Are you a Gnostic?

[RedDragon94]

Gnostic.Org Site Map

Tell me whether or not you believe yourself to be Gnostic based upon the characteristics presented above. The Greek word gnostikos means knowing or able to discern, whereas agnostic is the opposite of that.

gnostic - Dictionary Definition

Is it possible for us to know anything about the spiritual world via nature? I think so. Part of me still holds on to the idea that nature is a manifestation of Spirit, and therefore reflects that Spirit.

*Side note* Something unseen had to have caused this whole multiverse we live in because matter is not eternal. Stars die for instance (and I'm not talking about Hollywood stars). If matter is eternal there should be no death.

 

[Liu]

Yes. It asks whether I agree with any of 5 statements, and I agree with the 1st and 4th, maybe also with the 2nd and 3rd, depending on the interpretation.

About your side note - matter might not be eternal, but energy is (except for some curious quantum phenomena, but who knows whether they don't just teleport energy instead of making it appear/disappear).
And death doesn't seem to have to do with matter/energy not being eternal, but because life consists of change, and change sometimes results in bodies not able to live on.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Gnostic.Org Site Map

Tell me whether or not you believe yourself to be Gnostic based upon the characteristics presented above. The Greek word gnostikos means knowing or able to discern, whereas agnostic is the opposite of that.

gnostic - Dictionary Definition

Is it possible for us to know anything about the spiritual world via nature? I think so. Part of me still holds on to the idea that nature is a manifestation of Spirit, and therefore reflects that Spirit.

*Side note* Something unseen had to have caused this whole multiverse we live in because matter is not eternal. Stars die for instance (and I'm not talking about Hollywood stars). If matter is eternal there should be no death.

According to both sites, I'm not gnostic.

All of what I know of the "spiritual" world to me is part of the natural world. What I can't see is no different nor special than what I can see. Art such as drawing and writing poetry has meaning and inspiration to me. Meaning and inspiration aren't things we can see but they are real because we experience them psychologically, physiologically, emotionally, and by relation to ourselves and the world around us. Words can be limiting where drawing, writing, and dancing can take it's place. All of these are expressions of who we are as human beings. Regardless, there isn't a cosmic intelligence, god, or greater being because we experience things and feelings we can't describe. Just know that they are part of life just as this lap top (made from the earth) I'm typing on from the tree that stands in front of me.

Nature is the spiritual world. How we interact with our environment, others, and self are spiritual or have the "spirit of life" in it.

I don't understand how the unseen is greater than the seen. No one has explained that to me yet.

 

[crossfire]

I don't understand how the unseen is greater than the seen. No one has explained that to me yet.

acknowledging you don't know opens up you mind, whereas thinking you know closes your mind. Therefore, welcoming the unknown/unseen leads to vibrancy and evolution, whereas clinging to the known leads to stagnation. (You can put fresh tea in a cup that is already full of old dodgy tea.)

 

[RedDragon94]

About your side note - matter might not be eternal, but energy is (except for some curious quantum phenomena, but who knows whether they don't just teleport energy instead of making it appear/disappear).

Which means that energy is God.

And death doesn't seem to have to do with matter/energy not being eternal, but because life consists of change, and change sometimes results in bodies not able to live on.

My point was that if matter transforms into something other than what it originally was then it cannot be forever in the past and forever in the future. Energy manifests for a period of time and then dies out, the manifestation (the physical plane) is not eternal. There must be a certain degree of separation between the divine and the creation even though all is sacred. Energy lives in everything, right? At the same time energy is not the manifestation.

I would say that going through change over a long period of time (such as, life) only yields to the one possibility of death. To illustrate, the soul (energy) changes and moves on like a lover that knows that it's better for them and their partner to separate.

 

[RedDragon94]

I don't understand how the unseen is greater than the seen. No one has explained that to me yet.

You don't seem to view the world as the seen and unseen. Am I right?

The reason why the unseen IMO is greater than the visible is because the unseen can influence the world in ways that we don't see or detect immediately and get away with it. It's hard to do something about something when you don't see it coming.

