A Passion for Secret Knowledge
IT IS THE RARE PERSON, the very rare person indeed, who genuinely possesses a passion for, and a profound appreciation of, what is known as the “secret knowledge”. This phrase alludes to a profound understanding of esoteric principles. These principles have everything to do with what is known as the “perennial philosophy”, with mysticism and metaphysics. It has everything to do with the kind of knowledge which can catapult one into advanced levels of intuitive insight in relation to the Divine and can serve to illuminate and enlighten one in the highest sense imaginable.
The ancient spiritual tradition known as Gnosticism derives its name from this very reality: “Gnosis” means “to know”.
In the ancient times, to be considered a Gnostic required that you have a direct experience of Divine and, as a consequence, no longer rely on intellectual theories about “God”, for once you have had an experience of God first-hand you “know” God from experience. You know just how real God is and there is no two-bit blind faith about it. This is no longer hand-me-down knowledge. The difference is astronomical and monumental to he or she who has had such an experience.
Which sounds amazing, but such a direct experience of God is surely difficult to achieve.
The answer is, yes, it is difficult to achieve, but not impossible. To achieve such an end, it takes exactly what was alluded to earlier here: passion. It takes the profound desire to “know”, which is to say a great deal of zeal to reach for the proverbial brass ring. It requires enthusiasm that never ceases for years on end.
The word “enthusiasm” is particularly pertinent here. It derives from a Greek word meaning “possessed by a god, inspired”. This word is related to the Latin “theos”, from which the word “theology” is derived.
Fortunately, enthusiasm can be contagious. It is especially contagious if we happen to meet the rare person, the very rare person, who happens to possess a genuine passion and a profound appreciation for what is known as the “secret knowledge”.
This knowledge wasn’t “secret” for any selfish nor sinister reason, by the way. It was kept from the general public because the average person did not possess the interest, let alone the passion, to comprehend it. Nor does such a person possess the depth of insight to understand it in such a way that they would not misinterpret the information, for a distorted understanding does that person no favors, plus it is detrimental to others who might be influenced by hearing an erroneous interpretation.
Of course, in this day and age, we do hear countless misunderstandings of what the Divine is and we are all influenced by what we hear. The person with a passion and a zeal for the direct experience, nevertheless, will push on and deepen his or her understanding in multiple ways. Such a person will not settle for any theories or speculations in any absolute way, but just take in the information and put it under one’s hat, so to speak. One will respectfully consider the information, but make no final arbitration as to its authenticity or how true it actually is.
One will meditate on all that one hears and then push to get past all words, all thinking, all theories and arrive in the astral realm, at long last (hopefully), to experience the Divine directly for oneself.
Bear in mind that one’s ultimate fate and destiny hangs in the balance.
Yes, we must take that as a challenge, but not as a fearful challenge, but a joyous challenge, for those who have gone before us have offered the most positive and buoyant testimonials imaginable.
In short, we are promised that it is all worth the effort if only we can muster the will and the passion to keep going no matter what.
