The Emperor, the fourth arcanum of the tarot, indicates to us our innermost divinity, our inner Being, our innermost God, and as we have been discussing throughout this course, the Kabbalah, we have been speaking about the Tree of Life, which is a representation of our psyche, a map of consciousness.
In this image, we see that the fourth sephirah, or sphere, from the top of the Tree of Life is our Spirit, חסד Chesed, the Innermost. The previous three arcana, laws, cards of the tarot that we discussed, indicated with the exactitude the law of three above. The trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which in Kabbalah is known as כתר Kether, חכמה Chokmah, בינה Binah. These three forces in nature create, give life, and from this top trinity emerges the Spirit, Chesed, the topic of our discussion today. Chesed amongst the kabbalists has been associated in different ways, but astrologically speaking, it relates to Jupiter, and also relates to Mars. Our inner Being is the one who must conquer our inner psyche, who must control the elements: earth, air, fire, water, that exist within our interior. The inner Emperor, our inner Spirit, Chesed, “Mercy” in Kabbalah, is our innermost divinity who is Martian in nature. He needs to fight within our soul to liberate our soul, to liberate our consciousness. He does it primarily through controlling the four elements and as we have been discussing, the number four, as well as the other arcana, are intuitive principles. These are laws in nature which are eternal, represented by Torah, the law, or tarot in Hebrew and in the Egyptian traditions. We also discussed how in order to receive help from our inner divinity, we must learn to become practical magicians in relation to the first card. We are initiating a new way of life, a practice, a discipline, by introspecting into our psyche and learning to understand the elements they are in. Likewise, with the arcanum two, we are working with the feminine principle, the Divine Mother, the priestess. For every priest has his priestess, in terms of magical ceremony, in relation with the three forms of magic, which are elemental magic, ceremonial magic, and sexual magic, in relation to the lower three sephiroth, or lower trinity of the Tree of Life
Mind, נצח Netzach; הוד Hod, emotions; יְסוֹד Yesod, vitality, in their respective order. A magician is a being that knows how to work with those three types of sciences in depth. He does so through his priestess, the Divine Mother, the divine feminine. With the unification of those two forces, we have the third force which is the Empress of the tarot. She is the Christified soul, a soul that is fully illuminated, divine, perfected.
That number three relates to creation, and from those three forces of man and woman, husband and wife, we generate our spiritual force. We generate the development of the Emperor within us. 
The Emperor is our inner Spirit, our Being, our divine spark that emanates from the top trinity of the Tree of Life. We, in our internal constitution, are represented by the Hebrew letter ד Daleth, on the top right corner of the image of the card.
We spoke previously about how ג Gimel, the third Hebrew letter, represents a rich person, a rich man, a noble etc. ד Daleth is the opposite, signifying a poor person, which is where we get words such as darvish, dervish, symbolic of a poor person, a fakir. We are ד Daleth. We are the poor person seeking the riches of divinity through meditation and through the three forms of magic we discussed: elemental magic, which is precisely the work with plants, working with the soul and creatures of nature through certain rituals and practices in which we command those souls to work for us. Likewise, ceremonial magic teaches us the Eucharist. To receive the forces of transubstantiation of the Christic force in the world of Hod. The previous form of magic, elemental magic, relates to Netzach, the mind. Hod to ceremonial magic and Yesod, the vital force relates to creative sexual magic between husband and wife. So, we are the poor person. We are destitute―if we are honest and examine our psyche, what we carry within our mind, our heart, our body. “What is our level of being?” we ask ourselves frequently. Who are we in a given instant? Do we know divinity directly? If we are sincere, we analyze that we do not have divinity developed inside. We are poor, and this is why Jesus said: Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall enter the kingdom of heaven. ―Matthew 5:3
It is necessary to be humble to receive knowledge.
Be humble in order to obtain enlightenment, and upon obtaining enlightenment, be humble still. ―The Voice of the Silence 
To access the Spirit itself, we work with from certain forms of magic. We work with meditation, as we discussed in the first arcanum of the tarot, the Magician. But here with the Emperor, we are talking about a Spirit that is in full command of His lower elements, the lower parts of Himself.
For the Tree of Life teaches us that we are in Malkuth, this physical body, the bottom of the Tree of Life. The Spirit is the seventh sephirah from the bottom to the top. From Him enfolds Geburah, which is consciousness, the divine part of our soul that is feminine, that never mixes with impurity. We are a part of Tiphereth, a fraction of will that has emanated and descended down these different levels of modalities of energy, consciousness and experience. We have mind of which we are familiar with, our thoughts, concepts, etc. We have Hod, our feelings, our sentiments, our emotions. We Yesod, our vitality, and we have Malkuth, our physical body. We are in this physical plane in Malkuth which means kingdom. We can also say it means “empire.” The Emperor above, the Spirit, Chesed, must learn to control through His consciousness exerting itself upon will, and that will power must obey divinity. It must learn to control thought, feeling, instinct, sensation, impulse, and our physical body. He must conquer this lower kingdom in order to become an Emperor. Being in full mastery of Himself. And by Spirit, to be absolutely clear, we mean God, divinity, who never mixes with any type of fault, who is perfect in Himself, but He wishes to acquire more knowledge of Himself by commanding these lower sephiroth, spheres. We as a soul in Malkuth, in order to ascend, we must first learn to descend, to comprehend our errors, to change them, to eliminate them, our defects, etc. For as the Book of Isaiah 40:4 states: Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill be made low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. ―Isaiah 40:4
Our Spirit precisely has all the qualities of richness, of beatitude, of peace, of wisdom, of knowledge, and experience Whom we seek to fully develop in us through practical works.
In this card, we see that the Emperor sits upon a cubic stone. Our Spirit sits upon this perfected stone known as Yesod in the Kabbalah, the foundation of our spiritual temple. Within that stone we find a cat. A cat is a lunar creature. We know that cats like to prowl about at night. They are most active in the nocturnal hours. And therefore, this cat represents the creative energies of Yesod, because Yesod in Kabbalah is related to the moon. This power represented by a cat is the creative sexual energy, which the Emperor, the real Being within us, sits upon. That stone is cubic, perfected, chiseled; meaning that energy has been fully refined in the work of sexual alchemy between husband and wife. He sits with a hat that resembles an alchemical furnace from the medieval tradition with a still represented above, with that curvature of His hat, His bonnet. The base represents the Chakra Muladhara amongst the Hindus, which is where the sacred fire of Devi Kundalini rests in sleep and waits to be awakened between husband and wife. We have the curvature of the hat representing the furnace in which the fire of the creative energy rises and it is a symbol of our body as a chimney, as a temple that contains within it the sacred fire, which can be elevated from sex, up to the brain into a distillery, which in alchemical traditions, is the laboratory of the alchemist. A distillery represents the brain in which that refined element, that purified metal, that purified substance, illuminates the mind. The brain is the distillery in which it receives the creative sexual potential. The four corners of his bonnet represent the four elements, and in order for an Emperor to be seated upon His throne within our psyche, which is our spinal column, the Emperor must be in command of our air, our fire, our water, and our earth, which we are going to be explaining in depth today. Of course, to do that, we must become poor in spirit, humble. To be humble means to acknowledge our defects: how we use the elements of God in an impure fashion. How we use the air of our mind, for projects and plans, which are really empty of any spiritual end. Thoughts, concepts, ideas, which really have no actuality or foundation in reality. Negative thoughts. Wishing ill of others. Likewise, our fires of our heart. Emotions of anger, resentment, etc., inflame us and burn away our potential for genuine development. In the waters of our vitality, our creative energies, are usually wasted, expelled through futile efforts or futile engagements. We waste energy in many ways. Then physically, we must take care of this body, this earth. All those four elements relate to Malkuth, which is our kingdom. Our physical body is Malkuth, but we need to become kings of our earth. We need to be in control of these elements. The four corners of the bonnet also refer to not only the four elements, but the four gospels. Each of the gospels relate to the four elements of alchemy. They also relate to the four Vedas in the Hindu tradition. He carries a staff of power in his right hand, a symbol of the spine, and as we have explained extensively in this course, the spine is the seat of will power, the seat of our Spirit. Our inner Spirit can work through our spinal column if we know how to channel forces correctly from sex to the brain, and then likewise submitting it to the heart. That spinal column is the staff of life, the Tree of Life. We could not live and exist if it were not for our spinal column. Spiritually speaking, it is the same. We cannot exist spiritually. We cannot know divinity unless we awaken the creative fires and raise them up the spine. This is the power known as Kundalini or as alchemists state, אזות Azoth, which we will also explain in depth today. We also see the staff represented in the waters of the card, the bottom third, a symbol of the staff of the shepherds. The shepherd is a representation of anyone who is following the path to Christ. Who is working to teach the sheep, lead the sheep through the doorway, ד Daleth, that leads to genuine knowledge, genuine experience. We will talk about that at the end of this lecture today. We find some other interesting symbols in this glyph. We find the sign of Aquarius in the bottom right, which symbolically or etymologically hides Aqua / Aries. Aqua meaning “water.” Aries, signifying the God of War, Samael, who is the regent of Mars, the power of the fire of creative energy within sex. So Aquarius hides the symbol of aqua / Aries, water and fire. We know that the water represents our seminal matter, our semen: whether it be in a man or a woman. Aries is the creative fire that rests in that sexual power, that sexual element. But Aqua-Aries can also refer to aqua / aeris, meaning “air.” We find the sign of Aquarius, the sign of the water bearer, particularly pertinent to the study of this card. It is through the water and the fire of creation in which we give birth to our Spirit within us. We give birth to our development, psychologically speaking. Genesis: The Path of Initiation
The Book of Genesis, Bereshit, is a teaching of initiation. If we wish to enter the higher dimensions, we need to learn to be initiated, but it doesn't mean to follow any physical group, but to perform specific psychological works. We do so by working with the water and the fire, the waters of sex, transforming that energy through specific practices, especially through a matrimony; conserving that water and raising that fire within or within oneself, inward and upward to the brain. Then likewise submitting it to the heart.
This is the hidden teaching within Genesis. בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ Bereshit Bara Elohim At Hashamayim Vay’at Ha’aretz בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit is typically translated, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." What are this heavens that the Lord is creating? It is not physical. It is not literally a history. It is a symbol of initiation. “In wisdom,” sometimes the Zohar translates of the Book of Genesis, "in wisdom Elohim creates." בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit can also refer to ברית אש Berit Esh. Berit means “covenant, pact.” אש Esh means “fire.” בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit is an interesting word. It can be really dissected in many ways. But in the way that I am giving it to you today, בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit can be acrostically, ברית אש Berit Esh: “pact of fire.” “The pact of fire created Elohim,” created the Gods, created the initiates, the spiritual illuminated masters. אש Esh means “fire” and a pact is a covenant. The sacred ark, arcanum, law of the covenant of God to humanity, is sexual alchemy. A husband and wife, by learning to conserve the waters of sex and transform it, can become Gods, Elohim. So: בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים Bereshit Bara Elohim, or: ברית אש אֱלֹהִים Berit Esh Elohim “The pact of fire created the gods, the initiates.” אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם At Shamayim "The heavens" אֵ Aleph ת Tav is אֵת At and signifies all the principles of God: the first and the twenty second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first and last letters, Alpha Omega. As Christ said, “I am” in the Book of Revelations, “(Α) Alpha and (Ω) Omega.” All the principles of God are manifested in that person who is working with the pact of fire―all the Hebrew letters themselves. שָּׁמַיִם Shamayim means “heavens,” literally translated. But if you say שָּׁמַיִם Sha-mayim, and break down the Hebrew letters, you find מַיִם mayim, which means “water,” and ש Shin, which means “fire.” It literally translates as “fiery waters.” “By the pact of fire, Elohim was created” through all the principles of God, אֵת At: Aleph Tav, “and the fiery waters,” the heavenly matter, the spiritual work. What are these fiery waters? They relate to the science of דעת Da’ath in Kabbalah, the teachings of the Tree of Life, the hidden sephirah that is implied in the throat, because through the speech, we create. Husband and wife, through mantras and sexual alchemy, by pronouncing sacred vowels, create something spiritually within them. They work with the fiery waters. Those waters that are inoculated with flame is precisely when a man and wife are connected. Question: Wouldn't the fiery water relate to the semen itself? Instructor: It is the semen that has been inoculated in the sexual act. Yesod is our vital waters, which contain the fire, ש Shin, but when husband and wife are working in tantrism and pronouncing mantras, they are raising that fiery water up the spine through the power of דעת Da’ath. This is the heavenly waters, sometimes known as Akash, in eastern traditions. But we find that the spirit of God is the one who was hovering over the face of the waters, the רוח אלוהים Ruach Elohim mentioned in Genesis. He is the one in our spinal column who controls that energy and learns to circulate it within us. אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ (He created) the heavens and the earth. What is this earth? It is our body Malkuth, which contains all the archetypes of divinity which we need to work with and command. To obey the divine orders of our inner Spirit through the work of chastity within alchemy, so that we can enter as a humble person. As a darvish, dervish, a poor initiate, recognizing our misery and wanting to acquire more―that knowledge of more. That treasure is known in the Hadith Qudsi amongst the Muslims: I was a hidden treasure and I wished to be known, so I created creation, mankind, then made Myself known to them, and they recognized Me. ―Hadith Qudsi
This is the meaning of Allah speaking to humanity, who is a symbol of our Spirit, our Emperor. We can call him יהוה Jehovah, or better said אל El.
It is better if we say his name is אל El in Kabbalah, which means God. He is that wisdom and treasure we seek, who we contain within our body and whom we need to work with and transform, as represented by the serpent that is raised above the middle of his eyebrow, on His bonnet.
That is the raising serpent Kundalini, the power of אזות Azoth, that is fully manifested up the spine, because the spine is precisely the staff of power in which a master commands. When that spinal column is illuminated with אזות Azoth, with the creative fire, one is a master. One who has raised that serpent Kundalini. On the left-hand side, we see the symbol of Uranus, and it is a Chaldean word. Ur means light, or fire. Anas means water. Uranus is a planet associated with Chokmah, Christ, but Ur-anas is precisely the fire and water of Christ that we carry within in our sexual matter. As the waters of Genesis that we work with, the Spirit works with, notice that Aqua-Aries, the water and breath, the wind, is the power of divinity that we work with in alchemy. When a husband and wife are connected, they learn to control the breath, to pronounce mantras, to love each other in a divine and pure sense, without any lust, but to be connected sexually and to enjoy the delights of love in complete harmony and unity with each other. So they work with breath, Aeris, the God Aeolus the amongst the Greeks, god of the wind―the prana, the א Aleph, as we talked about in our first lecture in this course, in order to dominate the waters. רוח אלוהים Ruach Elohim is the Spirit of God and Ruach, as we explained in our previous lecture, relates to breath as well. The breath of God, who hovers over the face of the waters, is precisely our Spirit who commands and raises the energies up our spine within us. The Kabbalistic Significance of Four
Some other interesting correlations is that the number four relates to four ages within any race or humanity, such as the golden age, the silver age, the copper, and iron age, the latter in which we are in presently. We also study the four pillars of gnosis: science, mysticism, art, philosophy, of which we give a course and you can access on our website [Fundamentals of Gnosticism].
Now in order to become an initiate, we work with the four elements. The waters, the fire, the air within our earth, our body. Meaning, our air which is our mind. The fire within our heart. The waters within our sexual organs, and our physicality our earth. The number four, psychologically, building off this alchemical and kabbalistic analysis, relates to the four ways. Or the Fourth Way, better said, by the teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. Ouspensky spoke abundantly about four paths of spirituality. There is the fakir, there is the monk, there is the yogi, and then there is the path of the gnostic, the balanced human being. Our Emperor learns to conquer our inner kingdom precisely through the fourth path mentioned by Ouspensky and by Gurdjieff. The Four Spiritual Paths
In the first path, the fakir only develops willpower in relation to dominating instinct. Fakirs are people who learn to endure heat and cold living out in the in the open, sleeping on beds of nails, performing very severe austerities, in order to develop will to command the physical body.
They develop willpower, but they don't develop conscious willpower. They have a certain dominance over the instincts of the physicality, but it doesn't mean that they are awakening their consciousness in a spiritual sense, in a most objective sense. That is a type of severity or extreme practice that we don't recommend, and which, being educated, according to Ouspensky, we obviously see the pitfalls of that type of thinking that way. A monk solely develops their emotional center, their heart through prayer. They don't necessarily develop will or consciousness, but they develop a sense of sentiment and connection with divinity based on their heart. A yogi studies the mind through scripture and through meditation and develops powers relating with the intellect. 
Each of these former three paths relate to the three mother letters of Kabbalah. Aleph relates with the air, the mind, the breath, because our thoughts our aerial in nature. They are like clouds. They constantly shift, fluctuate, appear, and disappear. If you awaken your consciousness in the astral plane and invoke a master to ask them, "What is my level of being? What is the nature of my mind like?" They will show you the sky, because in the astral plane, that dimension is symbolic. They will teach you things relating to your psyche that manifest within the landscape.
The mind relates to the air, א Aleph. ש Shin, the fire, relates to the heart, our emotions. As I said before, we can be inflamed with love or hatred. It is a fiery element. The monks develop the fires of the heart, but exclusively only that center. They don't necessarily develop their intellect in balance. Normally they don’t work with מ Mem, water, מים mayim and מ mem relates again to our third center, related to sexuality, the creative energies, the semen. A fakir develops willpower to control הָאָֽרֶץ ha’aretz, the earth, our physicality. The monk develops the heart, emotional sentiment, (ש Shin, fire). The yogi develops the mind (א Aleph, air). But these three paths are not balanced. They are extreme. They only develop one center over the other. We have the intellectual brain, the emotional brain, and the motor-instinctive sexual brain. The intellectual brain is the center of our thought, or manifests our thought. Our emotional brain manifests our emotions and feelings, and our motor-instinctive-sexual brain is a conglomeration of intelligences, physical and psychological, that process our movement, our instincts, our impulses, and our sexuality. 
The path of the Gnostic is much more comprehensive, symbolized by this cross of the Rosicrucians. Within the cross, the Fourth Way, we work in sexual alchemy (the sexual waters, מ Mem). The cross is a symbol of a matrimony. The vertical beam is a symbol of the phallus. The horizontal beam is a symbol of the uterus. Within the crossing of man and woman, we work with all the twenty-two archetypes of God.
Notice here that we have the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and that these twenty-two letters each represent a principle of nature. A law of nature. An arcanum. So, these are the twenty-two arcana of the tarot, the Torah, the law, upon which the Book of Genesis and the whole Old Testament is composed. אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם
When men and women are performing ברית אש Berit Esh, the pack of fire, they are working with those twenty-two archetypes mentioned in the cross of the Rosicrucians.
אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם At Shamayim: The twenty-two letters, the twenty-two principles of God, the twenty-two arcana of the tarot―we are creating and working with the fiery waters of sex, of דעת Da’ath, of γνῶσις Gnosis.
The Kundalini and the Kundabuffer
Ouspensky and Gurdjieff knew these teachings, but they didn't give it openly and they made certain mistakes in relation to confusing the Kundalini with Kundabuffer. Kundabuffer is the tale of Satan, for when the energy of sex is expelled, the body assimilates, the mind assimilates, negative forces, atoms, energies, relating to the inferior aspect of the Tree of Life called Klipoth, which are the hell realms, and then that energy, instead of ascending up the spine, it descends. It forms the tail of the demons in the astral body.
But the Kundalini is worked with through husband and wife exclusively. We enter initiation precisely through working with the cross. Through the cross we work with the three mother letters of Kabbalah. The other letters have a lesser role we could say, but important to the organization of the different worlds of Kabbalah, the Tree of Life, etc. The Fourth Way teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky is about balancing the elements, becoming equilibrated psychologically speaking. This is how we enter initiation. As Samael Aun Weor states: Initiation is your own life, lived intensely, with rectitude and with love. ―Samael Aun Weor
Wisdom and love, two pillars of the Tree of Life: Jakin and Boaz, that hold up our temple.
Initiation doesn't necessarily refer to becoming part of a group, but learning to behave and comprehend how to live like an angel. A holy creature. A Chaioth Ha-Kadosh in Hebrew. We find that the three elements relate to our psyche, as we have been explaining, and in order to become a balanced human being, we have to comprehend our thinking, our feeling, and our ways of acting. Our three brains: mind, heart, body. How they exist physically, but more importantly, how do we exist psychologically in this body? This is the path of self-observation, of analysis, of understanding ourselves. 
The Law of Seven and the Balanced Human Being
This is important. We will be talking about this in the Arcanum Seven. The number seven is the law of organization, but I like to refer to Gurdjieff's and Ouspensky’s teaching about the seven types of human beings, especially in relation to the fourth type of human being, which is the topic of our lecture.
He refers to human beings being divided and organized in seven types in relation to the musical scale. From the lowest DO, to the highest TI. DO RE MI FA SO LA TI. That scale represents classifications of human beings and we'll talk about the fourth one in particular. The note DO relates to instinctive human beings. People who are only constantly on the move, don't rationalize, don't think. People in war are instinctive. They don't reason. They move, and if we are familiar with Alice in Wonderland, composed by someone who knew this path very well, the instinctive type of person is the White Rabbit. “I am late! I am late for a very important date!” He is always running around and has no control or understanding of him or herself. He is constantly on the move. You have the emotional type of person related to the note RE, which relates to the Queen of Hearts who is always angry, "Off with his head!" Then you have the third note, MI: the intellectual type of person who is related to the Mad Hatter. He has no coherence in his thoughts. His intellectual center is mad, insane, and the whole planet is full of them, even though they may seem like very reasonable people. But anybody who does not have the Spirit inside is a madman, a lunatic. Someone who follows the moon, mechanicity, habits, etc. These three lower types of people, the instinctive, the emotional, and intellectual relate to the lower three paths we discussed: fakir, monk, and yogi, but, there is a superior type related to the note FA, which is the psychologically equilibrated human being. A person who is fully in control of his empire. That does not get identified with thought, the air. That does not get identified with emotions, the heart. That does not get identified with sex, with lust, desire, the waters.
In our exercises of yoga, we practice what we call runes, which are positions where we place our body in certain postures in association with the Nordic alphabet. It is a very famous practice we do, or well known within the Gnostic Tradition.
The Rune Fah in which we praise the sun, the Solar Logos, the Christ energy within nature and beg that force to enter the chakras of our palms through the different nadis of our centers, entering our body and Illuminating us with light.
We do mantras associated with that posture that looks like the letter F. The mantras FA, FE, FI, FO, FU. Those mantras help to activate the chakras and provide it with Christic energy. FA, as a musical note, is very important. It is the awakening of the consciousness, as we say in the Runic prayer, "Marvelous forces of love, revive my sacred fires [my sexual energy], so that my consciousness will awaken!" A balanced human being works with the Christic energy, who uses his willpower to obey the Spirit, so that he becomes an Emperor in command of himself. Question: Fah raises what? Instructor: The Rune Fa transmutes the energies of sex, because all the runes are practices we use to transmute energy, alchemy. Again, that science of transmuting base material into refine materials: how we transform our semen, the brute matter of the sexual matter into fire and light. Ur-anas, or the sign of Aqua-Aries, Aquarius, is again the sign of the water carrier, which is a symbol of the dissemination of knowledge in an open fashion, but it also refers to how we carry our own waters. How we transmute them, transform them. A balanced human being is someone who knows this Fourth Way, who is chaste, who does not fornicate and does not waste the energies and does not expel them and has a full balance of the waters, the fire, and the air of the psyche. There are other types of human beings which are associated with the scale of seven notes. SOL, which is someone related to having created a solar astral body. LA associated with someone who created a solar mental body. TI associated with someone who created a solar causal body. If you are familiar with Kabbalah, you find that the Tree of Life explains this very well. We talked about giving birth to the soul. Jesus said, "You must be born again of water and spirit." מ Mem and ש Shin. To be born is precisely through the womb of the Divine Mother, which in Hebrew is the letter associated with ה Hei. ה Hei can also be pronounced as a mantra, as in the mantra HUM, which is the symbol of the breath, the Spirit, Chesed. Jesus said you must be born again of water and spirit. מ Mem and ש Shin. To be born again is precisely through the breath, because when a child is born, the first moment of their life, they inhale the air and they cry. These are the three elements manifesting in the physical body, of the birth of a child, but this is something symbolic too. To be born of water and spirit is to be born in a matrimony, spiritually, because that which is born of flesh through the normal sexual act, that is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit in the same sexual act, but through certain procedures, is Spirit. 
The Tree of Life, Initiation, and the Internal Bodies
We talk extensively in these studies that we need to create the soul or solar bodies.
Right now we have our physical body of which we are aware. We may have some sense of energy, of having certain level of vitality which relates to Yesod. We may become aware of our emotions or mood at certain points in time more than others, the heart, which is Hod, the astral emotional body. We may become partially aware or be constantly subjected to our thinking, thoughts, ideas, which churn and fluctuate within our psyche. That is mind. These lower four ספירת sephiroth [emanations or] spheres are called the lower four bodies of sin. Again, it is important to note that this map expresses consciousness in different levels of manifestation. We obviously have the more material bodies or vehicles at the bottom, and the most refined energies at the top, represented by the trinity. So, in the dream world, when we physically go to sleep, we leave our body and enter the astral world, Hod, the emotional plane. We may also exist in the mental plane, Netzach, the mind, in order to experience what we call dreams. Those are bodies or vehicles that belong to nature typically. Most people don't have what are called solar bodies. We tend to exist in those dimensions during sleep in vehicles that belong to nature. They are lunar, mechanical. If you awaken consciousness, you can see that the lunar bodies have a spectral ghost-like appearance, very dark, but solar bodies are luminous, light. A master has those bodies, meaning, by working with a spouse in Malkuth, the kingdom, they learn to conquer their empire. They raise the Kundalini power up the physical spine to the brain. Next, after reaching the height of that scale, the seven notes, the seven chakras of the spine, illuminating all those centers, one takes that energy and raises it to a higher octave, relating to the vital body Yesod. But raising the Kundalini up the spine of that material body, that is in the fourth dimension, which penetrates our physical body, we then achieve that initiation. Again, these are initiations relating to alchemy, marriage. The first initiation of fire of the Kundalini we achieve in Malkuth. When we raise the fire of sex up the spine of the vital body, we attain the second initiation of fire. With the third initiation of fire, we are working with Hod, the astral body which in us is lunar, but when we raise the fire of Kundalini up the spine, up that body, we create a solar body in that vehicle. Consider it like how a bird hatches from an egg. We don't see it from the outside, but psychologically, internally, it is gestating, giving birth to those vehicles in which one can travel consciously with awareness and full cognizance of oneself. When we raise the fire of the Kundalini up the spine of the mental body, the world of the mind, we attain the fourth initiation of fire. We give birth to the solar mind. A mind that the only knows how to follow the will of Christ, that is not an animal mind, a mind full of defects, vices, errors, etc. Lastly, by raising the Kundalini of the causal world, the causal body relating to Tiphereth, willpower, we create what is called the solar causal body, and these bodies are like a light bulb. If you want to transmit light, which is the Christic energy, fully and completely, you need to create these vehicles so that your mind, your heart, and your will can express Christ. Someone who has created these bodies, who has reached the fifth initiation of fire in Tiphereth, can be called a twice born: someone who is born again. So people in the Christianity who say, "I believe in Jesus and therefore I'm saved," who say, "I am born again" are ignorant, because you cannot be born except through sex, as Jesus taught. This is someone who has conquered their empire at the beginning levels, we could say. When we reach the fifth initiation of fire, we learn to obey our divine consciousness and our Spirit. One becomes a master, a מלך Melech, a king. Or, if one is a woman, a מלכה Melcah, a queen. But of course, the Spirit is the one who does all this work inside of us when we obey the orders of our divinity. 
We want to work with the fire in the water of creative energy to give birth to the soul. The solar bodies internally, when we see them, are filled with light, beauty. When you invoke a master of the higher dimensions, when you are in the dream state, you see that they can appear to you with their solar vehicles, and they emanate power and beauty that is really indescribable, impossible to define.
When we work in initiation, we want to become like that. We want to conquer the empire of light, for as the gospels teach us or the New Testament, teaches us (paraphrased), “Heaven is taken by force, and only the violent take it by force.” [Matthew 11:12] Heaven is taken by force by working with initiation. When we look at the three letters of Kabbalah: א Aleph, ש Shin, מ Mem, you can also say that א Aleph relates with ה Hei, an H sound, the breath. So you combine those three letters together ה Hei, ש Shin, מ Mem, and you spell השם Hashem which means the name. בורך השם אדון Baruch Hashem Adonai: “Blessed be the Name of the Lord,” say the kabbalists. 
You spell Hashem backwards, you spell משה Moshe, Moses. Moses is a symbol of a master who was taken from the waters, because Moshe literally means “Born of fire and water,” because ה Hei refers to the womb. If you look at the sacred name of יהוה Jehovah, י Iod ה Hei ו Vau ה Hei, the letter ה H looks like a womb from which a child is gestated.
We know from the stories of the Old Testament that Moses was taken from the waters, from a basket or an ark you could say. A little ship. A minor arcanum or, better if we say, major arcanum, or the great arcanum, the great law, which is the teachings of alchemy according to Samael Aun Weor. 
Moses is represented as the body of willpower and all the other bodies we created through alchemy, through marriage. Hidden within the name יהוה Iod-Havah, Jehovah, we also find the three elements of nature, as well as the earth. Better if we say the four elements. יהוה Iod-Havah in Hebrew is the holy name of God, which inappropriately, many Jews pronounce as אדון Adonai. Not the same meaning.
The sacred name of God and Chokmah in the Kabbalah is יהוה Iod-Havah. אדון Adonai is a sacred name of God in Malkuth. Each of the sephiroth of the Tree of Life have sacred names associated with God in the world of Atziluth, the world of archetypes, principles. So when we say יהוה Jehovah we referring to Christ amongst the kabbalists. Chokmah means wisdom and Christ is the energy of Chokmah. The wisdom of Chokmah, the insight of the Lord. You can also take this word יהוה Iod-Havah and break it down further. י Iod is masculine. הוה Havah is feminine. You could say Adam-Eve, man-woman. יהוה Iod-Havah is an acrostic which entails the teachings of alchemy, of a marriage. Question: Just getting back to השם Hashem. Wouldn’t that be Ashem? Instructor: You can say השם Hashem because the השם Hashem is the breath, the Spirit, which we pronounce in alchemy, but within ה Hei is the womb, is how the child is born, and then they take the first breath in order to live in that moment. But Jehovah also relates to the four elements. We find that if we take this name and pronounce it in Latin, we hear the vowels IAO, another sacred name. It is important to step back and point out that יהוה Jehovah is a Tetragrammaton, a sacred four letter name of God. In many religions or certain religions, there are four letter names of divinity. Amongst the Jews it is יהוה Iod-Havah, Jehovah. Amongst the Muslims it is الله Allah, four letters. Tetra means four. Gram means letter. Any four-lettered name of divinity in an any religion refers to Christ, Chokmah, but even if you pronounce that name Tetragrammaton in the astral plane, you can invoke divinity in that way. Any master of any particular interest you want to investigate. 
A very sacred word. When you say Tetragrammaton, the angels look down at you and you can see them directly in the astral plane, and you can invoke whomever you want to speak with. But יהוה Jehovah, Iod-Havah is man-woman. י Iod, man. ה Hei: woman. The ו Vav represents the spine. It also can represent the phallus. ה Hei represents woman or water, we could say, and represents the uterus.
Within IAO, we find: igneous, aqua, origo―fire, water, and spirit. When we work in alchemy, the supreme mantra is IAO, according to Samael Aun Weor, the founder of the modern Gnostic Tradition. Within these three letters IAO are contained within the last ה Hei, because if you take the י Iod, ה Hei, ו Vau, and translate into Latin, you have IAO. The ו Vav, the letter V, can be translated as Vau and sometimes it is used as a Vau sound in Hebrew. So it can be an “O.” י Iod, ה Hei, ו Vau is IAO. Those three elements are contained within the earth, ה Hei, the body. The Elements of Alchemy
Alchemy teaches this tradition also very extensively too within Europe. In order to become an Emperor, we work with these elements. We work with the mantras IAO in sexual connection, with our wife, partner. Alchemy speaks abundantly about these principles.
The fire of sexuality, they [the medieval alchemists] refer to it as Sulfur. The water of sexuality the refer to as Mercury. And the Spirit, Origo, is the breath, the wind. As Samael Aun Weor states in Alchemy and Kabbalah in the Tarot, he synthesizes for us the elements of alchemy, which are Salt, Mercury, Sulfur and Azoth. The salt is the matter, meaning the brute entity of our semen, the physical waters, literally. The mercury is the Ens Seminis. I believe is the term used by Paracelsus to refer to the entity of semen, the energies contained within those waters. Then Azoth is the mysterious ray of the Kundalini. Azoth is the Kundalini in the alchemical tradition. When you spell זֹאתה Hazoth you spell it with ה Hei, ז Zayn, א Aleph, ת Tav. ה Hei relates to the breath, the wind, the womb of the Divine Mother. ז Zayin, the seventh letter of Kabbalah, we will talk about in the seventh arcanum, represents a sword, looks like a sword, with a Z sound. ז Zayin, looks like ו Vav, but has an extended top and represents a sword, the kundalini that rises up the spine in order to aid the initiates in their battle against their defects. א Aleph again is the wind and ת Tav is the final letter, representing as the seal or covenant upon which one is initiated: the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the twenty-second arcanum. We work with the four elements with our practices of meditation, but especially in a matrimony. The fire, water, and air represent aspects of our psyche, but also our body that we need to work with, and when we learn to work with these alchemical principles in ourselves, we are working with the secret teachings of the four gospels. 
The Four Gospels and the Mystery of the Sphynx
The four elements relate to the four gospels themselves. The four gospels, or the better said, the four elements, relate to the animals of alchemy. The Chaioth Ha-Kadosh: the holy creatures mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel, which are before the Lord of God, symbolize the elements that we are mastering in ourselves. The fire represents the lion. The lion, the fire, and is the gospel of Mark. The water, the mercury, represented by a man is the Book of Matthew.
Question: Excuse me, water is man? It’s amazing how, you know, in all the other teachings, relate man to the air in traditional decks. Instructor: We say it relates to man because a real human being, a Hum-Man, a mind made into the image of Hum, the Spirit, is born from the waters like Moses or any master. The eagle represents the air, the Book of John. Lastly, we have the Book of Luke representing the earth and the bull. These four animals are synthesized in what we call the Sphinx, which is a mythical creature associated with Egypt, which Oedipus the King answered his riddle in order to save Thebes in the famous play. That riddle that the sphinx asks any initiate or any poor person trying to enter initiation is, “How do you become a human being? How do you answer my riddle, my form?” Which is: the wings of an eagle, the hooves of a bull or an ox, the paws of a lion, and the face of a man. So how one become a real human being is by working with those elements in alchemy. Oedipus became king because he answered the riddle, so he became a master at that point. But of course, there is more work to be achieved by any Emperor or any master who is perfecting him or herself. The Elementals of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth
The salamanders, in correspondence with the elements, relate to the fire. There are elemental creatures in nature that exist and permeate all the elements, and any alchemist, any master, learns to work with those elementals in themselves and also outside.
As I said to you previously, a real magician is somebody who works with elemental magic, ceremonial magic, and sexual magic. Relating to Netzach, the mind; Hod, the emotions; and Yesod, vitality. The salamanders are the creatures that live in the fire, whether in the candle or in our sexual energy. They are innocent creatures of nature. They don't have any defect. They simply obey the commandments of the divine forces or intelligences that govern all the cosmos. The salamanders are the creatures of fire we have in the fire of sex which we enliven through husband and wife. The undines or the nereids relate to the water. They govern our sexual waters themselves. Then we have the gnomes that govern the earth, who live within the stones, but also within our physical body. Our physical body cannot exist without the help of those intelligences known as the gnomes that help to transfer certain substances in the body. Then we have the air, the sylphs or sylphids relate to the wind, the breath. In our breathing, our lungs, we work with them all the time but there is a way to work consciously with these elements, with a certain discipline. We need the four elements or elementals to work for us in order to become an Emperor. The nereids: we need them to be docile and tame the waters in our body; they have to be controlled, especially when one is sexually connected, because if one also builds up too much fire, one will lose the energy, lose the waters and the earth will become depleted, our physicality. The salamanders help us for heat. When a husband and wife unite and they are inflamed with divine love, the sexual fire is what gives them life or attraction, magnetism. Those are the salamanders at work. And when we say that the gnomes themselves, when we are working in a matrimony, are the ones that transform the lead of our personality into the gold of the spirit. The gnomes are the ones who learn to take the gold that is within the semen itself and transfer it up the spine, up the mountain range of the spinal column. In esotericism, a mountain represents the spine which we have to climb in the path of initiation. The winds must be controlled the sylphs. If we are breathing too quickly when we are connected sexually, the energy is not going to go inward and upward, but instead inward and out. People who are inflamed or too excited sexually with their breath, breathe too quickly. Their exhalations are more pronounced, meaning that the energy is going from in to out, not out to in. That is why they lose their energy very quickly. So, the breath has to be controlled. The sylphs have to work upon the waters of our sex through mantra, through prayer, and through full awareness about what one is doing. 
If we listen to the undines, meaning our lust that is enmeshed with in the waters themselves, we will be tempted and we will shipwreck ourselves like Odysseus was nearly shipwrecked in The Odyssey. He was riding a ship back to Ithaca after the battle of Troy and that is a beautiful alchemical teaching of how through the ship, the arcanum, the ark, he was traveling island to island, which is chakra to chakra up the spine, across the Mediterranean, symbol of our waters of sex, in order to return to Ithaca, return that energy back to the crown, which is the kingdom that he originates from.
But of course, Odysseus made certain mistakes, such as letting himself be tempted by the sirens. He commanded his shipmates to tie him to a staff, or better said to a mast and when they passed the certain area of the sea in which the sirens were well known, he heard their calls and was ranting and raving to be allowed to go overboard, and to take the ship over to them. That is how lust works. Question: But I recall, correct me if I am wrong, where he was tempted was off the shore of Naples, but that he had time to make it right. They had tied him to a mast… that part of Greek mythology, geographically I remember. Instructor: Geography is used psychologically. It is a representation of certain alchemical teachings. The Red Sea mentioned in the Old Testament is the waters of sex, which the Egyptians are drowned in, meaning our defects, our egos. But when Odysseus hears the sirens, he wants to go overboard, or better said, he wants to take the ship and go over to them. Meaning, he wants to shipwreck and that is the teaching of how lust, the "I,” tempts the mind and the heart in order to abandon the ark. The arcanum, the law, the teachings of chastity, of sexual purity. In the epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus’ shipmates had beeswax in their ears so they couldn't hear the sirens themselves. But Odysseus was tied to his mast, meaning his spinal column. The only thing that kept him from going overboard was his willpower, his spine, and the help of divinity in the ship, the shipmates to get him out of there, to get past the temptation. So, the undines relate to the waters, and we need to work with those elements didactically. Psalm 119
Let us talk a little bit more about the ד Daleth. Psalm 119 speaks or begins with the letter ד Daleth through its verses 25 to 32, and synthesizes many of the things that we have been talking about and the path that is required for any initiate in order to enter into the higher mysteries, to become an Emperor.
My soul (Nephesh) is reduced to dust. Give me life according to your Word.
ד Daleth is very significant. It literally means door and relates to דעת Da’ath, which we have been explaining in depth today, the science of alchemy, sexual knowledge, conscious knowledge or experience of divinity.
It relates to darvish, dervish, a poor person and as we seek to enter initiation, we must become poor in spirit, humble. To recognize that only divinity matters. The letter ד Daleth is also hidden within the word שדי Shaddai or שדי אל חי Shaddai El Chai, which means “Almighty Living God.” It is a sacred name of God associated with Yesod in Kabbalah, because the word שדה Shadeh means “field” and the field is precisely where gestates the vegetation, life, which we also find the most subtle of all creatures: the serpent mentioned in the bible. “The serpent that was the most subtlest of all is within the field,” שדה Shadeh, signifying the power of שדי אל חי Shaddai El Chai, the Almighty Living God, which is the creative potential, again, sexuality. On the doorposts of Jewish homes, and also institutions, they have the word written אל שדי El Shaddai, and they often times will kiss the lips and touch the symbol as they enter and exit out of the rooms. The door represents the door to enter Eden, into initiation, which is the narrow door of sex. A difficult path to control one's lust and to fully extirpate it. That door is the power of שדי Shaddai, the field, the serpent. Question: Is this why it said be as wise as serpents? Instructor: Yes, be wise as serpents with that energy, in control, and as harmless as doves, meaning the Holy Spirit, which is to be chaste, to be pure. ד Daleth also relates to סוד Sod or סודי Sodi, which you can translate backwards if you had י Iod at the end of סודי Sodi, you spell יסוד Yesod. סודי Sodi means “secret.” This is the secret teaching that was hidden for millennia, which is now made public in the era of Aquarius. 
The Symbol of David in the Old Testament
Lastly, we have דוד David, דוד David who is the king of the Old Testament, and his name literally means “boiler” in Hebrew. David killed Goliath with a stone, which is a size of one's hand. A sling and a stone and his faith in God.
Goliath is represented as his lust, his desires, his defects, and through the stone of Yesod, the secret teachings of alchemy, he conquered his inner beast, and became king of Israel. דוד David is a symbol of ד Daleth, ו Vav, ד Daleth. ד Daleth can signify דעת Da’ath acrostically. ו Vav, the sixth letter, relates to the sixth sephirah of the Tree of Life, which is תפארת Tiphereth and then יסוד Yesod ending in ד Daleth is hidden in also in the last letter of דוד David's name, and it literally means “boiler.” To boil alchemically the impurities of the psyche within the sexual matrass. The word crucible, crux, cross in alchemical terms, is where we get the word cross. Crucible is a metallurgical element or machine in which you melt impure substances in order to get pure substances. So that the fire of the sexual act, one can remove the impurities of the psyche, of the soul. Likewise, it is on the mattress, the bed, where the couple forges the soul, working in the alchemical matrass to destroy impurities and awaken Kundalini. 
דעת Da’ath in this image of the Tree of Life relates to the first letter of David. ו Vav, תפארת Tiphereth, willpower, is the work of the spinal column. Through the work of the spine and with knowledge gained from alchemy, we learn to control יסוד Yesod, the final ד Daleth. That is how David conquered Goliath, his inner beast.
Conclusion
To conclude will leave off with a beautiful teaching from the Book of John (1-18) with some Gnostic exegesis explaining the alchemical and kabbalistic significance of this passage, which relates to what we have been discussing.
Jesus speaks to His disciples: 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door (of שדי אל חי Shaddai El Chai, the power of God Yesod into the sheepfold of Malkuth) but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
In every lecture we give certain practices in order to help you digest and apply the principles we teach. To become an Emperor, we learn to work with conjurations and prayers, as well as the four exorcisms of the elements. There are exorcisms or prayers we perform which will be doing today at the end of this lecture in order to invoke divinity and control the elements. The exorcisms are related to fire, air, water, and earth which we will be explaining after the lecture.
Questions and Answers
Question: It's amazing when you mention Alice in Wonderland and I thought about The Wizard of Oz and the spine may mean the...
Instructor: Wizard of Oz, עץ החיים Otz Chaim, Wizard of the Tree of Life. And of course that the movie does a very good job of this; it shows the three coils at the beginning of the road that leads to the Emerald City, which is Ithaca for Odysseus, the crown chakra, the kingdom of the Wizard of Oz, the Magician, or the priests of Oz. Question: The Scarecrow as you think, and the Tin Man, as you feel.... Instructor: The Magician is the only one who is going to give Dorothy, the soul, or better said, the Tin Man, a new heart, a solar astral body. The Scarecrow, a solar mental body, a new mind. The Lion, representing will power, a new causal body. The Magician is the one who is going to create the solar bodies by walking up the path, the golden path of the spine that leads to the City of Emeralds: the Church of the Saints. Question: That being said, all of this allegory, you were mentioning the mythology and there was mention that Shakespeare was an occultist. Is there anyone in our present time that is an occultist that is giving out information, whether it be Lord of the Rings?... Instructor: Lord of the Rings. Even Tolkien stated as a preface to one of his books, specifically, and “People think that there is some type of hidden meaning to my stories.” He said, “I just wrote to entertain people.” But he was a very good philologist, a philosopher of language. So, there are certain things that he imitated that were very accurate. Question: Kind of like Star Wars, did they do the same thing? Instructor: Actually, Lucas' films were based off the teachings from The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Those were works of imitations, those are works of imi-ta-tus, the one who imitates, but to find works of initiates, one has to become an initiate and to understand it from experience. Question: Why do you think like Carlos Castaneda... why do you think they use allegory? Obviously, this information if of the utmost importance, why isn't it just thrown at us and say, “Hey look... we have to figure things out...” Instructor: Many writers of the Piscean era were marked by conservatism. So the Age of Pisces, which ended at the beginning of the Era of Aquarius, in the 60’s, was an era where this type of knowledge was meant to be hidden, not given openly. The sign of the water carrier of Aquarius, of how to become an Emperor, by following the work of Aqua-Aries, was only given just recently in the writings of, specifically, Samael Aun Weor. There are other writers who knew this teaching very well and talk about it in an implicit manner, because they weren't authorized by the White Lodge to give it openly. So it is good to read those writers like Ouspensky, Gurdjieff, Alice in Wonderland, many Piscean teachings, with the Aquarian doctrine, which we are teaching now openly so that you can see that there is really a whole teaching here. There is nothing separate that this knowledge was given many times, but in a veiled form, because they weren't authorized to teach openly. Question: How come they weren't authorized? Instructor: They weren't authorized by the White Lodge because this knowledge is powerful. You either create an angel or a demon, based on what you do with your work. So, it's a matter of will. Comment: We are creating a lot of demons... Instructor: No, have faith. Have faith in Jehovah, as David did, because David, through the power of Yesod, and his will, killed Goliath. Killed the giant, and many of the myths of great heroes killing the beast was very prominent, and so they are teaching that it is very possible, and you will do it if you learn to become humble, to enter that doorway. To be humble like a dervish or a fakir, a poor person, to enter that narrow door. It is difficult, but if you want it, you will do it. If your Being wants you to do it, you will do it no matter what the cost will be. Question: Relating to postures, you mentioned the Runes and yoga postures, and feet on the wall [the Viparita Karani Mudra], will that help with bringing the Pranic force down the spinal column into the brain and reciting a mantra at the same time?
