning becomes hard to listen and hear, at least at the outset.

As we enter into Gnostic Christianity, and progress in the Gnostic Path, instead of avoiding these issues, it is good for us to become conscious of them and actively seek our tikkune-healing; rather than assuming that the Gnostic Gospel is a completely different gospel, as though replacing the outer teachings, it is good to embrace it as an extension of the outer teachings of the Gospel, seeking to gain deeper insight into the exoteric Gospel through the esoteric Gospel, understanding the inner and secret teachings rooted in the essential truths of the outer teachings. Indeed, actual Gnostic Christian teachings, as Elaine Pagels has proposed, are “advanced studies” that are founded upon the elementary or basic studies – the essential truths of the Gospel.

Thus, wherever we find a sticking point, a point of vital resistance, it is good to work with it until we experience a breakthrough – though in a gentle fashion, and as you say, in due timing. After all, such tikkune-healings is something of an organic process and does take some time in our experience.

There is something interesting to be said with regards to the vision of the Torah, prophets and writings (Old Testament) with the view we acquire through the Gospel (New Testament) – it is as though we are witnessing a process of development and evolution in the Divine Revelation, a development and evolution in the Continuum of Light Transmission. In the process of evolution within nature new species are generated in secret, within present species. Along the way, through many generations, there are hints of the new development, the new species, but until the new species emerges the actual purpose and meaning of these developments is not fully seen, for the potential is not fully actualized, realized. The same may be said of the evolution of the Divine Revelation from the Torah to the Gospel, as well as from the outer teachings of the Gospel to the inner and secret teachings – all the while this divine potential is being actualized and realized, this Light-presence and Light-power is coming into being through gradations or cycles of evolution. Of course, what is actually evolving is humanity – the vehicles or channels of this Divine Revelation, this Light Transmission. Quite naturally, with the advent of the Risen Messiah, the vision of the Torah, prophets and writings is transformed – as though they become new books, filled with even deeper spiritual meaning. The same is true of the Gospel as the Gnostic experience unfolds; hence, the Gnostic Gospel, which is rooted in the outer teachings of the Gospel, but which unfolds through direct spiritual and mystical experience of the Risen Messiah.

Thus, we look into the Torah, and into the prophets and writings, we see the patterns of the Gospel coming into being – earlier developments in the evolution of the Divine Revelation, earlier grades of Light Transmission. The story of the exodus is an excellent example, for as the story goes in the Torah, it is an exodus from Egypt to the “Promised Land” – a movement from one realm within the Entirety to another realm of the Entirety; it is the generation of an earthly kingdom, and though somewhat spiritual, it is worldly. The story of the exodus in the Gospel, however, is a complete departure from the dominion of the demiurge and archons, the Entirety – an ascent from the Entirety to the Pleroma of Light or Light Realm; it is the generation of a heavenly kingdom, which is fully spiritual, and not of this world. The former, of course, foreshadows the latter – the former corresponding to a time when the latter could not be seen and heard, could not be received and accepted within the collective of humankind.

An earthly kingdom is in need of a law, is governed by law, and the law corresponds to the nature of the kingdom and peoples it governs; in terms of a heavenly kingdom, there is no need for a law, but it is governed by Divine Grace, Divine Providence – the law, cause and effect, does not apply. Thus, in the exodus of the Old Testament a law is given, but in the exodus of the New Testament there is outpouring of Divine Grace – the Supernal Chrism.

Through adherence to the law a person abides as a resident of an earthly kingdom – one enters and abides in an earthly kingdom through the law; however, one cannot enter into a heavenly kingdom through the law, but rather one can only enter through Divine Grace – a power greater than oneself.

Although we may speak of an experience of ascension into the Light Realm, in truth, the Light Realm that is “above” is everywhere here “below”; it is within and all around us, here and now, but often we do not see or hear or feel it – we are encumbered by the ignorance, the illusion of separation, and the karmic vision that arises from it. In the midst of this karmic vision we become bound up in self-grasping, desire and fear – we “mingle” with the objects of our desire “as in adultery” and live in reaction to our fears as though slaves; thus, karma is engendered, a play of cause and effect, and sin and death become relatively real in our experience. In the midst of this, as much as we may try to enact the righteousness of our heart and soul – the innate good that is in us, always there is some degree of admixture; some other motives the come into play, some shades and shadows of desire and fear. Thus, while generating positive karma there is always a generation of some degree of negative karma, some element of “sin” – cords that bind. In the midst of this, save through Divine Grace, the redemptive and liberative power that flows through the Risen Messiah, how would we experience the Light Realm in this life, so as to experience the Light Realm in the afterlife – unless the karmic cords that bind us were severed, and our karmic vision dispelled, how would our mind or soul-stream be set free?