 

[RedDragon94]

I don't understand how the unseen is greater than the seen. No one has explained that to me yet.

acknowledging you don't know opens up you mind, whereas thinking you know closes your mind. Therefore, welcoming the unknown/unseen leads to vibrancy and evolution, whereas clinging to the known leads to stagnation. (You can put fresh tea in a cup that is already full of old dodgy tea.)

Right, opening the mind implies that I know there's something I don't know. It implies there's a mystery, something unseen.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

For me, there is no "unseen." If there is, it's embedded in the seen and visa versa. I've seen spirits. I've experienced spirits. Just as I see people and objects, they are no greater or lesser than I am just because to others I can't see them.

acknowledging you don't know opens up you mind, whereas thinking you know closes your mind. Therefore, welcoming the unknown/unseen leads to vibrancy and evolution, whereas clinging to the known leads to stagnation. (You can put fresh tea in a cup that is already full of old dodgy tea.)

What we "don't know" is not greater or lesser. It just means we don't know. Assigning this "don't know" as a noun does not make sense. People are personifying what they don't know and making "it" interact with them on a personal level.

This is very different than when I open my mind as I get older in knowing that I know barely nothing about the world. That is okay. That doesn't mean what I don't know is greater. It just means logically, I cannot know everything. That is okay. I never was a person who wanted to know everything. That concept or craving to "get at the top of the mountain" bethells me.

You don't seem to view the world as the seen and unseen. Am I right?

No. I see them together. I can't know everything. What I do know is a small amount of knowledge compared to what I don't know. That is okay. Why would I want to know more than what life gives me? I'm not selfish in that regard.

The reason why the unseen IMO is greater than the visible is because the unseen can influence the world in ways that we don't see or detect immediately and get away with it. It's hard to do something about something when you don't see it coming.

I don't understand that. What I don't know can't influence me. It isn't a verb. It just means I lack knowledge and experience in whatever it is I don't know. It can't affect me when I'm not aware of it. Once I'm aware of it, I can choose in some cases whether I want it to affect me. Until then, I don't understand that unless you are talking about supernatural influence?

Right, opening the mind implies that I know there's something I don't know. It implies there's a mystery, something unseen.

Yes. That's basically it. Nothing mystical. When you get older, you realize it more then, depending on your religion or lack there of, you attribute it to god, maybe or accept life is full of things we can't possible know everything about.

 

[Jumi]

I have some sympathy for their views, but basically I would agree only with number 4.

 

[Liu]

Which means that energy is God.

My point was that if matter transforms into something other than what it originally was then it cannot be forever in the past and forever in the future. Energy manifests for a period of time and then dies out, the manifestation (the physical plane) is not eternal. There must be a certain degree of separation between the divine and the creation even though all is sacred. Energy lives in everything, right? At the same time energy is not the manifestation.

I would say that going through change over a long period of time (such as, life) only yields to the one possibility of death. To illustrate, the soul (energy) changes and moves on like a lover that knows that it's better for them and their partner to separate.

I was speaking of energy in the physical sense. And no, it's not everywhere, for example not in a vacuum. What is everywhere in the cosmos is space.
Soul (or in my terminology consciousness) might be in everything that is, but I don't know.

 

[RedDragon94]

Why would I want to know more than what life gives me?

So you can live the best life possible.

I don't understand that. What I don't know can't influence me. It isn't a verb. It just means I lack knowledge and experience in whatever it is I don't know. It can't affect me when I'm not aware of it. Once I'm aware of it, I can choose in some cases whether I want it to affect me. Until then, I don't understand that unless you are talking about supernatural influence?

I am speaking about supernatural influence. If energy exists in everything then in everything there's potential to tap into the supernatural. Therefore things like applied psychology can be supernatural because your manipulating energy within someone.

 

[RedDragon94]

I was speaking of energy in the physical sense. And no, it's not everywhere, for example not in a vacuum. What is everywhere in the cosmos is space.
Soul (or in my terminology consciousness) might be in everything that is, but I don't know.

Energy attached = soul/spirit. You're right, space cannot be alive because space is not a person or thing.

 

[sun rise]

I agree almost entirely with those 5 points.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

So you can live the best life possible.

How do you know more than life gives you? Whether you call it supernatural or not, they are both part of life; so, anything outside of that, what can you get from life now that life has not yet to give you?