Instructor: Yes, when you work with the Viparita Karani Mudra, which, for those not familiar with this exercise, you place your legs against a wall and lay your back on the floor. You can simply concentrate and visualize certain energies in fluctuation, such as the practice of the Holy Eight, which we teach in the book called Sacred Rites of Rejuvenation, or you can pronounce mantras or transmute in order to continue the circulation of energies. You can work with exercises like Ham-Sah as well when you are lying on your back.
So I invite you to reflect. At the end of this lecture we will do the exorcisms of the elements. But learn to become poor in spirit by analyzing the elements of the psyche. Our thoughts, our feelings, our body, our impulses, because that is the entrance way to enter through a matrimony, especially, but we begin this path by learning to control the elements, as we taught in the Magician card. Question: I know we’ve talked about this last week, but the Catholic Church, obviously the priests practice abstinence and this and that, why is it that they are having those defects of, you know… because they know that they are not supposed to spill the semen… Instructor: Because if you conserve the water, but don't transform it, there is no Genesis there. Question: But aren't they transforming through prayer and meditation? Instructor: They are not, obviously, if you look at the results. By their by their fruits you will know them. Certain people, they like to pray and like I said, with the path of the monk, they can develop certain qualities of heart, but it doesn't mean that they are transmuting. It doesn't mean that they are eliminating their defects. Question: So, they could be drinking and doing stuff... Instructor: I really don't know what they are doing, but I know that in my encounters with certain priests, they are very degenerate. Not all of them, of course. But people who abstain from sex and don't circulate that energy inward and upward, become homosexual, or they degenerate. They lose their soul, you could say. Abstention is not enough. You have to learn how to create with that force because if the waters accumulate, obviously the energy, the fire has to go somewhere. If it is not being directed up the spine and just being contained, that fire becomes pestilent. It ferments and develops what we call in esotericism poisoniooskirian vibrations [the forces of extreme fanaticism and sexual perversion], which I believe is the term that Gurdjieff used. It is an objective language. But the thing is abstinence is not enough. You have to circulate the forces because fire has to act. If you don't control the fire, you'll be burned by it. Question: But that could also be through physical activities, or music or acting? That is the creative energy. Instructor: There are many ways to channel that energy. Transmutation is the most important, but we can learn to transmute by listening to good music, like the classical compositions, the Operas of Wagner, works of Puccini, Tchaikovsky; initiates who knew this teaching and were teaching how to elevate the soul from Malkuth to the Spirit. So their music conveys that path and can teach your consciousness something valuable [See the course: The Secret Teachings of Opera]. It also elevates the heart and you can learn to transmute energy while listening in ecstasy to Beethoven, especially. Question: The downside of that, you talk about the accumulation, how energy builds up. You talk about the clergy and books talk about certain monasteries in Europe where there were outbreaks of sensuality [homosexual behavior]. I am wondering if this could have been one of the causes of it, this energy that is building up… Instructor: If that fire is expelled then it is expelled, but if it is conserved and not transformed, it will develop a lot of problems. But there is no harm in transmuting, and actually, transmutation is the natural way for the body to exist. It is abnormal for us to have the energy expelled in a manner that it is common for animals. Animals procreate in that manner, but angels don't. So if you want to follow the path of an angel, you have to learn to engage with sex as an angel would. Comment: The problem is even my friend, or I try to mention this to other people, then they automatically call you, “Oh! You’re racist or discriminative against gays!” This is all new to me, since I used to say, “Oh, this is how they were born.” No one ever has this knowledge that such behavior is degenerative. It’s not evil, just animal-based… Instructor: We don't judge anybody here, because if we point the finger at someone, we have our thumb pointing to God saying, “Look at me,” and I have three fingers pointing at me for my own faults. Homosexuality is condemned in all religions. It is not something that you can practice if you want to unite with your inner Spirit, your inner Christ. Because man and woman, Jah-Havah works in a matrimony. So members of the same sex can't create a life. Same thing physically and spiritually. It is a matter of: as above so below. Comment: Just to add to that, I think with Dion , and Gareth Knight, who was a prominent occultist, he wrote that the polarities are the same. It’s like a charge; it repels. It not’s natural, really. You need a positive and a feminine. Comment: No, I agree. But now with the liberal movement, it’s like “Do as thou wilt,” so long as you don’t harm anyone. Instructor: They have their beliefs and it's their way of thinking. What can you do? Question: I am really learning stuff that I never knew, which I always thought, like the seven deadly sins and running amok in all of it. Just pure self-indulgence. The point is really what's ruining. It's not politics. It's not this and not that it's really that what happened in the sixties and what's happening now; pride is what's ruining the world and now you explain to people and suddenly they are like, “Oh, now you're in the religion now” all of a sudden. Instructor: People only have their concepts, preconceived notions of what spirituality is, and they may have certain traumas associated with a certain upbringing that make them repulse to esotericism, specifically, but we always respect the will of others, such as Prophet Muhammad taught in the Qur’an. He said that there is no coercion in religion. If you want to offer someone this knowledge, you can. If they don't accept, that it's their business. Don't worry about it. Mohammed was very concerned about the black magicians. He was trying to teach in Arabia at that time and the Lord, his inner Being said to him, "You are not a watcher over them. You give the knowledge and if they work with it, great, if not, it's their business." That is what the Qur’an teaches, and the Quran is very beautiful. It says, “Don't worry about people who are not believers,” المؤمنين Al-Muminin in Arabic. مؤمن Mumin, מים mayim, people who work with the waters, and the symbol of Islam, to submit to God, to enter that narrow doorway that leads to heaven is to submit through Islam, which is where you get the word peace Salam. So you find peace, through submission to God, by working with the moon, the crescent moon of Yesod and the star of Venus, love, which is a matrimony. A symbol of the alchemical teaching. You can give the knowledge and if they benefit, great. If they don't, it is their business. You know don't have to concern yourself with people who don't want to change. If they don't want to, it's on them. So, in an ancient time, when this knowledge was given only secretly, there was certain excuses made that, well, they didn't know any better. But now we are in the Era of Aquarius, you can look on our websites: gnosticteachings.org and chicagognosis.ors as well, and you find the knowledge is given openly. People have access to this teaching now in a way that is unprecedented. So there is no excuse anymore, but you do what you can and don't fret over them. Question: I have one about transmutation. Recently I sealed myself back up, but I find that I’m having a hard time transmuting. It’s almost like I’m using energy to become other faults, internal faults. Is that a bad thing? Instructor: Well the energy, when you transmute it, that fire gives you light, and the best and the most reliable way to know that you are transmuting is if you are gaining not physical quality, but psychological. You have more insight into your anger, your fear, your pride, lust, desire, etc., and you are seeing your mind as it is, because when you work with that fire and that water, you create light and life. You start to become more sensitive. You understand how certain habits are negative, not just physical, but psychological, and you can gain a better sense of equanimity and compassion too. Question: What I have been learning is that every little thing counts. Like what you pay attention to. Every little thing, what you watch on TV, what you listen to, what you read, what you pay attention to on the internet. There is not only one thing, it's every tiny moment... Instructor: You feed your soul with the impressions you give it. Whether in books, movies, television, and practice especially. So feed your mind and your heart with good impression, such as good music that is from masters, specifically. Especially the European classical tradition has a lot, but you can find a lot of indigenous music, too, from Tibet which is very common and popular now, which you can listen to as well. Aztecs, Mayan, etc. But the best way to feed your soul is in meditation [see the courses on Gnostic Meditation and Sufi Principles of Meditation]. Learn what you are feeding your consciousness with and reflect on your own psyche every day.
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In this course, we’ve been discussing the nature of numerology, numbers, and its mystical application within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and all religions. Numbers in themselves are intuitive principles; they express and elaborate the path of the soul in its unification with divinity. This path is taught, in a didactic manner, within the Egyptian Tarot, the Torat, the Torah, which literally means “law” or “laws.” Numbers describe laws in nature, the steps the soul needs to follow to achieve religare, religion, reunion. The knowledge of the path, based on experience, is gnosis, what we have verified through facts, what we know for ourselves.
There are two forms of nature: material and spiritual. Numbers govern the laws of both natures, both worlds. The number three is particularly important in relation to this, because the number three is the law of creation, the law origination, of genesis. We spoke previously about the first card of the tarot: The Magician. This is the masculine principle that initiates life, the force that begins any endeavor, whether material, economic, psychological, or spiritual. However, the masculine, positive, of affirming force cannot develop, unfold, or impact anything without his counterpart, his feminine unfoldment, the Second Arcanum: The Priestess of the Tarot. She is the divine feminine within our consciousness. She is the negative or, better said, receptive force of nature that receives the masculine impulse, but to achieve what? 
Man and woman in unison are represented by the holy name of divinity in Judaism: יהוה Jehovah, properly pronounced Jah-Chavah. Jah is the Divine Father, the masculine entity. Chavah is the negative or receptive force, the Divine Mother. Jah is represented by Adam. Chavah is represented by Eve, the “mother of the living” in Genesis.
As we've explained previously, the Hebrew letter ו Vav represents the phallus. The Hebrew letter ה Hei represents the uterus. Together, through the power of love, אל El, the spirit, Chesed in Kabbalah, they unite as the reconciling force of the divine mother, אלוה Eloah, the Empress. When man and woman sexually unite, they give birth to a child. Just as husband and wife can give birth to a physical child, they likewise can give birth to the golden child of alchemy, the spiritual force known as Christ, Khristos, in Greek; who is an enlivening, spiritual fire that radically transforms our psychology when we have been properly prepared through scientific procedures. Nature does not ignore the laws upon which it is founded. If we want to create life, we need a man and a woman. All of nature is governed by sexuality. This no one can deny. Life cannot exist for human beings, for animals, for plants, without the unity of masculine and feminine. Even chemicals, molecules, unite and join through sexual bonds, to create new substances, elements, or qualities, new compounds. The same principle applies to spirituality, for as Jesus taught: 
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus was a literal man. Likewise, many people who read the teachings of Jesus. The prophet was speaking about the need to transform the sexual act into a sacrament, to not approach sex in the manner of everyday persons. He is speaking about the third arcanum of the Tarot: The Empress, how a man and woman can give birth to spiritual consciousness. For when the Magician works with his priestess, when the Divine Father, the masculine force, and the Divine Mother, or feminine force, work within us, they can give birth to the purified soul, represented by Sol, S-O-L, the Sun, the Solar Christic force, free of defect, blemish, or impurity.
Spiritual birth or creation is the third force, the force of reconciliation. These three forces are well cited by Gurdjieff: the positive masculine force is Affirmation, the negative / receptive feminine force is Negation. When they join, they unify through the synthesis, the union, the force of Reconciliation. Sexuality is the force of Reconciliation, how husband and wife come to enjoy the conciliating forces of divine love. 
The Empress
The Third Arcanum of the Tarot is light, signified in Genesis 1:3, יְהִי אֹור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור Yehi Ha-Aur, Va-Yehi-Aur: “Let there be light, and there was light.” The number three is precisely the life or light of comprehension, of spirituality, that is gestated, between husband and wife in the perfect matrimony and, more importantly, in meditation.
The woman represents the divine, feminine soul or consciousness. She is clothed in white garments, which represents the solar bodies. The Gospels speak about the Wedding Garment of the Soul, the solar vehicles (see Matthew 22), of which we spoke about in our lecture entitled The Solar Bodies, available on our website: chicagognosis.org. A vehicle is a means by which something is transferred. Therefore, for the light or energy of Christ, to manifest within our soul, we need to create the solar bodies. Just as light cannot function without a bulb, we cannot manifest the supreme energies of divinity without purifying ourselves and giving birth to the soul or solar bodies. We must have a mind, heart, vitality, and body that resonates with higher laws. Our mind, heart, vitality, and body, the lower four vehicles at the bottom of the Tree of Life, are afflicted with suffering, with conditions, with mechanical ways of behaving, represented by the moon. Netzach (mind), Hod (emotions), Yesod (vitality), and Malkuth (physicality) are governed by lunar desires. The moon governs mechanical forces or laws in nature. Therefore, our egos, desires, and defects are represented by the moon as well, because they are conditions, mechanical habits or behaviors. We must transform our psyche into a sun. This means that our willpower overcomes its conditioning so it can vibrate and transmit superior forces. This is accomplished in the perfect matrimony. The Empress is in white garments because she is pure in thought, word, and deed. She is the Christified Soul, a consciousness that only knows how to do the will of divinity. The Empress is represented by the Greeks as Urania-Venus. She is of the stars, of divinity. In Chaldean, Ur-Anas, signifies “fire” or “light” and “water.” That light is generated when we learn to work with our sexual waters, our seminal energy, and practice meditation. Light is created through harnessing the fire of sexuality. She sits on the cubic stone, referring to the stone of the Masons, the sacred Ka’ba of Islam, the power of Yesod: the Foundation Stone of our temple. This stone is shown resting above a crescent moon, demonstrating that the soul has conquered instinct, sex, and desire: the vital forces of nature. The symbol of Islam also shows the crescent moon with the star of Venus, indicating how the lunar energies are transformed through the star of love. Therefore, a true believer in esoteric Islam is one who works with Yesod and governs it in him or herself. The twelve stars residing above the head of the Empress signify the twelve faculties of the spiritual human being: the five senses plus clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, polyvoyance, omniscience, and other refined senses of the soul. The twelve stars also represent the Zodiac and the twelve tribes of Israel. The Empress is greeted by a bird, sacred symbol of the Third Logos, the Third Force known as Binah in Kabbalah. This is the white dove of the Holy Spirit. She also bears a staff in her right hand, indicating that through the work of the spinal column, of raising the power of the Holy Spirit or Kundalini up the medulla to the brain, one achieves genuine religion. 
Explanation of the Third Arcanum
The number three is sacred, the law of creation is divine, and is found in many scriptures and cosmogonies. But the law of three is best explained through studying the Kabbalah: The Tree of Life. This is a map depicting different levels of consciousness, in all levels of matter, manifestation, expression, and abstraction / potentiality.
The Tree of Life is governed by the law of three. We find three triangles. The top is the Logoic Triangle, constituted of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah in Hebrew: Crown, Wisdom, and Understanding or Intelligence. These are the First, Second, and Third Logos: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Christianity. It's important to understand that the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are not people, but energies in nature. We find the holy trinity, this primordial root energy, behind every level of nature and experience. In the atom, we find the proton represents the Divine Masculine; the electron represents the Divine Feminine; and the neutron represents the Holy Spirit that binds these two forces together, to create an atom, a unity. The second triangle, in middle of this glyph, is the Ethical Triangle, constituted of Chesed, Geburah, Tiphereth: Mercy, Justice, and Beauty. These constitute our Innermost God, known as Mercy; the divine consciousness, known as Justice, and the human consciousness known as Beauty, respectively. Tiphereth is the beauty of our soul that we develop through the application of willpower. This is a human quality. When we talked about the Magician, we spoke about how our own willpower must obey divine will, Chesed: the spirit, as well as the Logoic Triangle above. Kether, the Father, the Magician, must manifest in our willpower, Tiphereth, in our heart. Remember that when you transpose the Tree of Life on the image of a human being, Tiphereth resides in the heart. The spirit, Chesed, is divine, and is also represented by the First Arcanum of the Tarot: The Magician. There are levels of divinity. We say that our Innermost Being is Chesed. But even Chesed has His Innermost Being, known as Kether. These are levels upon levels of experience, for as the Qur’an teaches us in Surah Al-Nur, verse 35: “Light upon light!” Tiphereth is our willpower that is enmeshed in psychological impurity, in selfishness, egotism. Our present consciousness is a fraction of Tiphereth, an embryo of our full human potential and will. Parts of our consciousness are trapped in defects, vices, errors, represented by qualities of mind (Netzach, known as Victory in Hebrew), qualities of heart (Hod, known as Glory), qualities of vitality, instinct, or energy, known in the East as chi, (or Yesod in Hebrew, translating as Foundation), which all manifest in our physical body (Malkuth). 
The Law of Three and the Three Brains
You can see that the law of three permeates every level of existence, of nature. More practically for us, we can relate the law of three to our three brains.
A brain in esoterism does not exclusively refer to the cranial center, but to a psycho-somatic machine that processes material, psychic, and spiritual forces. The three brains are how we relate to life, and it is in this manner that the law of three becomes most practical for our studies. The intellectual brain processes thought and is a vehicle of the mind (Netzach) on the Tree of Life. It is how thought can express. Thought is a form of psychological energy that manifests within our physical brain, yet it is not limited to the physical brain. This is evident by a profound study of dreams, of awakening consciousness within the dream state, whereby we realize we are not in our physical body, Malkuth, but the fifth dimension: the astral and mental planes. The emotional brain is the machine that focuses and processes sentiment, feeling, like, dislike, love, hate, etc. The emotional brain is constituted by our physical heart and its nervous systems, which materially manifest the energies of Hod on the Tree of Life. The motor-instinctive-sexual brain is a machine that process vitality, the energies of procreation and life. It is the brain of movement, impulse, and sexuality. It can be said to be the brain of action, for it is our motor capacities, our impulses, and our sexual drives that push us to act. This is well known in media and advertisements, which use our most base impulses to try to get us to purchase their products. The motor-instinctive-sexual brain relates to Yesod in Kabbalah. The foundation of our spiritual life is based on how we not only govern our mind and heart, but also our body. Our body is the vehicle through which our egotism, our desires, act. We tend not to be very conscious of our impulses, because these operate in a very quick fashion. The energies of movement, instinct, and sex are very fast and hard to perceive and control. The heart is also difficult control, especially in moments of anger, because emotional energy functions on a very fast level, yet not as quickly as sexual energy. The intellect is the easiest to control, because it is the slowest of the three brains, despite what modern psychologists or esotericists may think. Sexual energy is the most powerful force we carry within us. It is the force that gives us magnetism, internal chemistry, metabolism, catabolism, and drive. It can be used for creating material life, or if we know how, spiritual life. So why study the three brains? Why study the Tree of Life in relation to the Third Arcanum? It is by studying ourselves and the dynamics of our mind, heart, energy / body, that we create spiritual life. We must learn to dominate our mind, heart, and bodily energies through willpower. Tiphereth is willpower and is in the very center of the Tree of Life. This graphic cannot function without the exercise of will. However, what willpower are we actualizing here and now? Is it selfish, egotistical, or unconditioned, pure? Is our willpower following divinity above, or is our will catering to our selfish thoughts, selfish feelings, and cravings and lusts of the flesh? We must learn to perceive with our willpower and divine consciousness how our defects of mind, heart, and body produce suffering. What are the thoughts and anxieties we experience? Where do they come from and why? What are our attachments and insecurities? What psychological qualities do we carry within that make us dejected? Frustrated? Vain? Proud? What are our defects that make us vibrate at a very low level of being? We need to know the psychological obstacles if we want to ascend to a higher level of being. We create our psychological experience based on our perception of the moment, which are conditioned and crafted based on our use of the three brains: thought, feeling, and will. If we want happiness, to create a spiritual life inside of us, we must intimately comprehend and control our thoughts, feelings and impulses, our three brains, using willpower, Tiphereth. This is the quality that can make us true humans, spiritual beings. Remember that the Magician of the Tarot needs to organize the contents of the table in the first card to be a priest, to conquer the four elements represented by the quadrature of the table. He accomplishes this by means of the wand, symbol of the phallus, of masculine or assertive spiritual will. The four elements are represented by the following Hebrew letters:
A practical magician has complete control over the aerial nature of his thoughts, to yoke the tempests of antithetical thinking to replace it with the calm, natural, flowing winds of a heavenly, serene mind. Likewise, he controls the fires of the heart, curtailing any explosions of anger, resentment, fear, etc., to replace it with the fire of cognizant love. And likewise, a practical magician controls his sexual waters, who never wastes them through acts of desire. All of this is obtained by managing the physical body, the earth. An explanation of these four elements will be forthcoming in our lecture for Arcanum 4: The Emperor. But you can see how the law of three organizes the Kabbalah. The three mother letters of Kabbalah constitute an important trinity, not only within our three brains, but in the Tree of Life. Aleph can signify the Magician, Kether; Shin, or the sacred fire or Menorah of Christ with its three wicks, represents Chokmah, the Second Arcanum. And the third force, the force of reconciliation, is found within Binah: the Holy Spirit, the Third Arcanum as the power of Mem, the waters of sexuality. 
When you transpose the Tree of Life on a human being, the Logoic Triangle governs the head (Aleph), the Ethical Triangle governs the torso and heart (Shin), and the Magical Triangle, constituted by Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, relates to Mem, how we use our waters. Aleph has three iods, signifying the three primary forces of nature. Shin also has three wicks or points, indicating the union of Chesed, the spirit, Geburah, the divine soul, and Tiphereth, the human soul.
In relation to the elements, the true gnostic seeks to comprehend his or her defects and overcome them, to become cognizant of their sources. We do so by analyzing our three brains and how they function. We must understand how our mind is in turmoil, storming between thesis and antithesis, positive and negative concepts. Constant thinking is an obstacle to genuine self-knowledge, of spirituality, of gnosis. Genuine experiential knowledge of the higher worlds, of divinity, is only accessible by the consciousness, when the mind is still and serene, when it is not blowing like a hurricane. The mind tends to be caught between two extremes of thinking: accepting or rejecting ideas. The mind, in its conflict, becomes peaceful as we learn to apply the third force: reconciliation or comprehension. Who is the one that must achieve comprehension? The silencing or serenity of the mind? The consciousness, through the application of will. Comprehension arrives when we introspect, when we learn to observe our mind, heart, and body with the sense of self-observation, with self-analysis, through the perception of unconditioned consciousness. Three forces apply to the psychological work: when we begin to affirm the work of self-observation, we encounter resistance. Resistance is the force of the ego, of our defects, that does not want to be discovered and removed. Therefore, meditation is essential, to sit quietly and examine the mind without external distractions. We learn to introspect and observe our defects, to comprehend them through the application of will, of concentration, through the power of perception, known in esoterism as imagination. The third force arrives when we comprehend the source of resistance by exercising our willpower and perception, our consciousness, for through perceiving the origins of conflict, we resolve conflict. This same dynamic applies to the rest of the other three brains. The motor-instinctive-sexual brain, or better synthesized as the sexual brain, is the machine of attraction and repulsion. Through sexual energy we are either attracted to a member of the opposite sex or we do not. We find desire or revulsion in this center. Despite the wisdom of this center, many people sadly do not comprehend how to use the sexual brain in a spiritual manner. They believe they must either indulge in sensual pleasures, in lust, or to run away from sex, to treat it as something filthy and disgusting. Both these approaches to sex are rejected in the Gnostic Tradition. We do not go to either extremes in relation to sex. We do not reject sex as something disgusting, nor do we glorify its lustful applications. We instead comprehend sexuality and govern it with wisdom, with temperance, with enlightened eyes. We do not dive into impure usages of sex, and neither do we repress sexual instinct. We instead comprehend it and use sexual energy in a synthetic way, with cognizance, with purity. You see the three laws here? Many people get stuck in either affirming or denying sex as something lustful, but not comprehending its actual function: how to create spiritual life, cognizance, and the development of the soul. Affirmation is the first force. Negation is the second force. Comprehension or conciliation is the third. Gurdjieff aptly stated that “humanity is third force blind.” People are indeed blind to the true purpose of sexuality, the force of conciliation. The gnostic scriptures speak abundantly about overcoming the flesh. This flesh is Malkuth, but also expressed as desires in Yesod, Hod, and Netzach. Desire is ego, defects, degeneration, impure ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Remember that ego is Latin means “I.” The ego is multiple. Desires are multiple. Desire is a technical term or equivalent of “ego.” The ego says “I want. I crave. I desire.” This is selfish will, not pure will. Pure will is known as Tiphereth. Let us understand that willpower is very different from desire. Tiphereth or willpower way of acting and knowing in accordance with the commandments given by our Divine Father and Divine Mother in our consciousness. Therefore, we do not overcome the flesh by flagellating ourselves or rejecting the body, but using it appropriately, with the beauty of our pure willpower. This is well documented in books like The Perfect Matrimony and The Mystery of the Golden Flower. We must govern sex with willpower, and not let sex govern our will. This is how we become magicians. We work in the magic of love to create the Empress, the Christified or purified soul. Likewise, we control the other brains in this endeavor. The three brains can be used by our defects and desires, or by our soul, consciousness, known as Tiphereth. It is the heart that tells us which actions are wrong or right. It is the voice of conscience or intuition that states, “I should do this.” “I should not do this.” It is our willpower that knows how to govern the mind, heart, and body to create harmony within one’s psychological kingdom or empire. 
The Law of the Pendulum and Force of Equilibrium
It’s easy to see how the first two forces relate to the three brains. We affirm some concept, religion, or idea with the first force: Affirmation. We arrive at a different idea, the antithesis, through Negation. Affirmation and Negation place each of the three brains in conflict.
We may like a person at one moment but hate them the next. We may also be attracted to someone sexually and yet also be repulsed by them. This is the dualism of the emotional and the sexual brains, respectively. It’s enough to look at society to see how people constantly fluctuate between two extremes, two ends of a pendulum: positive, negative; affirmation, negation; thesis, antithesis; yes, no; good, bad. People don’t realize that these dualistic ways of thinking, feeling, and acting produce the hypnosis of the soul, the sleep of our consciousness. People are not aware of the psychological sources of their problems. Humanity simply likes to “go with the flow” of things. They do not like to comprehend the source of their sufferings, because to do so is to face a certain resistance in the mind, which tells them, “It doesn’t matter if I think or feel this way. I don’t need to change. The world needs to change instead.” The reason why society is in conflict is because we are in conflict. We bear the same habits we blame in others within our three brains. It is hypocritical to condemn others for the same defects we possess, as Jesus teaches in the Gospels. We like to affirm or reject things all the time in our psyche, habits, and dispositions. We believe in one religion with our heart one day, then reject it the next. People tend to change religions, political parties, or ideas like changing clothes. There is a constant fluctuation between extremes in the mind, heart, and body. Therefore, where is the authenticity of our desires and yearnings in thought, feeling, and will? All of this is vain, to assume things will get better in time once other people change. External changes are superfluous. What’s important is the make psychological changes. We have many conflicting desires that do not have any real sense of integrity, unity, or wholeness. They are separate, disparate, conflicting. So when we learn to look inside of ourselves, we face a difficult problem, which is seeing the mind, heart, and body exactly as they are, seeing the psychological contents of the three brains as they exist in the present moment. The third force, the Third Arcanum, is necessary for our spirituality. The third force is developed as we introspect, as we self-observe our psychological conflicts, when we combine our willpower and perception to understand the sources of our conflicts. When we achieve comprehension of conflicts in the psyche, those conflicts will disappear. This is the third force: equilibrium, understanding, or psychological balance, represented in the Hebraic Kabbalah as the Third Sephirah at the top of the Tree of Life: Binah. 
The Three Souls of Alchemy and Kabbalah
The number three relates not only to our three brains but to three types of soul in the Kabbalistic and Alchemical traditions. The three souls of Kabbalah are known as Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshamah.
All three of these terms signify “breath.” In our discussion of The Magician card, we spoke abundantly about the Hebrew letter א Aleph, that it signifies the breath, the wind, that initiates spiritual life. What is the relationship of the soul with breath? The Sufis state that the gnostic must guard his breaths against God Most High, to not use one’s breath or speech in vain. This is because the throat is the uterus of the Verb, the Word, the Logos, to Logoic Tringle. We create or destroy life based on our words. Yogis and gnostics work with breathing exercises to transform energies in the body, whether through mantras, pranayama, runic exercises, sacred rites of rejuvenation, etc. The word for breath or vanity, mentioned in the Book of Ecclesiastes, is הֲבֵל Habel, which is where we get the name Abel. “Vanity of vanities,” saith the preacher. “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.” הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים Habel Habelim. Remember that Abel, Habel, was killed by his brother Cain, symbolizing how our defects, our Sensual Mind, kills our soul through wrong thinking, wrong feeling, and wrong acting. Therefore, all of life is vain, because our spiritual potentiality has been nullified. The Kabbalists also state that the inhaled breath is Neshamah, which is still pure and unsullied by the body. Ruach is the breath prepared for exhalation. Nephesh is the breath that finally reaches another person through dialogue. All three souls are different modifications of א Aleph, the spiritual energies of God, but in different levels of purity or conditioning. Nephesh is the Animal Soul. It is constituted by our consciousness trapped in defects, egos. Nephesh is the origin of suffering. These are the lusts of the psyche and the flesh. Nephesh is animalistic and low, associated with different forms of violence. Notice how the animals within the animal kingdom follow the law of “kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten.” As the Bible states in relation to Nephesh, “Nephesh, Nephesh, Blood is paid for blood!” Or as Jehovah Elohim states to Cain, “The blood of your brother cries out to Me from the ground!” We can easily see Nephesh in our media, where our television shows are saturated with sarcasm, with mental violence, making fun of or belittling others. This is a form of bloodshed in the mental plane (Netzach). We also find Nephesh in our Hollywood actors who abuse the emotional brain, tearing their hearts open with shows of extreme grief, cursing, and hatred. This is violence in the emotional world (Hod). And when people makes pornographic films, everyone is abusing their vital energies (Yesod) and defiling their bodies (Malkuth). Remember the Fifth Commandment states: “Thou shalt not kill,” and yet everyone is killing the energies of divinity within their three brains and by violating the will of others. The Ten Commandments were given unto Nephesh in order that it can learn to stop being an animal. All of us are Nephesh without exception. We constantly repeat egotistical and animalistic behaviors, including hatred, pride, greed, gluttony, etc. These elements constitute our animal inheritance, which have only become more complicated through the forces of evolution, devolution, and our intellect. The only difference between us and the animals in the animal kingdom is that we have intellect. We rationalize. Nephesh-desire is one hundred percent lunar, mechanical. It is constituted by our habits. This is easy to see in Kabbalah, because Nephesh corresponds to Yesod, the vital forces, our instincts, as we see in this image on the tree of life. Our animality is defined by our mechanical, repetitive behaviors, our conditioning, associated with the moon, luna, which is where we get the word lunatic, someone who is depleted of reason and who follows degenerated, mechanical thinking. Nephesh is governed by the moon. You can see by this definition and by reflecting upon yourself in meditation that everyone has many mechanical habits that are engrained, that are hard to change. We have a strong sense of ego, of self, of desire, that rationalizes and justifies its behavior. You see the problem here? The ego uses thought to justify its degeneration. Therefore, Samael Aun Weor stated that the greatest weapon the demons or black magicians use to pull the aspirants from the path is the intellect. Because everyone fortifies and worships the animal mind. The intellect is not entirely bad. It is only bad when Nephesh, ego, desire, uses the intellect to propagandize its agenda. The intellect simply is a machine that can be used to process information, whether materialistic or spiritual. Therefore, in comparison with the animal kingdom, we have an advantage to use the intellect for divine purposes, to learn how to stop being an animal. When we acquire the intellect for the first time, divinity gave us certain commandments throughout the diverse religious traditions, to rationalize and demonstrate to us the path of becoming a true human being. And this is where the second type of soul, Ruach, comes into play. Ruach is the Thinking Soul. This is our conscience, that part of us that gives us a sense of right and wrong, a certain level of gnosis: how certain actions and psychological behaviors are proper or improper given the circumstances. We’re are talking more about a soul that reflects upon itself, that conceptualizes its habits and seeks to remedy them. Ruach relates to Chesed: Mercy in the Kabbalah, our Innermost God. Chesed is our Spirit on the Tree of Life, our Being, our divinity. This is our Inner Buddha. When we face conflicts and difficulties in life, we must learn to use our Ruach. In the spiritual work, Nephesh, the Animal Soul, and Ruach, the Thinking Soul, are submitted to ordeals. This is to give Ruach the opportunity to see the lower, animal soul, and to comprehend its errors. For when we face tremendous and unexpected difficulties, we have the opportunity to see our most hidden defects, egos which we never thought existed in ourselves. But of course, we must be in self-observation to catch them. Whatever defects we catch through self-observation must be wholly comprehended in meditation. Through comprehension in meditation we learn to transform the animal in us into the human. In a moment of anger, Nephesh pushes us to speak hurtful words, perhaps to a friend or co-worker. We must, in those instances, learn to reflect and rationalize with Ruach, to work with our conscience, to comprehend the source of that animalistic anger, so that we do not behave in mistaken ways. This is how we can transform our daily life. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, animals are at least innocent. We are not. Because we have the intellect, we have greater responsibility for our actions. Human beings as they are now are worse than apes, because they have the intellect but continue to behave degenerately. We should not justify the animal within us, but seek to become a human being and afterward a superhuman being. So what can make us into a human and even a superhuman being? Neshamah. Neshamah relates to the powers of Geburah, Justice, or our divine consciousness, on the Tree of Life. Neshamah is pure, divine. It is a soul that is not mixed with degeneration, with egotism. It is a power of tremendous spiritual caliber, with the power to create a true human being, as represented in Genesis. When Jehovah Elohim (Binah) created the human being into His spiritual image, He used his Neshamah to enliven Nephesh, to purify it and make it holy. Jehovah Elohim breathed the breath of life, Neshamah Chaiah, into the nostrils of Adam, and Adam became a living soul, a Nephesh Chaiah. A Nephesh Chaiah does not relate to common, ordinary persons like us, but to fully enlightened beings who have no defects. A Nephesh Chaiah is a Jesus, a Buddha, a Krishna, a Muhammad, etc. We must use Ruach to control Nephesh. When Nephesh in us is conquered, and purified by Neshamah, the spiritual soul, Nephesh becomes a Nephesh Chaiah, it resurrects, it becomes a new being: one without anger, fear, resentment, jealousy, etc. This process is accomplished through the path of initiation and psychological purification in meditation. The Three Kabbalistic Souls in the Qur’an
The Qur’an also refers to these three types of soul in the following manner:
In Surah Yusuf, verse 53, the Qur’an states: But I [Yusuf] absolve not my own soul. Surely the soul commands to evil, save whom my Lord may show mercy. Truly my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. ―Yusuf 53
The word for Mercy is Chesed in Kabbalah, a direct reference to the Ruach Elohim. Ruach, Rahman, Rahim, are sacred names of divinity in Islam.
Only Ruach, the thinking soul, with the help of Neshamah, can control Nephesh: the soul that commands to evil, our egotistical desires. When we face ordeals, our Nephesh is stimulated and comes to the surface, screen, and attention of our self-observation. If we are not in control of ourselves, then we will follow the animal in us: the soul that commands to evil. The Surah entitled: The Resurrection, speaks of the blaming soul, another term for Ruach. Ruach is the one that blames us for our faults, Nephesh. This is not a term of masochism, that we enjoy blaming ourselves for our faults, or that we are pessimistic people. The question is: who is blaming who? It is the spark of divinity we carry within that is helping to call us to attention for our faults. The Bible states: “God loves those whom He chastises.” We must self-observe and see our animal desires for what they are. This is a form of blaming or criticizing our own selves, so that we can transform the consciousness. This is positive and necessary, for remorse is good, not egotistical, morbid, and self-flagellating shame. That is not the meaning of the term “blaming.” When you look within yourself and comprehend how a certain action produced harm, you are blaming yourself with Ruach. You are becoming cognizant and remorseful for how your words of anger produced suffering. Suffering is always produced by animality. Remorse is a necessary emotional quality of the thinking / rationalizing soul. We must be responsible and take ownership for our faults if what we want is unification with divinity, with Neshamah. In the Surah entitled The Dawn, verse 27, the Qur’an states: O soul at peace! Return to thy Lord, content, contenting. ―The Dawn 27
It is very appropriate that the soul at peace, Neshamah, is associated with the Surah known as The Dawn, whereby we witness the rising of the sun, the Solar Logos, a symbol of the Christic energy.
Neshamah, the spiritual soul, is what grants us peace, which allows us to return to divinity content and contenting others. Is our soul like this yet? Observe and be honest. Do we naturally irradiate light, happiness, contentment for others? Patience and fortitude? Compassion? Or are we self-wiled, self-centered, concerned for our self-image, the gratification of our senses? If we are honest with ourselves we can admit that our souls are not at peace, that we do not have Neshamah developed inside. What we tend to have are a lot of social, personal, psychological, and economic problems. Therefore, we need ordeals and difficulties. Ordeals are given to us by Neshamah, from the divine soul, by Geburah in Kabbalah, who signifies Justice. To be just and upright spiritual beings, we need to pay our debts, to pay what we owe. For if we spilled blood in the past, then we must pay for it in this life. It could mean that we are humiliated by the people we once condemned or shamed in past existences, or even in this life. To shame someone is to spill blood, to make blood flush a person’s face. If we harmed others, we will be harmed in return through the power of Justice. But this not a mechanical dynamic. Ordeals bring Nephesh to our attention, so that we can comprehend our faults. Without this conflict, we cannot arrive at genuine self-knowledge. Here the three forces are at work to create Neshamah within us. We begin to self-observe, to analyze our minds and hearts in depth; we affirm this teaching in practice. Then resistance of the ego emerges; our Nephesh-desire fights, it wants to continue being an animal. Therefore, Paul of Tarsus stated: For we know that the law [of Neshamah] is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin [Nephesh].
Right now all of us are enslaved to desire. We must wage a holy war, to purify the psyche. We accomplish this through ordeals and by overcoming our lunar, mechanical habits. Neshamah is only fully developed in us once we have passed all the tests and ordeals, once Nephesh and Ruach are fully purified.
What’s also interested is that the Arabic word for Tranquility or peace is Sekinah or Shekinah, the Kabbalistic name for the Kundalini, the power of the Holy Spirit. For in the Surah known as the Victory, verse 4: “He it is Who sends own Tranquility into the hearts of the believers, that they may increase in faith along with their faith―to God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing, Wise.” Just as the tongues of fire descended upon the Apostles in the Book of Acts, likewise the Tranquility, the Shekinah, Neshamah or spiritual soul, the Kundalini, comes down to us once we have passed the psychological tests and have been working diligently in a matrimony.
The Hebrew Letter Gimel
In relation to the three brains, the three Mother letters of Kabbalah, and the three souls, we can speak abundantly about the third Hebrew letter: Gimel, which is associated with the Empress of the Tarot.
Gamal is literally the Hebrew word for “camel.” It can also signify a rich man, which is a direct reference to St. Paul’s spiritual man. Remember that he speaks in his Epistles about the two men: one terrestrial, and one heavenly. The terrestrial man is poor, the human soul lacking virtue and development. He is made up Ruach. The spiritual man consists of the power of Neshamah, and constitutes the most divine within Kabbalistic psychology. We are Nephesh, which has nothing to do with human qualities. We are not human beings; neither are we Paul’s terrestrial man, which fully manifests the developed Ruach, the Thinking Soul. Many people read the Old and New Testaments and want to believe that they are true human beings, just as Adam was created by the breath of life, Neshamah. To become “a living soul” is to incarnate Neshamah, as I stated earlier. This is a very high level of attainment, achieved near the end of the path, at resurrection. We, right now, have animal mind, a mind that is poor, destitute, requiring assistance from divinity above, from Gedulah, Goodness, our Innermost Spirit, known also as Chesed: Mercy in Kabbalah. The truth is that we have a fraction or portion of Ruach in us at this moment, which is the small still voice of our conscience. This must be developed further through comprehending and transforming Nephesh through initiation. Until Nephesh is controlled and transformed by Ruach and Neshamah, we are not human beings yet. So why is the Empress, the three types of soul, associated with ג Gimel, the camel? ג Gimel is constructed of an elongated, erect Vav, symbol of the spinal column, but also the phallus. Remember that the distinctive feature of a camel is its spine, it's hump. The י Iod / Yod, the dot at the top can also represent a phallus, but also the sexual energy and potential of God that rises within the spine. Notice that there are three י iods, three types of soul hidden here, that we must work with alchemically. By working with the creative energy we aspire to reach our own inner Gedulah, Goodness, another term for Chesed, our Spirit, and to fully command the three types of soul within us. The Zohar, when introducing the teachings of the Hebrew, Kabbalistic alphabet, discusses the symbiotic nature of ד Daleth and ג Gimel, the terrestrial and the heavenly men. The Zohar explains how when Iod-Chavah, Jehovah, wanted to create the heavens and the earth using the Hebrew letters, he called upon them from last to first. I won’t narrate the entire account at this point of our course, but regarding Gimel and Daleth, we find the following emphasis: The Zohar states: The letters ד Daleth and ג Gimel entered and made the same request [to initiate creation]. He replied to them as well, “It is enough for you to be with each other, since the poor will never cease from the world, and need to be treated kindly. ד Daleth is poor; ג Gimel, Gomel, renders, goodness to her. Do not separate from one another! It is enough for one of you to sustain the other.” ―Zohar
Who are the poor that will never cease from the world? Those souls who are filled with Nephesh, who are poor in spirit, who lack development, yet who want to receive the riches of the Innermost, Gedulah, Gimel, the Spirit. The Essence―which is us―is merely a fraction of the human soul known as Tiphereth. It is conditioned and animalistic, yet wants to become transformed by Gedulah, by Goodness, by the Being.
The Qur’an gives us a similar teaching in Surah 47 verse 38: Behold! You are those who are called upon to spend in the way of God, yet among you some are miserly. And whosoever is miserly is only miserly towards himself. God is the Rich, and you are the poor. And if you turn away, He will cause a people other than you to take your place, and they will not be the likes of you. ―Qur'an 47:38
This is paralleled in the story of Pinocchio; a doll, a wooden boy, ד Daleth, who wants to become a true human being made into the image of God, of Gedulah, ג Gimel. ג Gimel in this story is the carpenter, Geppetto. See how everything is beautifully hidden within names and words? גאפטו Geppetto starts with the letter G, Gimel. He represents the Being who fashions ד Daleth, the poor human soul, from the wood of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gimel also reminds us of Gnosis, Knowledge, since these words begin with G or a silent G-n, read as a “Neeyah” sound, such as with Jnana Yoga.
But of course, there are challenges to be faced and overcome for Pinocchio to cease being a Daleth, a poor puppet, to become perfected being, a Hebrew letter Gimel, as described in that fable. What’s also interesting is that our present word “God” is composed of ג Gimel and ד Daleth. ד Daleth represents and literally relates to a poor man, a fakir, or faqir. We need to reunite Daleth with Gimel in order to spell Gedulah, or גד G-D, God. All of this occurs through the help of the Blue Fairy, the Divine Mother Kundalini through initiation, hidden within Arcanum 2. So I hope the relationship of ד Daleth and ג Gimel is obvious now. We are also like a camel wandering the wilderness of initiation, seeking to be guided by our inner God. Nietzsche speaks about this in his Thus Spoke Zarathustra, through a chapter entitled: On the Three Metamorphoses (of the Spirit). We must become like camels, entering our own particular wilderness or states of suffering, our daily life transformed through the work of initiation. This is for us to become a lion of Judah, a Bodhisattva, a master who has incarnated Christ. Much later does a Bodhisattva, the lion, reach perfection, resurrection, to become a child, but that is a topic for another lecture. What keeps us alive in this search and longing for transmutation is the water in our hump, the transmuted waters of life ascending within our spine to nourish our brain, also signified by the top or head of the letter ג Gimel. Speaking of initiation, the camel is also associated with the serpent and the angel Samael, the divinity responsible for raising the fire of Kundalini within his initiates or adepts in this present epoch. This is textually based from the following verses of the Zohar: Camels are the primordial serpent that was like a camel. When the angel Samael [the creative sexual energies of the sign of Scorpio] tempted Adam to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, he was riding on a camel-like serpent [a Gamal or a Gimel like a serpent within the spine, the Hebrew letter Vav]. We learned that whoever sees a camel in his dream was punished by death from above but was saved from it. It is all the same, which means that the camel and the serpent that delivered death to the world are the same thing. ―Zohar
The Zohar also explains how the Angel Samael is related to the power of the serpent in our spinal column, our ג Gimel or camel’s hump:
When Samael tempted Adam to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, he descended from heaven riding on this camel-like serpent at that time, all the creatures saw his image and fled from him. ―Zohar
Let us unpack this passage. Astrologically, Samael governs Aries and Scorpio, relating to the head and to the sexual organs respectively. Samael is an angelic intelligence who works with the serpentine power Kundalini, rising from Scorpio, in sex, towards the brain, Aries. Adam is the head, and Eve, Chavah, is sex, as we’ve explained many times. The unification of the two is Iod Chavah, Jehovah, the Superman.
