Gnosis

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The word gnosis (from the Greek word for knowledge, γνώσις) refers to the ultimate spiritual knowledge that is more commonly familiar to people as enlightenment. The word has a common ancestral root (from Proto-Indo-European) with the Sanskrit word gnana (pronounced nyana) that has an equivalent meaning in Buddhist and Hindu spiritual treatises. The knowledge to which gnosis refers is that of the unconditioned ground (and source) of phenomenal reality, variously called Brahman (The Upanisads), the Dharmakaya (Mahayana Buddhism), the Tao (Tao Te Ching) and God (Theistic religion). One who having followed a spiritual path in order to return to the origin and arrived at this transcendental knowledge is called a gnostic (Gnani in Sanskrit and Hindi).

Contents

1 Classical meanings
2 Influences on contemporary culture
3 Intercultural associations
4 Popular culture references
5 See also
6 External links

Classical meanings

Direct knowledge of God through awareness of the divine spark within.
Gnosis being a Greek word has its origin in Greek philosophy. See Plato gnostikoi’ and gnostike episteme Politikos in Greek or Politicus in Latin (258e-267a) which means the knowledge to influence and control. Gnostike episteme also was used to indicate one's aptitude.
Among the sectarian gnostics, gnosis was first and foremost a matter of self acquaintance which was the goal of enlightenment. Later, Valentinius, more usually called Valentinus, taught that gnosis was the privileged "knowledge of the heart" or "insight" about the spiritual nature of the cosmos, that brought about salvation to the pneumatics - people who believed they could achieve this insight. Gnosis was distinct from the secret teachings they only revealed to initiates once they had reached a certain level of progression. Rather, these teachings were paths to obtain gnosis. Gnostic ideas of salvation were similar to Buddhist conceptions of enlightenment#redirect , hence gnosis was not expressible by words. (See e.g. ineffability, a quality of realization common to many, if not most, esoteric traditions; see also Jung on the difference between sign and symbol.)
Among heresiologists, gnosis denotes different Jewish or pagan belief systems of esoteric nature such as, first and foremost, Gnosticism and other dualist systems from the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., but also Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah, etc.
The word also carried over from Plato into Greek Orthodox christianity via St Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus (writer), Hegesippus, and Origen but in an intuitive knowledge type of meaning in relation to the greek words theosis, theoria. Gnosis meant an experience of God.
The term Gnosis is related to the sanskrit jnana (as in Jnana Yoga) and to the Hebrew daath, which is the hidden sphere in the Kabbalah, or that knowledge which was only given to the initiated.
In the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, the Gnostic being refers to the future supramental state of divinised humanity, living a spirit-filled existence.

Influences on contemporary culture

Millions of non-English speakers associate Gnosis with the movement started by Samael Aun Weor.

This tradition is now becoming known in English, largely through the efforts of Gnosticweb [link] and publishers such as Thelema Press Thelema Press.

Gnosis is the name of magazine [link] published between 1985 and 1999 in California as a "Journal of the Western Inner Traditions" covering traditions of spirituality and mysticism. It was a project of the Lumen Foundation.
Among certain modern occult movements, esp. chaos magic, gnosis refers to an altered state of awareness in which the will is "magickally" effective.
In the movie series The Matrix, one of the hovercrafts is named Gnosis.
Modern disciples of Aleister Crowley and his Doctrine of Thelema have also formed a number of Gnostic Religious Organizations. http://user.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/church.htm
One of the main characters in the movie/musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch used the stage name Tommy Gnosis.
The Gnosis is the name of ancient sorcery from the North in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing fantasy epic.
One of the ships in Alastair Reynolds' novel Absolution Gap is called the Gnostic Ascension.
The Gnosis are a group of surreal monsters in the game Xenosaga, by Namco. The only way to bring these creatures into our plane of our dimension is the Hilbert Effect.
The World of Darkness roleplaying game by White Wolf Game Studio used the term gnosis to measure of how attuned to the spiritual world a character, usually a Werewolf, was (and as the primary mechanic for enabling magical effects). In the revamped World of Darkness books the term is used in the roleplaying game, again as an overarching mechanic for measuring the magical power of a character, in this case primarily for mages and similar chracters.

Intercultural associations

Gnosis has been associated and often cited as synonymous with terms from numerous cultures and religions:

Enlightenment - Buddhism
Moksha - Hinduism
Kingdom of God - Christianity
Body electric - Walt Whitman
Rapture - Plato (in the sense of ecstasy, not the Christian Rapture)
Irfan - Sufism
Inner Light and Sound Sant Mat

Popular culture references

The Gnosis are mysterious alien attackers in the Xenosaga games for the Sony Playstation 2. The Gnosis have the ability to turn humans into salt by touching them.
In the game for the Nintendo GameCube, Gnosis is the boss at the end of the "Passageway of Souls." Baten Kaitos was created by the same company as Xenosaga, and it is likely a reference to it. Like in Xenosaga, Gnosis is a creature that exists between dimensions.
The term Gnosis is used in the White Wolf Role-playing game "" (both their tabletop and LARP editions) and the collectible card game entitled "Rage."
Though not featured, Gnosis is a hovership from Enter The Matrix and The Matrix series.

External links

[Gnosis Venezuela] - Official portal in Venezuela with some books in English for download.
[The Gnosis Archive] - A source of primary texts.
[Gnostic Teachings] - Practical Gnosis
[Thomasine Church]
[Gnosis Magazine] - Gnosis covered from many angles
[Ashe Journal]- Special Issue on Gnosticism: From Valentinus to Burroughs
[Free Church of Antioch- An independent, sacramental, gnostic-theosophical Catholic church]
[Gnosis: Good News for the Third Millennium by Todd C. Settimo- a modern gospel (published by Bag End Press)]
[Illuminism; The Way of St. Thomas the Apostle]
The Gnostic Movement (VM Belzebuub) - [Gnosticmovement] [Gnosticweb] [Mysticweb] [Astralweb]
[Gnostic Judas] - Incredible insights into The Gospel of Judas