This is the wisdom of the crucifixion and resurrection – the cords that bind us are dispelled, along with the vision of ignorance, and we are thus empower to abide in the peace and joy of the Risen Messiah, able to abide in the Light Realm, first through faith, and then through gnosis.

There is something to be said of the wisdom of the Holy Gospel in this regard, for though, perhaps, through thousands of incarnations we might be able to slowly evolve towards the enlightenment and liberation of the mind or soul-stream, through the Sanctuary of Grace manifest by way of the cross, the way is opened to an instantaneous enlightenment and liberation, a *Thunderbolt Enlightenment*. Instead of a long and laborious working out working out of all karma generated by the soul, assuming such a thing is possible apart from divine assistance, through the Sanctuary of Grace manifest in the Divine Incarnation, and the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection, we are liberated from the karmic continuum and established in the Light Continuum – a Thunderbolt Enlightenment becoming possible for us in this lifetime, or within only a few lifetimes, all by way of Divine Grace. This is the “good news” of the Gospel.

Thus, there is something to be said for a teaching on the “remission of sin” through the holy sacrifice enacted by way of the cross – for cleaving in faith, receiving this forgiveness through Divine Grace, we are empowered to the experience of the Great Resurrection and Ascension, liberated from the cords that bind us to the dominion of the demiurge and archons, the Entirety. Indeed, El Elyon, God Most High, needs no appeasement – there is no judgment in the True Light; it is not a rite of ransom for God, the True Light, but rather, the ransom is for us, on account of our karmic vision, the vision of ignorance, and our entanglement in the karmic web through the law of cause and effect – a law suspended on the cross, which in some Gnostic scriptures is called “the limit,” the end of the law, the cessation of the dominion of the demiurge. Having faith, and cleaving inwardly in faith, this is exactly what the cross becomes to us – the end of the law, the beginning of grace.

Granted, much of Christendom has bound itself once again to the law through the generation of a plethora of dogmatic doctrines – the old leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees has enter into the New Covenant; however, shedding such follies of mortal institutions we can receive and accept essential truths of the Immortal Spirit in the Gospel – the truth of the Anointed One, the Bornless One, the Human One of Light embodied in Lord Yeshua and in us. Hallelu Yah!

It seems that the subject of reconciliation and healing, and the restoration to our original faith born of the Mother Spirit, has a very intimate connection with the Feast of the Resurrection and Ascension – hence my inclination to pursue it a bit further, extending the contemplation.

May all who seek reconciliation and healing receive it, all in the Light of the True Cross – the Risen Christ; amen.

Blessings & shalom!

_________________
Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

[sophia-suzette]

Salutations!

What a wonderful contemplation for when we once again stand at the transition from one season to the next. Standing at cross-roads as such.

“Having faith, and cleaving inwardly in faith, this is exactly what the cross becomes to us – the end of the law, the beginning of grace. “

I too had a lot of “loosening of knots” with regards to the outer teachings. I was a young child when suddenly one day I realized that I had lived before in another body. With it a fear gripped me as I realized the implications, although at that age I have not yet heard about karma. Then I looked at the cross and for me it was as if I suddenly understood what was meant by “Jesus died for our sins. Have faith in Him and you will be washed whiter than snow.”

It was a long journey from there to here and you say;

“In the midst of this, as much as we may try to enact the righteousness of our heart and soul – the innate good that is in us, always there is some degree of admixture; some other motives the come into play, some shades and shadows of desire and fear.”

After eventually moving completely away from any Christian basis and the Gospels, I found myself back where I began with a new vision and was thus been able the heal the early wounds. The early vision never died, it just had to go through stages of personal evolution to come into its fullness.

Most gracious thanks for bringing about such reconcilliation.
Sophia-Suzette