Therefore, we are tempted through sexuality, Eve, Chavah, and the brain, Adam, experiences the fruits of desire, the pleasures of fornication, through the animal spasm or orgasm. When this occurs, the serpentine power descends within the spine and Nephesh is fortified. Demons make that energy descend towards Klipoth from the Chakra Muladhara, forming the tail of Satan. Because the power of Samael can elevate or destroy us, the Zohar often refers to this angel in a mixed way, as being demonic and heavenly. Right now, the Master Samael is risen, perfected. He was once fallen, but now he is resurrected. While Samael Aun Weor achieved perfection once more, the energy in us―known as Samael―is not. Therefore Samael, the serpent within our bodies, according to the Zohar, has tempted us and continues to tempt us. Let us not confuse the Master Samael with that serpentine power we carry in our sexual organs referred to as Samael, the sexual strength of divinity. Always remember that we are Daleth, the poor man, an initiate seeking to receive the riches of the spirit, Gimel, the camel. But if we expel our seminal energies, we will be poor and without spirit. As Proverbs 21:20 states: There is treasure to be desired and oil (Shemen) in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. ―Proverbs 21:20
The treasures of the spirit are in our semen, our י iod, sperm or ovum, hidden within the bottom of ג Gimel, the spine. But as I said, if we ejaculate the י iod from our bodies, from the bottom of the Hebrew letter ג Gimel, we become spiritually dead. Through fornication, our sexual energy, our י Iod, is expelled from the bottom of the Hebrew letter ג Gimel, leaving us spiritually destitute. Daleth, the terrestrial soul, then becomes separated from Gimel, the spiritual being or Innermost.
As the Zohar states: We learned that whoever sees a camel in his dream was punished by [spiritual] death from above but was saved from it [when practicing transmutation]. It is all the same, which means that the camel and the serpent that delivered death to the world are the same thing. ―Zohar
Therefore, spiritual death occurs when we make the serpent descend towards the Klipoth, but saved when raising that power up the spine, our camel’s hump, through scientific chastity. The י iod above ג Gimel signifies chastity, and the י iod at the bottom expresses the possibility for fornication.
Regarding the psychology of this Hebrew letter, we have all heard Jesus teach, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven.” Who is the rich man, in this case? I just stated that we are poor, poor in spirit, lacking development. However, all of us are rich with ego, self-sufficiency, pride, anger, etc. Therefore, we cannot enter heaven in this manner, because the ego is not compatible with heaven. It is not by believing in anything, in anyone, that we will enter heaven, but becoming humble, like the Hebrew letter ד Daleth. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). Remember that one must be poor in the spirit, not poor of spirit, lacking knowledge. As will be explained in the lecture on Arcanum 4: The Emperor, we must enter ד Daleth, the door, of initiation, through becoming humble. We must annihilate our ego and become poor in spirit, to recognize our misery, so that we can later ascend, as the Magician card indicates. We ascend only after descending into our own infernal worlds to work in sexual magic. A camel, ג Gimel, the Innermost, is humble, and therefore can pass through the eye of a needle. Why a needle? A needle is used for sewing, and can symbolize the sewing and weaving of the solar bodies. We weave the solar bodies through sexual magic, through raising the creative energies up our spine, our camel’s hump. Not only is this significant, but the needle has an eye, which is the shape of a hidden י iod, a point, or dot; this signifies the power of Kether, divinity, the height of heights, the top of the Tree of Life. It is the power of divinity, the sperm or ovum in potentiality that becomes elongated and formed within our spinal medulla, becoming the letter ו Vav through alchemy. When an embryo forms, what we see is the spine, initially. This physically parallels how the energies of our iod, our energies, rises up and elongates, becoming a ו Vav, the spinal column. Our ו Vav, the spine, is hidden within the calligraphy of the Hebrew letter ג Gimel. It’s easy to see here that ג Gimel has a ו Vav, a spine, with three different י iods. As we discussed the nature of Aleph in our first lecture, Aleph has three י iods, signifying the three primary forces. The Hebrew letter ג Gimel also represents, in its three י iods, the equilibrium of air, fire, and water, a direct reference to controlling the energies of the three brains. Remember that the mind is signified by א Aleph, the wind; the heart is signified by fire, ש Shin; and sexuality is represented by מ Mem, the waters of life. The throne of the spirit is the spinal column, Gimel, whereby the power of Neshamah, the Kundalini or serpent power of Samael, works, but always against and upon Nephesh and Ruach. We must spiritualize ourselves through working with Neshamah in sexual magic, and to be resolved to endure the initiatic ordeals through using our Ruach over Nephesh, being guided by divinity. Questions and Answers
Question: So would you say that Neshamah, I mean just because we're born into this, you know, we pretty much do everything wrong in these systems that we have and all that, that basically, we have Neshamah when we're born, because we are not born with sin, are we?
Instructor: Well Samael explains something interesting that a child is pure up until the ages of four to seven. So this is a blank slate. But the problem is that the egos of that child enter and manifest within that soul between four and seven years of age because that's when that child is developing what we call personality. Question: But isn't that really just our society? If you have a child that is born in nature, and lives in accordance to nature, without all these kinds of institutions and constricts that make us Satanic, aren't they, can't they be Neshamah if they do not have all of these things thrown at them? Instructor: One thing in Gnostic science and psychology, we talk about three influences upon a child. You have what's called the genotype, paratype, and phenotype. I may be mixing up the definitions of these, we do have genotype, which is karmic inheritance: our egos and defects that we created in past lives. So those are conditions and elements that we have to face eventually as becoming an adult. But there are influences from environment, relating to paratype and phenotype, and being educated in a certain way to receive certain influences. So there is that component. And it's good if a child can have a very good upbringing, a good education, a respect for nature, especially within gnostic matrimonies, where couples know how to raise a child in accordance with these principles, so they're given extra help. But it doesn't really mean that that child will be perfect when they grow up because of karma, the ego. I've known certain missionaries in this tradition who have children and their children don't follow gnosis. So they may be brought up in a very good way, or hopefully a good way, with spiritual influences, but still a gorilla is a gorilla. You can take a gorilla to a dining hall in Paris and see what happens. We have that ego that's really strong, which develops, or better said, enters into us between the ages of four and seven. Question: Getting back to numerology and astrotheology, So I've had my numbers done before. I'm a twenty (slash) two. Is it OK to have your numbers done? How do the gnostics feel about numerology, having your numbers done by someone? Instructor: Personally, in terms of numbers, we always work with astral projection, so that we communicate directly with our Innermost, our Gedulah. Audience: So you don't work with the whole name on the birth certificate, the time you are born... Instructor: We do. There's a reference to that in the end of Tarot and Kabbalah called the Keynote of the day, or better said, the Keynote of one's name. There's certain numbers, certain meanings that you can associate with your name based on a certain formula at the end of that book. I do not remember that off the top of my head, but there's a way to add the numbers of your name in order to get an understanding of the certain tonality of your existence, your present existence. And it relates to one of the twenty two major arcana, which you can relate to yourself... Audience: That's what she said. I didn't meant to cut you off. The woman that did this, I felt intuitively that she was authentic, that she seemed to be that way. She figured out my numbers based on my birth certificate, the time I was born, where I was born, and I came out to be a twenty (slash) two, which when I looked it up, a two (I'm definitely two); and then my other number, which was my karmic debt number was sixteen (slash) seven, and sixteen in the arcanum is very interesting: it's a building where it's falling... Instructor: Fragility. It's a very difficult number, because it means failure. But here's the thing: if you want to escape failure, Arcanum 16 = 1 + 6 = 7: which is the Triumph, the war that you have the wage against your defects. So there's a way to escape that tonality of that influence, easily. But in terms of the arcana, we always seek to as a ד Daleth, a poor person, to enter the astral plane so we can refer directly to our Innermost, because we can receive, do readings like that in the physical plane, but I've always found it more resourceful to ask a master in the astral plane: "What do I need to do?" And they show you a number and a situation, and that way it's much more dynamic, it's more direct, it's coming from God. Therefore, you can be absolutely certain that what you're receiving is coming from divinity, and that is always really what we need. Question: And that's just done through deep meditation? Instructor: We meditate, we learn to astral travel. Audience: Yeah, I haven't done that before, but I've never gotten back to that. Instructor: Well we learn through practice and experience. But that's how your ד Daleth, we, the poor person, enter and unite with ג Gimel to form God, the perfect human being. So the heavenly man and the terrestrial man as St. Paul teaches are joined together, and we learn that science through dream yoga. We get advice in the astral plane, in the higher dimensions, about what we need to do. Audience: Are there people here who do not have karmic debt, or do we all have karmic debt? Instructor: This whole planet is... I do not know anyone who does not have certain debts, because you can say we are all cut from the same scissors. Audience: It's a matter of degree, alright. Instructor: Some people have life that's worse because they committed a lot of wrong action in the past, and that's why they're suffering a lot in this current time. Audience: Yeah, I was going to say that as much as my karmic debt seems like it's a burden, I mean, I can't even imagine these people in third-world countries, what they're karmic debt is... Instructor: Which if we study the Bhavachakra of Buddhism, it teaches that there are six classifications of human beings. You have the gods, the demigods, the humans, the hungry ghosts, the demons, and the animals. People in Buddhism think that refers to literal animals, demigods, in another plane of existence. There's a certain meaning to that, but there are many people in life who live like a demon, who live like an animal, who live like a hungry ghost, always trying to acquire more and get things. The myth of the hungry ghost is that they would try to drink and feed themselves but their mouth is only the size of a pin drop or pin needle. Interesting analogy there to [the eye of a needle where only a camel can pass]... Question: It's more like gluttony? Instructor: Not just gluttony, but also... Question: Materialism? Audience: It's because they suffer... Instructor: Trying to acquire satisfaction, and comfort, and security. So it can be material. And trying to have the security but not being able to get it. But then you have people who live like gods and demigods who have a lot of wealth, but they're always afraid that they are going to lose what they have. So that's why it's better to transcend that wheel of recurrence, repetition, cyclical behavior we call Samsara. Samsara literally means "cycling," return and recurrence, to come back to. You have to cut through that to cease behaving as a Nephesh, as an animal, because an animal, Nephesh, rotates in that wheel, the Bhavachakra. Good, bad. Yes, no. Success, failure, Victory, defeat. Audience: Duality. Instructor: That's duality and we have go through the third path, which is equilibrium, which is the path of the Bodhisattva in Buddhism, to balance all those forces, to make Nephesh a Nephesh Chaiah, make it holy. Any other final comments or questions? Question: You said that the Empress relates to light? Instructor: Yes. Question: And to get that light you utilize the fire, there again, in the semen? Instructor: Yes, because יְהִי אֹור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור Yehi Aur Va Yehi Aur. אֹֽור "Aur" means light, and you find אֹֽור Aur, light, hidden as a seed within the sexual organs. The Zohar teaches that in the opening of that scripture, how hidden in the fourth day of Genesis, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven," (Genesis 1:14) מְאֹרֹת Me'orot, you have the seed of that word, אֹֽור Aur, מְאֹרֹת Me'orot, אֹֽור Aur is light, which they say is a seed within a human being, which is of course the reference to the sexual matter. If you expel the אֹֽור Aur, the seed, you have left in those Hebrew letters, from מְאֹרֹת Me'orot, מות Mavet, which means "death" in Hebrew. We'll talk more about the Zohar later. But you work with that seed through mantra. You say, "Let there be light!" You're praying, your mantralizing, vocalizing sacred sounds, and then "There was light!" "Let there be light!" God says. "And there was light." So when we talk about the Hebrew letter ו Vav, "and" is ו Vav, the spine. That's how you create light in your spinal column. יְהִי אֹור Yehi Aur, "Let there be light," וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור Va Yehi Aur, "And there was light." Audience: It almost seems like the light is, for anyone, whether you're rich or poor, it's difficult as it is just because of a million... our thoughts going on in our head, but it almost seems that what I'm gathering by coming here every week is just we really have to control our carnal pleasures, our temptations, and if you just do that, then the universe, or God, or Tao, or whatever will kind of lead you towards the right path. It's really about controlling oneself, not worrying about all these other outside, you know, politics and this and that, and family matters. It's all about having control, about governing oneself. If you just that, then you will lead to a better path. Instructor: And that's why the Zohar states that one must engage with Torah day and night. Of course many Jews read this and they think this refers to reading the scripture, but the Zohar says that working with Torah is working with water, Mem, your energies. So God says, "Work with Torah day and night." Torah means law, the Tarot, the law. So if you want to work with the law, to receive help from divinity, and perform בראשית Bereshit, generation in yourself, work with your sexual energy. As soon as you do that, the angels say, "Let's help him." Question: You're talking about meditation? Instructor: And meditation too. But when you're working in chastity, that is how you get helped. That is the beginning. Because if you do not still the waters of sex, you can't control Nephesh. Audience: I'm noticing that and it's not only not spilling the seed, it's not thinking about that... Instructor: And that's why Nietzsche also talks about when people begin to become chaste, their lust, like an animal dog, he says in his book, a bitch, a female dog, follows them wherever they go. Lust looks through the eyes. Jesus said, "You've heard it said of old: you shall not commit adultery. But even if you look at another women with lust, with Nephesh, you've committed adultery with her in your heart." So first step. abstain from fornication, and then the real work begins by analyzing your dreams, lustful dreams, and looking at the other sex, because that's the difficult part. It is easy to control the energies. Transmute, that's the beginning. But then you have the extirpate the roots of that problem, and that's why we have to meditate. Go into subconsciousness, the unconsciousness, infraconsciousness to work with the animal soul at that level. And we get help from Neshamah who descends down in order to help us, which is symbolized by the play Romeo and Juliet. There's a part where Juliet, Geburah, Neshamah, the Divine Soul is trying to help her husband Romeo, Tiphereth. Tiphereth, Romeo gets exiled for having murdered Tybalt if you remember the play. Juliet is about to take a potion that is going to knock her unconscious and she fears taking it because she's afraid that she's going to wake up in the graveyard amongst the dead and the bones and the filth. Now of course this is a symbol of how Neshamah descends into our Klipoth, our hell, in order to help Romeo. And the of course the lovers are united through death. People get very sappy and sentimental about the play. It's very powerful, but that's one level of meaning that people don't know, that there's another meaning there. Through mystical death of the ego, Nephesh, is how Geburah, Tiphereth, unite. But of course, she has to descend into that graveyard, and that is something we get help with, but only if we are chaste, because chastity is the key to open the door to initiation. Question: Wasn't there a similarity there... where somebody went through the looking glass into the ground? Or what was it?... Instructor: Alice in Wonderland. Audience: Yes. Through the Looking Glass is a wonderful initiatic story, but also we have to descend down the rabbit hole to see how deep it goes. Question: OK. Who went down the rabbit hole? Instructor: Alice. She is the consciousness, the one who has to explore our Nephesh, which manifests as the Mad Hatter, the intellectual brain, which doesn't have any reason, it is a lunatic; the Queen of Hearts, which is the abuse of the emotional energy; and the motor-instinctive-sexual center represented by the White Rabbit.
Let us remember that the tarot were originally inscribed in stone. This is a symbolic as well as a literal statement given by Samael Aun Weor.
In the metaphorical level, we know that the stone refers specifically to Yesod, which is the creative sexual energy, the foundation of the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah. To provide a little more background on the nature of the tarot, I’d like to explain to you some little known reference within the Qur’an to the sacred arcana, the immortal laws of the eternal tarot, especially as it applies to the Divine Mother, the High Priestess, the second arcanum, the subject of our discussion today. We mentioned previously that the tarot are within all religions, including Islam. The Qur’an speaks about the tarot in a veiled fashion. The tarot are expressed in the Qur’an in an implicit manner, but after our explanations, this knowledge will be explicit. The Qur’an states in Surah 85, verses 13 to 22: Truly it is He Who originates and brings back. And He is the Forgiving, the Loving, Possessor of the Throne, the Glorious, Doer of whatsoever He will. Hast thou heard tell of the hosts―Pharaoh and Thamud? Yet those who disbelieve are in denial. And God is behind them, All-Encompassing. Nay, it is a Glorious Qur'an, upon a Preserved Tablet. ―Al-Buraj: The Constellations
The preserved tablet is precisely the tarot, since this knowledge was written upon stone and is preserved by the solar initiates in the superior worlds.
The Sufi commentators explain how the preserved tablet is the origin of all scripture, the origin of all teaching, whether Judeo-Christian, Muslim, etc. This preserved tablet is precisely the stone of Yesod upon which the tarot are inscribed. 
We mentioned previously that the twenty-two arcana of the sacred tarot are precisely the twenty-two Hebrew letters of the Torah in Kabbalah. As the third book of Enoch states:
Receive [Kabbel, the root word for Kabbalah] the twenty-two [Hebrew] letters of the oath [of Sexual Magic]. ―Third Book of Enoch
The word kabbel means to receive knowledge from divinity directly, through awakening consciousness. Likewise, Muhammad received al-Qur’an upon Mount Hira, or Jabal Nur, the “mountain of Light.” So he received, kabbel, the scripture, the law, the Qur’an, the Recitation, which signifies “to speak,” “to pronounce,” “to convey.”
Precisely the Qur’an, the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the world scriptures, whether from east or west, originate from this preserved tablet, which certain Sufis stated is called the Mother of the Book, or the High Priestess, the Divine Mother of the tarot. Al-Qushayri explains that this Surah 85, verses 13 to 22, the reference to the Preserved Tablet, is explained with Surah 29 verse 49: Nay, it is but clear signs in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge (Marifah in Arabic, gnosis in Greek, Da'ath in Hebrew) and none reject Our signs, save the wrongdoers. ―Qur'an 29:49
So what is this preserved tablet upon which the teachings of all traditions are founded? The tarot are principles, archetypes, forces, laws of nature, which need to be inscribed in our own stone, our body, wherein we find the cubic stone of Yesod, the sexual energy. It is precisely Yesod that provides genesis, which generates every scripture, which gives birth to every prophet. This is why Gabriel, the angel and power of the moon, Yesod, announces the birth of every great initiate, since it is through the lunar creative sexual force that one accomplishes the genesis of the soul. We mentioned that the tarot can be presented in a deck, like the one we have available through Glorian Publishing. The tarot, however, are not limited to a deck, through a set of cards, because these laws are archetypes, experiences, blueprints for the creation of the soul, qualities of being, which are symbolized by the images of the cards. We do not find the real tarot within a physical deck, but in the higher dimensions, within the internal planes. In the internal worlds, divinity uses this symbolic language, Kabbalah, to convey profound truths about our spiritual development, the dangers, the warnings, the inspirations. Therefore, we study Kabbalah to be well versed in communication with the inner Being, face to face, just as Moses received the twenty-two arcana or commandments of God upon Mount Sinai. Some people say he received ten, but the truth is that he received twenty-two, in relation to the major arcana. Similarly, Jesus received the Verb within the Jordan when baptized by John. Likewise, Muhammad the Qur’an, the Recitation, the pronunciation, the Word, from Gabriel, Jibril. The word Gabriel is alchemical and kabbalistic: Geburah-El. Gibur means “strength,” “severity,” or “justice,” relating to the sphere of Geburah on the Tree of Life. Ra is the solar divinity of Egypt, and El in Hebrew means God, spirit. 
So what is this Gibur? The swastika, the cross in motion, the alchemical union of man and woman. From this cross of alchemy, the junction of the vertical phallus and the horizontal uterus, those energies, when conserved and never expelled, generate life; those forces enter into action, into movement, through breath, through spirit, through the Hebrew letter א Aleph or Arabic ا Alif. That spinning cross is precisely the Hebrew letter א Aleph that we spoke about previously.
When the wind, the prana, the breath, the creative energies of God, are in movement, they initiate and begin a new life. A prophet who proclaims the scriptures, who speaks, is using א Aleph, because he is initiating others into the teaching. So when Muhammad received the Qur’an through distinct revelations, he precisely embodied its principles, its arcana, through the descent of those forces and their subsequent return up the spine through the path of initiation, symbolized by the Arabic ا Alif. ا Alif is a straight line, symbolizing the spine through which the prana, the creative energy, ascends. Every master, like Muhammad, works with the creative energy in the spine. The same with all prophets, since they are all children of the stone of Yesod, the preserved tablet, the Mother of the Book. These arcana are inscribed upon a preserved tablet, which the esoteric Muslims or Sufis explain is a scripture that the angels, the masters, recite and study before the highest divinity, الله Allah. Every scripture in the world is based on a detailed understanding of the twenty-two arcana, which is a knowledge preserved and understood within the internal worlds. The knowledge is internal; the tarot are internal. They are symbols of forces. For today’s lecture we are exploring the Mother of the Book, the second arcanum of the tarot: the High Priestess, the mother of the tarot, who is inside of us. Her law and laws must be inscribed within the temple of our body, heart, mind, and soul. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy תֹורָתְ law [is] within my heart. ―Psalms 40:8 The Two Forms of Kabbalah
Remember that Kabbalah is dual in nature and that there are two forms of kabbalists. There are the intellectual kabbalists, and there are the intuitive kabbalists.
The intellectual kabbalists are sorcerers, black magicians, fornicators, those who do not conserve the sacred waters of God within the sexual act, who perform Black Sexual Magic or tantrism. The intellectual kabbalists store a lot of scripture, knowledge, and teachings given by Moses, other Rabbis, etc., and yet they are exclusively limited to the intellect. That is all they know. They have a lot of book knowledge, lectures, teachings, etc., in the mind, but what distinguishes them is their lack of direct experience of what they have read. They have not verified the truths of divinity in those teachings. Those intellectual kabbalists who fill the mind with that information know nothing of God, since they have not received, kabbel, kabbalah, the wisdom of divinity directly within the higher dimensions. Those who receive conscious knowledge, Da’ath, Marifah, gnosis, are intuitive kabbalists. They know what they have read about through meditation and astral travel. So the Qur’an teaches us this principle very beautifully in relation to arcanum two: He it is Who has sent down the Book upon thee; therein are signs [verses] determined; they are the Mother of the Book [the Tarot, the High Priestess], and others symbolic. As for those whose hearts are given to swerving, they follow that of it which is symbolic, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation. And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge (marifah in Arabic, gnosis in Greek, Da'ath in Hebrew, the hidden sephirah on the Tree of Life, hidden within the throat whereby the verb is gestated, the power of the Tree of Knowledge). They say, "We believe in it: all is from our Lord." And none remember save those possessors of intellect. ―Al-Imran 7
The last phrase, “possessors of intellect,” is an inadequate translation. The original Arabic is ulu'l-al-bab, “possessors of kernels” or “seeds.” An intuitive kabbalist can see into the core of things, into their seed, their root nature. This is the nature of intuition, to perceive and interpret the experiences of divinity directly without the interference of the mind. We do so precisely working with the sexual seed, the seed of life. Intuitive kabbalists also see into and interpret the heart or core of any doctrine, any knowledge, any dimension, precisely since they develop the power of prophecy, founded upon Yesod.
But those kabbalists who only study the exterior aspect of things, the shells or appearances of phenomena, are exclusively intellectual. These people are superficial; they don’t see the insides of their teachings, whether of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Gnosis, etc. We must learn to be profound, to learn to dive into the depths of any knowledge to extract its seed, its essence, through transmutation, meditation and direct experience. Those who possess the shells, and not the seeds, are the black magicians, the intellectual kabbalists who dwell in the Klipoth, the world of shells. Klipoth in Hebrew means “shells.” A shell without a seed is empty of nourishment, of spiritual sustenance, of any genuine reality. The hell realms are empty of spiritual being. In the infernal worlds, one can have knowledge, but only of the inferior aspect of things, through the shells of the ego. Every ego is a shell that traps consciousness in perdition, in the infradimensions, that we must learn to comprehend and transcend through the psychological work. The Divine Mother, the High Priestess of the tarot, helps us to eliminate the shells of the ego so we can extract the seeds, the consciousness, the intuitive principles or arcana of the soul, to know the Tree of Life directly from experience. This is how we are liberated from suffering. Through this work of joyful perseverance, of comprehension and elimination of our defects, we create the music of the soul. Now you can comprehend the basis of Tchaikovsky’s famous “Nutcracker” Suite. You must crack the shells of the ego to develop the beauty and symphony of the consciousness. In this manner you awaken consciousness in order to receive the knowledge of the superior worlds, synthesized through the twenty-two major arcana of the tarot. For as the Third Book of Enoch states: Receive [kabbel, kabbalah] the [22] letters of the oath. ―Third Book of Enoch
With the first Arcanum, we learn to descend in order to re-ascend. We must enter Klipoth and comprehend all the shells that condition our understanding. With arcanum two we learn to work with the Divine Mother, the occult science that liberates:
Have you considered the [sexual] Fire that you kindle? Is it you who brought into being the Tree [of life] thereof, or is it We Who bring it into being? We made it a reminder and an enjoyment for the desert dwellers [anyone who traverses the wilderness of initiation, be’midbar, through working with debar, the word]. So glorify the Name of thy Lord, the Magnificent! I swear by the places where the stars descend [the Magician orders the soul to descend then to return / ascend with glory]. And truly it is a magnificent path, if you but knew. Truly it is a Noble Qur’an, in a Book concealed [the tarot, which have not been unveiled until recently]. None touch it, save those made pure [through chastity], a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. ―Al-Waqi’ah, the Event [56:71-80].
The Book Concealed is another name for the Preserved Tablet, the twenty-two major arcana that serve as the basis for every major religion, without exception. This knowledge of the tarot, the Book Concealed, hidden within the scriptures and the higher dimensions, was not made public until recent decades, through the writings of Samael Aun Weor. Remember that it was forbidden to teach alchemy in public during the era of Pisces. But now we are in the era of Aquarius, the water carrier, whereby the tarot is now being explained for the first time.
The Mother of the Book is the occult science, the Divine Mother Kundalini represented by the Second Arcanum, known as the sacred Cow or Heifer within the second Surah of the Qur’an, of which we will be discussing in detail today. 
The Tree of Life and the Absolute
The number two is precisely the feminine, receptive or negative force that unfolds from the masculine, projective or positive force within the higher dimensions. This difference in forces from the higher planes manifests also within our physicality through the division of sexes.
The Father could not create life if it were not for the Mother. Man and wife cannot be priest and priestess of creation without each other. As above, so below. We see here in this image the Tree of Life and a representation of man and woman with the image of the infinite, the holy eight, transposed over their bodies. Before speaking about the microcosmos, the human being, let us first discuss the macrocosmos, the universe at large. The universe emerges because of the Divine Father and Divine Mother, who are unified and described in the kabbalah through the unmanifested, the אין סוף Ain Soph, which in Hebrew translates as the “Limitless.” In Kabbalah, our Ain Soph is our supra-atomic star, a primordial and eternal point of supra-divine, uncreated light that shines within the Absolute Abstract Space. Ain Soph is the essential root of our Being, the root of our existence, which is profound, unconditioned and limitless supra-divine happiness. Ain Soph is referenced as the Star of בית לחם Bethlehem that guided the three magi towards the birthplace of Christ. ב Beth, as we are going to elaborate upon today, is the second Hebrew letter of Kabbalah, signifying a house, as well as wisdom. Bethlehem literally means “house of bread,” indicating that the light of Christ, the sphere of Chokmah, wisdom, is the solar energy manifested within the eucharist, the bread of wisdom that gives life to the soul. The house of wisdom is precisely the esoteric knowledge of the Second Arcanum, since through the power of the Divine Mother is how Christ is born in us. Our body is a manger or house in which the solar light of Christ can be born if we know how to practice this wisdom. Let us discuss how לחם Lechem, this bread of wisdom first emerges into the universe. Christ, the light of divinity, first emerges from the Ain Soph as the Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless Light. This undifferentiated, uncreated light, to create the universe, first manifests as Kether, a י iod or point of light, the tenth Hebrew letter and tenth sephirah from the bottom to the top of the Tree of Life. Remember that in the Magician card, Kether shows one side or aspect of his face. Kether is known in kabbalah as Arik Anpin, the Vast Countenance. This indicates that one part of him is knowable in this universe, through the Tree of Life. The other side of his face is obscured, hidden within the Absolute as the Unmanifested, the Ain Soph. Kether is the first manifestation of the uncreated light into the universe. 
This light, manifested as Kether, unfolds into Chokmah, His Son. From Chokmah emerges Binah. Behold Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to use Christian terms for the primordial forces of creation. The main trinity represented in this graphic is composed of Kether, Chokmah, Binah, or Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, within the world of archetypes or splendors, Atziluth. This world in Kabbalah is a potential world, whereby the principles of divinity have not yet entered manifestation or creation. These forces constitute a unity in the world of archetypes, Atziluth, before these forces manifest as three in order to create life. Remember that within Kether is Chokmah and Binah. Within Chokmah is Kether and Binah. And within Binah is Kether and Chokmah. This unity is indivisible, but manifests in three ways. For the unity to create, it expresses itself as three, the number associated with genesis and creation. 
Binah, the Holy Spirit, has a masculine and feminine aspect, known as Abba and Aima Elohim, Father and Mother, synthesized in the sacred name of this sephirah: Jehovah Elohim, which means gods and goddesses.
From the masculine aspect of Binah emerges the feminine aspect of divinity, the Divine Mother, and through their union in Da’ath, Briah, the world of creation, produce their Son, Chesed, the spirit. For that light to create the Tree of Life in its totality, such a light must manifest through the power of Father-Mother in the world of Briah or Da’ath, the mysterious, alchemical tree of knowledge of good and evil, to create all things. 
Before the logos can create, Father must unfold into Mother within Binah. Behold a second form of the holy trinity: father, mother, and son, which has its center of gravity in Binah and which is empowered through the mystical sphere of Da’ath. Da’ath is the kabbalistic world of Briah, the world of creation, wherein the sephiroth, the worlds of formation or Yetzirah, emerge.
When Binah unfolds himself into the divine feminine, they create through the science of Da’ath, to engender the spirit, Chesed. The world of Da’ath is the world of creation, Briah, in Kabbalah, whereby Osiris, the Father, and Isis, the Mother, join to create the Son, Horus. In synthesis, all of this is contained and implied within the arcana. The Magician, unfolding into the High Priestess, forms the second arcanum of the tarot. Be careful not to mix up the trinities: one tri-unity in the world of Atziluth, splendorous archetypes, and another in the world of Briah, creation. This is a deep teaching that requires intuition to comprehend fully and deeply. Father, Mother, and Son create the Tree of Life, the lower sephiroth or world of Yetzirah, formation, and this light enters more dense forms of materiality, energy, and experience, down the Sephiroth or emanations of this diagram, until reaching the physical plane, Malkuth. Malkuth represents the world of matter and action, the fourth and final world of kabbalah: Assiah. The light emerges from the Absolute, and forms the Tree of Life, so that our supra-atomic star, our Ain Soph, can acquire knowledge and understanding of its own divine happiness by returning that light (from below) back to Itself. The Ain Soph of most people does not yet have comprehension, cognizance of its own happiness. Self-realization exists within the Ain Soph when the soul has performed the Great Work. An Ain Soph with cognizance of Itself is known as Ain Soph Paranishpanna. The word Paranishpanna signifies absolute cognizance of absolute happiness. But for this to occur, the disciple must return that light that is in Malkuth, their physical house, inward and up the Tree of Life, the different Sephiroth, through the work of the Divine Mother that we are explaining. To return up the Tree of Life, back to our Ain Soph, we must become מלכים Malachim or מלכות Melachot, “kings” or “queens,” priests or priestesses, practical magicians who harness the forces of the physical body, Malkuth, our house, or Beth. This is to acquire wisdom and enlightenment of each Sephirah, each level of creation, until returning to our source, which is our origin. Our Ain Soph is also a house, but empty, uninhabited, without realization. The Being is absolute happiness, yet lacks cognizance of this absolute happiness. It is an empty house. Our Ain Soph needs us to return, to reflect its own happiness through us so as to know Itself. It is uninhabited by the soul, the consciousness that can serve as a mirror for one’s supra-atomic star to perceive itself completely. The Sufis refer to the Ain Soph with the separated Arabic letter ا Alif in the sacred name of God, الله Allah. This ا Alif is the nothingness, the sacred breath, the cosmic space, as well as the Ain Soph, which is why in Islam, no statues or images can be made of الله Allah, because no one can anthropomorphize space and the uncreated light. This Limitless space or uncreated light is precisely the kabbalistic Ain Soph. The rest of the sacred name of God is Islam refers to the manifested expression of the light, the Tree of Life, signified by ل Lam, ل Lam, and ه Ha. The Arabic ل Lam or Hebrew ל Lamed refers to the tongue, to speech, to the manifested, creative Verb. The Arabic ه Ha or Hebrew ה Hei can also refer to the breath, but this specifically is in relation to the materialization of the cosmic breath into matter. Therefore, recitation within Islam is so prominent, because it refers to the manifested expression of divine light from the unknowable cosmic space, the power of the creative verb. This cosmic space is called Mulaprakriti in Hinduism. It is the universal space of the Divine Mother, within whom is the bosom of the Universal Cosmic Common Eternal Father. 
The Qur’an speaks of Prophet Muhammad’s night journey up the seven heavens or seven dimensions of the Tree of Life, towards the sacred house, the Ain Soph. We too must learn to perform Hajj, or pilgrimage to the sacred house, the Ain Soph, represented by the sacred Kaba, the stone of Mecca, which is obligatory for every Muslim or solar initiate to visit. This duty, hajj, represents the achievement of Self-realization or Ain Soph Paranishpanna.
The Prophet’s night journey, al-Miraj, is described in Surah 53: al-Najm, the Star: By the star when it descends,
There is a limit how far the prophets and angels can go towards the heights, represented by the Lote Tree of the furthermost boundary, the Pass Not Ring cited by Blavatsky in her writings. Many initiates reach the Ain Soph, but further sacrifice is needed to enter the Ain, the Unmanifested Absolute.
To enter the bosom of the Cosmic Common Eternal Father, the Sacred Space, the Unmanifested Absolute or Ain, is very hard to achieve. However, before we can worry about that, we must unite with our own particular Ain Soph. Regarding the path of self-realization, Ibn Arabi, a great Sufi Master, explained that only الله Allah, Ain Soph, our supra-atomic star, can comprehend Himself through the perfected soul. From the Treatise on The One Alone, Kitab al-Ahadiyyah: When one looks into a mirror one sees oneself. Whatever appears on you appears on the image in the mirror. When you look upon your image in the mirror, your image is looking upon you. Naturally the eye that looks at you from the mirror is your eye. Then, when the image in the mirror looks at you, is it not true that you are looking at yourself with your own eyes? If the name of the one who is looking in the mirror is Ahmad, and if the image in the mirror could speak and say, “I am Ahmad,” it would be telling the truth. Yet, as the image is reflecting, so would be the words. It would not be the image that calls itself Ahmad, but the one who is looking into the mirror.
If you want to understand what it means to reflect the light of the Ain Soph, you must develop your heart, Tiphereth, the beauty of the perfected soul.
The Qur’an also speaks about the Ain Soph as the house inhabited, meaning: an Ain Soph with realization, Ain Soph Paranishpanna: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
By climbing the mountain of initiation, we ascend the Tree of Life, towards higher and higher levels of Being, until finally uniting with the longed-for goal, the Ain Soph. Once we return to our Ain Soph, we have inhabited our house once again, our true home.
As Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz exclaimed, "There’s no place like home!" She of course represents our soul that has traveled the straight and narrow path, the yellow brick road of wisdom, gnosis, until reaching her true origin. She accomplishes this through the silver slippers, which are red in the film. The one who guides her in secret is Glinda, a reference to the science of the Divine Mother, who is the Good Witch of the North. The sacred mantra relating to the North is IAO, the sacred name of God in Latin, or Jehovah in Hebrew. Within the Divine Mother, signified by the mantra RAM-IO is the Divine Father, who is in secret. Slippers represent the mysteries of Yesod in kabbalah, since this is how we genuinely walk the path of initiation. Silver relates to the science of Mercury, Hermes, his winged boots that allow him to ascend and descend throughout the entire Tree of Life at will. Once we work with the science of mercury and the Divine Mother, we acquire the capacity to leave our egotistical dreams behind and return to our spiritual house, Beth, the Ain Soph. 
Duality, Genesis, and the Second Arcanum
Let us discuss the nature of the number two in relation to duality and the High Priestess of the Tarot. The sign of the infinite is the magical symbol of tantrism, sexual alchemy. The sign of the infinite unites all three of our psychological and physiological centers, what in gnostic psychology we call the three brains: the intellect, the emotions, and the sexual organs. These centers relate to Netzach, the mental body or mind, Hod, the emotional body or heart, and Yesod, the vital body intimately related with the energies of the sexual organs.
These three vehicles relate to what we call our three brains within our physicality. Let us remember that the Tree of Life is this map of divinity and ourselves. To talk about the Divine Mother, the feminine aspect of God, we must remember that this Tree of Life manifests, emerges, because of the first card of the tarot. The Magician initiates, creates, begins, but to do so, he unfolds into his divine spouse, Devi Kundalini. Man and woman, with their three brains united through the sexual act, can work to return inward and upward back to their own atomic star. If you take the two signs of the holy eight from both man and woman and cross them, one horizontal and the other vertical, you form a famous symbol of Buddhism, the dorje, a tantric representation of sexual union, the vertical phallus with the horizontal uterus. The bell in Tibetan Buddhism represents the feminine sexual organs, the yoni. Both bell and dorje form the foundation of all spiritual realization, or Ain Soph Paranishpanna. The science of the Second Arcanum is the path of sexuality, the Divine Mother Kundalini, who sleeps in the chakra Muladhara coiled three and a half times within this center, awaiting the moment of its awakening through sexual alchemy, white tantrism between husband and wife. Just as man and woman can create a physical child through sex, likewise we create the perfected soul through sexual union with the conservation and sublimation of the seminal matter into divine, Christic energy. If we want to return to our own particular unity, the Ain Soph, we must work with the duality, man and woman. Ain Soph is a perfect unity, whose light unfolds into a duality and also a trinity to produce the creation of the universe. If we want to return to our origin, we must work in the perfect matrimony, because to create spiritually, we need our sexual compliment, through a member of the opposite sex. Both masculine and feminine polarities are required for creation, both of a physical child as well as the soul. 
Description and Explanation of the Second Card of the Tarot
The most notable feature of this glyph, besides the feminine figure seated in contemplation, are the two columns of the temple, which in Masonry remind us of Jakin and Boaz, the white and black pillars. Jakin is masculine, Boaz is feminine. The pillars are reversed in this image in order to demonstrate that the Popess of the Tarot, the High Priestess, is looking out from within the temple, and that we, as disciples, are viewing her from the inside of the temple looking out. This is because Jakin, the white pillar of mercy, is the right hand pillar of the Tree of Life, consisting of Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach, whereas Boaz, the black pillar of severity, is the left hand pillar of the Tree of Life, consisting of Binah, Geburah, and Hod. Notice also that the pillars Jakin and Boaz are in the waters, the bottom third of the card.
The Divine Mother is the force that reconciliates, who sits within the middle of the temple, emphasizing to us the spinal medulla in our body, wherein She rises through the alchemical science. She manifests in the middle pillar through our works, the middle pillar consisting of Kether, Da’ath, Tiphereth, Yesod, and Malkuth. What do these two columns symbolize for us? Jakin represents the man, mercy. Boaz represents the woman, severity. These two columns support the temple of every mystery. Notice that with the image of this temple’s pillars there are four sections each, representing for us the four lower bodies of the human being, the lower four vehicles of the consciousness. Those four lower bodies are described in the Tree of Life as Malkuth, the physical body, Yesod, the vital body, Hod, the astral or emotional body, and Netzach, the mind or mental body. These two pillars must have space between them, as Samael Aun Weor emphasizes in his books, as well as the poet Kahlil Gibran, who explains the nature of these two pillars very beautifully in a work known as The Prophet. I’d like to relate to you a poem from this text, to emphasize how man and woman balance each other in their relationship. They must not be too close with sentimentalism and attachment, nor too far apart with distance, self-importance, coldness, etc. They must find balance within each other and themselves. The masculine, projective force finds his equilibrium and harmony through the receptive force, and vice versa. Here is the poem with some minor exegeses, commentary or explanation between the lines, since Kahlil Gibran teaches kabbalah and alchemy in a veiled form. You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
Husband and wife must find their equilibrium in their matrimony on a physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and volitional level [volition relating to will] or there will be imbalance and unhappiness. In the Magician card, the Priest was standing. But with the High Priestess, she is sitting. Her posture signifies the feminine aspect of divinity, which is receptive, passive, nurturing. She holds an open book, the Preserved Tablet, which is the kabbalah, the mystical science at the heart of all religions. Here we literally see the Mother of the Book, the Divine Mother or feminine aspect of divinity, who is eluded to in the Qur’an. She has an Tao cross, of Venus, upon Her breast, indicating that She carries the milk of wisdom, spiritual sustenance, the nourishment for the soul. She is the kabbalistic Shekinah, the exiled power of Israel that can liberate and reconcile the true Jews, the intuitive kabbalists, with heaven, the divine. From Her breast is the milk of real knowledge, which is experiential. It’s what we verify. It’s what we know from facts. That sustenance that She gives to Her son or daughter emerges within us as a result of meditation, when we are face to face with our Divine Mother, speaking to Her, receiving the insights and symbols of dreams from Her directly. That’s how we nourish our soul. Milk, as wisdom, is a substance that resembles semen within man or woman, the seminal matter. The milk also represents the divine virtues we create through learning to transmute our sexual energies, transforming the base material or semen into the light of enlightened consciousness. This is accomplished through Venus, the goddess of love. Venus-Aphrodite is the beauty of our Divine Mother manifest in our hearts, Tiphereth. She provides beauty to the soul itself when we learn to work with Her intimately, cognizantly. Tiphereth, our human soul, or human consciousness or willpower, astrologically relates to both Venus and the Sun. The secret mantra of Tiphereth in kabbalah is Eloah va Da’ath Iod Hei Vau Hei, "Goddess of knowledge, Jehovah." Who is this goddess of knowledge that resides in our heart temple? Our Divine Mother, the Popess or High Priestess of the Tarot. She enters and manifests in our heart through sexual magic, white tantrism, the science of alchemy with its sacred mantras. Upon Her head is a serpent, indicating how She has raised that power of the serpent within us, to the mind, and that this feminine figure is a master. She has a veil over Her face, referring to the veil of Isis. This means that the genuine mysteries of God can only be known through meditation, that we must tear the veil through alchemy, meditation, and the death of our desires, our defects, our ego. 
Beethoven had an image of the Divine Mother, the divine feminine, above his desk where he would compose. Upon this painting was inscribed, in his own hand, the hermetic axiom of the Goddess Neith, the Egyptian Divine Mother, from the temple of this female divinity from ancient times: “I am all that was, is, and shall be, and no mortal hath lifted My veil.” So Beethoven was a Freemason, who knew this knowledge very well and depicted the tarot in his music, in accordance with his nine completed symphonies and the nine heavens or Sephiroth above Malkuth, whereby he slowly unveiled the mysteries of Isis in his compositions, for those who hath an ear to ear what the spirit saith unto the churches, the chakras of Revelation.
The veil of Isis can only be lifted through purification of our psyche. Sanctification and purity are the two essential requirements for knowing and experiencing the mysteries of the High Priestess of the Tarot. Sanctification signifies the death of the ego, through daily meditation. To purify means to be chaste, to not waste the sexual energy, to not expel it. To expel that energy is to be expelled from the temple of the Divine Mother, because the power of the Divine Mother is chastity, sexual purity. Upon Her head are the horns of the bull Apis, which relates to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Jehovah Elohim in kabbalah, is masculine and feminine, signified by the masculine-feminine suffix of the word Elohim. El is masculine. Eloah is feminine. Iod Mem, im, is the masculine plural ending of the word Elohim, which means “gods and goddesses.” The Divine Mother Kundalini Shakti is the feminine aspect of the Holy Spirit, the spouse of Shiva. The masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Shiva, is also known as Abba Elohim, and the feminine is Aima Elohim. Abba means “father,” as in Christ’s prayer before his Passion, “Abba, father, if it be possible, pass this cup of bitterness from me, but not my will, but Thine be done” (Matthew 26:39). The cup is a symbol of the yoni, the feminine sexual organs, the path of the Divine Mother, which is painful to the mind and ego, because through the alchemical work our desires must die. Aima means “mother,” and is signified by the holy grail, the cup of the mysteries, wherein is contained the milk or manna of wisdom. The unification of Abba and Aima Elohim, implied through the unity of the first and second arcana of the tarot, produces the third arcanum: the Empress or Christified soul, the perfected consciousness, the topic of our next lecture. 
The Divine Mother has always been represented by the feminine cow in many faiths. Milk, as referenced in the second arcanum, is an element abundant in cows, which we find represented in Hinduism by Krishna, the cowherd, a symbol of Christ nourishing himself through the seminal energies. We likewise find reference to the Divine Mother in the longest surah of the Qur’an, al-Baqarah, the Heifer or Cow.
This surah mentions how the powers of the sacred cow, the Divine Mother, can resuscitate the dead. This is a symbol of how the alchemical wisdom can bring those who are spiritually dead, filled with ego, back into spiritual life. In this passage, Moses is speaking before the unbelieving people of Israel and the need to slaughter a cow to achieve redemption. This does not make much sense literally, but if you understand that the cow represents the science of the Divine Mother, the real meaning is clear. The solar initiates must, of course, slaughter the animal ego, to be reborn spiritually. This is represented by the slaughtering of the cow in al-Baqarah, which is the second surah of the Qur’an, directly referencing the mysteries of Arcanum 2: And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."
"The cow" in Spanish is La Baca. Spell La Baca backwards and you spell kabbalah, the teachings of the cow, the mystical science of Judaism and of Shekinah, the Mother of the Book.