I am speaking about supernatural influence. If energy exists in everything then in everything there's potential to tap into the supernatural. Therefore things like applied psychology can be supernatural because your manipulating energy within someone.

What is the supernatural?

Everything is made up of energy. Though I still don't understand how what we don't know is greater than what we know. You tell me the benefits of it, but how does that work?

If I don't know I will get a million dollars tomorrow, how can this "lack of knowledge" will help me pay my bills, help others, and travel?

How can not knowing I will get a million dollars benefit me as if I got it?

 

[Liu]

Energy attached = soul/spirit. You're right, space cannot be alive because space is not a person or thing.

That's not what I was saying. Actually, I would rather believe space to be "spirit" than energy. Energy is "just" the information stored in space whereas space is the all-encompassing fabric of being.

 

[arthra]

"Red Dragon" asked the following... through a "gnostic" site...I'll respond in caps.

Do You agree with any of the following?

God is incomprehensible in totality, however we may know about "God" through study of the Universe and Ourselves.

For Baha'is the Essence of God is unknowable but His attributes are known by us and affect us.

Inspiration is a product of a relationship with a Greater Intelligence and is the ultimate source of all Knowledge.

To an extent I would accept this as scientific invention can have a source in inspiration but also experimentation.

There is only One Truth and the Religions of the World are but facets of its expression.

We Baha'is believe God is one and the great religions of the world have a common Divine origin.

The Ultimate Source of Divine Authority is the Individual.

Not in our view. The individual is born in this world to develope and grow reflecting the Divine attributes.

Service to the World is the Greatest Expression of Inspiration, Enlightenment and Truth.

Service to others is worship.

 

[Robert Landbeck]

Gnostic.Org Site Map

Tell me whether or not you believe yourself to be Gnostic based upon the characteristics presented above. The Greek word gnostikos means knowing or able to discern, whereas agnostic is the opposite of that.

gnostic - Dictionary Definition

Is it possible for us to know anything about the spiritual world via nature? I think so. Part of me still holds on to the idea that nature is a manifestation of Spirit, and therefore reflects that Spirit.

*Side note* Something unseen had to have caused this whole multiverse we live in because matter is not eternal. Stars die for instance (and I'm not talking about Hollywood stars). If matter is eternal there should be no death.

The first Gnostic proof is on the web ready for TESTING and trials have apparently start. I'm studying this material at the moment. More at The Final Freedoms

 

[VioletVortex]

I used to be a sort of nihilistic Gnostic Satanist as that made sense to me at the time, but recently, I've been relating spirituality to Midgard as it's known in Norse cosmology more and more. I think that Gnosticism antagonizes the idea of spirituality and our reality being intertwined too much to fit my beliefs.

 

[Liu]

I used to be a sort of nihilistic Gnostic Satanist as that made sense to me at the time, but recently, I've been relating spirituality to Midgard as it's known in Norse cosmology more and more. I think that Gnosticism antagonizes the idea of spirituality and our reality being intertwined too much to fit my beliefs.

A gnostic Satanist? Then of the anti-cosmic kind, I suppose? (I've not seen any pro-cosmic Satanists that use gnosticism as their religious title so far.)
Yeah, it's a pretty fun belief, I love their writings, but it doesn't make that much sense to me from a metaphysical point to assume that our souls would be something completely separate from the cosmos. So I never really could believe it.
Compared to the more traditional kinds of anti-cosmic Gnosticism, the Satanistic variety is pretty pro-worldliness/reality, though.

 

[zahra67]

Gnostic.Org Site Map

Tell me whether or not you believe yourself to be Gnostic based upon the characteristics presented above. The Greek word gnostikos means knowing or able to discern, whereas agnostic is the opposite of that.

gnostic - Dictionary Definition

Is it possible for us to know anything about the spiritual world via nature? I think so. Part of me still holds on to the idea that nature is a manifestation of Spirit, and therefore reflects that Spirit.

*Side note* Something unseen had to have caused this whole multiverse we live in because matter is not eternal. Stars die for instance (and I'm not talking about Hollywood stars). If matter is eternal there should be no death.

i thinks yes!
because i love islamic supplications and my daily prayers.