Gnosis and the Royal Secret
In the western esoteric tradition, there is this notion of a secret transmitted to a selected few who are worthy to get it. This secret is supposed to give one great power and make one “a Priest and a King”.
As with every tradition, the western esoteric tradition has a few drawbacks and here’s a couple. The first, is the use of grandiose words, for describing something very simple and the second is the habit of secrecy, which was developed during years of prosecution.
Of course, nowadays, there is no need either for grandiose lingo, as it is out of date and also there is no need for secrecy, as the witch hunt is way over. “God is dead”, denounced the German philosopher, blowing the horn of modernism, where science became the new religion.
Back to the pre-modern era, prior to the French revolution, spirituality in Europe was in the hands of either the Church, or underground organizations, who would meet in secret, escaping church’s oppressive behavior, trying to keep the spiritual aspect of the mysteries alive.
Some believe these organizations were behind the French revolution, which marked the entry of humanity into the modern era. They were also supposed to be carriers of spiritual knowledge, which was available before Christianity, dated back to the mysteries of ancient Greece and Egypt.
Those mysteries, were divided in two categories, the greater and the lesser. What is call Spiritual Initiation, is an Initiation into the second category, as I consider the first category just a preparatory procedure.
The milestone of the culmination of every Initiatory process, is the realization that “Man is God”. This very thing that may sound very provocative, even sacrilegious, in the West, was taught very openly in the East. One of the four Mahavakyas (great sayings) of the Upanishads is “Aham Brahmansi”, which translates to “I am God”.
This is the “Royal Secret” of the western mystery tradition, depicted openly in the face of the leader of the most spread western religion, who said that “I and the Father are one”. What Jesus Christ points out, is a verbal expression of “Self-Realization” as it is called in India, which is another term for Spiritual Enlightenment.
Self-Realization is the result of one knowing /experiencing him/herself directly. This has also been called Gnosis, in the west, and the ones who were Self-Realized are called “Gnostics”. Gnosis is the Greek word for Knowledge and a Gnostic is one who Knows Who He Is. The reason the letter “G” is capitalized, is because this does not refer to an intellectual knowledge but a higher knowledge which is the Direct Experience of Truth. When Gnosis takes places, the experiencer, the experience and the experienced, dissolve and just “experiencing” remains. Pure experiencing, pure “awaring”, without subject and object. What remains is God and since that is the only thing that remains, one is That. As it is written in the Upanishads, only Brahman knows Brahman. In order to Know God, one must Be God. Only God can know God directly.
Since it is inevitable for God to know God directly, what needs to happen is, for a human being, to Realize that they are God. And since this is the Truth and the Truth cannon not be, what needs to happen is, for a human being to experientially Realize this very fact, by clearing the false notions of what one is not.
This is called a Spiritual Path. A valid Path brings oneself to his/herself and since one is him/herself already, there is nothing they can do about it. Therefore, the Spiritual Path is not about doing, but it is about Being. Since Being already Is and this cannot not be, one has to investigate and clear misconceptions about what Being is not.
This can happen only spontaneously. This spontaneous happening is called “Grace”. In reality, “Grace” is always taking place, but for It to be perceived one’s body-mind must be in a certain condition. It is, also, almost impossible for one to “experience themselves directly”, without the help of another who has this experience. That is the function of the Guru. The Guru, sometimes by his Presence alone, some other times by skillful means, makes the student’s body-mind capable of “receiving Grace” which leads to Self-Realization.
The process is called Shaktipat in the East, but it is a universal process and not geographically limited, for without it, there is no Spiritual Initiation and there is no Realization. Therefore, for any true Initiation to take place, or Self-Realization / Gnosis to happen, the Holy Spirit / Shakti is Present as Grace and it is through this Grace, that the false beliefs, the ignorance of one’s body-mind gets cleared, so that one can experience themselves directly.
Perhaps the most known Shaktipat giver in the west was Jesus Christ, who Initiated his students by baptizing them with the Holy Spirit, making them His apostles. Unfortunately, this Initiation is understood by a few and can be performed by even fewer. True meaning of It is lost in dogma and church politics and at the same time preserved hidden in the Gospels “for those who have eyes to see”.
For a few reasons, this way of Initiation which is understood in the East, is poorly understood in the west. One of the big reasons for this is that, in the East, one is directed by the culture to seek God inside, where in the West one is directed to seek God outside. In reality God is neither inside or outside, but the latter trains one’s body-mind to perceive God as something separate.
Another reason is that, for Shaktipat, or True Spiritual Initiation, to take place, there must be a Guru who is Self-Realized and to be able to transmit that to the student or, more accurately, to be able to deal with a student’s body-mind in a way that the student Realized what he/she is already, which is the same as the Guru.
In truth, The Path is Direct and immediate. The only appearance of linearity, is produced by the changes that need to take place in student’s body-mind, in order for it to be able to live and uphold this Realization. That involves a purification of the mind, a radical change in one’s belief system and psychology and a re-organization of the brain and the nervous system.
Another example of a misunderstood Shaktipat guru is the West is that of the French mystic Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803). Saint-Martin was Initiating his students by Shaktipat and as he said, the only purpose of his initiation was to merge the heart of man with the heart of God. Unfortunately, although there is a living lineage of people who received this initiation, the followers were not able to properly understand it, or transmit it. They tried to fit it into a gradual institutionary framework, whereas true Shaktipat is always given for Guru to student, in an instant, as it was happening in Saint-Martin’s case.
The biggest reason for the decadence of spirituality and religion in the west was the fact that there were very few Self-Realized beings in spiritual institutions and that these very institutions were run by people who were not Self-Realized. Religions and spiritual organizations in the west have lost the connection to God, making spiritual path a dead end, made of mental notions about how things are. Religions and spiritual organizations failed to provide a valid path, which establishes connection to God and eventually makes on Self-Realized. Instead of that they make sets of rules and dogma, asking people to believe in what they are teaching, which is in fact a form of mental idolatry.
The good news is, that God will be always able to be Realized and there will always Self-Realized beings, or True Gnostics among the false, self-proclaimed ones, that are beacons of spiritual light, leading the way, for those who are ready and feel the inner call. One of the marks for them, is the fact that they share the light generously, not hiding it, as nothing satisfies a Self-Realized being more that helping others having the same recognition that they had.
To sum up, the Royal Secret, the experiential understanding that “Man is God”, is an open secret, accessible to everyone. A valid Spiritual Path, brings one’s body-mind in a condition for this Realization to take place. A Guru is also necessary in the equation, that is, a person whose body-mind is altered, in a way that makes him/her experientially established in this Reality and who also have the means to cause this effect to others. Remember you are already That, you just don’t know It, but also, In order to Know it, you must travel the pathless Path of the Truth Lovers.