La Baca can also refer to the Kaba, the sacred stone of the Muslims, which represents for us the mysteries of the stone of Yesod, the creative sexual energy. Baqa literally means "subsistence" in Arabic. To have spiritual substance, to subsist within the Being, to self-realize the Being, we must first work with what the Sufis denominate as fana, which means "annihilation." To be in the Being, you must first die as an ego. Regarding the horns of the bull, horns have dualistic significance in esotericism. They can refer to our egotism, our own satanic qualities, our animality. Horns in the positive sense can be represented by the horns of light, representing levels of self-realization within the Being. These horns of light were seen radiating from the head of Moses as he descended Mount Sinai, after he received the ten commandments from above. Michelangelo chiseled a statue of Moses to represent the horns of light, of wisdom, obtained by any solar initiate who completes the Mountain of Resurrection. We too must chisel the stone of Yesod, our sexual energies, with willpower and intelligence, to provide perfect cubic shape, to serve as the foundation of our inner temple, as represented by the Second Arcanum. We must ensure that the power of the two pillars, within the waters of the card, must be perfected. All four levels of each pillar must be perfected, signifying the purification of the physical, vital, astral, and mental bodies, the lower quaternary of kabbalah or the four bodies of sin. We accomplish this work through the hammer of willpower and the chisel of imagination, of intelligence and wisdom, to give shape to the soul. With the first arcanum of the tarot, we work with the hammer of willpower, concentration, the Magician. We initiate and begin this work. We direct our willpower in the spiritual endeavor. The second arcanum of the tarot is intelligence, imagination, the chisel of understanding by which we focus our willpower so as to give shape to our stone. The Divine Mother is the force of imagination itself, the capacity to perceive non-physical, psychic, or spiritual imagery within meditation and the higher planes. Imagination simply is the ability to perceive images in the mind’s eye, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Imagination can also be dualistic, either conscious, unconditioned, free and clear of subjectivity, or it can be mechanical, negative, conditioned or egotistical. Fantasy, daydreams, mental projections, are precisely negative imagination, conditioned perception. We typically experience negative imagination, fantasy, on a day to day, moment by moment basis. This is egotistical. We are hypnotized by our minds, imagining what we would have liked to say to that person who cut us off on the street during our drive to work, visualizing what we would have said if we could have pulled up to the side of the person, what revenge we can get, gratifying our anger, etc. We get lost in associative thinking, daydreaming about our family or co-workers and not paying attention to where we are at or what we are doing. This is all mechanical, subjective, negative, and constitutes, for most people, the daily state of affairs. Conscious imagination is the ability to visualize during meditation any object we have decided to concentrate upon, such as a statue, a candle, a mandala, a stone. We concentrate on the object with our entire attention, never losing our attention focused on the object of our practice, and thereafter imagine it in our mind, our consciousness. We learn to see with our imagination the qualities of the image with perfect clarity, color, and accuracy. This of course develops through daily discipline. Willpower, the Magician, helps us to concentrate on a specific task. Imagination, the High Priestess, grants us the capacity to perceive what we are doing. Together you achieve comprehension, the third arcanum, the perfected soul. The serpent biting its tail in the card can represent the moon, the lunar, feminine forces, but also the ouroboros, a middle eastern symbol of eternity and how the Divine Mother Kundalini serpent must swallow the soul. We must be swallowed by the serpent to become purified, so that our conscious imagination can be perfected. This is paralleled by Jonah being swallowed by the whale, since Jonah literally means "dove" in Hebrew, a symbol of chastity and the Holy Spirit. As described in The Perfect Matrimony, we must raise the serpent of Kundalini up the seven lower bodies of the Tree of Life: Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphereth, Geburah, and Chesed, which are the physical, vital, astral, mental, causal, buddhic, and Atmic bodies. After raising the serpent up each body, we obtain an initiation of Major Mysteries, which are seven in total. The serpent in this card is also a moon, which has profound significance, because the moon relates to the ego, to defects and desires. This is where we get the word lunatic, someone who is influenced by the moon, by violence, hatred, mechanical forces in nature. The moon is the ego, sorrow, sentimentalism, pain and suffering. Our habits are one hundred percent lunar, mechanical, habitual, petrified in our psyche and body. We must go against mechanical, lunar behaviors to acquire solar intelligence, the powers of the Being. The moon is mechanical imagination, truly identified as fantasy, whereas the resplendence of the sun is the perfection of conscious imagination. There is also a positive aspect of the moon, which is the Divine Mother Kundalini, but She has nothing to do with our inverted, negative desires, the inferior aspect of the moon known as Lilith and Nahemah. Devi Kundalini is the power that can liberate us from the inferior influences of the moon, the mind, from the demons or egos of Lilith and Nahemah, which are two lunar aspects of degenerated psychologies. The serpent that ascends within the spine, to victoriously swallow the soul, is the Divine Mother Kundalini. The negative, devolving, degenerative and fallen serpent, the serpent of temptation that leads one into the infradimensions, into the hell realms, is the Kundabuffer, the tail of demons, which descends from the coccyx through lust and fornication. The fiery seraphim or serpents bit the Israelites in the desert as a result of their transgression and disobedience to Jehovah. These fiery serpents that punish the soul are inverted sexual fires of the Kundabuffer, the forces of the ego, the fiery elements of lust and sexual desire. But to be healed of their degeneration, their perversity, to redeem their soul from the ego, the Israelites looked upon the serpent of brass of Moshe, Moses. Brass is an alchemical symbol, the union of the metals tin and copper, representing man and woman. Through the fires of sexuality, of love, those metals fuse and produce the serpent of brass, the Kundalini, that rises within the spines of the initiates, husband and wife. This is how the moon is gradually transmuted, transformed into a sun. As described in the Qur’an, Muhammad performed the miracle of cleaving the moon in half, which people, of course, interpret literally. However, when you know kabbalah and alchemy, you see that any couple working in the perfect matrimony can cleave the lunar ego in half, to comprehend and annihilate it completely. This is a symbol of overcoming lunar mechanicity in order to be a solar adept through the power of the Divine Mother. The sign of Cancer reigns in this card, which astrologically relates to the powers of the moon, Yesod, vitality, conception, and reproduction, which are regulated by the cycles of the physical moon. Menstruation and feminine sexual cycles are deeply related to the lunar phases, alongside the fluctuation and tides of the seas. The second arcanum of the tarot therefore relates to Cancer because it is a water sign, a moon sign. The sexual energies relate to the moon. The white moon is the Divine Mother. The black moon is Lilith, demonism, degeneration. Those who abuse the waters of sexuality end up developing incurable diseases such as Cancer, which is intimately related with such a sickness. The sign of Cancer is the sign of the scarab in Egyptian terminology. This insect is said to be immortal because it constantly regenerates itself and creates new bodies, which break away from old shells. This is a symbol of the regenerative faculties of sexual alchemy, for the soul learns to break free from the shells, Klipoth in Hebrew, the ego. The symbol of Islam is a crescent moon with the star of Venus, indicating that we must work with the powers of Yesod, the lunar influence, through Venus, the star of love, the Divine Mother. As we mentioned previously, the supreme mantra of sexual magic is the Latin I.A.O., Ignis, Aqua, Origo, or fire, water, and spirit. These principles are represented by the three mother letters of kabbalah: א Aleph [air], ש Shin [fire], and מ Mem [water]. The sound of the air or breath can be represented by an "h," the letter ה Hei. ה Hei, ש Shin and מ Mem spell השם Hashem, signifying "the Name." Spell Hashem backwards and you spell משה Moshe, Moses. Moses is our willpower, our inner magician, who can raise the serpentine power up our spine through the merits and qualifications of the heart. By learning to control the air [mind], fire [emotions], and sexual organs [water], we give birth through the womb of ה Hei, the Divine Mother, to the solar bodies of esoterism. You can also use the Hebrew י Iod, ה Hei, ו Vau for I.A.O. The sacred name of God in Judaism is יהוה Jehovah, Iod-Hei-Vau-Hei. י Iod is the man, ה Hei is the woman. ו Vav is the phallus, ה Hei is the uterus. So you can see that the alchemical science of Hei, the Divine Mother, is absolutely sexual. 
The Significance of the Hebrew Letter Beth
Now we are going to talk about the Hebrew letter Beth and the profound meanings thereof.
We’ve included in this slide an image of the Hebrew letter Beth with Krishna, who is the cowherd, alongside the sacred Ka’ba in the Middle East. Beth simply represents a house, and its calligraphy represents the two columns of the temple that we discussed. Beth is also hidden in the Arabic tongue as Bayt Allah, "House of God," a reference to the Ka’ba or cubic stone of Yesod within Surah 22, verse 26 of the Qur’an: And mention, O Muhammad, when We designated for Abraham the site of the House, saying, "Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who perform Tawaf [circumambulations or circling around the Kaaba] and those who stand in prayer and those who bow and prostrate." ―Qur'an 22:26
What is the house of God? We can say it consists of the solar vehicles that we create through alchemy. We talked previously about creating the soul, vehicles within the higher dimensions wherein we can manifest the light of God, principally through the solar astral / emotional body, solar mental body, and solar causal body or body of willpower. Beth or the solar vehicles are the Merkabah that took Ezekiel up to the heavens.
Notice that the letter ב Beth is composed of three ו Vavs. The letter ו Vav is a straight line, signifying a spinal medulla. Three lines means three spines, signifying the three solar vehicles we must create in alchemy: solar astral, solar mental, and solar causal bodies. Muslim circumambulate, circle around the sacred Kaaba in Mecca, seven times. This implies the work of raising the sacred fire of Kundalini up the spinal medullas of the seven lower Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, precisely through working with the House of God, the mysteries of alchemy, Allah-khemia, or Yesod. Al-Baqarah, the second arcanum or surah of the Qur’an, is the longest in that scripture. As we mentioned earlier, the second arcanum relates to the sacred cow, the Divine Mother who grants resurrection and life to the soul that has died to the ego. Krishna is the Hindu form of Christ, the logos, the divine, represented as a cowherd. There is a profound relationship between Krishna and the cow, Christ and the Divine Mother Cow, Baqarah. These aspects of divinity work together within us, especially in the advanced stages of the path. There are many other interesting kabbalistic words that begin with the Hebrew letter Beth, all which point towards the significance of generating and developing the soul: Beth-El, “House of God,” Bethesda: "house of mercy,” Bathsheba: "daughter of the seven," or seven bodies of the Tree of Life, Beth Din: tribunal of justice, religion, or karma, which exists in the higher dimensions, and Elisabeth, pronounced El-Isis-A-Beth, El signifying God, Isis the Divine Mother, and Beth the consciousness. Elizabeth was the mother of John, the sacred Verb, or IEOUAMS, the seven vowels hidden in the name Johannes; and Bethlehem, “House of Bread,” we discussed already. 
Beth and the Zohar
The heavenly Jerusalem in the Book of Revelations, as we see in this final graphic, represents the perfected soul, a house or city built in a cubic shape, representative of Yesod in Kabbalah. The jewels beneath the heavenly house or city, Beth, are the virtues of the soul that are generated through meditation and alchemy.
Beth in Hebrew and Arabic refers to the house of divinity, the heavenly Jerusalem, the solar bodies. However, Beth can also reference the sexual glands wherein are housed the creative sexual energies of genesis, the creation of the soul or solar vehicles. This creation of the solar bodies is the mystery of Genesis, generation. The creation of the soul is known as בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit in kabbalah. Notice that בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit begins with Beth, the letter of wisdom. Our body is a house with the energies of spiritual realization in a potential state. The mysteries of the second arcanum are hidden in the Hebrew acrostic Bereshit, or: (Bereshit Bara Elohim At Ha-Shamayim Vey-At Ha'aretz): בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth." The Zohar explains that "In the beginning" should be read as "In wisdom, Elohim created." Beth represents the house of wisdom from which all spiritual creation emerges. What wisdom does the Zohar reference in relation to the creation of the universe? The wisdom of the Divine Mother, the science of alchemy: to retain the sexual energies of tantrism and to never spill them. All of this is hidden in the Zohar’s teaching about the word בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, which discusses how through raising the creative energy from the sexual glands to our brain within sexual alchemy, we can create the soul. All of this is accomplished through chiseling and perfecting the heavenly house or city of peace, Jerusalem, the cubic stone of the masons: זהר Zohar, Radiance! Mystery! בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, In the beginning, first of all. אהיה Ehyeh, I will be (Exodus 3:14), a sacred name engraved in its sides [more specifically, on the sides of the cubic stone]; אלהים (Elohim), God, engraved in the crown. ―Zohar
We spoke about the Magician, Kether, whose sacred name of in Kabbalah is אהיה אשר אהיה, Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh, "I will be what I become, " or commonly translated as "I Am Who I Am. "
Eheyeh, I will be, is written on the sides of the cubic stone of Yesod, indicating the two energetic channels Ida and Pingala, since we enact the force of becoming, of transformation, through working with the caduceus of Mercury, as we explained previously in our first lecture in this course. Elohim is written on the crown of the cubic stone of Yesod, since when the sacred fires rise from sex to the brain, when the Kundalini reaches the pineal gland, the Divine Mother below unites with the Divine Father, the Holy Spirit or Jehovah Elohim, above. אשר (Asher), Who—a hidden, treasured palace, beginning mystery of רֵאשִׁית (reshit). ―Zohar
Asher is the Holy Spirit who puts into activity the creative principles of the Divine Mother in sex. This is the mystery of beginning, רֵאשִׁית reshit.
אשר (Asher)— רֹאש (rosh), head, emerging from רֵאשִׁית (reshit). ―Zohar
Rosh and Asher have the same Hebrew letters, but in different order. This signifies that the power of the Holy Spirit, Asher, Who, must rise from the sexual glands to the brain, to unite in the head, to form רֵאשִׁית "reshit," the beginning of genesis.
When afterward point and palace were arrayed as one, then בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit comprised supernal רֵאשִׁית (reshit) in wisdom. ―Zohar
What is the point and the palace? The point is a י Iod, the tenth letter of Kabbalah, referring to Kether and the creative sexual energy within the point, the sperm or ovum.
The palace is the feminine sexual organs of Beth, the house of God. Obviously, by combining the sperm with the ovum one creates a physical child, but in alchemy, the י iod is conserved and the solar house is built within oneself. This is how one creates in the beginning with wisdom, signified by the Hebrew letter Beth. Or as the Zohar more accurately translates the opening of Genesis, "In wisdom, Elohim created." Afterward the color of the palace transformed and it was called בַּיִת (bayit), house, while the supernal point (the energy of the semen or ovum transmuted) was called רֹאש (rosh) [since one transmutes the energies of one’s house, one’s Beth or sexual organs, to the brain, the head], merging in one another through the mystery of בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, when all was as one in one entirety, before the house [beth] was inhabited [by the Logos, the Being]. ―Zohar
You see that the sexual organs is our house, our Beth, wherein resides the creative energies? The word for house is בַּיִת (bayit). Combine that with רֹאש (rosh), the head, you spell בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit.
Through the alchemical science of transmutation, the Divine Mother raises the energies from our sexual glands of our Beth, sexual glands, to our Rosh, our head, to spell "In the beginning." Once it was sown, arraying habitation [when the solar bodies are created in alchemy], it was called אלהים (Elohim)—hidden, concealed. ―Zohar
אל El is God, masculine. אלה Eloah is Goddess, feminine, ים Iod Mem is masculine plural. Therefore, when man and wife unite sexually, they form a terribly divine god and goddess, אלהים (Elohim). In this way the house of the soul is created, "arraying habitation," to be filled by the incarnation of the Being. But all of this is "hidden, concealed," because one practices alchemy in secret and because the solar bodies remain hidden within oneself except to the sight of the spirit. So behold the mysteries of creating the solar bodies within Genesis and the Zohar!
To receive the bread of wisdom, the Word, the Qur’an, the recitation, the Verb, we must build our solar vehicles; we must create a house in which the Being can manifest and inhabit. Through alchemy, the sexual act, in which the semen is conserved, transmuted, we give birth to the solar vehicles. We raise the Kundalini up the spinal medullae of these lower vehicles of the Tree of Life: the physical, vital, astral, mental, volitional or causal, buddhic /conscious, and atmic / spiritual bodies. These are vehicles of materiality that exist in higher dimensions. We must raise the Kundalini up each of these vehicles, which in us are lunar, so as to create superior bodies that can transmit the light of divinity within us. Nature gave us vehicles in order to exist in this physical plane and in the world of dreams, what is commonly called manasa rupa, mind-body, and kama rupa, body of desires, the lunar mental and lunar astral bodies. The lunar bodies are the vehicle of the ego and are controlled by the mechanical forces of nature. As we’ve discussed many times throughout our lectures, we must free ourselves from the lunar influence in order to become solar initiates, beings who are not controlled by the demonic forces of the inferior worlds, the lunar worlds, the Klipoth. Those beings who follow the lunar path of black magic also are swallowed by the serpent, because the Divine Mother in hell, as the Kundabuffer, swallows her own children, with a lot of pain, to help disintegrate the ego in those regions. This is the path of spiritual failures. But when we raise the kundalini in the perfect matrimony, we are also swallowed by the serpent, but in a positive way, in a revolutionary and Christic way. In the solar path, we acquire knowledge of ourselves. In the lunar path of the devolving serpent, we do not. If we do not free ourselves from the lunar vehicles by creating the solar vehicles, and thereafter disintegrating the totality of the ego, we will be swallowed by the moon, the lunar serpent, within the infernal worlds. So to escape that fate, we must create a house for God. We need to build the solar house in which the Being can live, because if the Being were to try to enter within us without solar vehicles, we would be annihilated. That is how powerful the vibration of the Being is. We cannot incarnate God now precisely because our psychological house is in disorder. We all possess many defects. Each defect is autonomous and in conflict with the others. There is no order within the mind as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky taught in the Fourth Way school. Our house is filled with many people, many minds with their own thoughts, agendas, and preoccupations. As the gospels state: My house (the physical body) shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. ―Matthew 21: 13
I remember when I was meditating on retreat, I fell asleep with my back to the floor, since I was performing the Viparita Karani Mudra from the sacred rites of rejuvenation. In the experience, in the astral plane, I found myself flying towards a house, holding the hand of my physical mother. I felt excited and urgent, to show my mother the contents of my home. As I peered through the window, I saw crowds of kids and people, listening to very loud music, getting drunk, cursing and screaming a lot of obscenities, pushing into each other so hard that the walls were shaking like they were going to break. It was such riot and disorder that I knew I had to go back. I thought to myself with horror, “I’m not going to bring my mother in here. This is nuts!” Thereafter I woke up, returned to my body.
I realized afterward that the house in the experience was my mind, my Beth, and all those people in the house were my own egos, defects, and desires. I wanted to bring my own Divine Mother into that house, but realized I cannot when it is filled with such disorder. I must clean my house first, psychologically speaking. This also reminds me of another experience where I invoked the Master Samael Aun Weor near the side of a road in the astral plane. He came down as a lightning bolt, which terrified me tremendously. You know the power of a lightning bolt, when it strikes near you? Well this was more powerful, because the Being, the solar divinities, are overwhelming, terrifying, infinite. He spoke to me one sentence, with a lot of severity, “Your house is a mess!” He was indicating that I need to clean my house up of ego, to comprehend and annihilate the ego. That was it. I returned to my body, very humbled. So you see, in order for Christ to enter you, you must clean your house first of disorder, since that lightning bolt cannot enter within you without solar vehicles, and to create the solar vehicles, you must practice the perfect matrimony and work hard in the disintegration of your defects. Otherwise when Christ emerges as Samael Aun Weor did in the experience, you will be annihilated. Christ spoke in parables about the Hebrew letter Beth and the need to construct a solar house, the solar vehicles, through the path of initiation and resurrection: We heard him (the Solar Christ) say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.” ―Mark 14:58.
If the ego does not die completely, we cannot obtain absolute perfection and resurrection, when our physical body shall die and we shall resurrect within the Being, to be fully united with divinity.
We must learn to build our house upon the rock of Yesod, to create our solar vehicles through the perfect matrimony, the science of Yesod. Otherwise we will end up as failures. Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [Yesod, the foundation]: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock (the Philosophical Stone of Kabbalah). And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand (of beliefs and theories): And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ―Matthew 7: 24-27 Practices
We are going to end this lecture with two practices you can use to comprehend and experience the mysteries of the second arcanum.
When you awake in the morning from sleep and still have time before engaging in your daily responsibilities, and especially when you’ve just come back from a dream, continue to lay in bed, and with your willpower, concentrate to remember your experiences. Perhaps you were in another country in the astral plane, in Egypt, or another planet, and you want to remember and even return to those places immediately. Imagine what you experience, the specific place or scene that you just left. Imagine it in detail. Imagine that you are actually there. As Samael Aun Weor wrote, don’t imagine that you are imagining, but actually do it. Be concrete and vivid. Actually see yourself hearing, seeing, touching, and walking in the place you were just at in the astral plane. Then when you fall asleep, with your willpower and imagination in vibrating harmony, you can experience samadhi; you can return to the place you just experienced, particularly if you stay still, relaxed, and unmoving when you first wake, alongside your strong concentration and vivid imagination. I’ve done this many times when I wanted to return to a specific place I just visited in the astral world, or to return to an ordeal the Masters were giving me that got cut prematurely by me returning to my body, and which I wanted to go back to and continue. Therefore, when waking, I lay in bed and concentrated on the experience, imagined it, and fell asleep, in order to relive and return to the experience I just left. Concentration is willpower, the Magician card. Imagination is clairvoyance, the High Priestess. Together you produce Arcanum 3, the Empress, or comprehension, insight. This is why, in this tradition, we work with many concentration and imagination exercises, so that we can also be skilled in meditation and dream yoga. Concentration and imagination can be developed by taking an object and focusing our attention on it, to thereafter visualize all of its details. This strengthens our capacities for perception and helps us to awaken consciousness, to make it strong, robust, trained for dream yoga discipline. When those faculties are strong, you will easily return to your prior experiences through this practice. Another practice you can do is a meditation and prayer for the Divine Mother. These are a series of prayers and mantras we will do together today. The prayer is as follows: Be thou, oh Hadit, my secret, the Gnostic mystery of my Being, the central point of my connection, my heart itself, and bloom on my fertile lips, made Verb!
"Hadit" is the masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Abba Elohim, or Shiva. Nut is the Divine Mother, Aima Elohim in Kabbalah, Shakti in Hinduism, who receives the secret kiss and fervor of Hadit, Her Divine Husband. You can perform this prayer and mantras in meditation or in sexual magic.
The sacred arcana or laws of the tarot are universal to every religion. Arcana, in its specific definition, refers to laws. The singular arcanum signifies an individual law. These laws are specific to the creation of any cosmos, any universe and, more importantly, in relation to our own development as a soul, as a consciousness that strives to unite with that divinity.
Now the תורה Torah in Hebrew bares a profound relevance to the תֹורֹתָ Torat, which means “laws” in Hebrew likewise. And while this Torat has been expressed within the Judeo-Christian tradition through the mystical science of Kabbalah, this knowledge is universal. It is not limited to one particular culture, time, or place. And so every religion teaches through its symbols, its archetypes, its principles, the basic laws that guide the development of the soul in unification with the divine―whether we give that name yoga, from the Sanskrit yuj [pronounced “yug”]: to yoke, to unite, or the Latin religare, which means to reunite. These laws are synthesized in what have become known as the twenty-two arcana of the tarot. Likewise the fifty-six minor arcana, minor laws, which bare a profound symbolism which is valuable to study. But in this course, we will talk about the major arcana: the first twenty-two cards, precisely because in the law of numerology and mathematics, the law of divine principles, these elements synthesize within these twenty-two laws themselves, represented by the twenty-two letters of the Kabbalistic alphabet, the language of the mystical Jews. So I would like to read a quote for you from the founder of modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, who explained how the tarot and the Torat are synonymous, and that to know the tarot cards is to study the Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah. But of course, this knowledge, קבלה Kabbalah, is within all religions, not just Judeo-Christianity, as well as Islam, precisely because the word קבל Kabel in Hebrew means “to receive knowledge,” not from any book or from a lecture, from a scripture, but from our own awakened experience, when our consciousness verifies directly the truths contained in religion. But the Jewish tradition is very deep and expresses this principle of the twenty-two arcana, and therefore it is valuable to study this aspect of religion in relation to our own development. Samael Aun Weor stated the following: The Kabbalah is the science of numbers. Intellectual and Intuitive Kabbalah
We can see there are two forms of Kabbalah. There is the intellectual Kabbalah, and there is the intuitive Kabbalah. There is knowledge we can learn from books, from writings, from lectures, from scriptures, about the structure of the soul about the path that leads to the divine, but that is merely intellectual. It does not equate with conscious experience of the truth.
Intuitive Kabbalah is the opposite. It is the verification of what has been taught by the great prophets of humanity, especially given by the Angel Metatron, who was the one responsible for giving to the Jews the symbolic language of Kabbalah: the twenty-two Hebrew letters, which we will be studying didactically with each major arcanum of the Tarot. And so this real knowledge, קבל kabel, to receive real קבלה Kabbalah, is what we receive directly from the angels, not from a book or scripture as we have been stating, but when we learn to meditate. By relaxing the body, letting the body fall asleep, we as a consciousness go into the world of dreams, but with awakened perception―not in an unconscious or dreaming state―but in an awakened aware perception. This is so we can communicate in those regions, known as heavens in religion, with the great angels, just as Moses received the commandments from Jehovah. Really he was talking about an experience that he had within those dimensions, not just physically. 
The Mystical Ascension of Moses
I would like to read for you an explanation given by the Book of Enoch the Third Book of Enoch, specifically, which scripturally emphasizes the origin of the tarot, so that we can look at a scriptural foundation for where these laws come from or when they were first inscribed and given to humanity. This is a Fragment of Ascension of Moses:
15.1 Rabbi Ishmael said: Said to me Metatron, the Prince of the Presence and the prince over all the princes and he stands before Him who is greater than all the Elohim. And he goes in under the Throne of Glory. And he has a great tabernacle of light on high. And he brings forth the fire of deafness and puts (it) into the ears of the Holy Chayyoth, that they may not hear the voice of the Word (Dibbur) that goes forth from the mouth of the Divine Majesty. ―The Third Book of Enoch: “Fragment of Ascension of Moses”
So this is a symbolic experience that happened within those higher dimensions. When Moses was physically asleep, he was entering with his soul up what is called the Tree of Life, which we will be talking about in-depth today. And in those higher dimensions, those higher sephiroth, those spheres of being, he had communicated directly with Metatron and received the knowledge of the Kabbalah.
15.2 And when Moses ascended on high, he fasted 121 fasts, till the habitations of the chashmal were opened to him; and he saw the heart within the heart of the Lion and he saw the innumerable companies of the hosts around about him. And they desired to burn him. ―The Third Book of Enoch: “Fragment of Ascension of Moses”
Meaning: that light, that intelligence of the divine is so intense, that to our terrestrial senses it is blinding. It is terrifying, but to the soul it is liberating, but to our lower animal qualities, our passions, our defects, of course, there is fear in relation to this direct communication with the divine.
15.2 But Moses prayed for mercy, first for Israel and after that for himself: and He who sitteth on the Merkaba opened the windows that are above the heads of the Kerubim. And a host of 1800 advocates and the Prince of the Presence, Metatron, with them went forth to meet Moses. And they took the prayers of Israel and put them as a crown on the head of the Holy One, blessed be He. ―The Third Book of Enoch: “Fragment of Ascension of Moses”
And so as we talk about Kabbalah, Israel does not just mean the people in the Middle East, but the parts of the soul that are trapped in conditions and defects and negative psychological qualities. As we see: Isis Ra El. Isis: the Divine Mother of Egypt; Ra: the solar god of the divine, which the Gnostics call Christ, the light of divinity which was manifest in Jesus; and אל El in Hebrew signifies the Lord, “God.” So the people of Israel are all those parts of us that are conditioned and which seek to perform the Exodus, up that Tree of Life, which we will be talking about.
15.3 And they said (Deut. 6: 4): "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord" and their face shone and rejoiced over Shekinah and they said to Metatron: "What are these? And to whom do they give all this honour and glory?"
This is a description of the beatitude of the soul, that is enlivened by the presence of the truth in those higher dimensions.
But Moses answered him: "(I fear) lest I bring guiltiness upon myself".
The Zohar, which is the mystical book of the Kabbalah, explains some of the meanings of congregation of Israel. Who are these people of Israel specifically?
The expression, [heavenly host or] "Congregation of Israel," in the first instance, refers to the [archetypes] first born sons of Light, or, as they are termed in the Book of Job, the morning stars, who, along with the Sons of Elohim, sang their song of praise [as one―Ehad] at the creation of the world. In an extended sense, it includes [Metatron and any of] the true children of light [from any religion] who have attained unto the Divine Life [Kether]. ―Zohar
So the Kabbalah is within our heart, what we have verified, what we have tested. For as the Psalms 40:8 states:
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea Thy תֹורָתְ Torat, laws, are within my heart. ―Psalms 40:8
We will talk about what the Torat, the tarot are in synthesis. These are the laws that guide us. These are the laws that we must study first intellectually, then verify through experience, through meditation.
The Purpose of the Tarot
As we see here, we have three tarot cards, especially as publicized by gnosticteachings.org: Glorian Publishing. And I would like to emphasize a couple quotes about the purpose of the tarot, as well as its relationship to each other, each individual principle.
The Tarot cards must be considered (1) as separate and complete hieroglyphs, each representing a distinct principle, law, power, or element in Nature… ―Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
So mathematics is intuitive. Numbers bear symbolic reference to a type of experience, when we awaken in the dream state, in those higher worlds, and we invoke the angels or the divine beings about a particular problem. We face a challenge, an ordeal, a state of suffering we seek to reconcile. We ask to that divinity, through certain invocations, in order to receive that help, asking with our mind and heart for the solution to that problem.
Divinity, whether it be from our own inner divine truth our own Being or from an angel―they give us a number. They provide a number in specific relation to a situation that plays out in that dream world. This is the world of symbols, of archetypes, of images, living dramas, living art. When we receive a symbolic dream experience in relation to a number, they are teaching us what we need to do about our physical life, what we need to change, what the solution is to the problem. It is always involved with relation to a number followed by a situation. It can actually be an image of the card, but the truth is that the tarot are not just limited to a deck. The tarot themselves are represented by the images of the deck itself, but the tarot are not the deck. The tarot are the principles within those images, within those symbols. And so each number is separate and complete, distinct, profound, but also these cards work together. 
How to Use the Tarot
If we use the physical deck, we can fulfill a certain procedure which we are going to explain. So these cards also are:
(2) in relation to each other as the effect of one agent operating upon another… ―Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
When we use a physical deck, asking a specific question to divinity, what we do is we have an altar. It does not have to be very complex or sophisticated. It could just be a table with a white cloth, a candle, an image of the holy pentagram, which is a symbol of Christ, the Christic principle. We invoke divinity, asking for the solution to whatever difficulty we have. We meditate. We go deep. We reflect. We ask for the guidance we need.
We shuffle the twenty-two major arcana. We pull out one card. Place it face down. Shuffle the fifty-six minor arcana. Pull out one card. Shuffle it again. Pull out another card. You will have a total of three cards: one is from the major arcana, such as Arcanum 19: Inspiration, followed by Arcana 47: Deduction and 29: Domesticity. When you take the card, you leave the major arcanum alone. You leave that number by itself, and you add the sum of the two digits of the minor arcana. For example, 47. You would add the two digits together: 4 + 7 = 11; and then synthesize that further: 1 + 1 = 2. So you want to get a number that is below 10 with the minor arcana. Likewise, 2 + 9 = 11 = 1 + 1 = 2, and therefore you add the sum of these two cards: 2 + 2 + 19, which gives you the Arcanum 23, known as The Plower. These numbers work together. They relate to each other. When you look for an answer or response within the decks themselves, you take into conjunction, into account, the different cards and their synthesis, as well as their relationship to each other. You have to look at the answer, which is found within not only Arcanum 19: Inspiration, but also Arcana 47 and 29―but then the synthesis: the numbers that are added together, Kabbalistically, give you the final answer, which 2 + 3 = 5, which is The Hierarch. So you can look at Arcanum 23: The Plower, as well as Arcanum 5: The Hierarch. This is just the practical explanation of how to use these tarot within a published deck. Now as Manly P. Hall also emphasizes in this quote from The Secret Teachings of All Ages, he explains that the tarot are: …vowels and consonants of a philosophic alphabet. The laws governing all phenomena are represented by the symbols upon the Tarot cards, whose numerical values are equal to the numerical equivalents of the phenomena. ―Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
So as I explained to you, the numbers are intuitive. Mathematics are highly symbolic. Numbers represent forces, experiences, qualities. And through this course we will talk about each of the twenty-two major arcana and specifically the intuitive meaning of those specific arcana themselves.
And so as Manly P. Hall states: As every structure consists of certain elemental parts, so the Tarot cards represent the components of the structure of philosophy [philos sophia: love of wisdom, Christ]. Irrespective of the science or philosophy with which the student is working, the Tarot cards can be identified with the essential constituents of his subject, each card thus being related to a specific part according to mathematical and philosophical laws. ―Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
Eliphas Levi stated that very interestingly that if one gained only knowledge of the tarot, exclusive of all other subjects, he would be more competent in every spiritual study than a person who had not done such an endeavor.
An imprisoned person with no other book than the Tarot, if he knew how to use it, could in a few years acquire universal knowledge, and would be able to speak on all subjects with unequaled learning and inexhaustible eloquence. ―Eliphas Levi 
The Tree of Life: A Cosmological Map
We talked about the Tree of Life. This diagram with its ten spheres represents the entire universe, from the highest regions of perception, of being, of divinity, towards the most material, concrete, and physical forms.
We talked about the region of כֶּתֶר Kether, originally, which is the Angel מטטרון Metatron, which is the top sephirah (“emanation”) of the Tree of Life emerging from that abstract nothingness, known as the Absolute: אין Ain, אין סוף Ain Soph, אין סוף אוֹר Ain Soph Aur. That is the unknowable divinity from which every universe emerges. That is the unmanifested divinity. It is not knowable at this level, but when we learn to experience the Tree of Life, we can go beyond it. The first emanation of that truth is known as Kether. It is like a spark of light that emerges from the unknowable source. And from the bottom of the Tree of Life we have מלכות Malkuth, which is our physical body: our earth, our kingdom. Malkuth in Hebrew means “kingdom,” and it is the kingdom in which we must learn to conquer, so that we can ascend up this Tree of Life, back towards the origins, the source, the truth. The tarot themselves, the first ten arcana, relate to this Tree of Life, specifically. And I would like to read for you some emphasis from Samael Aun Weor, who explained in his book Alchemy and Kabbalah in the Tarot, how the initial ten cards of the tarot relate to this diagram:
So these three Sephiroth (“emanations”) have been known in Christianity as Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amongst Hindus they are known as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.
Question: Does the major arcana refer to the past? Instructor: Well the first ten cards relate to the specific sephiroth themselves, and we find that this trinity at the top is represented in every tradition. In the Nordic tradition: Wotan, Baldur, and Thor. You can use this image to interpret any tradition, the cosmology or the cosmogony, the pantheons. But in synthesis, these three spheres are a form of energy that emerge from that Absolute source and that descend, down into greater forms of materiality and experience. Beneath that to the right, we have:
While this is a lot of information, we will be breaking this down systematically, just to go step by step in relation to the arcana. But I wanted to introduce to you and emphasize that these ten sephiroth of Kabbalah cannot be separated from the Tarot.
How to Interpret the Tarot
So each card is broken up into a series of symbols and images besides the plain numerical equivalent, within the Hebrew as well as the Egyptian.
We have a sigil or glyph at the top third of the card, followed by a magical symbol, which comes from Paracelsus, I believe, who was the great physician and doctor, great master of medicine who knew the tarot very well. You have a Zodiacal letter or symbol, followed by the name of the card and the planet. Notice that each part of the card is broken up into thirds. We have the top third, the middle third, and the lower third, followed by the body of the tarot, which is very significant in relation to Kabbalah. We can see that the four parts of that card are known as the four worlds of the Tree of Life. The four worlds of Kabbalah explain the makeup or the constitution of that Tree of Life in a much more profound manner. 
The world of Atziluth is the world of archetypes, principles, forces, which is that top trinity on the Tree of Life. It is Kether, Chokmah, and Binah: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
That tri-unity, that tri-force, emerges from the unknowable divine in order to create life and create it anew, to create the universe and to also create our own interior psychological universe. We use those three forces in order to create the soul, to develop ourselves. When those three forces unite, they create something. We know that in atomics, atomic physics, that we have the proton: the affirming force, the electron: the negative force, and likewise the neutron: the reconciliating force. Within the atom we find these three forces are present in order for any universe to exist. Whether from the atom or from the galaxy, these three forces are present. And likewise, we use these forces within ourselves in order to develop ourselves spiritually. So, these three forces create. And the next world below, Briah (the world of creation), is precisely related to the next trinity on the Tree of Life. So again, relating to numbers the תֹורֹתָ Torat, we find that numbers are very significant in the Tree of Life. We have three trinities followed by a fourth sphere, known as Assiah. Briah, the world of creation, relates to our spirit, Chesed: “Mercy,” our own Being, our own particular divinity, who we are going to talk about in depth today, followed by Geburah “Justice,” which is our divine consciousness, and Tiphereth, “Beauty”: the human consciousness, the human soul, willpower. Below that that energy of creation begins to take form in terms of the mind, the heart, and our vitality, respectively: Netzach, Hod, Yesod. Netzach means “Victory” in Kabbalah or in Hebrew, and it relates to the intellect, the mind. We have Hod, “Glory”: the emotional vehicle, the emotions themselves, the astral counterpart, the world of dreams, specifically relating to our heart. And Yesod, “Foundation,” relates to our vital depth, our vital forces, our vital energy. Below that we have Assiah: the physical plane, the physical body, the world of matter and action, which is our body that we possess, which contains all the forces of the Tree of Life in their synthesis. All that energy from the top descends down through creation of the universe and also creation of our own body, in which our soul enters in order to exist in this physical plane. 
These four worlds can be broken down further in relation the birth of a child. In the beginning there was an ovum and sperm. That principle that has yet to become actualized. It is an archetype. It is a blueprint for a human being. That is Atziluth. That is the world of archetypes. Those forces are not yet active. They are not present.
But through the sexual act, man and woman create. The sperm and ovum unite in order to form the child. Again, formation relates to the world of Yetzirah, which is the world of crystallizations, in forms such as mind, heart, vitality. We find this in a birth of a child. And when that child emerges for the first time in the world, he or she takes his or her first breath and is in the world of Assiah: matter and action. The Book of Isaiah, 43:7 states: Everyone that is [1] called by My name, and [2] whom I created for My glory, [3] I formed him, yea [4] I made him. ―Isaiah 43:7
...relating to the four worlds that we see represented here. The Qur’an, which is the sacred book of Islam, states the same thing in Surah 82:6-8:
O mankind! What has deluded you with regard to your noble Lord, Who created you [Briah], then fashioned you [Yetzirah], then proportioned you [Assiah], assembling you in whatever form He willed [from Atziluth]? ―Surah al-Infitar, “The Cleaving Asunder,” 82:6-8
The tarot synthesize all this, so it is a very deep knowledge. Now we are introducing this type of wisdom in a simple manner, but we will be talking about these four worlds of Kabbalah throughout this course in relation to the twenty-two arcana specifically.
The Magician
But let us talk about the first card of the Tarot.
This is the Magician. The word Magician come from mag, the Indo-European word for “priest,” or from the Persian magus, which means “priest” as well. Amongst the Persians, magus, magushan is a spiritual master, someone who has conquered him or herself, psychologically speaking. The word magician also relates to the word maha-atman, which is where we get the word mahatma in Hinduism. Maha means “great.” Atman means “soul” or “spirit.” So this is an image of a great soul or spirit, one who has fully mastered him or herself and is indicating the path to others. The word maha in Sanskrit could also be read as maga-atman, which is also the word for mage, priest, magician. In a Sanskrit, an “h” can be read as a “g.” Maha is maga, mage. In this image, we see a priest holding in his left hand a staff of power, ascending up, and his right hand pointing towards the earth, pointing towards the inferior part of the card. That staff is a symbol of our spinal column upon which the sacred force of Kundalini rises. This is the שכינה Shekhinah power of the Kabbalists, the power of the Divine Mother serpent of which the Book of Enoch speaks. In order to ascend up to those higher spiritual regions, represented by the stars of this graphic, one must learn to descend. The card of the Magician, the priest, is about entering into suffering. It initiates. It begins a certain type of development or struggle. But of course, this magician, by his perfect serenity, establishes and explains precisely this dynamic in order to ascend to the higher regions of the Kabbalah: the Tree of Life. One must face one’s own psychological iniquity. One must descend down that Tree of Life, entering into matter and form and into states of suffering, so that one can take those experiences and to return back to the source, to learn from those experiences themselves. This is synthesized by the image of the table in front of him. As Samael Aun Weor explains, these items are in disarray. We have a sword representing, again, the spinal column or the power of the Divine Mother Kundalini, the sword of the divine masters, which rises up the spine. Likewise, we have a vase, representative of the female sexual organs, the yoni. And then we have a moon on that table, which likewise represents woman. The magician must learn to use these elements on the table for his own development. That sword is the serpent power, the fire of God, the creative energies which reside in our body, specifically in the base of our spine. Through union and Tantra, when man and woman unite sexually speaking, and by conserving that power, can transform those energies and rise them up the spine to the brain. That is signified by the staff that the magician holds in his left hand, but of course, to reach those heights, one must first confront one’s psychological degeneration. We see that the sword is also a phallic symbol. Likewise the vase, the feminine yoni, the sexual organs, indicates that the magician, the real priest, is somebody who is married. Every priest has his priestess. Jesus of Nazareth had his Mary Magdalene, Mag-da-lene, the magician. He was a priest of Egypt and knew that science very deeply and taught it in his Gospels. By learning to work with that sword and that vase, when a man and woman know how to work in a matrimony, they can use that energy to ascend and create the heavens of Urania, which are the stars of this graphic. The moon on that table is also a representation of the mind, because the mind is the source of our habits, our problems, our difficulties. The moon indicates sorrow, pain, struggle, sentimentalism. It represents mechanicity. It’s very easy to see within nature that the moon governs much of our existence. Even looking at crime rates on a full moon, there are many instances of degenerated behavior as a result of that influence, the lunar influence. Likewise with menstruation, as well as the tides the moon, is a very impactful force upon physical and psychological nature. But psychologically speaking, that moon represents egotism, defects, which must be destroyed or transformed, so that that moon can become a sun. The sun is a representation of the solar Logos which the Gnostics call Christ, Son of God, S-u-n or S-o-n. Who is the one that grants us the ability, the magician, to organize the table? We see that there is a bird beneath, which is the Ibis bird of Thoth, the Egyptian symbol of the Holy Spirit. Any bird in any religion represents the Holy Ghost, which if we look back at the Kabbalah, we find that we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, represented by the top trinity: Kether, Chokmah, Binah. Binah is represented by a bird, the Holy Spirit, which is an energy. It is the sexual energy, that energy which can create life of a child, physically speaking. When it is harnessed in a matrimony, it can be used to develop our spirituality. That is the sacrament of Rome, amore backwards, which means “love.” That is the Gnostic Church. This is interesting that the word maga also relates to the word marga in Sanskrit. Marga means “path” and indicates the path of meditation, dhyana marga, specifically in certain scriptures. Marga also relates to mar, the sea, the ocean, which is the waters of Genesis. Those waters of creation, of Genesis, in which we give birth to the soul, are within our creative sexual organs, the gonads or the uterus of the woman. Those waters of life, the seminal matter, can be conserved and transformed into energy, into light, into fire, and it becomes the sword of that magician that he wields in order to conquer his own kingdom, to conquer himself. So, the path of the magician is precisely the path of a matrimony, the path of a marriage. 
Also, the table with its four sides represents for us the lower quaternary, the lower four sephiroth. We have Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth. Netzach is mind; Hod is emotions; Yesod is vitality or sexual energy, Chi among the Taoist; and Malkuth, our physical body. The Magician is precisely our inner Chesed, our spirit, our Being. We have talked about how the soul needs to become a magician, to enter the path of spirituality, to initiate, to begin a new way of life. The one who does that is precisely our own inner divinity within us. So that image of the priest is a symbol of Chesed. This is our own inner God who is the only one who can help us to organize our own table: the psyche that we possess, that psyche, which is intellect, emotions, vitality, and our physicality. It is easy to sit in meditation and to observe ourselves, psychologically, to see that we have many elements that are negative, and that we want to change. Otherwise we would never feel that impetus, that yearning to want to study spirituality, to learn how to escape suffering. So there are negative thoughts. There are cruel emotions: resentment, fear, hatred, etc., which condition our consciousness, condition our psyche, trap our soul within perdition. Likewise, we have our vitality, which is usually squandered in a negative manner. We waste our vitality in many ways. It is easy enough to examine our life to see what habits we may have that drain us physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. And so the Magician, our inner God, is the one who must organize ourselves. We as a soul must learn to obey divine truth. We as a consciousness, as the essence of God, is precisely that staff that the magician hold in his hand. That staff, if you are familiar with the Hebrew alphabet, is a straight line looks like the ו Vav, the sixth letter of Hebrew, which is a symbol of the spinal column. 
If we look in the last graphic, we find that the Tree of Life, transposed upon a human being, we find that the heart embodies the third letter of the sacred name of God: יהוה Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei. י Iod at the top in the brain; ה Hei in the throat, ו Vav: the spine, the heart, relating to our willpower, followed by ה Hei in the sexual organs.
יהוה Jehovah is the sacred name of divinity, and we will talk about the meaning of those four letters soon. But we are that ו Vav, that willpower that God can use when it obeys His impetus, His command. We have free will to choose to follow our conditioned psyche or to liberate the soul from its condition, with the help of our inner Magician, our inner priest, our inner Being. So that is the path of the priest―learning to use our willpower in order to free ourselves from that which makes us suffer. We learn that science precisely through meditation: dhyana marga. 
The Three Priesthoods
We could say that there are three forms of priesthood that the Magician must follow in order to liberate the soul completely. Again this relates to the Tree of Life.
