How Gnosis Can Change Our Life, But Not Our Problems

If you decide to apply the Gnostic method toward solving your problems, the first thing you will need to accept is that the work is difficult. There is no easy solution to solve the deep problems we carry within ourselves or face in our world. Looking for a quick happiness will only lead to escapism, a tendency which avoids the underlying pain for a while but never produces lasting contentment. In this work, we have to renounce escapism and begin by looking honestly at ourselves and our lives. 

You see that you are facing many painful challenges in life, and you may acknowledge an unfulfilled longing in your heart for a good companion, social approval, and power to change your circumstances. You may be moving between spiritual or social groups seeking acceptance. You may be circling back to the love of the past, wishing it could come again and be lasting this time. You might explore teachings and methods that will give you back some control in the face of tremendous worldly obstacles. In the midst of all of that, what do you cling to? Do you hold tightly to God, following the guidance of your conscience? Do you hold onto egotism or pride, which buffers us against the pain of rejection? Be honest with yourself. Most of us find comfort from blaming others and pitying ourselves, but the Gnostic work requires that we take full responsibility for our shortcomings. We accept the pain of acknowledging our weakness, and we humble ourselves before God, the only one who can truly guide us. Our pride will lead us into cycles of greater suffering. God will purify us and lead us into virtue.

Underneath our social masks, we may be sensitive, longing for beauty and deep connection. In our world, you will face intense ugliness, cold rejection, loss, hardships and loneliness. You will not find the comfort you seek in relationships, social groups, a high-paying job, or the respect of others. Even if you obtain those things, it will be temporary, because everything in the world is subject to birth, death, and decay. Relationships, jobs, people―all will begin, sustain for a time, and fall apart. Nothing lasts, except for divinity. 

The Gnostic work is very powerful, because it connects us with that eternal joy and beauty of God. This is a kind of inner happiness that is not dependent upon our worldly circumstances. This is the peace that brought smiles to the faces of saints, even as they were persecuted or killed. 

To attain that kind of happiness, we must sacrifice a lot of our personal desires. That beautiful gift is not granted for free. We must accept that we need to serve God and become virtuous people, and that God does not exist to serve our desires. For example, it is useless to demand of God that we receive a certain partner to whom we are attracted. It is much better for us to submit and accept the partner God determines for us. And when God determines we should be single for a time, this is also for our benefit, as it indicates the need for a period of deep inner work and self-transformation without the interference of a romantic relationship. However, most people are always running away from what God has given to us, and in our avoidance of the difficult spiritual work, we escape into worldliness and only create many more problems for ourselves. 

With this understanding, we recognize that we must turn inward and face our pain as the first step to overcoming it. Use meditation not as a refuge to escape, but as a mirror to see ourselves as we are. It is true that we are suffering, that our childlike soul weeps from loneliness and inadequacy. We want to bury those feelings with pride and the approval of others; however, the fact is that those negative feelings are the motivation we need to change. We recognize our suffering and our nullity, and we turn to God's commandments as a path to change. We admit that our inner state is the cause of suffering, rather than the external conditions of our life, and through that recognition, we orient ourselves toward inner change first, which will produce outer change later.

Here is the method for the Gnostic transformation in Samael Aun Weor's The Great Rebellion.

This is not an easy path, but it is a tremendously real work that produces profound change. Many do not have the courage to perform this work, because it demands such deep sincerity and willingness to change ourselves rather than trying to change circumstances. If you feel in your soul that this is the type of change in your life that you are longing for, we encourage you to read The Great Rebellion and to reflect on how those teachings apply to yourself.

May God bless you very much on your journey!