Tuesday, August 12, 2008
1. Gnostic Philosophy: Lessons and Parallels
Philo calls the LOGOS the "Idea of ideas". Thus the Logos is called the "Second God" and even "the man of God". The Logos is the high priest who intercedes with God on behalf of frail mortals.
This is a close parallel to my conceptualisation of man using philosophy ("idea of ideas") to get closer to the Truth (Which God is in essence).
He referred readers to Plato's ecstatic side, when the soul remembers its primal dance among ideas. This mystical ecstasy is like being "on fire".
This is the moment when Man exercises his rationality, pulls away from his ego and indulges in philosophy so as to escape the "anxiety". This is when Man is at his basal nature, when he is primal or purely man.
The stone that falls from the heavens winnows the one on whom it falls. This seperating process is what Jesus on numerous occasions claimed to be his essential purpose.
This winnowing process advocated by Jesus is similar to Man learning to seperate their ego from their real human self. And the stone that falls is rationality which will enable the process.
The righteous sacrifice is neither bird nor beast, neither man nor money, but self-(ego) sacrifice. Surrender the image; return to the real. Thus to know Jesus, the archetypal Son of Man, is to know the true God: It is to know thyself.
It is interesting that the term "ego" is used here as well. By surrendering the image, Man must first realise that the world they are engaged in is a social construct and that they must return to the real world: where we are all equally man.
Then we will then be on our way to know ourselves and in turn know truth (God).
Paul is also aware that this gift (gnosis of God) is not available to all- and that in its fullness it is not available to himself.
The ability to see past the social reality and 1st level pains is not available to all. And like St Paul rightfully put it, the road of philosophy is never-ending.
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