We find that the lower trinity: Netzach, Hod, Yesod: mind, emotions, and vitality, relate to three forms of magic. And again, magic, priesthood, is about exercising our own willpower upon our own inner nature in order to change who we are. We say there are other forms of magic, such as black magi,c in which the person, through their egotism and their pride, uses their mind to control the minds of others, which is negative, which is what we do not teach. Instead, we teach how to follow our own inner Magician, our own inner Christ, our inner Being, precisely by learning to follow the three priesthoods. Relating to Netzach, the mind, we have elemental magic [elementotherapy]: the work of helping the souls of nature, specifically through plants, working with the souls of plants so as that these elemental creatures, these souls of the plants themselves, can do beneficial service to others. This is also known as hermetic magic the science of Hermes in Egypt [Study Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic, as well as Igneous Rose, to learn how to perform elementotherapy]. In Hod, the emotions, we have ceremonial magic, ritual magic, relating to the Gnostic Unction, the Holy Gnostic Church―of which we are a part of in this school―in which the soul receives the bread and wine of the Lord. This Holy Gnostic Church is not only just physical, but within those higher dimensions we can learn to travel in the astral dimension in order to speak face to face with Jesus Christ, and receive the bread and wine from him directly in his temple. And Yesod, we have what is known as sexual magic, which is the work of a matrimony: where husband and wife agree to work in order to develop their spirituality. [See The Perfect Matrimony]. So those three sephiroth below are the triangle of priesthood. Relating to the work of the Magician, it is precisely through those forms of magic, of following divine will, in which we learn to organize our table. One thing I did not mention was that if we look at even at the cloth or vesture of this master [the Magician], it is formed by a trinity, which is facing up, and that again refers to the three primary forces of nature: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which is how the Magician is empowered. Our own spirit is empowered by working with those forces. Those forces find themselves manifested within our physicality, as well as our vitality, our emotions, and our mind, which you could say form three centers of activity, as we mentioned previously: intellect, emotions, and our movement, our motor qualities. One thing we did not mention is that the inferior part of the card is the basis upon which the Magician works―if we find the cubic stone of Yesod, which Yesod in Hebrew means “Foundation.” And this is the famous stone, which the builders rejected, as Jesus said in the Book of Matthew 21:42: Did you never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and is marvelous in our eyes. ―Matthew 21:42 
The Freemasons are very well versed about the cubic stone of Yesod, the foundation stone of the temple of mysteries. That stone is a representation of our sexual energy, our creative potential, which in us is a blackened stone. It is blackened by desire, by passion, by lust, which in the Middle East, the sacred Kaaba of the Muslims is the blackened stone that the Muslims venerate. Their tradition state that, amongst the Sufis specifically, that stone must become purified, whitened, perfected, chiseled to its original and pristine form in a time before Adam’s fall from grace.
That stone is precisely the energies upon which we work, because without sexual, emotional, mental energy, we cannot function. Likewise, our spirituality is based, our development is founded upon the work of that energy, in a conscious and deliberate manner, because those forces can give life spiritually and physically. But if we learn to renounce the physical aspect of desire, of craving, of attachments, we can learn to use those forces for the truth. So that cubic stone is also the power that can destroy oneself as well, and we find that this stone is beneath in the third trinity of the card―which is known as the world of Yetzirah specifically. It is within the waters of this card beneath the Magician’s feet. Again, waters remind us of la mer, the ocean of divinity, the Divine Mother whose energies are manifested within our sexuality. And as Jesus stated, this stone can be the foundation of our temple, or it can be the means of destroying oneself. For as he says in Mark 9:42: And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. ―Mark 9:42
Again, in this sense, the sea is our representation of passion, desires, etc.
This stone is within the bottom third, the waters of this card. It is interesting that Yesod is known as the Sophic Hydrolith, the stone of the water. Stones refer to the genitalia since a person’s “stones” is slang for the generative organs. Also, the Magician uses the power of these waters within the stones, to purify the consciousness. The magician, a real priest, is somebody who seeks to destroy desire, by comprehending it, to transform it, to transmute it into cognizance, into purity, into light. He does that through his willpower, which is us our soul, which can govern the intellect, the mind, the heart, and the body. But of course, that necessitates a training, a work with that stone itself at the bottom of the card. We also notice in this image the sign of Leo, the sign of the lion or the lions of Judah in Hebrew. יהודה Judah is spelled: י Iod ה Hei ו Vav ד Daleth ה Hei, five letters, which have an additional D sound, ד Daleth, in conjunction with י Iod ה Hei ו Vav ה Hei the sacred name of God [יהוה]. So a real lion of Judah, a real spiritual person, a real magician, is a Jew. But of course, we are not referring to the physical Jews in the Middle East, but those who follow יהו Yew the sacred name of God, which is synthesized as י Iod ה Hei ו Vav ה Hei: יהוה Jehovah. So a real Jew can be from any religion, not just from Judaism itself. But someone who has fully incarnated that light is a Jew, is a real master. And those who are degenerate are the גּוֹיִים goyim. Of course, these people who are full of desire and lust, are egotistical, but of course, the Jewish tradition has lost the meaning of this. But the truth is that Leo, the sign of the lion, relates to the stone, because that stone is perfected. Or when it is perfected, it becomes the light of the sun, and transforms the Being into a lion, a master. This is signified by the crown of this initiate, who has a serpent before his forehead. That serpent symbolizes how that Kundalini power has risen from the base of the spine to the mind, and has fully illuminated that power of Yesod, of sexuality, which has been raised to the mind in order to fully illuminate it. So, the serpent raised on the forehead signifies that this magician has entered initiation, has initiated this path, who has raised those forces completely. And so the stone, again, relates to the sun, as we see in this planetary symbol by a circle and a point. Again, the circle and the point not only represents the sun, but also represents Kether on the Tree of Life. This stone also receives the Kabbalistic, Hebrew name of שם המפורש Shem Hamphorash, “The Stone of the Name” or השם Hashem. השם Hashem, the appellation for the sacred name of God, יהוה Jehovah, is משה Moshe, Moses, backwards. Hashem is a name for the Solar Logos, the solar divinity, which if we work with Shem Hamphorash, the stone of the solar force, we can incarnate the Name of God in ourselves, our inner Kether―the point that emerges from the Nothingness. We see here that Kether is the first manifestation of the light of the divine into the universe, and manifests as a single point within the circle, which is obviously this unknowable divinity in which that light emerges. And if we know Hebrew, which we will talk about the letter י Iod in Kabbalah, relates with the tenth card, the tenth sphere, the top of the Tree of Life. But Kether is symbolized by a point in a circle. So, while this magician represents our own Spirit, Chesed―as we look at this image above our own divinity―our own inner Magician is also Kether, because there are levels to God, levels of development. For us, our own inner Father, our own inner Being, is our Chesed, our Spirit, our own inner Mercy. As the Qur’an states, Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim, “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” أل رحيم Al-Rahim, “The Merciful” relates to רוּחַ Ruach, Spirit, which is relating to Chesed, but of course, Allah amongst the Muslims is Kether, Chokmah, Binah and Chesed, because the four sephiroth are the four letters of the Arabic name: الله Allah. Arabic and Hebrew are really integral. We can study one alongside the other. They have the same meaning. We find that the circle in the point is the symbol of Kether, the Solar Logos, the Christ, emphasized at the top of the graphic with the eyes of Ra, the solar divinity of Egypt. Those are the eyes of omnipresence, of omniscience, of consciousness, of knowing. Divinity knows all and sees all. Question: So would you say that that relates to the Sun? Instructor: Yes Audience: Does Tiphereth also relate to the Sun? Instructor: Well, Tiphereth relates to the Sun, but we could say that Kether is that point that emerges from that abstract absoluteness, that space of the Cosmic Mother, as a point, as a י Iod, which is a dot in Hebrew. Tiphereth does relate to that sign of the Sun, because in this card we find Tiphereth represented by that spine, that staff, which is where the energies rise when we know how, when we use them. And so the eyes of Ra are the eyes of the Being, which are always present and knowing the present moment, which is the omniscience of our own divinity, because our own divinity knows all of our psychology, our mind, our heart, our body, our actions. Question: Does Kether relate to the Ain Soph Aur? Like many suns, is Kether like an individual aspect of that? Instructor: Well, Kether is the first manifestation of that light, and Ain Soph Aur is the limitless light of the divine. 
If we look at the Tree of Life, the Absolute, the unknowable divine, has three aspects. Ain, which is nothingness, space. Ain Soph, which is limitless. Ain Soph Aur, which is that light of the Absolute that has not yet manifested into creation. When that light, which is single, wants to create something, it manifest physically as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because those three forces help to create any cosmos.
The Ain Soph Aur is the spiritual sun from which that light is still unitary, but when it enters the universe, it has to create. Therefore, it divides itself into the three forces. So it reunites again to create life, specifically. And that is symbolized and implied within the symbol of the Sun.
Also, the eyes of Ra, we find that the eyes of Ra form the holy eight, which we imagine a sign of the infinite traced along these eyes. We will see that the eyes of Ra symbolize that continuity of consciousness, of knowing, of perception. The symbol of the holy eight is a symbol of tantra, a symbol of esoteric Buddhism, specifically as well as Egyptian mythology.
The word tantra means “continuum, flow, flux.” And so, the eyes of the spirit are opened when we learn to use our energies, creative, sexual, emotional, etc., in a continuum. We do not break that continuum by losing any form of energy in whatever manner. Instead, we conserve those forces so that energy becomes a flow in our psyche, which awakens powers, abilities, consciousness specifically, so as to serve God. Not ourselves, but the divine. 
The Caduceus of Mercury and Serpentine Energy
Also represented in this holy eight, we can transpose that image upon the spinal column. And then in this next graphic, we find the Caduceus of Mercury held by the Angel Raphael, representing Hermes, the science of Hermetic magic. So that symbol of the Caduceus is a symbol of the holy eight, the continuum of energies of tantra, which rise up the spinal column. That staff is the spine, and the channels are serpents, that entwine around that staff itself, represent two channels of energy that we have within our vitality; as well as our emotional body, our dream body, which we travel with in the astral plane; the mind, etc.; and our physicality as well.
These are not physical. These are more semi-etheric, not tangible to the scalpel, but they exist to senses that can be verified through conscious investigation. We find that we have two channels that rise from our sexual organs up to our brain to form these two serpents. 
We call them Ida, Pingala, in Sanskrit, and we call them Adam and Eve in Kabbalah. Adam is the solar serpent, where certain energies of a solar type rise from our genitalia to our brain. And then Eve is the feminine aspect of that form, which rises up the spine to the brain.
Of course, the analogies to the serpents are very prominent within the Judeo-Christian Bible, but that is another topic for another course. But we see that these serpents represent the holy eight, in which our creative energies can rise from sex to the brain, in order to elaborate the wings of the spirit, represented by this Caduceus. 
Our spirituality is developed by working with those forces. Likewise, we see in this image seven stars above the head of the Angel Raphael, which indicates for us the lower seven sephiroth of this master. The lower seventh sphere of this Tree of Life have been illuminated by that top trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So, the sign of the infinite is the Magician’s staff: the staff of power. And as Samael Aun Weor explains in his book Alchemy and Kabbalah in the Tarot:
The fire of Phlegethon and the water of Acheron unite in the Ninth Sphere. ―Samael Aun Weor, Alchemy and Kabbalah in the Tarot
Again, tying into Greek mythology, this Ninth Sphere is not just the center of the earth of our planet, but also within our own body, because our body is an earth. And in the very center of our body, we have the creative energy: the waters of life, which can flow within us internally in order to give life.
But these two channels Ida and Pingala, Adam and Eve, the two serpents of the Caduceus of Mercury, have been known as the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation, for as it states: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (As we said:) These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. ―Revelations 11:3-4
So again, relating to numbers you add: a thousand two hundred and threescore days (1260) which is 1+2+6+0 = 9. The number nine is very prominent within, not only the Qur’an, but also the Bible. Nine relates to the ninth sphere: Yesod, the second to last sphere on the Tree of Life. And this ninth sphere is precisely the stone which we build our temple upon. So, this is the science of Mercury, Hermes.
Related to Hermes, we find the teachings of the Emerald Tablet, which is a teaching of sexual magic, sexual alchemy, of how man and woman can unite and purify their spirituous earth through a gentle heat, with much attention―where the couple awakes that fire of love and harmony in order to control that fire and to raise it up the spine into the mind. And that awakens the wings of the spirit which is symbolized in modern day medicine. 
The Hebrew Letter א Aleph
Lastly, I would like to talk to you about the Hebrew letter א Aleph at the top right corner of the image. Each Hebrew letter relates to numerology, as a numerical equivalent, a numerical value. And so the letter א Aleph symbolizes the breath, the wind, the air. So we talked about the waters and the fire, but we cannot leave out the air, because it is by working with our own breath, our breathing, in which we learn to control the mind, meaning our mind.
And so the א Aleph is a symbol of the sacred winds of God, the force of the divine. The letter א Aleph is our own inner Spirit, because as the book of Genesis teaches, “The spirit of God floated upon the faces of the waters” (Genesis 1:2) and hovered upon those sacred waters in order to provide the first day of Genesis. That Spirit, that רוח אלהים Ruach Elohim of the Old Testament is precisely Chesed, our Spirit, our inner Magician, the א Aleph. That א Aleph is a profound letter that initiates life, spiritually speaking. If we take the letter א Aleph, its easy to see that it relates to the air when we transpose it upon the symbol of the body and the lungs. You find that there is a transverse line followed by two י Iods, you could say, two dots. When you take that image of א Aleph and transpose it on a human being, you have the spine, but also the two lungs by which we have life the wind the breath. א Aleph initiates the breath, gives life, for as we find in the birth of a physical child, the first moments of birth, the child inhales air and exclaims and cries. That is the א Aleph in action initiating a new life beginning. Question: You mentioned Ida and Pingala and then you have the central spinal column. How does that relate with pranayama? Instructor: Well pranayama is the science of yoking that energy. Now with pranayama, which is the science of interchangeable nostril breathing, we learn to use the א Aleph, the breath, the wind, controlling it in order to stimulate the sexual creative energy, so that it can rise up the spine. And we have many exercises of pranayama, specifically in books like Kundalini Yoga, as well as The Yellow Book. Comment: I forget what it says, but they say the breath is the billows of the sexual body. Instructor: It is because the fire is sparked by that א Aleph. Thank you for saying that because that elaborates on what I wanted to talk about. The fire of sexuality is enflamed by the breathing. It’s easy enough to see that if we control our breath, we also control our mind. Breath is the vital energy in the air, but also when we learn to use that spiritual air to hover upon the face of our own sexual waters, we can transmute that energy and bring it up to our mind, so that we can create the first day of Genesis. As the Hebrews state, יְהִי אֹור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור׃ Yehi Aur Va-Yehi Aur: “Let there be light and there was light.” The word light begins with א Aleph. אֹור Aur, as we look at the Tree of Life again, we have אין סוף אוֹר Ain Soph Aur, א Aleph ו Vav ר Resh spells out “light.” And that of course is generated when we learn to work with that breath. The letter א Aleph again is formed by two י Iods and a transverse line (ו Vav) which refers to the trinity the top of the Tree of Life. We have three points, three forces manifested in that energy, in that breath. So a magician is somebody who, in the sexual act, controls their breathing, is not carried away by passion, and uses the breath along with his wife, together, to transform that energy up the spine. And of course, that is allegorized in the Bible in many cases. 
The letter א Aleph, we find in a very famous name of God in Exodus. And it says when Moses was confronting the burning Tree of Life, the Burning Bush in which the fire of God was present there. And God saidאֶֽהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶֽהְיֶה Eheieh Asher Eheieh: “I Am that I Am,” and thus He said, “Thou shall say unto the children of Israel ‘I Am’ has sent you.” This is when Moses asked God to tell him, well, “By what name shall I call you when I go to Israel (to teach my soul who my master is)?” And the Lord says, אֶֽהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶֽהְיֶה which means, “I Am that I Am,” but also means, “I Am Who Becomes,” “I Am That Becoming,” “I Am That Which Wills,” which initiates, which begins, which is symbolized by the letter א Aleph.
If you take that letter א Aleph and move it, if you spin it, it will form the swastika, which is the sacred cross in motion―which of course, certain people misappropriated that symbol for a very degenerated means. The swastika is the symbol of that א Aleph, the cross of sexuality in motion, because the vertical beam is the phallus; the horizontal beam is the uterus. And when a man and a wife unite sexually through that cross, and then they can serve that power, it spins. It becomes that א Aleph in motion, that swastika, which has been prominent in Buddhism and Hinduism especially. But of course, certain Germans took that symbol and really degenerated it for very evil purposes.
So, the Aleph is the symbol of the Magician, the wind, the breath. And it is that spiritual principle that we need to learn to obey, to follow within ourselves and in meditation and in our daily life, because that א Aleph is the power that is going to give life to our spirituality. To emphasize this point, I would like to relate to you an experience I had many years ago, in which I was meditating at home, where I physically fell asleep and I woke up in the astral plane, the world of dreams. And I wanted to speak to my Being, my divinity, my Inner Magician, face to face. But what happened was I was intuitively called to descend into the earth, go down into the earth towards center of the heart of the planet. This is a beautiful symbol of how we have to descend down like that Magician into the Ninth Sphere, to find that stone of Yesod, that creative energy. And as I approached my Being in the dark of those caverns, I felt His presence. I heard a heartbeat as well as a deep breathing of someone breathing very profoundly as if from exercise. And I felt that power emanating from my own divinity. So, my Being was showing me that “I Am א Aleph,” the Spirit, the wind, the breath, the presence which enflames every Tree of Life. Afterward, I suddenly saw myself standing in an open parking lot, and I saw a yellow car like a race car. It started up and it started to skid away, and I knew intuitively that I had to chase that car, because I knew symbolically this represented something profound, that my inner Being wanted me to stop that car from driving around. But of course, the struggle was very intense, because it was very fast and I was losing energy, but I was very determined. But eventually the car slowed down as I followed it and I went down to it. I realized much later how the car is a symbol of the mind, and the color yellow is a sign of the intellect, which my Being was showing me: “Your mind is chaotic and crazy and is wandering over all these places. You need to chase it by following the breath, א Aleph the spirit.” And eventually I caught up to that car, which is a symbol of taming the mind, becoming still within meditation. And of course, there is a man who in the car was a bald man, who came out of the car and I said, “Are you my Being?” And he said, “No, I am just a representation,” something to “symbolize something for you.” And then I woke up. A symbol of baldness represents a lack of chastity because long hair in ancient times was a symbol amongst many cultures of sexual purity. Those who are impure are prostitutes, or those women caught in adulterous activity would be shaved of their hair to symbolize their licentiousness. So that is a symbol internally of how the one that was driving that car was my own desires, my own egotism, which I had to catch, to stop it, tame the mind, control it. That is how you become a magician, a priest. So you learn how to control that energy through the א Aleph. The sacred name of God: יהוה Iod Hei Vav Hei, from top to bottom, represents this. We can transpose the Tree of Life on a human being. We find that י Iod is that dot that relates to Kether, the Crown, the truth. ה Hei relates to the breath, in the throat, which is what we actualize through sacred sounds like mantras, sacred sounds and vowels that we pronounce in meditation, and also in the sexual act when we learn to control the breath, the prana, the air. And the ו Vav again is the spinal medulla, but also is the sixth letter relating to the center of the Tree of Life: the willpower of our spirit, meaning ו Vav. And then last we have ה Hei in the sexual organs, a profound symbol. Jehovah you could say, in these four letters, is broken down into י Iod which is Father, ה Hei which is Mother, ו Vav which is the phallus; ה Hei which is the uterus. The sacred name of God is actualized between man and woman and they do that by controlling their א Aleph. 
We’ve also included in this final image the Hebrew letter א Aleph along with the lungs, which are represented by the first letter of Hebraic Kabbalah transposed over the body of a human being. We also see the serpent of brass of Moshe, Moses, within the wilderness in the Book of Numbers.
The serpent of brass in the Torah hides the mysteries of the science of Aleph. The Hebrew term for wilderness is מִדבָּר midbar. דבָּר Dabar means “Word,” which reminds us of the genesis of the solar Christic energies within us, for “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). We learn to work with the energies of the Father, the Magician, the solar divinity, through learning to walk with rectitude and love within the wilderness of our own life, our psychological states of suffering. The path of initiation begins with א Aleph, the wind, the pronunciations, the sacred sounds we vocalize in alchemy and transmutation. To raise the serpent of bronze like Moses, the Kundalini power, is only possible within a matrimony, by priest and priestess, represented by the alchemical metals within brass. Tin represents Jupiter, man. Copper represents Venus, woman. Together, through fire and heat, you create bronze. Likewise, man and woman, priest and priestess, united by the fire of love, can create the serpent of brass within the spinal column. The Magician teaches us to descend into the sexual act, the mysteries of Yesod. Afterward, through the mystical science of Kabbalah, the High Priestess of the tarot, we rise with the power of the serpent force through learning to control the sexual energies with our breathing, our breath. Too much erratic and passionate breathing works to expel the seminal energies within sexual alchemy. Learning to profoundly inhale and raise the creative energies up the Caduceus of Mercury, up our spine, is the science of the Magician. All of this is accomplished through א Aleph. As we mentioned earlier, the Book of Genesis depicts the emergence of light into our interior universe: “Let there be light! And there was light.” The word for light, in Hebrew, as we stated, begins with א Aleph, and is spelled א Aleph ו Vav ר Resh. ו Vav is the spinal column wherein we raise the Prana, the energies of א Aleph, from sex, up the spine, to the head, which in Hebrew is ר “Resh.” ראש Rosh signifies the brain or the head, which is where we get words like ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, “head of the new year,” in Judaism. Esoterically speaking, Rosh Hashanah signifies initiation, the beginning of a new year, and new life, the accomplishment of spiritual initiation whereby the Kundalini has risen within the entire spinal column to the mind and then the heart. Many people who follow Judaism don’t know the meaning of this, but the tradition holds these mysteries in a concealed form. When we raise the light up our spine, we do so through א Aleph, the Magician, the real Being within ourselves. That serpent that the Magician raises is the second arcanum of the tarot: the High Priestess, the Divine Mother. The following passage from Mark, Chapter 12, verses 28-30, emphasizes the path of the Magician within our mind, heart, body, and will. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord [Kether is the first commandment, the first law, the Magician whose Sephirah resides at the top of the Tree of Life]: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (Hod, the emotions), and with all thy soul (Tiphereth, human will, volition), and with all thy mind (Netzach), and with all thy strength (Yesod, sexual vital energy): this is the first commandment. ―Mark 12:28-30
The mind is symbolized by the element air, and constitutes the aerial nature of thought, which fluctuates, flows, and changes like the clouds. The heart is symbolized by the element fire, wherein we either burn with passion, hatred, sentiment, or love. The sexual organs are filled with the seminal waters, wherein we find the element of procreation and spiritual life. And the earth is our physical body or matter that contains all of this.
We must learn to love our internal Magician within all three aspects of ourselves, known as the three brains of gnostic psychology, intellect, emotions, and sexuality, which we will be discussing and explaining in more depth throughout this course. Mind, heart, and sexuality constitute our internal machinery wherein the forces of the Magician can act. As we indicated, the four elements are represented by the quadrature of the table the Magician must command, since it is precisely through his power that he can organize the contents of our psyche. The four corners of the table also remind us of the four Gospels through which divinity manifests and acts. Each gospel represents one of the four essential elements of nature that are symbolized by the four holy creatures mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel. The Book of Mark represents fire, the lion. The Book of Luke represents the earth, the bull or ox. The Book of Matthew relates to water, an angel or human being. And the Book of John represents the air, the high-flying eagle. The table with its contents is the matter composed of the four elements, the matter or Mother, Mater Dei, material of God, in which we can elaborate the soul. Those elements are in a potential state for spiritual creation, which the Magician can act upon to generate life. Of course, he cannot originate the soul without the help of the Divine Mother, the High Priestess, the receptive force, the subject of our next lecture. Conclusion
To conclude I would like to relate to you an excerpt from one of Samael Aun Weor’s books in which he explains the nature of א Aleph in depth. So from Tarot and Kabbalah, he states the following:
The "Great Wind" is the Ancient of Days, the root of our Being, the occult of the occult, the mercy of mercies, the goodness of goodness. 
And in conclusion, I will give you a practice you can use in order to experience the nature of א Aleph. I will give you one in relation to this excerpt, but in the book Tarot and Kabbalah by Samael Aun Weor, he explains that one can meditate on the sign of the infinite.
First trace that image of the infinite, with your first finger and middle finger and thumb, around your heart. Trace it for a second, and then lay in bed meditate, relax, concentrate on that image in your mind. Fall asleep on that image, because that symbol will help to awaken consciousness in the astral plane, because that symbol represents the continuity of consciousness, vigil to dream states, symbolized by its open end and its closed end, which continually cycles eternally. You can ask to be brought to a temple in Tibet, which is a sacred monastery known as the Sacred Order of Tibet, which is formed by 201 members, 72 Brahmans or masters lead by Bhagavan Aklaiva. And by being very dedicated, we can travel to that temple and receive certain ordeals so that we can become initiated as magicians in that priesthood. It’s a very ancient order. And through certain works we wake up in the astral plane by imagining that symbol, and then we will be taken to that place so that we can be brought into that higher brotherhood and sisterhood of the divine. Of course, one thing that Samael mentions, and that one thing that I have verified, is that when they call you, they pull you by your feet in the astral plane. You feel a magnetic pull where they will take you where you need to go, and they will pull you out of your body. You will be taken to that place directly. So, you can invoke Bhagavan Aklaiva as a master. And that exercise is given in the book Tarot and Kabbalah. Questions and Answers
Question: Is that the infinity symbol or what?
Instructor: The sign of the infinite is same symbol of the eyes of Ra, which is the Egyptian God. The holy eight which is again represented in our spine. Question: So do that laterally? Is that correct? Instructor: Yes, do it latterly around your heart, because the thing is you are working with your Vav, your heart. Because the letter ו Vav relates to the heart itself, which is the center of the spine in which we imagine, with our willpower and our concentration, that image, so that it enters into our consciousness. Do you have any questions? Question: Does the Magician have power over the archetypes? Instructor: Well the Magician is the archetypes, is those forces, because God is not something external, but is constituted by many principles and forces in nature. So those archetypes of the soul belong to God. And the Being or the Divine is not just some person. We represent them by an old man with a beard, as Samael mentions, but also by that symbol of the Magician, but that is a representation of a force that is universal. So those archetypes are the Being, and they belong to the Being. Question: So when actually performing a tarot reading… you take the… is it the minor arcana? Instructor: First one major arcanum, and then you shuffle the minor deck: the 56. Shuffle, it take out one card. Shuffle it again, take out another, so you have a total of three cards. Question: So fate is supposed to play, I guess, a large part in what is revealed to you at that moment, right? So if you get an answer are you then able to perform another reading and, say you get a different answer, is it that answer that is different, or is it that you are supposed to take both answers? Instructor: That is a good question. That tendency to want to get the answer we want is inherent to everybody, because the thing is, you know, what is essential to the practice, is that when you use the cards, the first answer you get is going to be the answer. Usually the mind does not like it. I mean I have done this many times where I have asked for help and I got a card like 12: suffering, the Apostle: I do not like this. This is painful, but then I kept wanting to change the answer, and then I really meditated on this and realized that no, God gives you a message―you keep it. The mind is what is stubborn and wants the message to conform to its ideas. But the answer will always elude the intellect, which is why when you get an answer on a card, sit on it for months if need be, until you understand that card in relation to whatever problem you are facing because as the Talmud states, “A dream uninterrupted is like a letter not read.” Same thing with the tarot. You know you got an answer. If you do not stick to it and really contemplate that response, you will be missing a very beautiful teaching, because the Being speaks through those numbers. Of course, those answers go against the mind, the ego, which wants certain things to conform to its will. Question: So like it might not be logical? But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that it’s not right? Instructor: Oh, it will be logical, but it is a superior logic, because our common logic from universities and scholasticism is very limited. There is a divine logic which Plato talked about called a Nous, a type of consciousness that is very elevated, in which you really you know things without having to rationalize about them and it can relate to superior concepts, superior ways of being. And you can read about that in The Republic, the symbol of the Allegory of the Cave, in which the soul escapes the cave of the mind in order to experience the light. But when that person comes back into the cave to help others out, people do not understand this individual, because they are chained next to the wall looking at certain images from the fire behind them, projected onto the wall in front of them, like shadows. And they only see according to their limitations. The mind is like that. Even when you escape for a moment, you lose that experience and you come back. But we learn to develop a superior type of logic through experience, which is Logos, which is a symbol of Christ. Again, the trinity relates to Kether Chokmah, Binah: First Logos, Second Logos, Third Logos. So it is a divine reason. So the answer will make a lot of sense, but it requires a lot of intuition, because it is intuitive logic, not intellectual logic, if that makes sense. Any more questions? We will begin to meditate. So, we will be continuing these lectures on the rest of the twenty-two arcana. Question: Does that mean should we keep on coming back to the cave and trying to bring more people out? Instructor: Well, you do that by your experience and your own understanding. You know, one does not have to become a teacher, but in fact, we learn through example more than our precepts, because the way you help out other people in the cave―yeah, giving the knowledge is very important. It is helpful. It can make a big difference―but of course, that requires sacrifice, because the people who are in that allegory trying to get out of the cave again were very resistant, very negative. They did not like being told, “No, I am egotistical, and I am wrong,” you know, and trying to get them to change is very hard. You receive the Kabbalah, experiences, based on how you sacrifice for others, which is an important factor in this teaching. We talk about three factors relating to the three forces. We have Holy Affirmation, which we could say is sacrifice for others: to affirm the truth, to teach unto others or to help others according with our skills and our disposition. We have Holy Negation, which relates to: deny ourselves, go against our own defects, to comprehend our errors, and to change them. And then we also have Holy Reconciliation, which is to bear the cross. So Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, bear up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). We have the factors of birth, the soul, to the cross of sexuality. We have death of desire, the ego, relating to the negation of our own defects. And then we have sacrifice for others: to affirm the truth. We all follow those three principles in our own way, but we do it in accordance with the will of our own inner Magician. We learn that through meditation, but of course, trying to help others is always very painful, especially when we have a lot of our defects, which get in the way. This is really the primary problem when we are trying to help another person. We have our own faults that we need to rectify, that prevent us from doing the best that we can―especially in difficult situations with difficult people, so to speak, if that makes sense, if that answers your question. Comment: There was another cave that I was thinking about, the cave that Dante… but that’s another topic. Instructor: Yeah, thank you for bringing that up, because Dante, the first book of The Divine Comedy is the descent into hell [Inferno]. First you descend and face your own defects, and then you purify yourselves in Purgatory and then you ascend [to Paradiso: Paradise]. So if you want to ascend, according to the Magician, you got to descend. Question: What about that caption that says, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”? Instructor: And it is interesting, because hope in the tarot, I believe, is the seventeenth card, seventeenth card of the tarot. In order to have hope, we have to be very strong, because that descent into facing our own evilness is very painful, very difficult, in which we will want to run away from the facts. But if we are those few people who are rarely remain true to their principles, then we can make the ascent like Dante did. Of course, with the help of his Guru, his teacher, not just a physical teacher, but in the internal planes―Virgil was his master. Question: Virgil? Instructor: Virgil. Question: Wasn’t he a Roman poet? Was he spiritual? Instructor: He wrote The Aeneid, which you can read about in the book The Magic of the Runes. Question: Was he an initiate? Virgil? Instructor: Oh yeah! A great master. The Aeneid is a very Kabbalistic text, which we can talk about at another time. Question: All of them say that he is a Roman poet. That’s as far as I go… Instructor: Well, he talked about the birth of Rome: Amore, the church or the city of Rome, which backwards spells love. So it is a symbol of the battles that any soul goes through against the ego, our defects, our own desires. Question: How far can people go without realizing that they are an initiate? Instructor: Well, here is the thing. Certain experiences may be kept from the soul, by divinity, to a degree, but certain initiations, which really belong to the Being, the divine, can be experienced. By special grace we could be given that experience. I know there is a case of Samael Aun Weor when he was entering into initiation at a certain degree. He actually was not aware of the initiation itself as it happened in the internal planes, but he was told later by his wife, “No you… we were in the temple and your Inner Being, Samael, was being initiated into the church.” And then he meditated and then he remembered. So, there is not necessarily a set limit, but I would say the more you awaken, the more you will remember; the more that you will know. And in the beginning, we are usually very unconscious, very asleep. We do not know what is going on psychologically. Question: So we could just be going through sufferings and transformations, but really the Being is going through the initiations? Instructor: It is the Being that is the initiate, because the Magician, the priest, the one who gains power, is our Spirit. Now we do our part, but we have to recognize that we are nothing, because the Being is powerful. If the Being is powerful up there, that means down here, we are the opposite. So we should not be proud, but instead, we should do our part. And that gives experiences and qualities of understanding to our divinity. So the Magician, the priest, is our own Being, and He is the one who receives the initiations. Question: So to Self-realize is to like be like the equivalent of the consciousness of the Being? Instructor: It is to unite with the Being, and therefore the soul is not the soul anymore. It is the Being. It is reflected. So, think of it like you are looking at a mirror. The mirror is the soul according to Ibn ‘Arabi, a Sufi Master. He said that God looks at the mirror, at Himself, to contemplate Himself. Self-realization is when the mirror has been polished through dhikr: remembrance in Islam, so that the soul reflects the image of God within. So the soul is lost in that Divine Being. Self-realization is when all that parts of the Tree of Life, the ten sephiroth, are integrated, so they are not separate anymore, but they are unified. Then they can return with knowledge back to the Absolute. But that is a very lofty goal. We first begin by initiation through overcoming our daily sufferings, by beginning a new way of life, in relation to the first arcanum of the tarot. 
"Know the truth and the truth shall set you free," stated Jesus of Nazareth, the Patriarch of the Gnostic Church, the great Master Aberamentho, according to his sacred name.
This is the final lecture in a course we initiated a few weeks past, discussing the nature of Sufism and Gnostic doctrine, how to know ourselves, how to know that which is within us that is divine. We seek to comprehend through practical works the very essence of our divinity within us, within our consciousness, and which we denominate the Being. Many names have been given to that truth, that source, that origin from which the soul emanates. No matter what name we denominate that truth, whether it is Allah, Buddha, Christ, Tao, INRI, etc., that divinity is within us, and which specifically in the Gnostic teachings we call the Being. To be, to know as a conscious quality. So we've been explaining the gradual steps that lead to that realization of the Being, of the truth. It is by practical works, learning to understand ourselves, our mind, and the obstacles within us that prevent our illumination, that we seek to comprehend how to change. We seek to comprehend the causes of our suffering and the obscurations to that light of that divinity within us. In the spirit of universality, we've been explaining the teachings according to Islam, which in Arabic is submission to God's will, and the Sufi doctrine, especially the mystics of Islam. Sufis are as much the mystics of Islam as the Kabbalists are the mystics of Judaism. In this lecture, we'll explain many aspects of this path in association with the Tree of Life of Kabbalah, the map of the consciousness. Likewise, we will examine many elements pertaining to the mystical teachings of Islam, the esoteric doctrine. We state that we seek to know the divinity and the Muslims speak of witnessing the divine as the Shahada, the famous declaration of faith, which states, "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasul-ul-llah." Meaning, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His prophet." The word witnessing is Shahada, to bear testimony, to verify what one has known or experienced. Now, the Muslim teachings of Shahada, which is followed by many millions of people today, is merely the public doctrine; to say that where there is no God but God, and Muhammad is His prophet, is easy to vocalize, to affirm. The word Shahada in Arabic relates to the word Mushahada, which means contemplation, meditation, insight, comprehension of the truth. It is precisely by learning to meditate, go deep within our mind, our psyche, in which we know the truth for ourselves. We witness the divine through very concrete living experiences, known as gnosis. This word gnosis is Greek, meaning knowledge, signifying conscious experience. It is not associated with theory or belief, or scriptural knowledge, although those are useful in their place. Instead, gnosis, or the Arabic equivalent, marifah, is the direct knowledge of the divine, the truth. It is not by believing in anything that we will know that divinity. Instead, know truth and the truth shall set you free. The founder of the modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, stated that, "The truth is the unknowable from moment to moment." When Jesus was asked, "What is the truth?" before Pilate, he remained silent. When asking the Buddha, "What is the truth?" he simply walked away. Many people have spoken about the truth, whether through scripture, books, lectures, etc. In these studies, however, we seek to be practical. We seek to know that truth for ourselves, to know the divine within us moment by moment, the unknowable presence which is within our consciousness, within our psyche. For our purposes, we'll talk about scriptures pertaining to Islam, especially in relation to knowledge of God, knowledge of that truth, that source, which cannot be labeled, but can be verified. There is a famous commentator, Abd al-Karim al-Jili, who commented on a scripture or a writing by a Sufi master by the name of Ibn Arabi: his book Journey to the Lord of Power. He stated that “The journey to God is short; the journey in God is infinite.” There are levels of being, levels of knowing, levels of cognizance, which we want to access here and now. Previously, we discussed the nature or the doctrine of momentariness, to be aware of our psyche moment by moment, and to be aware of the divine as a presence, as a force, and an intelligence, which we accomplish through observing our psyche, observing our mind, observing our heart, observing our body. That active observation is attention, an act of directed consciousness or directed will, directed attention within us. By learning to develop that alert novelty, alert perception, that awareness of ourselves, instant to instant, moment by moment, we in turn gain access to the truth, that direct knowledge. 
Of course there are infinite levels of consciousness. The 14th Dalai Lama stated that really the consciousness has the capacity to expand to an infinite degree. This is very well is illustrated in many religious paintings where you see the heavens or the angels circling the throne of divinity and taking their pilgrimage towards that light, that source. That's the famous meaning of Hajj in Islam, the pilgrimage which we're going to discuss in brief in this lecture.
God is the unknowable, the truth. As it says on the Quran surah 6, verse 91, “God the Most High said, ‘They honor not God with the honor due Him,’” according to the scripture of Al-Risalah, the Sufi teaching by the famous master Qushayri who lived in Persia or Iran. He stated the following: “According to the commentary, this means they do not know God as He deserves to be known.” Likewise, Surah Ta Ha, verse 110, "He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they encompass Him not in knowledge," which is similar to Surah 2. This is Al-Baqarah, the Surah, The Cow, verse 285: "He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills." The truth can only come to us when the divine expresses of His will, of Her will within us, and we must learn to access that state by cooperating as a psyche, as a soul, as a consciousness. In order to attain that state, we must learn to be humble psychologically. Previously, we discussed in our lecture on the code of ethics, spiritual discipline, the need to train the mind, to not behave in negative ways, to not indulge in negative habits, and to destroy and comprehend those psychological causes within us that create conflict. Because, as the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, stated, "Be humble in order to attain enlightenment. Thus after attaining it, be more humble still." Humility is not an attitude. It is a psychological way of being in which we comprehend how our own sense of self, we can say egotism, egos, qualities, defects, vices, errors, whatever name we want to give them—these in themselves are obscuring the full manifestation of our divine potential, and we want to remove those shadows within our psyche, those causes of suffering such as anger, pride, fear, et cetera. By removing those conditions, those cages of the mind, we liberate soul. We liberate consciousness and then we can truly ascend to the heights of the divine. As the Book of Isaiah states, "Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and the hill made low. The crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain." Meaning, it is a psychological work. Our own sense of egotism, our own negative sense of self must be conquered in order for the divine self, the Being, the truth to manifest. Now, there is some interesting commentary just to elaborate on this point about asceticism or spiritual poverty given by, again this writer, Ibn Arabi, from his Futuhat Makkiyyah, which is The Meccan Revelations, a very extensive scripture. He commented that the first caliph, Abu Bakr, was reported to have said, "The inability to comprehend God is comprehension itself." Then, this point is that if we feel that we have a certain level of knowledge, we must understand there's always something higher, something beyond that which we must access. As the Sufis state, the greatest position to follow is poverty, not physical poverty or austerities, but, psychologically speaking, we fast to our habits. We cease to feed our negative elements, our desires. Instead, we develop conscious qualities. We seek to overcome the conditions of our mind. There was one Sufi, I believe, who stated that a third of the stomach should be filled with food, while the other two thirds be filled with fasting and the Qur’an. While some people may take the symbolic language of the Sufis literally, symbolically-speaking, we must be in remembrance of divinity through meditation, scriptural study, profound comprehension… There's a very famous teaching given in the Surah Ta Ha, verse 114, where Prophet Muhammad was taught by his inner Being, his divinity. He said, "Be not in haste with the Qur’an before its revelation is completed for thee, but say, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge!’" We must increase that knowledge, seek to understand what in us prevents us for accessing that, and to thereby deny our own selves, conditions, desires, through the art or path of consciousness, self-awareness, mindfulness. The Three Levels of Religion
In next graphic, we have the three levels of religion. We find the three levels of religion in any doctrine, any teaching, since religious instruction or esoteric instruction is always given in three tiers. We have what is known as the introductory level, the intermediate level, and the esoteric level. All religions have a gradation of instruction, of teaching, and of discipline, in which we train ourselves to be more open and receptive to the influence of the divine.
In Islam, they call the first introductory level Shariah, which of course has a lot of negative connotation today. In esoteric studies, Shariah does not refer to the punitive or harsh laws of Muslim countries. Shariah is really in its heart is the practical conduct we engaged with to train ourselves—to not be angry people, to not have fear, to not have pride, to not have desire or lust, to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not take intoxicants, to not cause harm, to not lie. These are basic laws given in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and whatever religion we study, since each has this code according to the idiosyncrasy of the culture it was delivered. Beyond that, after we've established ourselves with mind training, we can enter into the mesoteric level, the intermediate steps, which is Tariqah. The last lecture we gave was on divine love, which is the path of Tariqah. It is the path of selfless service in which our spirituality is not based on ourselves, but for others. Meaning: we work on our own sense of egotism so that we can develop compassion for those who suffer and those who are ignorant. In this selfless path, we overcome the conditioning of the mind. We train ourselves so that we do not cause harm to others with our speech, our thoughts, our words, etc. Instead, we want to overcome the conditioning of our psyche so that our divinity can really help us to create religion, which is in Latin, religare, in one sense to reunite such as in a congregation or group, to unite people through divine law. In Islam, the word “religion” is often called din in Arabic. Din more specifically refers to “judgment,” which is etymologically related with “custom, way, or affair.” Din refers to our conduct, our behavior, in how we curtail negative psychological states and eliminate them through inner judgment and comprehension in meditation. Din also has a strong relationship to the word dayn, which means “debt.” Truly, all of us are in debt before the divine law and must learn to pay our debts through conscious works, good deeds. Lastly, we have Marifah and Haqiqah which is knowledge and truth. This is the highest teachings of any religion and is the topic of today's lecture. Now, with Marifah (knowledge) and Haqiqah (truth), these have been associated with the highest teachings of any tradition—the secret doctrine, whether in theosophy or the Fourth Way schools, and in Gnosticism. The secret of the divine path, Marifah and Haqiqah, knowledge and truth, pertains to the practices of what is known in Arabic as Allah-kimiya', alchemy. Alchemy was associated traditionally with the transformation or transmutations of metals, a base substance into a pure substance, which many people in Europe were foolishly seeking to literally perform, to transform physical lead into gold, but that is not the meaning. The meaning is transforming the lead or the personality into the gold of the spirit, into the spirit of the divine, the truth. Alchemy is known as Tantra in the East, but the word alchemy also, Al-Kimiya, signifies chemistry (we have the similar origins or the root word). Kimiya also means to fuse or cast to metal. With the practices of a perfect matrimony or the perfect matrimony, the exercises of tantrism, man and woman in a marriage can unite to create spiritually and therefor fuse with the divine through the chemistry of God. I will talk about the specifics of this, but something important to remember with these three stages is that, according to Ibn Arabi, the law of Shariah can be summarized with the following maxim: "What is yours is yours and what is mine is mine." There's a sense of separation. Meaning, we work individually as practitioners for ourselves, for our benefit, to serve God within us. In a path of Tariqah, "What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours," referring to selfless love, a state of compassion. In the level of Marifah, “Nothing belongs to you or me,” according to Ibn Arabi. Then with the knowledge of Haqiqah, the truth, "There is no you or me. There is only Him, the divine." These are stages of discipline we train ourselves in and, of course, in the beginning we work with Shariah. In Buddhism, this is known as Shravakayana, the Shravaka path. Shravaka in Sanskrit means “to listen, to hear,” and Yana means “the way or path.” Anyone who learns for the first time how to change is a Shravaka, is a listener, to hear the truth and to practice it, and we will give more examples of this in relation to the intricate science of certainty according to the Quran. With the middle path, the mesoteric path, we find in Tariqah, its equivalent is Mahayana, the greater vehicle: Maha, meaning great, in which our work is for others. We are not concerned with our own personal well-being, but we work to help others develop spiritually, and we overcome our own egos, our own senses of self, which create conflict. In the highest path, Marifah and Haqiqah, is known as Tantrayana in Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. In this Tibetan Buddhist teaching, Tantra is the vehicle of a matrimony where a man and woman, in the pure sentiment and inspiration of the divine, can cultivate their marriage as a means of experiencing the truth and working with the most potent forces we carry within our physiology, and also our psychology, as we will elaborate upon. Now, an important thing to remember is that with these steps, these are not something separate. Neither are they something that will go from one step up, a plateau, so to speak. Really Shariah, Tariqah, Marifah, Haqiqah unite; they are integral, meaning: one cannot know the truth without fulfilling the basic conduct of spirituality, meaning: to be good person, to be decent, to be humble and to help others. Likewise, we cannot know divine love if we are selfish, egotistically, psychologically speaking. All of us who begin any type of spiritual studies have to work on or become aware of what particular issues we have and change them so that we can really develop compassion for humanity and for its suffering. Now, there has been a teaching, and there have been some people who have wanted to associate with higher stages of teaching, such as people who proclaim to have spiritual knowledge or to know the truth, but they fail to fulfill the basic conduct of being a decent human being. There is a very famous teaching and I believe it's given by Ibn Arabi as well. In his scripture Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom, he explains that there were people who saw a man flying in the air, and they were overcome by this phenomenon. They were very fascinated, obviously. Ibn Arabi asked, "Does that man follow the Qur’an?" Meaning, does he follow the scripture? Does he know how to be a decent person, to be kind, to not be lustful, to not be angry, to not have fear, because if he does not fulfill those laws, then ignore him. Because there are people who can have powers and abilities, but through desire, egotism, which is a different path than we teach. Here, we seek to give all of our aspirations to God who has power, who has capability and we as the human vehicle can be of service to that, not for our own will. Dhikr, Remembrance of the Divine Self
So, what is the path we need to follow? Really, it is mindfulness, it is awareness and it cannot be emphasized enough. You need to be perceptive psychologically. In the doctrine of Islam, they refer to remembrance of God as dhikr. We talk about in these studies in relation to self-knowledge, the studies or the practice of Self-remembering, self-observation. What is the self we seek to remember? It is the divine Self. In Hinduism, they refer to it as Atman, the inner divinity, but we also want to become aware of our own egotistical self through the act of observing our mind, our heart and our body, our impulses, our desires, our instincts. Truly, to know the truth, we have to begin at this level and to be aware of our body, aware of our mind, aware of our sentiments.
For as Dhul-Nun al-Misri, the Egyptian, very famous Sufi master stated the following: The key to success and worship lies in meditative reflection (fikrat). Whoever persists in such reflection in the heart will behold the invisible realm and the spirit. Whoever contemplates God for keeping watch over the thoughts which pass through his heart will be exalted by God in all of his outward deeds. ―Dhū’l-Nūn Miṣrī in ‘Attār: Tadhkirat, 154-155
Again, we can refer to the three stages of religion even in this very brief quote which compacts a lot, meaning that whosoever contemplates God, who practices mushahida, witnesses God, understanding and knowing that God keeps watch over the thoughts that pass through his heart. This is the exercises of Shariah, to discipline our mind, to be aware of ourselves, to not act in inappropriate way according to the moment. Likewise, by doing so, one will be exalted by God, which is Haqq, the truth, Haqiqah. One of the sacred names of Allah in Islam is Al-Haqq, the Truth, which is where we get Haqiqah. It is in controlling our mind in which we will be exalted by the truth in all of our outward deeds, according to the path of Tariqah, one's actions.
“The Reminder” is another name for the Qur’an, the Recitation, the teaching.
So, there is no God but God. The Muslims make a very strict observance of worshipping only the divine, and they call worship of idols shirk, or to worship God as something multiple. This has a very interesting psychological application to us, because in a given moment, if we are mindful, we will perceive elements that seek to grab our energy, our attention. In a moment of anger, we want to speak harm, and if we give in to that element, if we give in to those words and we express that negative emotion, we are worshiping an idol. We are worshiping a psychological quality that is other than God. That condition of anger is a shell that has trapped the light of God within us and we need to learn to extirpate that from our psyche, to liberate the free consciousness, the free essence, the soul. Anytime we give into fear, other egos, other qualities, conditions of mind, and we identify ourselves with those elements, we are practicing shirk. That is a form of worship, because our love of being is how we worship God or how we turn away from him. The unity of God is very famous in Islam, the doctrine is called Tawhid, the unity of the Truth, because that light is universal, it is cosmic, whatever name we give to that. Within us, we have sadly, unfortunately, due to mistaken habits and will, wrong action, we have taken the light of the divine within us and caged it in what we call our pride, our fear, our anger, vanity, etc. These are conditions that we created that trap that light, and by breaking those shells, we free the genie from Aladdin's lamp as we were discussing previously. Truly, we need to remember the presence of the divine. That presence in Arabic is hudur which is where we get the word muhadara which means awareness of God. So self-observation, self-awareness, remembrance of God is the act of controlling our mind and remembering the qualities of the divine which is virtue, compassion, peace, etc. This psychological quality is beyond the intellect. Knowledge of the truth is beyond conceptualization, rationalization, etc. While we can gain knowledge or we can study this teaching and study any religion in an intellectual sense, it does not equate with the actual experience of that divinity. For as the Sufi Lāhījī stated: One cannot behold God by the eye of ratiocination derived from reason for only through the eye of the heart which is known as the faculty of inner vision can one behold God. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
Likewise, he emphasizes the path of Shariah, the discipline, the conduct we need to know the truth.
As long as you do not focus this eye (meaning this perception, this self-awareness, self-observation) so as to sharpen its vision with the collyrium of asceticism, spiritual conduct, purgation of the soul, purification of the heart, illumination of the spirit, you will be unable to witness the Friend's beauty and contemplation. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
People associate that term ‘asceticism’ with monks in sackcloth whipping themselves in a form of self-flagellation and very morbid behavior, and that is not something we encourage. Instead, we teach to discipline our mind. Asceticism can be practiced in an esoteric sense, not physical austerities, but mental psychological training in our daily life and our daily occupation. It does not mean we have to go to a monastery or Sufi lodge to learn to meditate. Instead, we learn to meditate in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in and that is our discipline, our conduct.
“The Friend” is the divine. The Sufis used this term for God, for the Being and contemplation again is mushahida, to witness God, whether through meditative experience or in the dream state, when one awakens in dreams to know that which is the truth, directly, with cognizance. 
The Perfect Human BeingAll the masters of the Path are in accordance that this reality can be realized only through the guidance of a perfect man who knows and contemplates God. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
There have been many perfect men and women, many great masters and prophets and really, when we study ourselves and study esotericism, we should always rely on the prophets, beings like Jesus, like Buddha, like Muhammad, Krishna, those beings who fully exemplify the light of the divine and whose conduct has been tested and verified as true. We should not rely on theories or uncertain sources but our own experience and the scripture or the scriptures.
So what is an example of a perfect man? We find Muhammad, who of course, sadly, today is terribly denigrated and misunderstood. It is the effort of these lectures to help elucidate the spiritual roots and esoteric meaning behind his teaching, his doctrine. So we are going to talk about what he symbolizes for us, what he represents, because the perfect men and women, the prophets who came previously, in their very daily acts of kindness and expression and their discipline, came to symbolize a path we need to follow. There are many interesting things we can learn from the life of Prophet Muhammad which are symbolic for us and which he purposely played out, taking on a role to teach us something profound about ourselves. The Sufis emphasize that really, he is a great master, a very radical teacher and of course, all radical masters are very controversial, but if we look at the Hadith and examine the scriptures of the Quran from our own experience, we can verify the beauty of that teaching. The outer law (Shariah) is my word,
Whether in Islam or Buddhism, any master exemplifies and manifest those three paths simultaneously, in every action. The Buddha manifested Shravakayana, Mahayana, Tantrayana. Moses fulfilled the body, soul and spirit of his doctrine. Moses wrote the Torah but other scriptures associated with the higher teaching such as the Talmud related to the middle path, and then the Zohar is the esoteric doctrine of Israel. The Freemasons followed the paths of the Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. So again, these levels of religion are levels of being but also levels of instruction as we mentioned. Certain scriptures pertain to each degree.
As we discuss previously, these three paths have a correlation to our three centers of activity. We have mind, we have emotion, we have movement. We can say we have three focal points, we call them “brains,” and a brain in esoteric psychology does not refer to the physical matter in the cerebrum. Instead, it pertains to a center of activity, physiological and psychological, which manages energies. Thought is a form of energy. Emotion is a form of energy, and will, desire, instinct, impulse, movement is another form. We must learn to comprehend these levels in ourselves, our own psychology, as a whole. Really, our heart relates to our words. How we feel, we express through our language. Likewise, our actions refer to the center of movement, and our inner reality is experienced when our mind is enlightened, when our consciousness is illuminated by harnessing those energies of Tantra which we will discuss.
The Sufis really emphasize the integral nature of this master and something we should follow in our own practice. The following was given by the book Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri: If someone requires of himself the conduct prescribed by the divine command (Shariah), God will illuminate his heart with the light of realization (Haqiqah). There is no station nobler than the station of following the beloved (or in Arabic it is al-Mustafa, the beloved of God who is Prophet Muhammad) in the orders he gave (Shariah), the actions he took (Tariqah), and the character he possessed (Haqiqah). ―Ibn Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Let us examine what he represents for us because his life is something symbolic and any figure in the Bible or the Quran who physically lived came to demonstrate something psychological for us, which is evident by looking at some of the etymology of Arabic and Hebrew.
Kabbalah and Sufi Mysticism
This is an image of the Kabbalah, the famous mystical Tree of Life, symbol of the highest levels of consciousness, which descend through different levels of dimensionality down to the physical plane and into more dense regions of matter, energy and perception. In discussing psychology, we use this glyph. It is a map of consciousness. It is also map of the universe and the different dimensions we can experience in a meditation or in the dream state. In Islam, heaven is known Jannat or Jannah, and Buddhism talks about Nirvana. Likewise, we have different terms for heaven in different cultures and that is really referring to this Tree of Life. These are higher levels of being that we can access if we learn to meditate.
A very important sphere in this glyph is at the very center; we have included the title, Tiphereth, with the Hebrew letters included. Tiphereth means beauty. It is the very center of this Tree of Life, and to explain Tiphereth, we will elaborate on this glyph in its entirety. Notice that there are three trinities included here. The top trinity is referring to the highest forces in nature which the Gnostics called Christ, Chrestos, the anointed one. These three spheres refer to Father, Son, Holy Spirit in Christianity. Kether, Chokmah, Binah in Kabbalah, or Crown, Wisdom, Understanding. These are forces; these are not people. This is why in Islam, they strictly reject the trinity, because the Christians at that time were literally worshipping the trinity as three people, and that is wrong. The truth is that these are energies. It is one force, one light, one intelligence which can manifest in diverse ways. We call it Christ or the First, Second and Third Logos in Gnostic terms, in Greek terms. Below that, we have on the right, the Spirit, known as Chesed in Hebrew meaning Mercy. In the Qur’an, when it says, Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” it is referring to that spiritual quality known as Chesed, which is Mercy. The word Rahman relates to Hebrew Ruach, which means wind, breath, spirit, which is within us. To the left of that we have Geburah which is the Divine Soul, divine consciousness, which is not stained with impurity, and does not enter conditionality. Now, below that is Tiphereth, human will, Human Soul, that is really where we originate from. Our soul, our essence, our consciousness emanates from this middle sphere and really, when the soul is fully developed, it is beauty. It is pure and Tiphereth can also mean splendor, radiance, light. When we work with self-observation, we are working with this willpower to be controlling the lower aspects of our psychology. This unconditioned will, Tiphereth must conquer and control the lower spheres. You see here Netzach, which is the mind, intellect, thought. To the left of that, we have Hod, emotions, the heart. Below that, we have the Yesod, which is energy, vitality, sexual power which is used in tantric practice in a marriage in order to illuminate the other spheres ascending upward. Below that, we have Malkuth which is the physical body. It means “Kingdom.” Our willpower has to control mind, feeling, body, movement. That is the nature of Tiphereth and in us, it is undeveloped, but when we learn to observe ourselves and break the conditioning of the mind, we liberate more willpower. We free it. What is interesting about Tiphereth is that if you take this image and put it on a human being, the Kether at the top trinity relates to the head, the middle trinity relates to the heart and the lower trinity or quaternary including Malkuth related to the sexual organs and feet. Now, Tiphereth of course is associated with the heart especially in Islamic mysticism. As we find in the Hadith, the Muslim oral tradition, a very famous saying by Prophet Muhammad which emphasizes this point, the importance of developing Tiphereth. We will highlight for you the examples of how he is associated with that sphere of being, that he represents, Tiphereth: There is an organ in the body that if it is righteous ensures that the whole system will be righteous and if it is corrupt, the whole body will become corrupt. This organ is the heart. There is a polish for everything that takes away rust, and the polish for the heart is the Dhikr, the remembrance of Allah. ―Prophet Muhammad, Hadith 
Arabic Kabbalah, the Abjad System, and the Sacred Kaaba
The word for heart in Arabic is Qalb, and what is interesting about Arabic and Hebrew is that each letter represents a number. Kabbalah is the science of numbers, mathematics, which are divine. The universe is governed by math, and God is a mathematician. He works with the laws of nature and manifests them and operates them. Each Arabic letter, each Hebrew letter, has a symbol associated with a certain psychological and spiritual archetype, a blueprint for a soul that we need to develop. In the abjad system which is the Arabic Kabbalah, how you add numbers together produces very interesting associations. The same with Hebrew.
The word قلب Qalb is made up of ق Qaf, ل Lam, ب Ba, respectively, with numerical values of 100, 30 and 2, respectively. In Hebrew, this is ק Quf, ל Lamed, ב Beth. When you add those numbers together, you get 132. If you take number the 1, add it to 32, 32 + 1, you get 33, a very interesting number in relation to the science of masonry in Europe. Also, likewise, you look at the name Muhammad, you break it down, م Mim, ح Ha, م Mim, م Mim, د Dal, respectively is 40 + 8 + 40 + 40 + 4 which is 132. Again, add 1 + 32 is 33. Masonry speaks often of the symbol of the 33 degrees of a master, which symbolizes the 33 degrees or vertebrae of our spine, our spinal column. Our spinal column is where the light of the divine can manifest. We talked previously about how, through the exercises of Tantra, a couple can raise the creative energies of sex up the spine to the brain in order to illuminate it, so the images of the prophets having halos is a symbol of having raised the creative energies of God from sex to the brain, up the spine. Someone who has successfully raised that Kundalini serpent force to the mind and is filled with fire in their intellect is a master of the 33rd degree, having fulfilled each step of that terrain, that path up the spinal medulla. Now, Muhammad represents this as we will examine in the story of his ascension and we will talk about that next. But what is interesting is that the word תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth hides and implies a lot, and a very interesting symbolism. Each letter as we said is a representation of a quality. The letter ת Tav, the final letter of the Hebraic alphabet, this 22nd letter, can mean “seal, truth, cross, path, covenant.” Notice that the word תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth begins and ends with ת Tav. Muhammad is often cited as the Seal of the Prophets, the Seal of the Truth, as given in the Quran, Surah 33, verse 40, Al-Ahzab. Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets and Allah has full knowledge of all things. ―Qur'an 33:40
Seal of the Prophets is khatim an-nabiyyin, and most Muslims associate this as meaning that he is the last of the major prophets to come teach humanity. But really, in a strict esoteric sense, seal of the truth, seal of the prophets is Tiphereth, because it begins with ת Tav and ends with ת Tav, “truth, seal.” If you are familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, we have Dzogchen, which is the great perfection or Mahamudra, the “Great Seal.” It is the same meaning. Buddhism is implicit within that name תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth.
Notice also in the middle of this word if going from right to left because Hebrew's right to left: ת Tav, פ Peh, א Aleph, ר Resh and ת Tav. ת Tav begins and ends this word, and at the center of this phrase is the word אר Or: א Aleph, ר Resh. Or if you add the letter ו Vav in the center, it is אוֹר Aur, א Aleph, ו Vav, ר Resh, signifying light as the book of Genesis states, “Let there be light and there was light,” Yehi va aur vayehi aur. אוֹר Aur means light, and it is at the center of this word. If you add the letter ו Vav, the sixth letter of Hebrew alphabet, it spells “light” in the center. ו Vav is direct representation of the spine. You take the letter ו Vav as a straight line; it represents the spinal column. That is how the light emerges from our creative forces to the brain and illuminates us and gives us genuine beauty, spiritually speaking. תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth is beautiful, meaning splendor, light, radiance. If you add ו Vav in the center, you can see that it has light within it, and then the heart is enlivened, is saturated with those cosmic forces when a couple practices alchemy. Now, again, תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth is truth seal, seal of truth, the heart, قلب Qalb, or the heart in Arabic. Many interesting parallels that really point with great emphasis that Muhammad is Tiphereth and represents for us, our willpower, the beauty of the soul we need to cultivate. In Islam, in relation to this topic, Muslims pray to the east, towards Mecca, the sacred stone Kaaba. To discuss Marifah, the highest knowledge of esotericism, the Muslims symbolize the secret teachings of alchemy, of a marriage, within the stone. The Kaaba in Mecca relates to the Kabbalah, if you relate to the Hebrew. Kaaba in Spanish is La Kaaba, take La and put it at the end, and you spell Kabbalah. Likewise, you spell “the cow” in Spanish, la vaca, which is the same root word for the word Baqarah, the longest Surah of the Quran, “The Cow,” emphasizing that there is really a great profound mystery there. So Muslims pray to the east towards the Kaaba, the sacred stone that was established originally by Adam and Eve in Islamic myth, and became impure or blackened as a result of the impurity of the psyche. All of this deserves analysis, since the wisdom of the middle east bears profound symbolism. The stone, this energy, this foundation of our temple, our Kaaba, spiritually speaking, has become impure and refers to our energies. It is the forces upon which we exist physically, but also spiritually. These energies have been corrupted by desire, by lust. The Kaaba is prayed towards five times a day. Muslims pray toward the Kaaba daily and the direction in which one prays is called قِـبْـلَـة Qibla. Again, you hear the word قلب Qalb, heart, implied there, and also, قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, Kabbalah. Kabbalah in Hebrew simply means “to receive.” It is knowledge that we receive consciously from God. It is not limited to what we read, but something we verify for ourselves. The Kaaba, the stone, is a symbol of the energies we carry in our body, which if we use for spirituality, can elevate us to the divine, to enliven our heart and awaken our consciousness. In Arabic Kabbalah, ق Qaf can signify the powers of the head, ل Lam the powers of speech, and ب Ba the House of God, Bayṫ Allāh, the Kaaba or stone of Yesod, whereby divine forces coagulate. Through controlling our mind, our ق Qaf, through mantras, sacred sounds through the power of ل Lam, the tongue, we invoke divinity into our house of God, our heart, ب Ba. Even the Arabic letter ب Ba appears, in its calligraphy, like a cup, chalice, or receptacle that receives the solar, divine forces. All of this signifies how divinity descends through prayer and recitation into the temple of the spirit, our heart. This is why the Sufi master Bayazid Bastami stated the following: When you are separate from the Kaaba, it is all right to turn toward it, but those who are in it can turn toward any direction they wish. ―Bayazid Bastami
This is a very radical statement from a Muslim, considering that this is very important to perform the canonical prayer Salat. The meaning of that is that if you know the symbolic meaning of the Kaaba and if you work with your stone, the creative sexual energy, the creative power, it does not matter what direction you pray. Instead, you learn to direct those forces from the base of the spine to the brain and into the heart. That is how you receive knowledge, Kabbalah within your emotional center, within قلب Qalb, the heart in Arabic. Likewise, as I mentioned, it does not matter what direction you pray but when you know the قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, you know how to redirect those forces within you, you are praying to the east symbolically, since in the Tree of Life, the east is Tiphereth, astrologically related to the sun when it rises. Your قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, your direction to which you pray is within you. Through alchemy, you raise the powers of Yesod to the east, up to the mind and then to the heart. This is very well-explained in Kabbalah.
We mentioned in the previous lecture on divine love how the symbol of Islam, the crescent moon and the star, is a symbol of how we transform the moon of our psyche into the sun of the Spirit. The star Venus, the star of love, Venus-Aphrodite, is “beauty” in Greek, and she is the divine feminine within us, the serpentine power called Kundalini, which is asleep in us in the base of our spine, according to Hinduism, Hindu anatomy, Hindu occult anatomy.
The sexual stone hides within it the energy of Kundalini in the base of the spine, and the stone is called the Yesod in Kabbalah, the foundation of our temple, because how we use our energy determines our spiritual life. If we waste our energy, we cannot function, but if we conserve our forces and become hermetically sealed, psychologically speaking, we do not identify with life so much and do not waste our mental, physical or emotional energy, we will become much happier and elevated. How we use this energy of the creative power in us, the sexual power is that serpentine force that can raise us spiritually. Another interesting thing about this stone of Kaaba, is reported in pre-Islamic myth that there was a serpent sleeping at the base of this temple, of the stone, within the Kaaba itself in the earth. It is representing for us that creative power of the Divine Mother is in that stone. Many people are familiar with tantric yoga, raising the Kundalini force through sexual union up the spine to the brain. The stone is a very symbolic thing which we are going to elaborate with the myth or the teachings of Muhammad's ascension. 
The Ascension of the Prophet
The very famous teaching of Muhammad is that he was meditating at Mecca, meaning, he was asleep and reflecting on his inner divinity while near the Kaaba itself. He became drowsy (emphasizing for us that in meditation, we become sleepy physically but consciously, we are alert, we are aware, we are vigilant). At that point, he encountered a mystical creature called Al-Buraq. It is an animal with the body of a mule, the tail of a peacock and the face of a woman, which he rode upon towards Jerusalem in a few moments and afterward, he ascended the seven heavens mentioned in Islam. The Tree of Life of Kabbalah represents nine heavens but you can also say seven dimensions, so the Muslims and the mystics of Israel are in agreement.
But how did he ascend towards those higher levels of being up those different steps of the Tree of Life? Precisely through working with the stone in Mecca. If you look at the Arabic root of the name البراق Al-Buraq, it means “the lightning,” lightning bolt, and if you translate that into Sanskrit, it is Vajra. Vajra is a lightning bolt that the gods or the Buddhas wield, or Zeus wields to destroy the impure. That lightning is the creative Kundalini force of the spine that can help you to ascend up the heavens, the seven heavens or seven chakras of the spinal medulla up to the crown in order to connect you with the divine. The name البراق Al-Buraq contains the word Ur, the Arabic نور Nur, or “light” of chastity. Remove Ur from Buraq, and you are left with Baq, the root of the term Baqarah, the sacred Heifer or Cow within the Qur’an, a symbol of the Divine Mother. You find the name Buraq of course of our current president, but it also is a Muslim name and it relates to the Hebrew Barak in the book of Judges chapter 5, verse 12, which explains the exploits of the prophetess Debora or Deborah who was a judge of Israel fighting against the Philistines. Again, she represents something psychological, how our own consciousness needs to wage war against the infidels, which are not outside of us, but in us, our own fear, pride, worries, anxieties, hate, lust. These are infidels. These are something we need to be strict and to fight against consciously. It does not mean to go to war against someone else for their religion. Now, it says in the book of Judges: Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake. Utter a song. Arise Barak and lead thy captivity captive, the son of Abinoam. ―Judges 5:12
They were persecuted by Sisera and his armies, the Philistine armies, in which Deborah led a great war in the Bible against her enemies and the enemies of Israel.
Again, Israel is not, in the Bible, representing the people of the Middle East, neither the Philistines. These are just symbolic representations. The names hide a lot of meaning. Israel is from Isis, the Egyptian goddess, the Divine Mother, Ra, Osiris-Ra and El in Hebrew which means God. The people of Israel are all the parts of our soul that are trapped in all the discursive psychological elements we carry within, which produces our suffering, and that which we call ego, negativity, self, infidels, defects which we have to fight against, those qualities that trap the divine light. Deborah is the judge of Israel, meaning she judges herself in meditation, that quality in us that helps to judge ourselves in which we combat those enemies to God, those unbelievers, so to speak. It says, “Arise Barak.” Barak, Buraq, “the lightning, arise from the base of my spine to my brain and then to my heart up that mountain range to illuminate my psyche,” in which Barak is that sword, that fire that emerges when we work with sacred sound, with mantras. The word Deborah in Hebrew comes from Dabar, which means “word, to speak, to pronounce.” The letter ה Hei which is the H sound at the end. You put it to the front of her name, it is Ha-dabar, the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was of God and the Word was God.” When a couple unite sexually, they can pronounce sacred mantras and awaken that fire that we will send up the spinal column to the brain and is that sword that will help us fight against the evil ones within us. Again, the word sword is the letter S, the vowel S (we say it is a vowel in an esoteric studies).
The letter S, if you pronounce it as a mantra, ssssssssssssssss, is the power to awaken that creative power. It is a fire, it is the sound of a serpent, serpentine fire of Kundalini that rises within the spine. That is the sword, S + Word, which we can awaken within us.
It says, “Awake, awake Deborah, awake. Utter a song,” meaning: pronounce mantras when you are with your wife or your husband in order to awaken that fire and to fight against the enemies of God which are within us. So, Prophet Muhammad represents that, the qualities of the heart that help to raise those forces and to wage difficult wars against the lower selves, the nafs, egos. One thing I will mention about again is the people of the Philistines. Literal people, of course, associate the scriptures as a history book, which is not the case. It is a symbolic text. You look at the word Philistine and it has many interesting relationships to the Greek language. You can say that the term Philistine sounds like Phila, Philadelphia, which is a Greek work meaning from Philos, “to love,” or Phileo, “to love,” and Adelphos, which means “brother.” Likewise, Philistine, if you break it down into Greek can mean Phile-Hestia, which means “tribe of the hearth” or “lover of the hearth,” someone who loves the fireplace. This is an interesting symbol. It really refers to those egos, demonic qualities within the psyche which love evil, love to do harmful things, who love the fires of lust, to use our creative energies in the negative way. Yesod is the stone where the fire of life emerges physically and spiritually. Those who love the hearth, the Philistines, signifies any person who loves that energy but in the wrong way. They like to abuse that power through lust, through fornication specifically, or adultery. They like to get burned by that energy, to not conserve it and use it for God. So, these are the Philistines, those who love those egos, those devil qualities within the psyche, the conditioning of the mind. Likewise, the people of Israel must really liberate all the parts of God, all the qualities and particles of the soul that are trapped in suffering. What we will mention is that to raise those energies, we must specifically work with meditation, which is allegorized in the Ascension of the Prophet. Muhammad's ascension represents at once how work with that power but also how to meditate, because he was contemplating God at the stone of Mecca. Then, in a sleepy state, he accessed that Samadhi, ecstasy, Satori, whatever word you want to give to it: a profound mystical state devoid of any subjectivity or limitation. Sufis explained what we need to do to acquire that in Al-Qushayri’s Principles of Sufism. He states the following: In general, it is to the measure of one’s alienation from one’s own ego that one attains direct knowledge of one’s Lord… I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say, "One of the tokens of the gnosis of God is the achievement of deep awe and reverence for God. If someone’s realization increases, his awe increases." And I heard him say, "Gnosis requires stillness of heart, just as learning requires outward quiet. If someone’s gnosis increases, his tranquility increases.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We emphasize meditation as the science in which we learn to understand the root causes of our suffering by using those energies for our spirituality.
Selflessness and the Unity of God
In this graphic, we also include the Tree of Life. I want to emphasize the need to change. This Tree of Life is God, we could say, in His totality, the Being in all the levels of consciousness, from the highest to the lowest. We, of course, are in Malkuth, the bottom, this physical sphere, but we are still part of God, that needs to obey and to submit in Islam or to bow to the will of divinity. We do so by comprehending and striving against our own defects.
To understand mystical experience, the truth, we must overcome our conditioned mind, because, it is that sense of self which blocks us from accessing that mystical experience. As Abu Sa'id stated the following, “Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears—there’s hell. Wherever ‘you’ aren't—that's heaven.” Sense of self, selfhood, is ego. That's really our hell, our suffering. That is the opposite of the bliss, selflessness, virtue, and ecstasy of God. Bayazid Bistami also stated the following, in relation to this quote: “I came out of Bayazid-ness as a snake from its skin. Then I looked. I saw that lover, Beloved, and love are one, because in that state of unification all can be one.” This Tree of Life, we represent as different modalities of consciousness, of being, but they are one tree. Just as we look at a physical tree, it has many branches. It is really one integral living being. Likewise, this Tree of Life and its many parts is really one whole. There's no demarcation between this teaching and the doctrine of Tawhid in Islam, because within God, all is one, but He manifests in different ways so that we can access him and gain knowledge. Of course, when Bayazid says, “I came out of my skin like a snake,” he is talking about the shell of our terrestrial personality to express that creative divine potential, the kundalini serpent, shedding the impurities of the mind in order to elevate those forces within us. What do we need to do? We need to seek. As the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verses 7-8 states: Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, recieveth, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. ―Matthew 7:7-8
Sufis have a very similar parallel about this quest for self-knowledge, of knowing the divine. This quote goes towards the explanation of the three levels of religion that we discussed.
Search for what you are asked about in the sanctuary of knowledge (Shariah)... ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
...meaning, the books and audio lectures or whatever scripture you have an affinity toward to study, let that be your sanctuary where you study divine wisdom. It is also the conduct we need to develop in order to experience the divine.
If you do not find it there, then in the battlefield of wisdom. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
This is the path of Tariqah which, again, in Arabic, is the path of Mujahida, which is striving, or the path of jihad, path of war against the enemies of Israel, the ego, our negative sense of self.
If you still do not find it, weigh it with the unity. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Haqiqah, the truth, which you find when the body is in silence, in which the soul escapes from its material conditioning, its material shell, and ascends that Tree of Life that we are viewing. If it is not to be found in any of these places; if you're searching for the knowledge of the truth in yourself and if you don't find it in the books; if you don't find it in your daily life and your actions; if you don't find it in the highest levels of spirituality, in the unity, it says:
If you haven't found it in any of these places, strike Satan in the face with it. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
This has to do with verification of teaching. We may read about a doctrine, study it, be very devout Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., but it doesn't mean that we've experienced God, the truth. We need to learn how to experiment, to test our knowledge of ourselves with scripture, and if we don't find it there, within our daily actions, then we must reject our methods. Then, seek the knowledge in the truth and the experience of the divine. If we are very attached to, maybe, a certain quality of ours or a belief, if we don't find that verified in anything we have read, experienced, whether in our daily life or in meditation, then strike Satan in the face with it. Meaning, you got to be very strict with your analysis. Meaning, do not believe or disbelieve anything, but experiment, verify. Buddha said, "Do not take my word or face value or because you have respect for me. Instead, test my words like gold."
O bhikshus and wise men, just as a goldsmith would test his gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it, so you must examine my words and accept them, but not merely out of reverence for me. ―Buddha, Ghanavyuha Sutra (Sutra of Dense Array)
Scratch it. Burn it. Do what you will with it in order to verify that it is what it is. Likewise, anything we seek to verify, we should test it in accordance with these three levels of religion: Shariah or conduct, religious scripture; Tariqah, our actions, our daily life; and Haqiqah, the Samadhi experience, where we are united with the truth. We don't need to really conceptualize so much. We simply know, have the experience. If it is not found in any of those places, well, discard it. It is not true. That which is true is what you have verified, not what you believe, since it never leaves your heart. It is eternal. Now, to experience that, again, we emphasize mindfulness.
Self-Remembrance, Spiritual Practice, and the Present Moment
In this image, we have a man performing adhan, the call to prayer in Islam, in which they pray five times a day, which is a beautiful discipline, if done consciously, with awareness, representing the need to be vigilant psychologically, moment by moment. In Gnosis, we seek to pray more than five times a day. We seek to pray every moment. For this, Sufis also teach the same thing. "The greatest form of prayer is watchfulness of the moments," is what one of the Sufis we quoted, stated. We need to awaken consciousness to be aware of ourselves, to remember the presence of the divine, hudur.
There are steps and grades to how we contemplate the divine. Probably, one of the most important quotes from this Scripture we've been citing, Al-Risalah, is the following, "Al-Jurayri said that, whoever does not establish awe of duty and vigilance in his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen or contemplation, mushahida, of the divine." Awe of duty means, to have reverence for one's practices, one's discipline. To meditate 10 minutes a day, 20 minutes, an hour, to mantralize, to pronounce sacred sounds or mantras, etc. daily. Whatever discipline we engage with, we must feel that awe in reverence of the divine in that act and make it consistent. Because if we don't practice one day, we practice every other day, we are not establishing awe of duty, which is a responsibility of the soul to work for God, for the Being. In that way, if one does not establish that, one cannot arrive at disclosure, meaning, the tearing of the veil, the experience, to perceive God directly, to witness the divine. That is in essence of contemplation, mushahida. Again, when we have experienced that, when we have tasted that, we in turn can orient ourselves in our daily life and guide ourselves to know how to live appropriately. Whatever problems we face, whatever difficulties or challenges we experience, the Being can solve that, will arrange the means for us to comprehend what in us produces our suffering and how can we eliminate that, and also, how we can resolve difficulties in life. It is by accessing this witnessing of God or practicing the shahida or mushahida, contemplation and meditation, in which we truly realize that there is no “I,” there is no me, there is no self, there is only Him. Ibn Karbala'i stated the following: When the seeker realizes the station of contemplation (mushāhida), which is witnessing God’s Essence comprehending and encompassing all phenomena (meaning, this whole Tree of Life. He is really in all aspects of this graphic, whether from the highest or the lowest. We are part of him but we are in the densest sphere. We have to learn how to ascend, to go up)―“Does not your Lord suffice, since He is witness over all things?” (41:53) ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
When someone fulfills this precept, meaning, remembering God in our mind, our heart, our body, we then witness Him and He through us.
He continually witnesses lights from the mundus invisibilis. ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
This is a reference to how in meditation, people who are remembering God may experience lights, clairvoyant images, experiences, whether in the dream state or when the physical body is at rest, when we are concentrating on God.
From such a mystic’s perspective, this world and the hereafter are one and the same. This can only be realized by a vision that is all heart and spirit, not a view bound by mere mud and mire. ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
What is this mud and mire? These are our own afflictions which we need to conquer.
The vision of the heart and spirit is the work of Tiphereth, the Human Soul, that unconditioned will that can free the rest of the consciousness. It is the symbol of the knight saving the maiden from the dragon, which is in us. That maiden is our divine consciousness, Geburah. The Human Soul is the warrior, the spiritual fighter, the human soul that must work to be married with his Guinevere, so Lancelot with Guinevere, the marriage of the two souls. Arthur of course, is the king, the Spirit whom we have to work with. The Science of Certainty in Meditation
Now, we discuss in the Qur’an, the nature of developing certainty of the truth and knowing the truth. Many asked Prophet Muhammad and complained to him that they cannot experience the divine, that they do not know the divine. They do not know the unknowable. This is emphasized in Al-Baqarah, surah 2, verse 118:
Those who have no knowledge (Marifah, or you could say ilm in Arabic as well, "Why does not Allah speak to us or come to us a sign?’ So said those who are before them, [words] similar to what they say. Alike are their hearts. We have certainly made the signs clear for people who have certainty. ―Qur'an 2:118
What does it mean to be certain? To verify. To know. That is the essence of Gnosis, of Marifah, spiritual knowledge.
You could say that there are three degrees of knowledge as well, or three degrees of certainty in Arabic. You have ilm al-yaqin. Yaqin means “certainty.” Ilm al-yaqin means, the “certainty of knowledge.” You have ayn al-yaqin, the “perception of knowledge.” You have haqq al-yaqin, the “truth of knowledge.” Now, with the knowledge of certainty or certainty of knowledge, you could say, one receives that by studying scripture, by receiving a lecture, from hearing a talk or reading a book. We gain a certain level of certainty, intellectually speaking, where we feel, “This sounds right. I can verify this. I feel confident with this.” The next step is ayn al-yaqin. Ayn in Arabic or in Hebrew means eyes to perceive. It is what we consciously verify, what we consciously experience. Meaning, our soul is free of conditioning; we perceive beyond the mind, the intellect, and whether through an astral projection, out of body experience, or meditative experience, we come to verify something spiritual. Then, haqq al-yaqin is the truth of knowledge, or truth of certainty. That is when the soul fully unites with God and is one with the truth in which there is no “I,” there is only Him. The famous Sufi, Mansur Al-Hallaj, was executed by the Orthodox Muslims for saying, “Ana al-Haqq, I am the Truth,” which of course is blasphemous to them, considering that he was saying, "I am God." A way to remember it, it was not Mansur who was saying that. It was God in him. Of course, the orthodoxy had him executed, tortured. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Meaning, Christ, through him, was speaking. God, through him, was speaking. When we have that level of certainty, it is because the soul is fully one with God. One perceives as God, temporarily liberated from the conditions of the mind. Of course, one thing is to temporarily experience that, another thing is to make that permanent. In order to permanently be in that state, we have to remove all conditions, and that is a long process, a path we have to follow. These three levels of certainty are emphasized in the Quran, Surah 102, “The Rivalry.” Rivalry in vainglory distracted you until you visited the even graves. No indeed! Soon you will know! Again, no indeed! Soon you will know. No indeed! Were you to have knowledge of certainty, you would surely see hell. ―At-Takathur 1-6
Again, hell is, we mentioned, not just a place. It is a psychological quality. It is not a place of brimstone and fire. Those are symbols of how, in a moment of anger, we are consumed by hate, by fear, by pride. These qualities make us vibrate at a very low level of being, and make us suffer, make others suffer. That is what it means to be consumed by hellfire, the ego, you could say, our negative psyche.
Again, you will surely see it with the eye of certainty. Then that day you will surely be questioned concerning the blessing. ―At-Takathur 7-8
Then, the truth of certainty is represented in Waqi'ah, “The Inevitable.” Again, Waqi'ah, that which is “inevitable,” is Haqiqah, the Truth. This etymology signifies that we will inevitably have to come to speak to our inner Being and make account of our actions.
Indeed, it is a reminder for the God-weary. Indeed, we know that there are some among you who deny it, and indeed, it will be a matter of regret for the faithless (It does not mean people who just believe in a doctrine, but people who do not want to change, psychologically speaking, who do not know the divine). It is indeed certain truth, so celebrate the name of your Lord, All Supreme. ―Al-Waqi'ah
The Sufis emphasized this doctrine of certainty with the following quote:
Knowledge does not come about except by the prior fulfillment of its conditions. That is, one must examine things in a pertinent and relevant way. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, to meditate, to experiment and verify, to test it, to not either believe it or disbelieve it, but to be neutral and to work with these exercises and to see the results and to know for ourselves what is true, what is not.
Then, when hints of the divine become continuous and clear, demonstrative evidence has been obtained, the perceiver, through the succession of lights and his deep reflection upon them, becomes seemingly independent of the consideration of proof. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Again, these lights are experiences we can have in meditation, or when the body is at rest, the soul enters the dream world. In that state, we can awaken our consciousness and speak face-to-face with the heavenly beings. In that way, there is no intercessor, we simply know, from that state on that Tree of Life, those heavens; we verify the nature of heaven, those qualities, those levels of being.
“It becomes seemingly independent of the consideration of proof," meaning, the more we verify, the less we need to read. Then, we simply know that the truth of the matter and from our conscious experience, or conscious work. Of course, we are Shravakas. We have to study and learn the teachings and the techniques so that we can ascend up those levels of path. What is a real Gnostic, an arif in Arabic? It is somebody who fully manifests God. People in these studies, we could say, are aspirants. We aspire to know the truth and to fulfill it. The Sufis emphasized these qualities in relation to the constitution of someone who really knows God, someone who has fulfilled Ma'rifah and has manifested Haqiqah, the truth. 
The Gnostic is purified of base characteristics and the disasters of his nature. He stands patiently at the door of God and remains secluded in his heart. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
To stand at the door, as we see in this image, is the definition of a dervish, so the Sufi, the whirling dervishes, darvish, are those who stand at the door. In Arabic, it starts with the letter د Dal, or you could say ד Daleth in Hebrew: those who stand at the doorway of knowledge. The mystics of Judaism refer to Ma'rifah as Da'ath, the mystical creative knowledge of Tantra.
He enjoys the good graces of God and corroborates him in all of his states. He has cut off the whims of his own self. He does not permit a thought in his heart that would summon to other than God. He becomes a stranger to the creation and is liberated from the catastrophes of his ego. He is cleansed of attachments and distractions and, in his secret being, is always conversing with God Most High. His every glance returns to God Most High. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This reminds me of a Sufi poem by Mansur Al-Hallaj. He says, “O, my eyes, O, my blinks, my stares,” referring to God, that God sees through him and guides him in his actions. Which is why, I believe it is in the Hadith, the Muslim oral tradition, where prophet Muhammad stated that, “The one who loves Him,” or his God speaking through him, “For the one who loves me, I become his eyes, his ears, his sight, his taste,” and the soul is immersed within that being, beingness.
Therefore, the truth inspires him with the intuition of his secrets, the secrets of the course of His omnipotence. This is why such a person is called Arif, a Gnostic, and his state is called Ma'rifah, direct knowledge. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Conclusion and Practice
We always conclude these lectures with a practice you can engage with to help you to experiment and to verify what we are teaching, and to test it, to know it. In this exercise, continue to practice mindfulness, self-observation. Be aware of your mind, your heart, your body, your three brains: thought, feeling and movement, impulse, instinct, desire. At the end of each day, simply take a comfortable posture. You can sit in the full lotus or half-lotus or in a chair, Western-style, whatever is comfortable to relax the body and to silence the mind. Therefore, go into your consciousness and observe yourself. Do not identify with thought, feeling, impulse, desire, etc.
There is a mantra you can utilize from both the Sufi and even the Chinese tradition, Chinese Buddhist, or Chan tradition (the Japanese equivalent is Zen), a mantra that is called simply W-U, Wu. Amongst the Chan Buddhists or even the Zen Buddhists, they refer to this mantra as a negation of self. It literally means “no.” When you are examining your mind, you could do this mantra, the mantra Wu. It pronounced like a long exhalation of a breath: wwuuuuuuu. The Sufis pronounce this mantra as هُوَ Hu, within the name اللّٰهُ Allahu. هُوَ Hu is spirit, the wind, pronounced as an exhalation or breath. It simply means "He," a reference to our innermost divinity. It's also interesting that etymologically, اللّٰهُ Allah means, "The No," or negation of all existent and created things, being the supreme being, since اللّٰهُ Allahu has the same meaning as the mantra Wu, or "No." The Master Samael Aun Weor explains, it is a hurricane, a breath. Again, it reminds us of the Ruach, the spirit, the wind. You pronounce that mantra. Relax your body. You can do this for 30 minutes, an hour. Let your body relax. Then, eventually, let your body fall asleep. You can pronounce the mantra silently and then mentally. When you examine your mind, look at the different qualities that emerge, memories, preoccupations, fears, etc., and simply negate them. Meaning, “Well, this is not my God. This is not my Being. This is not my true Self. Therefore, I am going to tranquilly ignore it.” Let it pass with the mind of intellect. Observe it. Let it go. Continue in the mantra: wwuuuuu.
In the writings of Samuel Aun Weor, he talks about this mantra in more detail, but a very simple way that you can silence the mind. When the mind is completely in silence and serenity, the soul escapes from the bottle and you temporarily experience the Truth, Haqq, your Being. Then, He can give you the guidance that you need for whatever issues or struggles you have.
Questions and Answers
Question: You were saying that we always need to be pretty much aware of what we are aware of.
Instructor: Yes. Question: Meditation is a big step in that focus? Instructor: We say that meditation is the daily bread of the Gnostic. “Give us this day, our daily bread.” That bread of knowledge is what we receive in meditation. That knowledge that we receive from the divinity within us is Kabel, Kabbalah. We will receive it within our qalb, our heart. This practice of this mantra, Wu, is a preliminary step. We do mantras and sacred sounds to work with positive energy, to accumulate those forces in our interior in order to develop serenity. When the mind is perfectly in serenity, we forget our body, forget our mind, forget our sentiment. Then, the soul can reflect the divine qualities from above, in much the same way that a lake, when it is undisturbed, can reflect the stars of heaven, far away from any city. Meditation is how we cultivate that knowledge. It begins first, observing ourselves. In daily life, we observe our mind, our heart, et cetera. Then, in that way, as the Sufis mentioned and we have mentioned in this lecture, "It is by developing awareness that God can exalt us in our daily life, in our daily deeds." Of course, meditation deepens that awareness. Question: I always think of praying is we are talking to God, and meditation is we are listening. Instructor: Meditation is listening. Also, when we pray, too, we do not need any formula. We can use many formulas such as the Ave Maria or Pater Noster, the Fatihah, the Opening of the Qur’an, which are very excellent for lifting our mood. I recommend that when you begin any meditation session, pray. You do not need to follow any specific formula. Just as a child approaches his mother, “Mother of mine, father of mine, help me.” God will respond if your mind is silent. Pray in the beginning and then silence your mind and then receive that knowledge. To pray is to strive, to conquer ourselves. Question: It is just talking to God. It is just talking, right? Instructor: When the mind is perfectly silent, then we can talk to God even in a deeper level. When the physical body is asleep, the soul escapes its shell and we can enter into the higher dimensions. Then, we can talk face-to-face. Then, we can conversate just as we are conversating here. Very vivid and real experience, God will make a form or image to teach us something. Question: What is the context you used ‘hermetically sealed’? Instructor: From the hermetic tradition. Question: I only know the everyday meaning of that. Instructor: Well, the science of hermeticism is the science of Hermes, which relates to the God Mercury. Hermes is associated with how we use our energy. We say Mercury to refer to, not just the physical element, but to our creative energy. The power of Yesod, the moon, that sexual force is Mercury. How we use it is how we illuminate our mind. Mercury relates to the mind as well. When we work with that power, we can illuminate our mind. Hermetically sealed means we do not lose any energy. We discussed previously, in Tantrism, the couple should not reach the orgasm, specifically, that it is forbidden for those students to have any emission. The Dalai Lama states that the creative energy must never be let out. Likewise, with our heart. Likewise, with our mind. It is the renunciation of that habit, in which we conserve energy and transmute it, transform it. Where, we continually are filled with that water of life, which is the seminal matter, specifically. Hermetically sealed means, do not waste your sexual energy, but also, do not waste your emotional energy and your mental energy. Your quality of the mind is determined by how we use that creative power. You look at people in the world today in relation to pornography or sexual addiction; that is all they think about, because, they are driven by that energy. We need to learn how to sublimate it, to direct it to more creative and spiritual purposes, which again, elevates our level of being, as we are discussing. Question: Is there any Quranic interpretation that you would trust? I tried three of them years ago. You do not know which one to trust, because you cannot read Arabic, and you are reading somebody else's thought form. Do you know of any that are good? Instructor: I know some English translations which are commended. Saudi Arabia commends the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation. There is also a newer one, from more Western academia, which I believe is called “The Study Quran.” It is an English translation of course, but the good thing is that they explain some of the original Arabic, transliterated. That is very useful for people who only speak English and do not read Arabic to interpret certain words, such as some of the words we were using, refer to some of those resources. Very useful. Question: Getting back to as you think, feel, and act, what is, as far as being in unison with all of it, does that have anything to do with it? I mean, how do you help others with that, with people? It seems there seems to be, what I have researched, is the cremation of care which is, no one really cares, hence skull and bones. Another Speaker / Comment: Think of it like when you put two pianos together. You play a note on one piano that's side-by-side, the other one will pick up that note, will respond. Question: It is like the 99 monkey syndrome, or the hundred monkey syndrome? Instructor: I'm not sure. Question: That just by being yourself, you just rub that off on others. Instructor: If you have a higher level of being, it can help another person to rise to a higher level of being. Because, if you are vibrating with negative qualities, such as anger, you speak angry words, you are going to provoke anger in that person. Someone who has no training, they are just going to react. Question: Isn't anger part of our dynamic though, the sadness, happiness, anger? Instructor: Wrath or anger is an ego, a defect. Question: No. No. Are we supposed to get, with all the atrocities and slavery, war, etc.? Another Speaker / Comment: Yeah. Well, there is indignation. Yeah. That is the soul that says, "This is terrible." That is a justified sentiment. Remember in the book of Judges, judgment, in which God judges humanity, not out of hate but out of realization that people are corrupt. Question: Jesus was angry at the bankers. Instructor: He was very radical. People think of him as this very emasculated, sexless figure with no will. He is the whip of willpower to drive out those moneychangers, which is the symbol of all the egos we have who have taken the temple of God in us and prostituted it. He comes in with the whip. Christ, our inner Christ, rejects them. Just as Muhammad said, “Kill the unbelievers.” Kill your ego, but it does not mean kill anyone outside your religion. The thing is, when Muhammad came to Mecca, after taking over the city, he went inside the Kaaba and took all the idols that were there and knocked them over and destroyed them, as a symbol. He is representing how in our own physiology, our energies, our mind, our psyche, we have to take all of those egotistical elements and remove them. Question: From the Gnostic teachings, are you familiar with John Lash? Instructor: No. Question: Okay. He says that Jesus was a demigod. Instructor: Well, in Gnostic and Buddhist terms, a demigod is a Bodhisattva, a master who is the essence of Bodhi. Sattva means essence or incarnation. Bodhi means wisdom or light. Wisdom in Hebraic Kabbalah is Christ. He was the incarnation of the Lord. Just as Muhammad was an incarnation of the truth, the Lord. Moses, Buddha, they all incarnated that light which the Christians called Christ. The human person, Jesus of Nazareth was a Bodhisattva, a great master. He is very diligent and he is helping humanity today, although, anonymously, because, you see what they did to him. But he is very active. Any Bodhisattva is someone who works selflessly. He is a being with divinity fully illuminated within him, like Mansur Al-Hallaj. He said, “Ana al-haqq. I am the Truth.” Those beings are very hard to comprehend at our level. If you awaken in the internal planes, in the dream world, the heavens, you can talk to him face-to-face. Personally, I know Jesus. I talk with him. I invoked him in the astral plane, and he has given me certain teachings that have helped me. He is a being that is very hard to comprehend. We say he is the head of the Gnostic Church. He governs countless trillions of souls. He has omnipotence, omniscience. He can help many people in many places at once without any confusion. That is the symbol in Buddhist doctrine of Avalokitesvara, the god with the thousand hands: that is Christ. All that light is everywhere and nowhere, or you could say, is not limited to any place. A Bodhisattva is a being that incarnated that. He is a demigod, part God, because he has incarnated the God but still, he is human soul. He is Tiphereth, the physical person. Question: Personally, how are you gauging what is going on right now in this third dimensional reality that we're living in? In terms of what is going on in the world. Instructor: Well, humanity has precipitated itself on the path of destruction. It is very bleak. We are giving these lectures and teachings to help save the hat from the drowning man. Because, as the Qur’an teaches, humanity is going to be judged, has already been judged in 1950, I believe. Samael Aun Weor says that the Elohim, the gods, judged humanity and said humanity is worthless. It is really devoid of value. Therefore, since people no longer want to change individually, then the rest of humanity has to get cleansed. There is a big cleansing that is going to happen. When religion talks about hell, it is really just taking those souls that do not want to change, and nature does that for them, purifies them in the center of the earth, in the internal dimensions. When they physically die, the soul goes to those regions to be purified of those ailments, those shells. That is like a recycling plant. They will be cleaned at the end, but it is a very painful process. I do not recommend it. Question: What about the Elohim, the lowercase gods? Instructor: Well, we say Elohim, are masters, or any being that has fully perfected him or herself, is an angel. That is an Elohim. Question: Really? Even Lucifer? Instructor: Lucifer is a symbol of a quality or an aspect of our divinity, a very controversial one too. Luci Ferros, the bearer of light. Again, that light is Bodhi, Christ, but it is the shadow. It is that element of Christ that enters into imperfection in order to tempt us. He is the tempter. He gives us ordeals in life for us to conquer them, not to fail, but to conquer them. Therefore, he gives us hardships so that we can psychologically train ourselves. Of course, since the writing of Paradise Lost by John Milton, people took this term, Lucifer, and totally misconstrued it. Question: Well, there is Lucifer and there is darkness, just like light in Catholicism. Instructor: Well, yeah. We say that, that energy, when it is impure is the blackened Kaaba: impure soul, impure energy. When it is purified, that Lucifer shines as light. He is a ladder to ascend or descend. He is that creative energy itself, the sexual power. He is the power of the Holy Ghost, you could say, the sexual energy we have been discussing, Kundalini. That energy can either liberate you or, if it is channeled through the ego, destroy you. People who use that energy in a negative way, obviously, create harm. You see humanity today, people are perpetuating their suffering because they are addicted to negative habits. Question: Getting back to the negative habits, whether it is the sexual thing or drinking or whatever your past karma is, what is the best way to get rid of that karma? Instructor: We have three steps in terms of psychological work: discovery, judgment, execution. The book Revolutionary Psychology explains that very well. You can also read The Great Rebellion. It builds off of that. First, we have to discover our defects. Then, we have the judge them in the meditation after. Question: All 2,000 of them? Instructor: Well, there are a lot of egos obviously. You look at the Bible, how Saul destroyed his thousand, and then David killed his 10,000. Levels of a master that, first, in the beginning, kill a thousand egos, this is a symbol of a lot of egos, not a literal number. Obviously, if you have annihilated that many, you would be pretty pure. To be at a higher level, of course, eliminate 10,000. Ten refers to those 10 spheres of the Tree of Life. Meaning, you are purified in all those levels. Of course, we have to start where we are at. Of course, the thing is not to get discouraged, because the reason why we have this teaching or any esoteric scripture is that there is a lot of hope. For those who want to change will change. For those who do not, they will not. You look at how the Qur’an talks about how people, when they are presented with the truth and the knowledge, they just rejected it, like Jesus, Buddha, etc. Christ was assassinated. Buddha was supposedly poisoned. Socrates was given hemlock. He did not want to be exiled from Athens. Many masters were persecuted. It does not surprise me that people do not like this knowledge. Obviously, we do not have many crowds. Those who want to change will change and will be benefited by the divine. God really helps those who help themselves. First, work on your ego. Eliminate fear, anger, pride, all those conditions of mind. You will see, little by little; you will have experiences in the internal planes, where they are guiding you and they talk to you face-to-face about your work. They can help you. I have had that for a long time. 
(The awakening of Psyche, the soul, by Cupid / Eros: the creative sexual power of divine love)
It is good, for the purpose of our studies, to discuss the nature of divine love and its practicality, its need, its importance. Simply look at the world today, at the news, and you find acts of destruction that are unprecedented, crimes that are beyond comprehension. The world is in a state of calamity that precedes a much greater state of global crisis, of which the prophets of all religions have warned against.
It is through the recognition of suffering that the student of genuine religion seeks to understand how to change oneself. If we do not change our negative interior psychological states, we cannot hope to produce the changes that we seek among other sentient beings. It is precisely through overcoming the afflictions of our own mind, its conditioning, that we can learn to transmit the light of the divine, which is within us. The thing to remember and comprehend is the nature of the self. The real self, the Being, does not pertain to any individual, any person. The Being, the self, is not our fears, our anxieties that cause so much distress and confusion; neither is the Being our self-esteem, our pride and vanities that fluctuate and change like the wind. Our education, titles, diplomas, which we wield as intellectual arsenal to substantiate and defend our pride, does not constitute our true self either; our book knowledge really accounts for nothing when confronting the fundamental problem of psychological and spiritual transformation. The Being is universal, cosmic. There is no individuality there, in the sense of “me,” “myself,” “I.” Within the Being is the supraconscious understanding of all things in the eternal present, beyond the projections of our worries, fears, preoccupations, ambitions, and terrestrial baggage. By learning to access the divine potential and presence of divinity, known in Arabic as hudur, we awaken to our genuine self-awareness, muhadarah. By learning to pay attention, here and now, we discover the very obstacles to our own development. Through recognizing the conditions and faults of our mind, we learn to become truly transformative in a very practical sense. In this awareness, we do not simply wish for a better state of humanity, but actualize it, here and now, for the betterment of others. This is something we can practically manage, and see its results. Therefore, this work is not something ambiguous, not vague; it is not suppositional. It is concrete, factual. For as Samael Aun Weor wrote: Gnosis is lived upon facts, withers away in abstractions, and is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
Through this work, we can see the clear effect of our actions upon others within our daily life, either to our benefit or detriment. There is no need to believe in spirituality, some vain utopia that someday things will get better. Instead, we learn to produce positive results for the happiness of others, serving divinity in every thought, word, and deed.
As we are going to explain in this lecture on divine love, faith is conscious knowledge. It is experience born from energy and action. It is what we know. To believe in something is really useless. To not believe in something is also useless. To invest our mental or emotional energy into a concept does not change the daily reality of our suffering; it does not help us to acquire cognizance of the purpose of life. We may really believe in Jesus, Buddha, or Muhammad with our hearts, yet we continue to feed anger, resentment, and all the degenerate qualities of the psyche that cause harm. We use the very energy that can give birth to the soul for our defects. To believe or not believe in a tradition, guru, or sheikh, is mistaken, because it does not address how to consciously control the energies that can awaken our perception, so that we do not need to believe, but can seriously know. We must learn not to wash our hands in justification, as Pilate allowed Jesus to be crucified, whereby he stated, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.” All of us have Pilate inside, washing our hands clean of culpability, while in truth we allow our most destructive habits to crucify divinity within our hearts. It is also not in believing in some prophet or deity that we will be saved. As the Apostle James taught, “Faith without works is dead.” Believing in Prophet Muhammad, with our intellect or heart, as a concept or emotional quality, will not redeem the soul, the consciousness. To have genuine faith in a tradition is to know from experience the principles it contains. So, if we have consciousness of what Muhammad taught, what the prophets taught, and if we practice their teachings, we will develop the consciousness thoroughly. But belief is another thing; to think something is true or not is irrelevant. Attending a church, mosque, or synagogue does not make one spiritual. Having direct experience of divinity does. Being part of a physical group is insufficient for objective self-knowledge. We need practical and transformative knowledge applied to daily living. But not only that, we need to apply what we learn. Therefore, the tradition we study here is filled with innumerable practices geared to awaken the consciousness. But if we just read the knowledge and don’t apply it, we won’t have real faith. We will be stuck in belief. 
The Definition of Divine Love
Many people toss the term “divine love” around in so-called spiritual circles, and have many concepts about it. All of this is very sentimental, like hallmark cards. Many people have a lot of ideas about what love is, and can write very beautifully and convincingly about it. Yet if we go very deep within meditation and awaken our consciousness within the superior worlds of nature, which we access when we dream, we will find that people write about love in accordance with their psychological conditioning, self-esteem, fears, and insecurities.
Genuine love is selfless. There is no ego, no “I” present. Love only gives of itself for others, without any concern for how one appears, one’s self-image. This is essential in our study of self-knowledge, as especially presented within Sufism, because it is the universal sense of Being, wujud, that connects us with all beings. This is most important within the perfect matrimony, the sexual union of two beings, one who loves more and the other who loves better; sexuality is the full manifestation, inspiration, and expression of Allah, divinity. Sexual union is the science of Alchemy: Allah-Khemia, the chemistry of God. In love, there is no concept or reasoning. Love simply is. A true marriage, before divinity, therefore, is between husband and wife, when man and woman sexually unite. Paperwork means nothing. In most cases marriage papers constitute legalized prostitution and have nothing to do with love. Marriage exists when a man unites with a woman in sex; this is a literal, psychic, and spiritual communion of souls. The Sufis poets have always utilized sexual and erotic language to describe the soul’s unification with the divine. Yet few people realize that this language is also literal; that when husband and wife connect sexually, they become a terrifically divine being, capable of creating life. If the couple knows how to conserve that sexual energy and not expel it, they remain in Eden, a Hebrew word for bliss. Their love remains intact, pure, and chaste. If the couple is sensual, carnal, and animalistic, they will be kicked out of paradise. As Christ spoke through the mouth of Jesus, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Only divinity can say this word, “I Am.” But when a married couple unites out of selflessness, compassion, and true remembrance of divinity, then the Being, Allah, is fully manifested there. Mansur Al-Hallaj, the great Sufi master, once stated, “An al-Haqq!” or “I am the truth!” in Arabic. This got him in trouble with the orthodox authorities, who were scandalized that a terrestrial person would refer to himself with one of the sacred names of Allah. It is the equivalent of saying, “I am God!” Jesus said the same thing and was thereafter crucified. What occurred in both cases was that divinity, whether named Jehovah, Christ or Allah, manifested within those initiates. Both Jesus and Al-Hallaj became vehicles of divine love and being, and had reached the heights of mastery through working in the perfect matrimony, in the science of Alchemy. Through sexual union, Jesus and Mansur could develop their complete divine potential. Sadly, Mansur was tortured and executed. However, like Jesus, he was completely free of ego and conditioning before his physical death, which is why his poetry and light were intense during his final hours. Only the Being can say, “I Am.” The Being is divine love, the intelligence of all creation, of all the cosmos. But we can become vehicles of Allah when working in Alchemy, the chemistry of God, which is the perfect matrimony. This is how we can fortify compassion and eliminate many defects from our nature, so that our consciousness irradiates with selflessness and abundance. The Sufi-Christian mystic poet known as Kahlil Gibran spoke beautifully about the sexual nature of divine love in his book The Prophet. Even the name of this poet deserves reflection, since Hillel in Hebrew means “Praised or Glorified One,” a reference to the star of dawn, Lucifer, the sexual potency. Gibran reminds us of the Rune Gibur, the swastika or cross in motion, emblem of sexual alchemy, whereby the energies of sex inflame and illuminate the chakras of the body, causing them to spin as the swastika in movement. The cross is also a sexual symbol representing the vertical phallus and the horizontal uterus. This forms Gibur, the strength and chastity of God, known as Aun in Hebrew: Gibur-Aun, Gibran. The following quotation is from the chapter “On Love.” I will provide some comments in between the lines to provide understanding, since this poet is a great Kabbalist and psychologist of the Sufi tradition. Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of (Conscious) Love."
To obtain the supreme heights of initiation, we must work in a matrimony, which is the path of sacrifice, the cross. This is how our inner spirit, Gedulah, the Innermost, receives powers, and riches, and glories, through the work of His human soul or bodhisattva.
A true matrimony is one born of selflessness. There is no desire that says, “I want,” “I crave,” “I need.” Love does not demand ultimatums of the other. Conscious love only knows how to provide for the beloved, and is willing to provide even the last drop of his or her blood for one’s partner. This is the type of consciousness between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Rama and Krishna, Muhammad and A’isha, and other sacred matrimonies. So if we’re married, we aspire to those heights of spirituality, because most of us are selfish. Yet through training this can change. It is easily obtainable when there is some degree of love and comprehension between the couple, since love grows the more it is nourished and fed, and the more our animal ego, desires, and conditions are annihilated. The Trainings of Sufism
So, we previously discussed the demarcations of instruction as given within religious traditions, specifically within Sufism. Religion can be divided into three classes or categories of instruction and practice, whether introductory, intermediate, or advanced, otherwise classified as exoteric, mesoteric, and esoteric.
The Sufis denominate the first level of teaching as Shariah, which in spiritual studies does not pertain to the punitive or repressive laws of Muslim countries, but pertains to our conscious psychological discipline that we engage with to curtail negative thinking, negative feeling, and negative action. Likewise we talked about Tariqah, the intermediate or mesoteric aspect of religion. Tariqah simply means “path.” It is the way that follow and practice, a path that winds from oasis to oasis within the desert of our life, the wasteland of initiation. It is our practical work that we fulfill day by day, moment by moment, for the benefit of others. Marifah means knowledge, and is the Arabic word for gnosis. We also have Haqiqah, which is the truth. Marifah and Haqiqah can be described as two aspects of the same dynamic, since for the truth to be realized, we must have knowledge, expedient methods for transforming the psyche, and to have knowledge, we must comprehend and realize. Buddhism divides these three categories as the Shravakayana, Mahayana, and Tantrayana, the introductory, greater, and supreme vehicles. Shravakas are those who listen to the spiritual teachings for the first time. Such persons practice spirituality for their own well-being. But with the Mahayana, or greater vehicle, one works less for oneself and more for others. In Tantrayana, one works solely for all sentient beings. The same in the Sufi model. In Shariah, the practitioners work to stop their own suffering and to cease causing harm because such actions produce harm within them. In the path of Tariqah, that of divine love, we work on ourselves for the benefit of others. We can then say that the last two degrees or trainings of Sufism, Marifah (knowledge) and Haqiqah (Truth) are combined as one and constitute the highest aspect of any teaching, the most expedient methods of transformation, and also the highest levels of understanding and knowledge. So these trainings entail their own forms of discipline, in varying degrees. Shariah is ethical discipline, mind training, whereby we comprehend and eliminate defects so that we don’t harm ourselves. We are taught to not lie, to not steal, to not commit fornication and adultery, to not ingest intoxicants or drugs, alcohol, etc. We avoid taking in elements that are contrary to our spiritual work. We clean the temple of our body, heart, and mind so that the Being can officiate. We learn not to kill, not only physically, but with speech. When we speak sarcastically and humiliate our neighbor, we make blood rush to his face. This is a form of bloodshed and killing, whereby we are killing a person’s self-image. This is wrong. All religions teach us against negative behaviors of this type. As Prophet Muhammad taught: The strongest among you is he who controls his anger. ―Hadith
Each religion has its own set of commandments that it gives. Again, these laws are not punitive: “Do this or be punished!” That is something very superficial and does not produce real development in the soul. Following external laws is one thing, but being a law unto oneself is another.
This does not indicate that we can do whatever we want, but that we follow the internal law of divinity, which is harmony, peace, and health. We simply depend on no one to do this work, only the Being. This training is known as ethics. Ethics is different from morality. What is moral in one country is immoral in another. Simply look at the differences between North America and the Middle East. Ethics is knowing how to act appropriately for the benefit of others in any circumstance. Compassion is within all religions, all ethical disciplines, especially Islam. The punishments for adulterers and fornicators in Surah Al-Nur, “Surah of the Light” within the Qur’an, for example, is a symbol of how to work against the ego. Flagellation and the removal of thieves’ hands is a representation of what we must do to our ego, for as Jesus taught, “If your left eye offend you, pluck it out, lest your whole body be dragged into hell.” By denying our ego, by waging a holy war against our desires, defects, vices, etc., we generate light. Scripture is written in symbolic language for the consciousness. If people take these punishments literally and physically harm others, this is something else and different. The Qur’an has many allegorical verses which we need Kabbalah, alchemy, and intuition to understand, as indicated in the following Surah al-Imran, verse 7: It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] literal―they are the foundation of the Book―and others allegorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is literal, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah. But those firm in knowledge (Marifah, alchemy and Kabbalah) say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding (Binah, Intelligence in Kabbalah). ―Qur'an 3:7
The other two degrees of these trainings are based on Shariah, the law, and mutually support each other. If one has no ethical discipline, one cannot follow the path, Tariqah, and achieve understanding and knowledge (Marifah) of the truth (Haqiqah). All three trainings integrate and constitute three aspects of one whole. However, the path is presented in these degrees due to the capabilities, dispositions, and needs of their practitioners.
Marifah is sexual knowledge, alchemy, known as Tantra in the east, the principle of Tantrayana. A matrimony is not only the basis of physical life, but spiritual life as well. When we work in a marriage we can harness the most potent energies of the universe for the development and awakening of the consciousness. The Sufis use erotic language to describe union with God, whereby the soul is lost in the ocean of love. When a couple is sexually united, husband and wife lose their identities and become lost within the ocean of the creative sexual energy. There is no “me,” “myself,” within two practitioners of sexual magic who deny their egos, who learn to annihilate egotistical desire (through fana in Arabic) to be, to subsist (through baqa in Arabic) within the creator (Al-Khaaliq). Who is it that creates in us? The sexual energy, the power of divinity. But how we create depends upon whether we follow divine love and will or our own egotism and desires. While the Sufis used clear, erotic language to describe the path of alchemy, many people do not realize that this love is also physical, literal. Divine love is manifested through husband and wife in sexual cooperation, in sexual magic or Alchemy. This is the power of Baqarah, the sacred cow, a symbol of the Divine Mother in Hinduism. She is the serpentine power of Kundalini that the tantric practitioners work with. Therefore, with great respect and veneration, Muhammad became the vehicle for transmitting the second surah of the Qur’an, “The Cow,” or “Heifer,” the longest Surah of the Qur’an. The Qur’an means “The Recitation,” the mantralization of the sacred verb. The power of speech esoterically refers to the power of the bull or cow. When couples pronounce mantras in sexual union, they are learning to unite with divinity completely, to remove the conditioning of the psyche and the mind to liberate soul from conditioning, through the power of love. To understand the trainings of Sufism, we can refer to the Sufi master Ibn ‘Arabi. He explained that in the path of Shariah, “Yours is yours and mine is mine.” That which belongs to you is yours. That which belongs to me is mine. There is a sense of separation whereby we are working individually for our own spiritual benefit and goals. In the path of Tariqah, “Mine is yours and yours is mine.” There is a shift of perspective, whereby we focus on the spiritual community and the benefit of others. There is a degree of selflessness and compassion present whereby we can help one another in a genuine sense, without major interferences from our egos, nafs, or defects. Regarding Marifah, knowledge, Ibn ‘Arabi states that “Nothing belongs to you or me.” In truth, we don’t own anything. All abundance belongs to divinity. Regarding Haqiqah, the truth, Ibn ‘Arabi stated, “There is no you or me.” Meaning: there is only God, divinity, the Being, Allah. Remember when we said earlier that “Wherever your sense of self is, that is hell. Wherever you aren’t, that is heaven.” There is no egotism, self, or sense of “I” within the Being, as we presently know in ourselves. The Being is as different and incompatible to the mind as oil is to water. Divinity, the real Being, is the Absolute Abstract Space, the emptiness of enlightened cognizance, the pure light of Adi-Buddha, Ain Soph Aur in Kabbalah, which to our present sight is darkness, but for the self-realized masters is the uncreated light of the unknowable divine. This divinity is selfless, but constitutes the true universal individuality, or better said, supra-individuality of any master who learns to incarnate and develop that force in themselves, so that there is no self, only the truth, al-Haqq, as proclaimed through Mansur Al-Hallaj. Divinity is one and absolute, as proclaimed through the Muslim Shahidah or testimony of faith: “There is no god but God.” Anyone who wants to comprehend divinity must fulfill the three trainings. Again, these are not something rigid and dogmatic. These are practical steps. We must begin where we are at, with Shariah, ethical discipline, since we have a lot of selfishness and desires that keep us from knowing divinity. As we develop light, we can then provide that light of compassion for others in the path of Tariqah. By serving others completely, we follow Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, on the path of Marifah and Haqiqah, knowledge and truth. In Shariah, we serve divinity in ourselves. In Tariqah, we serve divinity in others. In Marifah and Haqiqah, there is only divinity everywhere and within ourselves. There is no “I,” but only the awakened state of consciousness free of conditions. 
The Three Brains
In the path of self-knowledge, we deeply study what in gnosticism is called the three brains. These are three centers of psychological, energetic, spiritual, and physiological activity. The term brain in gnostic studies does not simply pertain to the physical matter within our skull. But a brain, esoterically speaking, is a machine that process certain psychological states, or qualities. It’s a type of mechanism.
We have an intellectual brain, which is where we process thought, mind, concepts, reasoning, ideas, theses and antitheses, and hopefully synthesis. With the emotional brain we process sentiment, like, dislike, feeling, hope, longing, fear, etc. It pertains not only to just those psychological states, but to our heart and its nervous systems. The heart is a very sensitive organ and has intuitive capacities that are unlocked through the science of alchemy. We have a third brain all throughout our spinal column, the brain of action, and which is divided into three principles, dynamics, or qualities. We have the center of movement at the top of the spine, whereby we process all our movements in our body. We have the instinctual center relating to the base of the spine, relating to our impulses, will, actions, desires. The most potent center pertaining to the spinal column is sexual, the sexual center or sexual organs. The sexual energy is the most potent force we carry within our body. The third brain can be therefore synthesized as the motor-instinctive-sexual brain. Why discuss the three brains in relation to Sufism and divine love? Because to love the divine, we must become fully conscious of all these aspects of ourselves, and to give everything to God through renouncing negative habits and psychological states, whether through thought, feeling, or impulse. We can only learn to transform our psyche when we become conscious of our three brains. We become conscious of divinity likewise through the management of these parts of our body and psyche. The three brains are a machine, a car that we must learn to handle and drive, if we want to safely arrive at our spiritual destination. Dreams of driving a car can symbolize how we use the mind, heart, and body appropriately or inappropriately. See how you drive in your dreams to know how you are doing! Jesus taught us about the three brains in the gospels when a Jewish Pharisee tried to discredit the master before the public: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
The heart is the emotional brain. The soul is willpower, the human consciousness beyond thought, feeling, and bodily sensation. This will must dominate our thinking, feeling, and action. Our human consciousness or willpower is mostly conditioned by nafs, egos. But there remains a free portion of this consciousness, which we call the Essence, that must liberate the conditioned consciousness, as we explained previously.
We also must love God with all our strength, meaning: all our vitality or sexual energy. When we wake in the morning, we are rejuvenated by our vital energies, renewed through the process of physical sleep. This depends upon how we use the sexual force, because if we squander this energy, we will become weak, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Sexual energy gives us life. This is easy to see physically. The physical birth of a child is contingent upon the union of man and woman. By using the virile force, the sexual energy, husband and wife can create a human being. Likewise, the spiritual human being can be created in us through that same energy. We would not be here if it weren’t for the creative force, the power of the Holy Spirit as denominated by the Christians. It’s interesting that the root word for virility is virya, warrior, someone who is spiritually and physically strong. Likewise, virtue is born from virility. How we use our sexual, emotional, mental, volitional, and conscious energy can grant us union with divinity, if we know how. Therefore the gospel states, “Love thy God with all thy strength.” By conquering the sexual force, we become virya, warriors, mujahidin, strivers in spiritual warfare as taught within the Muslim tradition. This is a war against the ego and desire, against our nafs, defects. Through transforming the sexual energy within us and giving it to divinity, we acquire divine virtues and develop self-knowledge.
Faith and the Solar Force
By working with the sexual energy, we develop genuine faith, since this energy awakens consciousness and gives us direct knowledge of the mysteries of life and death. This is the science of transmutation, from the prefix trans, “to carry over, transport,” and mutation, mutate, “to change dense material forms into energy,” into spiritual force. Transmutation is the alchemical science of transforming our conditioned psyche into liberated consciousness, by transmuting the seminal matter or waters into cognizance and light.
We’ve included in this image the famous symbol of Islam, which is the crescent moon and the star of Venus, the star of love. We have juxtaposed with this image the Assumption of Mary, who is standing on a moon with her head crowned with twelve stars. The power of the warrior, the virya, born from one’s virility, is in itself symbolized by the crescent moon. In Kabbalah, the moon relates to the sphere of Yesod, the second sphere from the bottom of the Tree of Life. Yesod means “Foundation” and is constituted by our sexual energy. It is the foundation of spiritual life. The Tree of Life is literally our spine, and Yesod is the sexual organs, since without our spine we would be invalids, incapable of functioning in life in a complete sense and not without special assistance. We can likewise transpose the image of the Tree of Life on a human being, where the first trinity relates to the head, the second trinity to the heart, and the lower trinity to the sexual organs and thighs of the human being. This diagram relates to the three brains in many interesting ways. With the moon, we think of lunar cycles, mechanicity, and forces in nature, as well as repetition. The moon is also a symbol of the mechanicity of the mind, the ego, the nafs. Our psyche is a moon, meaning: our habits are very ingrained. Whether we like to smoke or drink, to engage with specific types of conversations or discussions, we are habituated and fixed on certain behaviors due to the sleep of our consciousness. These habits and ways of being, some harmful, some not, constitute the conditioning of our psyche. They are mechanical and lunar, not belonging to the physical moon, but to our egotistical psychology. The mind is a moon; it only knows how to engage with its own conditions and desires. But of course, in this image we have something very beautiful. The star of Venus above the crescent moon relates to love. Venus is the goddess Freia amongst the Nordics, which is where we get the word “Friday,” the holiest day of the week for Muslims. Likewise. sundown for Jews who celebrate the Sabbath, or Saturn-Day, Saturday. This Freia, this Venus-Aphrodite, this goddess of love is the Hindu goddess Kundalini. She is the Divine Mother, the feminine aspect of our inner divinity. As we mentioned the Hebrew word Elohim, El is masculine, God; Eloah is feminine, Goddess; and Elohim, with Iod and Mem added to the end of Eloah, is Gods and Goddesses: Jehovah, or Jah-Chavah. Jah is the Divine Father. Chavah is the Divine Mother. The Divine Mother is essential for our spiritual work, whom we must comprehend and experience very deeply to achieve self-knowledge. She is the power that can help free us from our defects. She destroys our defects after we have comprehended them completely in meditation. She liberates the soul from conditioning through wielding the powers of the moon, the sexual energy. She is the sacred heifer, the Cow, Al-Baqarah, immortalized through the longest Surah of the Qur’an. Surah Al-Baqarah relates how the leg of the heifer has the power of resuscitating the dead to bring them to life. This is highly symbolic, of course. She also transforms the moon of our mind into the sun of understanding. She is Mary, Miriam in Hebrew, which literally means “to raise.” She raises us from spiritual death into the heights of spirituality. She is the energies that rise from the moon of our body, the sexual organs of Yesod, up the spine to the brain to produce the halo of the saints. In sacred art, we often see the prophets and saints with halos like the sun, because they’ve transformed the lunar energies of sex into the solar energies of the Christ force, to saturate their minds completely with that power. This is the Kundalini of Hindustan. The illumination of the mind relates to the mysteries of Halloween, Hallowed Evening. For this holiday, we take the pumpkin gourd mentioned in the Book of Jonah, clean out the muck, the guts and filthiness of the gourd itself. This represents how we must purify the filthiness of the mind. This is to place a candle, the light of understanding, inside that mind to illuminate it. This is how our evening, our darkness, is hallowed and enlightened. But first you must go through all the visitors at the doorstep, dressed as ghouls and goblins, our own defects or nafs, who ask us, “Trick or treat?” In reality, you don’t want to be tricked by your own mind, but to treat yourself to the divine mysteries. Miriam is the one who cleans our mind, our gourd. She is the one who gives us faith, and faith is a solar force. This solar force is born from our seminal waters, the waters of sex, the sexual matter, from which the energies rise within the spine to our mind. The Hebrew word for water is מַיִם Mayim, relating to מרים Miriam, since if you add the letter R, ר Rosh in Hebrew, to Mayim, you spell Miriam. The word believer in Islam is al-mumin. The plural form is al-muminin. The resemblance of this term to מַיִם mayim, water, is striking, since a true believer works with the power of Yesod, the seminal waters. This is how we generate faith. Faith is a force that guides us when we work with Miriam, our Divine Mother, to transform the moon into a sun. To be a true Muslim or believer is to be through the power of love, to be through lieve, love, the libido. You see this hidden in the symbol on top of every mosque. Very cryptic, but clear when you know alchemy and kabbalah. We must be through the power of love, to be conscious to transform all our mechanicity into love, into consciousness. All conditionality must be transmuted into liberated consciousness; everything must be performed and given to divinity. This is how we awaken and know divinity for ourselves, developing conscious knowledge, real faith. The term belief, as it is used now, has no meaning or purpose in esoterism. To think or feel something is true does not signify consciousness of that given thing. Therefore, we like to use the term faith in this tradition to be clear about our meaning, which is energy and will applied to action. Here we think a note upon faith should be of interest. Initiates say that its meaning has been misunderstood. Faith, as the world uses it, possesses no spiritual nature; though in the secondary system [the work with sexual energy] it means power and energy applied to action. All success in Yoga [religion] comes from this application; for the true quality of faith is a Solar force that illumines the mind and attracts to it atoms of power and energy. More human wrecks have resulted from the misconception of this quality than man realizes. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
People just sit on their couch and think that by believing in divinity, everything will be fine. One must learn to be conscious through the libido, the creative power of Yesod, and to apply it consciously. This is how we submit to God (perform Islam, submission).
Jesus provided the parable of the mustard seed, which is small, but has the potential to become a great tree. All that is possible for the fruition or development of a giant tree, a tree of life, is within the seed. Also, we are in a potential state within our sexual seed, the sperm or ovum, to become complete spiritual beings who are not influenced by the moon, by mechanicity. That seed can only develop when masculine and feminine matter are united, when the virile force of man and woman are combined; this will help to generate consciousness and solar faith. The moon can therefore become a sun, a solar entity. 
When Jesus used this word in the sentence, 'If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed,' He meant that one could work miracles if one possessed the atomic energy contained within a mustard seed. But in this world of illusion this is reversed, and the weak man sits still and believes that all will be applied to him if he has faith. It is not a force that should only be applied to religious belief. It is the power of the Innermost [the divine, Allah] working through the densities of our bodies, and the more we respond to it the greater will be our powers. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
All our psychological, emotional, psychic, spiritual, and physical action is generated by the seed, the seminal matter. If we learn to take that force and transform the seed into Christic energy, we can give birth to the purified soul. Sex is the power of religion and divine life. Therefore Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Perfect Matrimony:
It so happens that people think that by belonging to this or that faith, to such and such religion, or to one or another sect, that they are already saved. Naturally, this is false. A seed never germinates because of what a person believes or stops believing. An insect is never born because of what a human being thinks or stops thinking. A man is never born from the parchment of theory. This subject matter is sexual and in this, the Angel is no exception. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony
This is the meaning of the second birth, to be born again as Jesus taught to Nicodemus. We must be born again of water and spirit. People think that one simply gets baptized by physical water and then believes in Jesus and then one is done. He said that “That which is born of flesh,” through the common sexual act, “is flesh.” A physical child is born from the animal orgasm, the sexual act culminating with seminal emission. “But that which is born of spirit,” through the sexual act with seminal retention of the waters, “is spirit.” If the couple knows how to conserve that water, that energy and redirect it, they can give birth to awakened consciousness and eliminate defects. This is how the moon is transformed into a sun.
This is the path of the cross, the vertical phallus joined to the horizontal uterus. It is upon this cross or within this crucible that we can die to our defects, that we can be cleansed by the fire of Christ, the fire of sex, ignited through divine love. When the couple unites, the fire ignites, inflames the mind, the heart, the psyche, and provides the capacity to unite with divinity, to create spiritual life. The Muslims of course use different symbols for their religion, the crescent moon and star of Venus, but the same alchemical meaning is there. Ritual cleansing with water (wudu) is a common preparatory act before performing salaat, (daily prayer). This signifies that the initiate is transmuting their sexual energies to awaken the capacities of the heart. The Symbolism of Water
Water is a prominent symbol in many world cosmogonies, particularly the Book of Genesis, the Bible, and the Qur’an. The creation of the earth and its emergence from the seas of creation, as told in Genesis, is allegorical. It represents the birth of the soul, new vehicles that the soul can inhabit as it rises upon the Tree of Life. Each Sephirah represents a new land that we must conquer, that we must create within ourselves, through alchemy.
The waters symbolize the power to generate, to create. Within us, our capacity to create physical and spiritual life resides in our waters. It is the source of pleasure, redemption, and the elevation of the soul to paradise. As the Qur’an teaches us in Surah al-Waqi'ah, the Inevitable, about the fate of those who transmute their waters: In the Gardens of Pleasure,
Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi was a famous Sufi poet and mystic, a profound kabbalist and alchemist, who taught in his writings the path of yoking the waters through tantra, or Marifah. An example of his initiatic work is the following cryptic postulation:
From the heart of the lovers, blood flows like a vast river. Our body is the windmill, and love, the water. Without water the mill cannot turn. ―Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, Hidden Music 
Marifah or tantrism teaches that when a couple is engaged in sexual union, the different energies or seminal waters of the divine are active in the body. The sexual force then circulates throughout the physicality and psyche as well. There is a profound movement of forces through the chakras or energetic centers of the spinal medulla. The chakras rotate positively like the swastika when the couple is chaste and pure, avoiding animality in the sexual act.
The body has seven main mills, seven main chakras, which are well documented in Hinduism and within Sufism as al-Laṭaʾif as-Sitta, the seven vortexes or centers of spiritual and psychic power. These are the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. These centers of power spin as the couple controls their breathing, their ruh, so that the sexual energy rises within the spine. When breathing is erratic and impassioned during the sexual act, the sexual energy flows outward and results in the orgasm. Remember that if there is no water, the mill cannot turn. If you ejaculate the waters, those chakras or mills cannot spin, but will remain still. Those chakras grant powers and spiritual abilities, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, omniscience, etc., so if they are inactive, then the consciousness lacks force and energy to be awakened. But when the breath is harnessed through sacred mantras and vocal remembrance of Allah in sexual magic, that energy rises inward and upward to the brain and then to the heart. Again, we emphasize that the chakras can only spin when there is water, transmuted sexual energy, within them, to circulate and provide energetic movement. Hence the importance of sexual purity within every religion, especially Sufism. Al-Qushayri also provides an interesting explanation of the esoteric symbolism of water in the path of love in his Risalah: Principles of Sufism: Some say that hub, love, is a name for purity of affection, because the bedouins when speaking of the pure whiteness and regularity of someone’s teeth use the expression habab al-asnan. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Why the purity of teeth? In Kabbalah the mouth signifies Da’ath, Marifah, sexual knowledge. To be pure in speech is to handle the sexual energy wisely, since sex and the throat connect through the spine. Everyone knows that adolescent boys acquire deep voices due to puberty, and likewise adolescent girls develop their voice further due to the maturation of the sexual organs and the development of hormones.
Al-Qushayri continues to explain the nature of divine eroticism and water: Others say that since hubab is a word for the excess water that results from a heavy rain, mahabbah came to mean the heart’s boiling and stirring with the thirst and excitement of meeting the Beloved. Still others say the word is derived from habab al-ma, the greater part of a body of water, because love is the object of most of the heart’s concerns. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism 
Who is the Beloved? It is the Being. Yet a husband finds the Being present in his wife, and vice versa. In Christian terms, every man views his wife as the Divine Mother, Miriam, while every woman views her husband as the Divine Father, Joseph.
Here the waters overflow and saturate the heart when the couple knows how to conserve those forces, raising them from sex to the brain and then to the heart. You can see that the Sufis use a sexual and erotic language for describing union with God, precisely because union with God occurs in the sexual act. Sadly, many people ignore this fact and come up with many superficial interpretations of the Sufi writings that ignore the necessity of sexual magic. And sadly, people only see sexuality as something filthy and disgusting, to be indulged in or repressed, even though sexual magic serves a much more profound function than animal pleasure. As Rumi explained to his disciples regarding alchemy: If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see Allah in it. Those who are not in love with Allah will see only their own faces in it. ―Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
The cup is the holy grail, the feminine sexual organs, within which is filled the waters or manna of the desert, the creative energies that will arouse and satisfy our spiritual thirst.
In relation to this topic, Iranian mythology speaks of the cup of Jamshid, a holy grail filled with a divine elixir that grants the soul the capacity to perceive the seven heavens (the superior dimensions of the Tree of Life, as well as the seven chakras of the spinal medulla). The word Jamshid is an interesting acrostic: Jam signifies a gathering together, which is sexual. For husband and wife to be close to each other signifies intimacy, closeness, a gathering together. The cup or yoni is also the sacred emblem of Christianity in which the solar initiates gather around.
In the past, solar initiates would gather within the temples or mosques to celebrate the path of the Lord through prayer and ritual, which is the general etymological significance of the word "gathering." The word "church" in Greek, Εκκλησία Ekklisía, refers to a gathering place that belongs to divinity, kyriakos, the Lord. A church in esoterism is where the creative energies congregate within the spine, as with the seven churches or fully-developed chakras of the Book of Revelations. There are alchemical meanings hidden within the Arabic language. Shid, pronounced “Sheed” reminds us of Shahid, “witness.” Therefore, Jamshid is the cup of gathering and witnessing, since none can witness or experience divinity without the sacred yoni, without working with the creative waters of life to awaken the powers of the spine and the mind. As Al-Qushayri explains: The expression ‘jam and tafriqah [or farq] is often used by the Sufis. Abu Ali al-Daqqaq used to say, "Separation (farq) is what you are given a share in. Gathering (jam) is what is removed from your power." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
All of us are separated from our Being because of the original sin: lust. All of us fornicated and expelled ourselves from Eden, bliss. This occurred precisely because in the past, we did not respect sexuality or transmutation. Due to our own will, we separated ourselves from divinity.
Gathering is a term used to signify how one approaches divinity through the will of divinity. The disparate parts of the soul, once fractured and conditioned by ego, nafs, become unified and integrated by divine decree. Through comprehending, judging, and annihilating the shells or defects that condition consciousness, the Being achieves tawhid, unity within our psyche. And what higher way exists to reach divinity, according to the Sufis, than the sacrament of sexuality, a marriage, whereby the Being descends and helps us to tame the fires of love? Through the fires of love the egos are annihilated completely. Al-Qushayri explains the alchemical meanings given by his teacher, Al-Daqqaq: His meaning was that whatever pertains to servanthood [submission to divinity in sexual magic] and is attributed to the servant [the alchemist], whatever is linked to the conditions of being human [as a fornicator], is a form of farq, the separation between worshiper and Worshipped [because through the orgasm, we separate ourselves from the Worshipped, the divine]. Whatever proceeds from the Truth [al-Haqq, Haqiqah, the realizations born from Marifah, transmutation]—the generation of spiritual meaning and experience [since every true spiritual experience is born of the Genesiatic waters], the gifts of grace—is a form of gathering [jam], the coming together of worshiper and Worshipped. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Therefore, people who are filled with a lot of sexual passion and animal desire will obviously look at the sexual act, the waters, as something carnal, bestial, as Rumi indicated. They see their own faces in it; they separate themselves more and more from divinity through fornication. Yet if the couple works to eliminate desire, egotism, nafs, from the psyche, to deny, comprehend, and annihilate lust, then the sexual act becomes something pure and holy, through which the Being, the divine, is present. Through scientific chastity, Marifah, the Being gathers us in worship of his presence, hudur, within the flames of love. This is the meaning of the Sufi technical terms awe and intimacy. We will speak about awe now but come back to intimacy in a short while.
The true nature of awe is absence [ghaybah], absence, being carried beyond oneself. [In sexual magic, one is no longer an separate individual, but united in the Being, for man and woman form one terrifically divine Elohim]. Everyone in awe is lost to himself [his animal ego, lusts, and desires]. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Remember the teachings of Proverbs, chapter 1 verse 7:
The fear [awe, Pechad] of Iod-Chavah is the beginning of knowledge [Da’ath, Marifah], but fools [fornicators] despise wisdom and instruction. ―Proverbs 1:7
Awe and fear have the same meaning, to respect the creative sexual energy and never waste it, because to fornicate is to be a fool, to waste the sacred oil of the temple.
There is treasure to be desired and oil [שֶׁמֶן shemen, semen] in the dwelling [body or temple] of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. ―Proverbs 20 :21 
All of this is represented by the lance of Longinus and the holy grail in Christianity. The lance is a symbol of the phallus, the masculine force that pierces our egos and annihilates them in the sexual act after we have achieved profound comprehension of such defects in meditation. Here we see the path of redemption for the soul: the union of husband and wife in the perfect matrimony.
Jesus taught alchemy very clearly in other verses, especially in his teaching the Samaritan woman at the well (a symbol of Yesod: the waters in our earth, Malkuth): 
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this (physical) water shall thirst again:
The waters become a wellspring of eternal life when we conserve them. The water regenerates and provides life continually and therefore helps us to remain young, virile, and strong.
Many people think Jesus was dismissing the woman to go get her husband, as if he was ignoring her, but the answer to her question is clear: call thy husband if you want to learn how to use the waters that will give you eternal spiritual life. Beautiful, no? But cryptic. The Sufis, along with the gospels, explain the bliss of a marriage, although in a Middle Eastern way, through a heightened alchemical, kabbalistic sexual language. Ali ibn Ubayd said, 'Yahya ibn Muadh wrote to Abu Yazid, "I am intoxicated with how much I have drunk from the cup of love." Abu Yazid wrote back to him, "Someone else has drunk the oceans of the heavens and the earth and his thirst is not yet quenched. His tongue is hanging out and he is asking, 'Is there any more?'” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It is one thing to have an insatiable sexual desire or lust, animal passion, carnal attachments, it is a completely different thing to develop the genuine bliss and ecstasy of the soul during the same sexual act. Remember that in Hebrew, Eden means “pleasure” or “bliss.” It was the bliss humanity, symbolized by Adam and Eve, once enjoyed. Sex was once practiced in observance and remembrance of Allah, the Being, but when humanity indulged in the orgasm, in sexual desire, they expelled themselves from Eden, that blissful state.
Those who practice alchemy transform the seminal matter, the sexual waters, into conscious love, chastity, purity, light. When practicing alchemy once per day, no more, the couple rejuvenates the body, heart, and mind. In this sense, the soul’s thirst for divinity is not quenched no matter how much one transmutes from the cup of alchemy, the feminine yoni in sexual magic, because these waters constantly generate within our sexual organs. Because we receive the sexual energy anew every day, it is necessary to sublimate it daily. 
Christ’s first miracle was the transmutation of water into wine. This again is symbolic, of how the couple transforms the seminal energies into the wine of the spirit. Such a wine inebriates the soul, as described within Sufism and Christianity.
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there (again referring back to Miriam, the Divine Mother, who is going to be present at this miracle): And both Jesus (the Inner, Intimate Christ) was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come (the Lord has not fully manifested within the spinal medullae of the married couple yet, since they are learning to transmute for the first time). His mother [Miriam] saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. ―John 2:1-11
Even though it is forbidden in Islam to drink alcohol, the Sufis use the language of intoxication and drinking to talk about experiences with God in alchemy. It signifies being drunk on God, being intoxicated with love. These initiates always treated sex with respect, as something sacred, unlike our humanity today. The Sufis treated sex with balance, neither something to repress or indulge in as something filthy, but through a comprehensive, middle way, by utilizing sex in its true purpose and function: to generate the soul.
Many of these Sufi masters were, of course, married, since every man needs a wife, and every wife needs a husband. These masters did not make alchemy public, but practiced Marifah in secrecy, since this teaching was not explained openly until recently, in the 1950’s with the publication of The Perfect Matrimony by Samael Aun Weor. Intoxication and Sobriety
In gnosis, we seek to become drunk on the love of the divine. We previously spoke about gnostic and Sufi psychology, how the consciousness must become inebriated by divine energy, so as to awaken from its slumber. Now we are delving into the physiological and alchemical aspects of this knowledge, the secret path of Marifah, some practical components for sexual magic.
In Revelation of the Mystery by Al-Hujwiri, a Persian Sufi master, he explains that there are two kinds of intoxication. His teaching is in relation to Persian and Arabic kabbalah, the symbolic mystical language of the consciousness within Middle Eastern discourse. There are two kinds of intoxication: (1) with the wine of affection (mawaddat) and (2) with the cup of love (muhabbat). The former is “caused” (ma’lul), since it arises from regarding the benefit (ni’mat); but the latter has no cause, since it arises from regarding the benefactor (mun’im). ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
The “wine of affection” is caused, brought about by the couple’s individual desires, lust, animality, nafs or egos. They provoke the sexual act because they are filled with lust or passion. They do not unite out of dhikr, remembrance of divinity, to remember the presence, hudur, of divinity, as they sexually connect. These types of people do not comprehend what the cup of love signifies, because they are fornicators.
To drink from the cup of love is to practice chastity. Chastity does not signify abstention from sex, but purity in sex―to not reach the animal spasm or orgasm; to not fornicate, to not be burned by the fornix, furnace of the body through the emission of the sexual energy. It also signifies restraining lustful thoughts, feelings, and impulses in the three brains. This is difficult for beginners, but something gnostic matrimonies learn through practice and discipline. The cup of love, sexual magic, is not caused by one’s own will, but by the will of the Innermost Beings within husband and wife. This signifies consciousness of divinity within the sexual act, the Benefactor, mun'im, which etymologically relates to the Arabic word for believer, al-mumin, a term for an alchemist. He who regards the benefit sees through himself and therefore sees himself (meaning his desires, egotism, lust), but he who regards the benefactor sees through Him (the Being) and therefore does not see himself (as ego), so that, although he is intoxicated (drunk on that pleasure of sexual union), his intoxication is sobriety (there is control and transmutation of the sexual energy; one is sober-headed and rational because the couple are not slaves of desire). ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery 
To be sober in Sufi terms is to be in control of one’s energies in the sexual act. One dominates sex with the consciousness, redirecting the animal impulse of desire and transmuting it up the spine. Those people who let themselves be carried away by the pleasures of sex culminate in the orgasm. Thereafter their sexuality governs their mind and they fall downward into the abyss, forming the inverted pentagram.
We are five-pointed stars, with two hands, two legs, and one head. When we control sex, we stand upright, made into the psychological image of the divine. If sex governs our head, we precipitate downwards towards the atomic infernos, the hell realms of Islam, so as to eat the bitter leaves of the Tree of Zaqqum as mentioned in the Qur’an, a symbol of spiritual death and suffering of the consciousness. This is the left-hand path of sorcery and black magic, the path of demons. The right-hand path is the path of the initiates, the solar way. Therefore, we must transform the moon into a sun! 
In the image of this slide, the Goddess Luna is extending her hands towards the moon or lunar power of Yesod, the sexual energy. The sexual energy is a lunar, creative force that we must transform into a sun through alchemy. It is by working with this energy that we learn to comprehend the enigmatic language of the Sufis, since this energy opens the door to comprehension for us.
Remember that psyche was asleep and later awakened through Eros, Cupid, the god of love, the erotic energy. When that power is utilized by a couple, then they begin to understand the mystical meaning of sobriety and intoxication. Sobriety also is classified in two ways, according to Al-Hujwiri. Sobriety is also of two kinds: sobriety in heedlessness (ghaflat) and sobriety in love (mahabbat). The former is the greatest of veils, but the latter is the clearest of revelations. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
What does it mean to be sober in heedlessness? To be heedless is to act as an animal, to not follow the sixth commandment of divinity: “Thou shalt not fornicate.” It signifies a lack of practice or spiritual discipline, to not work against the ego, but to fortify it through mistaken habits and the sleep of our consciousness. It means to feed pride, anger, lust, greed, vanity, etc. To not work with the spirit, ruh, is to be reckless, careless in genuine spiritual terms. If we have no consciousness of divinity, if we do not meditate, then we are heedless. Therefore, all of us fall in this category until we learn this science and apply it.
Those who are sober in divine love practice alchemy and know how to conserve the seminal energy and never lose one drop of it. This energy therefore produces the clearest of revelations, since as Samael Aun Weor explains, many initiates know how to enter into the ecstasy of the spirit, to manifest God within, through mastering the sexual act. The sobriety that is connected with heedlessness is really intoxication, while that which is linked with love, although it be intoxication, is really sobriety. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
Obviously, the language is tricky. The Sufis were always playing with donkey-headed intellectuals who have no intuition. But their wisdom is clear to other initiates. They wrote in this manner to evade persecution and scandals.
Anyone who gives into fear, pride, envy, hate, lust, desire, is heedless. To give into those negative psychological qualities is to be drunk in a very bad sense. Many people are drunk off their ideas, theories, beliefs, and more importantly their sense of self, their ego, the “me,” “myself,” and “I.” This is the state of identification, fascination, and sleep of the consciousness. The heedless hear about esoterism and rationalize, ignoring instruction. They are heedless and drunk off the opium of theories, which Samael Aun Weor stated is worse than death. But that alchemical experience that is linked with love, although it be intoxication through the sexual energy, is really sobriety, sensible. To use that power for spiritual life is really the most sensible thing. This is what it means to be sober-headed, to not be carried away by passion. But lunatics, idiots, fornicators, enjoy expelling the energy of Eden from themselves: The fear of the LORD (respect for the sexual energy) is the beginning of knowledge (Marifah), but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ―Proverbs 1:7
So what is this principle (asl)? Sexual alchemy, scientific chastity, to connect sexually with one’s partner, as husband and wife, and to never lose one drop of semen, that precious energy, but to transmute it, elevate it. Through transmutation, one is continually intoxicated by that light generated through the sexual cooperation of the couple.
As the couple practices sexual magic, husband and wife never lose their attraction for one another, because the energy of attraction and magnetism is never expelled, but sublimated. The couple then charges one another with divine power. Through this principle of sexual alchemy, husband and wife remain intoxicated by love for one another, and also remain sober-headed. They comprehend that the ego is the source of disorder and divorce. So, couples who practice sexual alchemy are better off for preserving their union, because fornication leads to suffering and expulsion from sexual bliss. This is how marriages can succeed, rather than end in divorce, which is very common nowadays. A matrimony can be one’s heaven or one’s hell. Here we are teaching how couples can continually magnetize and charge each other, so that they remain in happiness. When the principle of alchemy is not present within a couple, sobriety and intoxication are baseless, meaning: they have no foundation in the science of Yesod: the Foundation of Kabbalah. Marriages founded on fornication, the orgasm, are pointless, baseless in a spiritual sense. When people know nothing of transmutation, the terms sobriety and intoxication take on different meanings. The sobriety of fornicators consists of all the degenerated theories in this day and age that adamantly defend the orgasm. Humanity does everything it can to explain why fornication is healthy and necessary. People also speak a lot about feeding one's desires at all costs, being intoxicated not only by alcohol and drugs, but by anger, lust, pride, and greed. This is what it means to have no foundation, to "build one's house upon the sand of theories," which, after the first provocation of a storm or consequences of karma, will tumble and fall into the abyss. We must become true believers and followers of divinity through learning how to be through the libido. Chastity is essential and constitutes our foundation. As the Qur’an teaches us in Surah Al-Nur, the “Surah of the Light," verses 30 and 31: Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do.
In synthesis, the Light Surah indicates that you cannot have spiritual light if you are not chaste.
Many students who begin our gnostic studies complain about lust. Whenever they walk across the street in the cities, their eyes are bewildered by the sight of attractive men and women. The work of transforming lustful impressions is always most difficult for new initiates, which is why women in Islam, initially, wore their hijab or headcovers to prevent the lustful eye. Whether this tradition is really being practiced well after the time of the Prophet is another thing… But let us continue elaborating on the language of the Sufis: In short, where true mystics tread, sobriety and intoxication are the effect of difference (ikhtilaf)… ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
The word mystic comes from the Greek root word myein, to close the eyes. This signifies a person who meditates. In this case, the meditators, husband and wife, have been initiated into the sexual mysteries. For true mystics, sobriety signifies sexual purity, chastity, not in the form of abstention or celibacy, but by being pure in the sexual act.
For beginners on the mystic path, intoxication refers to fornication, since people get drunk on the orgasm. When people think of sex, that is all they think about, ignoring that sex can be founded on purity and spiritual love. Sobriety for the mystic therefore is the opposite, to be rational, controlling the sexual energy. …and when the Sultan of Truth (the Being, Allah, the divine) displays his beauty, both sobriety and intoxication appear to be intruders (tufayli), because the boundaries of both are joined, and the end of the one is the beginning of the other, and the beginning and end are terms that imply separation, which has only a relative existence. In union all separations are negated, as the poet says―"When the morning star of wine rises, The drunken and the sober are as one.” ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
When the Being expresses Himself within the couple, the beauty and love that husband and wife feel during the sexual act is the truest consubstantiation and fulfillment of divine love. As Fyodor Dostoevsky once stated, “Human love is a reflection of divine love.” For the couple that unifies in compassion and selflessness, out of virtue and purity, of genuine conscious love and understanding, the terms “intoxication” and “sobriety” become concepts and intellectual terms that miss the meaning: since the couple is so lost in the ecstasy and compassion of the Being. The intellect becomes an obstacle. The consciousness, usually hypnotized by the duality and relativity of the mind, becomes absorbed within divinity, the perfect unity, thereby transcending creation.
In sexual union, all separation is negated, because husband and wife become one angelic being with the capacity to create divine life. There is no difference between them, since the egos, the intruders or infidels, are not present, the nafs are absent during the ecstasy. …as the poet say―"When the morning star of wine rises, The drunken and the sober are as one.” ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
This is a beautiful teaching by Hujwiri. Who is the drunken one? The soul that is drunk on God, being united with divinity through one’s wife, as a husband, and one’s husband, as a wife.
Who is the sober one? The Being, the Real, the Truth, al-Haqq. The morning star is Venus, the Divine Mother, wherein the waters of sex are sublimated into spiritual wine, the Kundalini up the spinal medulla. When the sexual fires rise from the base of the spine and illuminate the brain, then the two aspects of Jehovah, Jah-Chavah, are united, Kundalini Shakti—Chavah, the intoxicated from below―marrying Her divine husband, the masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Jah, the sober one, the real, in the brain. Together they signify Jehovah. This is the esoteric Sufi meaning of intimacy. For as Al-Qushayri explains: The true nature of intimacy [sexual magic and union with God] is rightly sobriety [sahw]. In truth, the condition of balance after mystical experience [samadhi with one’s wife or husband in tantrism, Marifah]. Everyone who becomes intimate with God becomes sober and clear. Such people vary according to the strength of their experience [in chastity, being able to restrain animal desire to a specific degree]. About this the Sufis say, "The lowest stage of intimacy with God is that if one were thrown into a blazing fire [when the fires of sexuality are active between husband and wife, which they must dominate and control], one’s intimacy [concentration and chastity, sexual purity] would not be disturbed." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Therefore, if you are lustful, you will only see lust in sex. But the great alchemists know how to see divinity and the seven heavens within the cup of gathering and witnessing, Jamshid.
Sufi Dance and Intimacy with God
Many Sufi dances signify the path of intimacy with God. In the film Meetings with Remarkable Men (a biographical drama about Master Gurdjieff), there is one dance in particular that depicts these alchemical concepts. At the end of the film, Gurdjieff finds a Sufi school of initiation wherein he witnesses a group of turbaned initiates dance and perform the runic alphabet, which are a series of yogic postures used with mantras in order to accumulate energy. Eight men dance in the same spot as they position their body in the form of runic letters, so as to attract the powers of divinity and perform sexual transmutation. Two other men meditate on the sides with their arms crossed in the Egyptian style, with the right arm over the left. The most notable of the dancers is in the center, the ninth man moving in a clockwise circle, demonstrating the positive rotation of the chakras. His arms are crossed since he is not performing the runes, and his centrality and firmness in the dance illustrates his universal role as the Being.
The ninth figure among the dancers, the center initiate, also refers to the strength, solidarity, and power of Yesod, the ninth sephirah of the Tree of Life, which is the creative power of divinity. This is the power that can dominate the ego. The tenth figure dances in a drunken stupor around the man in the center. The drunken, intoxicated man is the soul, nafs, or ego that must be dominated by willpower. The intoxicated man is silently guided by the somewhat stationary, central figure, the Being or sober one. The man in the center has his arms crossed in the Muslim style, with the right arm over the left, demonstrating how the right-hand solar path dominates the left-hand lunar path. He does not show any acquiescence to the drunken man, but is firm, in control, leading the drunken initiate towards submission (Islam) to Him. The Being, the real or sober one, accomplishes this feat through the path of meditation and transmutation. The ten men dancing in the center are the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life. The drunken man is Malkuth, the physical person filled with vices, while the man in the center is Chesed, the spirit. The two men at the sides represent the two pillars of Kabbalah, Jakin and Boaz, which support the entirety of our psychological and spiritual temple. There are other dances depicted in this film, but we don't have time to comment on all of them.
All of this dance is accomplished through the power of sex, symbolized by the movement of creative energy through the runes. No matter how drunk or egotistical the soul is, God is immovable, commanding, as we see in the example of the central dancer. Through exercises like runes (used to develop willpower and control), the consciousness becomes trained for sexual magic. With years of discipline, the fires of intimacy (in sexual alchemy) do not disturb the initiates' concentration, but remain in check, as the wild egotistical mind bows humbly in submission before divinity in this dance.
The Sacred Name of God in Islam
The Arabic name of divinity also hides this mystery. الله Allah signifies “the God.” Illaha signifies goddess. ا Alif, the breath, is the Hebrew א Aleph, prana, wind, spirit, ruh, since both Arabic and Hebrew are Semitic languages bearing the same roots in Kabbalah, the language of the consciousness and of God.
الله Allah begins with ا Alif, which is a separate, elongated straight line, a masculine and phallic letter. This is the sacred fire of Kundalini that rises within the spine. الله Allah ends in ه Ha, a feminine letter in esotericism that references the feminine yoni, the vagina. The yoni is a circle and the phallus is a line, which are easy to see in ا Alif and ه Ha. The two ل lams of the sacred Arabic name of God each represent a person, man and woman, in esoterism. The Hebrew equivalent is ל Lamed, which references the tongue or speech. When man and wife unite in the sexual act to transmute, pronounce mantras, to recite the sacred verb, they are working with الله Allah, Elohim, the divine. This is equivalent to the Hebrew אל “El,” the spirit, Chesed in Kabbalah, ruh in Arabic “Elah,” or “Eloah” also means Goddess. El is masculine. Eloah or Elah is feminine. As we've been stating, divinity expresses through the sexual energy. One of the sacred names of divinity in Arabic is Al Wadud (الودود), "the Loving, the Kind One." Likewise we find Al Khaaliq (الخالق), "the Creator." Where else within a human being do we find the possibilities for creation through love? It is in sexual union. Alchemical knowledge is included in the sacred name Al Wadud, which contains two ו vavs or و waws. ו Vav or و waw can be pronounced as a vowel, such as an a, o, or u sound. و Waw or ו Vav is a spinal column and brain, represented by the straight line and top point of ו vav, and the circle and curved line of و waw. Ibn 'Arabi states that و waw connects the human being with the angels, the divine. Al Wadud has two و waws, one for man and one for woman, wherein the Kundalini rises and unites the couple with الله Allah. Divine unification is also represented by the two د dals or ד Daleths of Al Wadud, indicating two dervishes or initiates, one man and one woman, entering the doorway of alchemical knowledge: the science of the perfect matrimony, Da'ath or marifah in Arabic. The sexual power of divinity is well reflected within the Qur'an by the following verses: Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. ―Surah al-Mu'minun, "The Believers," verse 14
After these explanations, it's logical to see, from this verse, that the power of divinity is in sex.
While the creative energy can create a physical child, this verse from the Qu'ran teaches about the creation of the solar bodies, the vehicles of the soul, a type of psychic matter or flesh that does not belong to fornication, but to chastity. These vehicles include: the body of liberation (Yesod, the superior aspect of Malkuth), the solar astral (Hod), solar mental (Netzach), and solar causal (Tiphereth); in total, these are the lower five sephiroth of the Tree of Life, the Kabbalah. Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio
To sum up these Sufi and Gnostic teachings, we have the following excerpt from Mozart’s Opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Abduction from the Seraglio. Mozart was a Freemason and a master of Major Mysteries who knew Sufism in depth, along with Beethoven and other initiates. These masters knew the mysteries of the occult stone, the Kaaba of Yesod.
In this opera, Belmonte, a Spanish nobleman, tries to rescue his betrothed, Konstanze, with his servant Pedrillo. She was captured by pirates at sea and sent to a harem, an Arabic den of prostitution, to be the slave of Bassa Selim, the Pasha or ruler of Seraglio. Konstanze is under watch and supervision from Osmin, a Muslim guard, whom Pedrillo tricks into drinking wine to intoxicate him and lead him to sleep. Once Osmin is asleep, Pedrillo and Belmonte make their escape attempt with Konstanze. All of this is symbolic and invites us to reflect… Konstanze is constancy, chastity, our divine soul trapped within whoredom, within the prostitution of animal ego, lust, desire, nafs. Belmonte is her future husband, whose Spanish name signifies “beautiful mountain,” “Bel-Monte.” He is Tiphereth in Kabbalah, the human soul or warrior who must fight to liberate the trapped consciousness. When he conquers the ego, then he can marry his divine soul. Tiphereth is our will or capacity to climb the beautiful mountain of initiation, which he accomplishes through Pedrillo, his servant. Pedrillo is “little Peter,” or little Pedro, signifying a “stone.” Peter is also slang for a phallus. He is the little power of Yesod, the little stone that David, Tiphereth, used to conquer Goliath, the ego, who is represented in this opera as Osmin, a giant bass whose voice inspires fear. Pedrillo gives Osmin wine to drink, which the guard, being Muslim, first denies. And yet Osmin is tempted by the wine and drinks, ending up drunk and incapacitated, so that Pedrillo, Belmonte, and Konstanze can make their escape. The symbolism of wine we’ve already explained: it is the energy of sex that inebriates the soul and slackens the ego, putting it to sleep, to make it inactive. Osmin, the ego, gets drunk off the wine and falls asleep. That energy, harnessed in meditation, has the power to put our defects to sleep so that the consciousness can escape from its shells and conditioning to experience samadhi, represented by Pedrillo’s tenor singing, the elevation of the soul. Both Pedrillo and Osmin sing about women when praising Bacchus, god of wine, the sexual potency. One can either praise women with chastity or praise women with lust and desire. Both polarities are expressed here in Mozart’s aria, “Vivat Bacchus,” “long live Bacchus!” Osmin praises fornication, but Pedrillo, little Peter, knows how to be chaste. Here we clearly see how sex is the power of liberation or damnation of the soul! Osmin also reminds us of the Rune Os, Othilla, Thelema, the rune of willpower, whereby single practitioners can learn to transmute their creative energies. Min or Minah in Kabbalistic language is sex. Interesting, no? Why would Mozart name Osmin, the ego, after the Rune Os, and the sexual mysteries of sex, Mina, the Menorah? Light is generated through conquering fire, through not giving into temptation in the sexual act, to not eat the forbidden fruit and to not culminate in the orgasm. We must instead conserve that light inside. Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light, virtues, comprehension, cognizance. We must steal the fire from the devil!
The sexual energy, the power of Bacchus-Dionysus, is precisely a drink for the Gods, Elohim. This aria is not just about a man getting a Muslim guard drunk, but symbolizes two paths for using the wine of light. When husband and wife are sexually united, they are a truly divine being. When the couple truly practices chastity, the ego, Osmin, is put to sleep, so husband and wife can enjoy sex with purity, to breathe the aromas of the tree of knowledge without eating its fruit…
Remember that the word Seraglio, the harem or den of prostitution, carries the three vowels I.A.O., Ser-Ah-gl-IO. This is because the power of IAO, Jehovah, is polarized negatively through lust within our mind, which is represented by the harem. Mozart was a great master of Kabbalah, as you can see, which he taught in a synthetic, symbolic and comprehensive way. 
Alchemy and the Garden of Gethsemane
Here we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with the chalice of redemption, whereby an angel presents him his cross, symbol of the perfect matrimony, before Christ performs his Passion. Here Jesus was praying before his crucifixion, a symbol of the death of desire, the ego, upon the cross of alchemy. Remember also that the chalice is a symbol of the feminine sexual organs, through which the husband extracts the elixir or manna of spiritual life.
The Garden of Gethsemane precisely represents the garden of Eden, bliss, a matrimony. Gethsemane is the garden of Yesod whereby the Lord is betrayed, since Judas, sexual desire, submits him to the Jewish authorities, the different egos, to be tested, contested, and condemned. Jesus represents the human soul, Tiphereth, united with Chokmah, Christ, an alchemical amalgamation known as the Son of Man. Here the master prays before the work of completely annihilating his ego. He states, “Father, if it be possible, pass this cup (representing sexual magic) of bitterness from me. But not my will, but Thine be done.” This path of sexual magic is one of sacrifice of desire. To renounce lust and the orgasm is painful for the ego, but constitutes the intoxication of the soul. It’s obvious then why many people begin but few reach the end. But those who persevere in daily transmutation, death of the ego, and selfless service for others, become constantly inebriated by the divine. They never forget their work because they never forget their Being. Many people cringe when discovering the necessity of compassion, selflessness, and love for humanity. We recommend that students reflect upon the life of Jesus, who when being nailed to the cross, when he was humiliated beyond comprehension, the only thing he said was “Father, forgive them: they know not what they do.” This is a type of compassion we strive and struggle to develop, especially within a marriage, when cultivating the powers of our “garden,” our physicality. This is difficult precisely due to our conditioning, which obscures and prevents us from really accessing this state. But if we learn to see the other person’s point of view, we develop the will and perception of Christ, one who does not react to life, but responds. It is one thing to react egotistically to situations, but another thing to respond with cognizance, compassion, and love, with selflessness, thinking and acting only for the benefit of the other person. In this way, we can still establish boundaries and be firm with others who need it, but not with anger—instead, one uses kindness. This is a more potent force than any ego, any defect. The way that you really develop divine love, the hardest and best way is in a marriage. Despite a couple’s love and affinity, the worst conflicts the disciple faces is upon the cross, during sexual union. Husband and wife must learn to sacrifice their defects to truly love one another. Crucifixion symbolizes the pain one goes through in the alchemical work, in the disintegration of the ego. One can only transcend such pain through comprehension and annihilation of one’s defects in meditation, or, after having comprehended an ego, asking for its annihilation upon the cross, within the sexual act, as explained in The Mystery of the Golden Flower and The Perfect Matrimony by Samael Aun Weor. They recited: I’m amazed at someone who says, “I’ve remembered my darling.” Have I ever forgotten (my Being), that I should have to remember? I die (to my ego) remembering You (my Being), then come back to (spiritual) life. Were it not for my good thought of You, I would not have revived. Desire’s object lives (my Being continues) when I die to (egotistical) desire. How many times have I lived for you, how many times died (through the comprehension and disintegration of each of my defects)? I drink love (transmuted water, muhabbah), glass after glass (day after day in alchemy; only once per day in observance of the creative magnetic pause mentioned in The Mystery of the Golden Flower by Samael Aun Weor). The (alchemical) glass (my sexual organs) is not empty (because the seminal matter is always being generated, but transmuted by the alchemists). My (spiritual) thirst is not sated (I will not cease my transmutations, but strive forward). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Practice
1. Continue to develop your self-observation from moment to moment. At the end of each day, reflect on conscious you were of your three brains (mind, heart, and body).
2. Every day, sit in a comfortable meditation posture (sitting upright either on a meditation bench / cushion, or Western-style: in a chair). Relax your mind, heart, and body. 3. Vocalize the mantras OM MASI PADME HUM to develop divine compassion and to transform the energies of your body into spiritual fire and spiritual light. Pronounce this mantra for thirty minutes or more.
This mantra translates as “Oh my internal God!”
The seven chakras are awakened by this mantra:
Remember that by conserving the waters of love and by pronouncing the sacred word, the mills or chakras awaken. This is even more powerful within a perfect matrimony.
We are continuing our course on self-knowledge, which we initiated a few weeks ago. We've been discussing in synthesis the nature of spiritual awakening, comprehension, and cognizance of the divine, which is within us, as well as some means and methods for how we can acquire that cognizance, that awakening for ourselves. We were talking about the nature of consciousness, what does it mean to be awakened, what does it mean to be perceptive, and we've explained in synthesis how perception is the root of thought, it is the root of emotion, and it is the root of impulse, instinct, will, desire, etc., and is the very source from which perception springs.
In the spirit of the Gnostic doctrine, which encompasses all religions, we've been explaining this teaching of self-awareness, self-knowledge, how to experience the divine in accordance with the mysticism of the Middle East―to demonstrate that this teaching is more than from the Christian standpoint. We think of gnosis, in terms of scholasticism today as being the study of the Christian gospels that were not canonized. But the Greek word gnosis is knowledge, knowledge that we acquire from experience, and has nothing to do with intellectualism, scholasticism, theorizing, debating. Instead, it's a concrete and factual knowledge of divinity. We were explaining this teaching in relation to the mysticism of Islam, and Islam in Arabic means submission to God's will. Whether we are Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, etc., we learn to submit to the will of divinity within us by developing that awareness, developing that understanding. Gnosis has been known in different terms in different religions, but amongst the Sufis, the mystics of Islam, they denominate this knowledge Marifah, knowledge, or Haqiqah, which means the truth. In this lecture, we're going to explain what we need to do in order to develop that awareness further, that knowledge further. It is a spiritual discipline. It is a method. It is based on cause and effect. Spiritual life is based upon the implementation of specific factors, which is why different religions have given different codified rules of conduct, in order to know divinity, whether it's the ten commandments of Judaism, whether it's the ten meritorious or non-meritorious actions of Buddhism, or whether it is the written commandments given in the Qur’an amongst the Muslims and the Sufis, and each tradition has its own specific instructions and conduct of how to discipline the mind. So in Buddhism, we speak about the need to discipline the mind in order to experience the serenity of no thought, to cease thinking, conceptualizing, preoccupation with the intellect which produces our problems and our sufferings. So the self-knowledge we seek is to train ourselves, to train our minds, train our bodies, our hearts, to know divinity and to understand what within our psyche obscures that divine intelligence, which religions have given different names, whether it is the inner Buddha, (which as we explained, Buddha means awakened one, to be cognizant, to be pristine, to be clear in thought, sentiment in being) or as amongst the Muslims, Allah, which has the Hebrew equivalent El. This is where you get many names of angels, Samael, Michael, Gabriel, etc. It is that Self we seek to understand. But of course to get there, we need to learn how to implement the appropriate causes to reap the specific effects we seek. As the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition stated (his name is Samael Aun Weor): Consciousness can only be awakened through conscious works and upright efforts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
We are going explain today specifically the parameters and the difficulties one faces when developing an introspection into the psyche. What are the obstacles we face, and what are some teachings that we can use to train an undisciplined mind to make it a disciplined and peaceful mind? Precisely because our mind, as it currently is, identifies with our daily problems, perhaps having arguments with loved ones, coworkers, conflicts. Any state of suffering indicates and points to causes within our psyche which need to be comprehended. It is by comprehending the source of the conflicts we experience within ourselves, within our interior, that we can obtain the peace of mind and the serenity of a divine and clear mind, one that fully reflects to its fullest potential the heavenly states of being, as we were discussing.
Awakening
We will reiterate a point we made in our last lecture. We were discussing the nature of consciousness and what it means to be awake, and what it means to be unconscious. Currently as we are, in our preoccupations with our daily struggle, the engagement with work, the many obligations and responsibilities we are subjected to, we state clearly that these in themselves form distractions. How we approach life, how we engage with life is determined by our quality of mind, our state of being. It is impossible to escape from the necessaries of life, but we can change our psychological attitude, how we approach it.
As we were saying, our physical senses may be awake: sight, taste, touch, hearing, feeling, etc. These in themselves indicate a state of physical wakefulness. But in terms of the spiritual potential we have, we state that this potential is asleep. It is not active. It is not fully developed to its potential, which is demonstrated by the Sufi proverb, "He who knows himself knows his Lord." If we were to know ourselves completely, we would know divinity completely, according to the ancient traditions. So, we often speak of the need for awareness, of remembrance of divinity, becoming cognizant of that presence within us. 
Specifically, we have the following quote from the scripture we've been quoting extensively in this course, the Risalah, or Principles of Sufism, (or you could say Gnosticism as well, they share the same roots) and this following quote is from a Sufi master by the name of Al-Wasiti. He was asked about the practice of remembrance and said:
It is leaving the enclosed court of unconsciousness for the vast space of contemplation through the power of fearing him and the intensity of loving him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So again, divinity is not some old man in the clouds, some anthropomorphic figure who distributes lightning bolts upon this anthill of humanity to make us suffer. That god does not exist, which is why Friedrich Nietzsche said, "God is dead," or that Judeo-Christian god is dead, doesn't exist. Instead, the God we're speaking of is a presence, is a force, an intelligence which is within us. As we explained in the story of the allegory of the cave, there is a process by which one escapes from that shackling and conditioning of the mind, of the psyche, of the consciousness in order to experience higher states of unconditionality, of liberation, of freedom from negative psychological states, such as pride, fear, anger, vanity, lust, etc. The seven deadly sins, we could say, according to some traditions.
We are explaining that what we seek to develop is consciousness free from conditions. In a moment of anger, we are conditioned by anger. We see through the object of that desire. We want to fulfill what that desire craves from us. And this, you could say, magnetic pull of forces in ourselves to act in a certain way, in a negative way, demonstrates to us that we don't have full control, that we don't have full knowledge of ourselves, that we are trapped in a given moment by exterior causes and conditions to constantly react to the exterior world in a way that is harmful, that is detrimental for ourselves and for others. When someone criticizes us, perhaps a sentiment of pride emerges, that we feel that we are better than the other person, followed by anger, with the thought, "That person should not have insulted me," followed by another train of thought, "Well, I'll just forget about it. Perhaps that won't affect my job so much." We constantly go through a chain of associative thinking, of thoughts, feelings, and emotions which pull at us in response to the external world, which in itself demonstrates that we are mechanical, meaning that we are like a machine in which anyone can press any button they wish, say anything they wish, and we will respond according to that wish, according to that impetus. This is why Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet when he was confronted and trying to fool the people of his household who were spying on him, he said: 'Sblood, do you think I'm easier to be played upon than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will. Though you fret me, you cannot play upon me. ―Shakespeare's Hamlet
Meaning, the world is constantly playing its notes upon our psyche. Certain individuals may provoke a response that they seek against our will. We say, "Oh, that person is someone I dislike strongly." The fact that we tend to lack full autonomy in certain situations illustrates that we are mechanical.
If in a moment of anger we can step back from that sentiment, that feeling, and not give into that impulse, that indicates to us that we are controlling and stepping away from that conditioned mind, that negative self, and we are learning to see from a state of objectivity, which in itself creates a serene mind. We want to be serene, peaceful. We want to know God. Anyone who approaches religion wants to know a quality of consciousness that is free from suffering, and the object of these studies is to understand the causes that produce our suffering, and also the suffering of others, and how to change them. We want to free ourselves from this conditioned mind, this tendency to react constantly to life. Instead, we want to learn how to respond in an objective, conscious, peaceable manner, with virtue, with ethical discipline. This brings us to the point of the necessity of training the mind, disciplining that which is conditioned within us. 
Discipline of Mind
We have in this image a woman being crowned by an angel and the following poem by the mystic Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, where he states the importance of this discipline of mind:
Let's ask God to help us to self-control, for one who lacks it, lacks his grace. The undisciplined person doesn't wrong himself alone, but sets fire to the whole world. Discipline enabled heaven to be filled with light. Discipline enabled the angels to be immaculate and holy. The peacock's plumage is his enemy. The world is the mountain, and each action the shout that echoes back. The discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. ―Rumi
What is this peacock's plumage? If we examine our mind, we see that we may entail or contain many elements of pride, a sense of self that feels important, that does not want to be criticized or rejected or ostracized. We are, in spiritual language, that peacock. All of us possess a sense of self-esteem that does not want to be hurt. But it's precisely this subjective egotistical sense of self which is the impetus of our suffering. That plumage, that self-image that we carry in our mind, in our psyche, is our enemy. Instead, we have a different image in the soul that can exist if we know how to develop it, which is the divine, a divine image. But usually we have our own psychological tendencies, such as pride, self-esteem, self-importance, arrogance, etc., that we adorn ourselves with, like the peacock.
And the world is the mountain, and each action the shout that echoes back, meaning cause and effect. There are psychological causes for happiness, and there are also physical causes for happiness and sorrow. Certain actions will produce harmful results. We know this obviously from religion. But psychologically speaking, we have elements that we ignore, sadly, because with the law of cause and effect, our psychological actions, meaning our thoughts, our feelings, our will, have an effect on others, have an effect within ourselves. Usually we tend to think that we exist in this bubble and that we can say what we want, feel what we want, think what we want, and that it won't have any consequence. But all spiritual studies, or better said, all genuine religions teach that we become what we think. Mind precedes phenomena, according to the Buddha in his Dhammapada. “This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross.” What is that pure silver that we seek to develop? It is the immaculate nature of the soul that has been removed of all its conditions. The dross is the imperfections that we created, but by implementing a discipline, in putting forth the causes of liberation, we could say, we purify ourselves like a furnace. But for this to happen, we must enter the fires of emotional crises, painful circumstances, so that we confront our own secret ugliness with the express purpose of eliminating our desires, our defects and faults. But of course, I like how Rumi says that it's rough treatment. It's not pleasant to face one's mistakes and to confront them and to want to change them. It takes a strong sense of heroism to want to overcome our causes that produce our suffering. Levels of Spiritual Instruction and Discipline
So this spiritual discipline has been known in different religions in a certain structure. There are three levels of instruction given throughout Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc. We could say that there are levels of spiritual discipline, levels of work which have been taught in different languages, in different ways, and in this image we have the three levels of instruction, introductory, intermediate, and advanced, in accordance with the Muslim doctrine, but I'm going to give you some other references to show the universality of this.
The introductory teachings have been known as Shariah, the exoteric doctrine of Islam. In Judaism, we call it the body of the doctrine, known as the Torah. Certain scriptures have certain levels of application to our life. And so in Judaism, we say that the Torah is the body of the doctrine, the introduction to the Jewish mysticism. We also have intermediate teaching, which is known as Tariqah in Arabic, meaning the path. This is the mesoteric, or middle way into the heart of religion. And in Judaism, we find this mystical path is known by the Talmud, which is a philosophical discourse on the Torah. Then likewise, we have an advanced teaching, an advanced discipline, which in Arabic is known as Marifah or Haqiqah, meaning knowledge or truth. This is the esoteric teaching, the hidden teaching―a very high level of discipline we can access if we know how. So, in Judaism, we say that these advance teaching is known as the Zohar, or known by the body of literature in the Kabbalistic tradition by the scripture, Book of Splendors, Zohar. Buddhism has its own application to this. The introductory level is known as Shravakayana. Shravaka means “listener, he who hears.” Yana means vehicle, or level of instruction or practice. All of us who begin any spiritual studies, we have to hear first. We learn to listen, and then we learn to apply it in our practice and our path, which develops into the intermediate teaching, which is when we're applying this knowledge and making it practical, and where we're getting results, known as Tariqah. In Buddhism, this intermediate path is known as Mahayana, very famous in relation to Tibetan Buddhism. Maha means great. Yana means vehicle. This level of discipline is much more advanced. In the first level of teaching, introductory discipline, we are seeking to develop our own spirituality for ourselves, meaning: we wish to stop suffering and so we seek to put in place the causes that are going to help to prevent us from suffering further. In this intermediate path, our spirituality and spiritual discipline is based more on helping others. Whereas we benefited our own selves, we developed some equanimity of mind, and then with our spirituality, we seek to help the spirituality of others, or to help others in a positive sense, in any way we are capable. Then with the advanced teaching, it pertains to more expedient methods, known as Tantrayana in Tibetan Buddhism. Tantra is, we could say the diamond vehicle, the superior vehicle, which has practices and methods which are very transcendental, which require a lot of purity of mind to enact. So there are levels of instruction, levels of discipline we engage with. You could say that in the opening level of Shariah, relates to how we discipline ourselves. How do we curtail negative habits? This word Shariah, of course if we're familiar with the news, has a lot of baggage. In the Middle East, it pertains to punitive laws in relation to Muslim countries. But according to the Sufis, this term, is more internal, specific. It pertains to what are the modes of conduct we engage with to be spiritual. It doesn't mean to follow the certain laws of certain countries. Instead, it means to discipline the mind. That's how the Sufis denominate this teaching. Then with the intermediate paths, we seek to cultivate our knowledge deeper, in a more profound manner. The thing to remember with these gradations of discipline is we seek to move from a self-centered focus to a focus on others. This doesn't mean the spiritual luminaries of humanity want us to be a teacher or a preacher or to be giving some form of transmission of knowledge in this sense, but instead it could pertain to whatever obligation we are placed with in life, in which divinity places us so that we can better ourselves. The Divine Law and Reality
Now the Sufis explained these three paths, the introductory, intermediate, and the advanced levels of discipline in the following manner. This is from Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri, where he elaborates on points we made previously.
The divine law, Shariah, commands one to the duty of servant-hood. The way, Tariqah, or the inner reality, Haqiqah is the contemplation of divine lordship. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
And so also in terms of this discipline, with Shariah we are learning to curtail negative habits, followed by the ten commandments or other codes of conduct. Don't lie, don't steal, don't cheat, don't fornicate, don't commit adultery, don't harm others. This is in order to help us to serve divinity in our physical life. But as we explained previously, the inner reality, or that advanced stage of practice is the actual experience of the divine, Haqiqah. Haqq means “truth” in Arabic. And this truth is, we're given the Arabic terms, but this truth is known in different names. It just depends on the tradition you're referring to. And so the Way, reality, Haqiqah, is to contemplate divine lordship, meaning to know and experience the divine. Contemplation, meditation, these are states of consciousness in which one is fully connected with our source in a divine sense.
One thing we will emphasize: the Shariah is the discipline we engage with in our life in order to serve the divine. We could say that this is a form of fear, but not in the egotistical sense. People often talk about fearing God, and of course that phrase has a lot of baggage associated with it, too. We're not talking about fear from some person or to not commit an act because someone told us not to but because we know that the consequences will produce suffering and that we feel that remorse, that sense of conscience that knows that we should not behave in that way. Shariah is to fear God, meaning: to fear the consequences of one's actions, because we are accountable before the divine, and that our actions, depending on how we live, produce happiness or sorrow for others, and we are weighed and evaluated based on that by our own divinity, by our own being, we could say. Going back to the quote from the beginning by Al-Wasiti, the intensity of loving him, the intensity of loving the divine, that is Haqiqah, the path to the truth. That form of discipline in which someone as a master, spiritually speaking, is accessing God all the time and has no forgetfulness. That's a very high level of discipline. In the beginning, we're trying to be mindful, be aware of ourselves, moment by moment, day by day, through self-observation, self-awareness. When we learn to access those deeper states of concentration, meditation as well as experiencing the divine, we access those higher levels, known as Haqiqah, in which in the beginning we are fearing God, meaning to fear the consequences of our actions, to have a sense of caution, to know that what we do cannot be taken away. Every action has a consequence. But if you wish to overcome the consequences of wrong action, what we do is seek to replace it with a superior action, because a superior law, the divine law above transcends our daily life, and so it can overcome those mistaken actions we engage with. In the beginning, we fear God, and in the end, we love God because we know Him directly. We also explained the following quote previously: Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. Divine law brings obligation upon the creation, which is us, the soul, while the way is founded upon the free action or experience of the real. The divine law, Shariah, is that you serve him. The way is that you see him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We mentioned that in order to experience God, we need to implement the methods that are going to give us the results we seek, and that it is not enough just to want to have the experience. We have to practice. Hence of course, in this tradition, the Gnostic tradition, we have many exercises, which we give at the end of each lecture, that you can engage with so that you can come to know divinity directly.
The divine law is doing what you have been ordered to do. Haqiqah, the truth, is bearing witness to what he has determined and ordained hidden and revealed. I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq (who is the Sufi teacher of this writer, Al-Qushayri) say that in God's saying in the opening book of the Qur’an, iyyāka naʿbudu: “You we worship.” This preserves the outward practice, the divine law. Iyyāka nastaʿīnu: “To you we turn for help,” establishes the inner reality, the way. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So with “you do we worship,” we're putting forth causes to practice, spiritually speaking. And it's by implementing those practices that we can receive that grace. You cannot have one without the other. It is a simple law of cause and effect. In order to know God, we have to learn how to meditate, which is something we'll be building up towards progressively in these lectures.
So know that religious obligation is a spiritual reality and that it was made necessary by his command. Spiritual reality is a religious obligation and that the realizations of him were also made necessary by his command. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Practice and experience, these have to go hand in hand, and we need to cultivate both. How do we do so? Discipline in a spiritual sense does not necessarily refer to some kind of military exercises or a chore, something that is boring or in a negative sense. Instead, this spiritual discipline is based upon the joy of experiencing the results, or by when we engage with a practice, whether it's a mantra, a sacred sound, or in meditation, we naturally see the benefits of our actions, and that we are more inclined to engage with that discipline. But of course this type of work implies a direction of will, or better said, a re-direction of will. So we need to learn how to develop a spiritual will, a conscious will that does not obey the conditioning of the mind. It is will that is free of conditions. It knows how to act, to respond with equanimity, with serenity, with peace of mind to any situation. This is the foundation, or the beginning of entering the path of spirituality.
Spiritual and Egotistical WillIradah, the will to find God, is the beginning of the path of spiritual travelers, the first title given to those who are determined to reach God Most High. This attribute is only called iradah because will is the preface to every undertaking. When the servant does not will, he does not carry out. Since this is the start of the enterprise of one who travels the path of God Almighty and Glorious, it is called ‘will’ by analogy to the resolution involved at the beginning of everything else. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
The word Iradah relates, in Arabic relates to riyadat, which means discipline as well, which we're going be talking about in the next few slides.
As I mentioned to you, we seek to develop willpower free from conditions, a will that does not depend on anger, on fear, on resentment. We say that those negative psychological qualities are desires. They're conflicting wills that always push us to act in contradictory ways. The willpower we seek to develop is one that is free of conditioning and belongs to the divine. But the will we have to access, in order to access this, we have to abandon many habits, many forms of conditions. 
In this graphic we have the famous Bacchanalias of Rome, the famous orgies and feasts where people abandon themselves to alcohol and sex, indulging in sensual pleasures at the expense of the soul. This is a symbol for us at least in relation to this lecture of how the mind is constantly addicted to sensations and experiences, wanting to engage with certain habits, certain impulses which, when satiated, only come back more hungry with more force. It is the mistake of pop psychology in this day and age that states that by feeding desire you will reach a type of catharsis, meaning that it is nullified, it is annihilated. People commonly believe that by feeding desire, giving into what you want in an egotistical sense, you will satiate that desire and it will go away. The truth is that by feeding desire, you strengthen it. By feeding that negative will, by giving into anger, we feed that anger. We strengthen that cage, as we were speaking of previously. Instead, we have to learn how to restrain that impulse, which is done precisely through the effort of the pure consciousness, which in Gnostic psychology is known as essence, the essence of the divine.
The Sufis emphasize the following in relation to the type of psychology we need to develop and to abandon: Many people talked about the meaning of will, each expressing the extent it has manifested to his heart. Most shaykhs, or teachers, say that will means the abandonment of what has become habitual. What is habitual for people in the vast majority of cases is dwelling in the realms of unconsciousness, basing one's life on the pursuit of the passions, and inclining toward whatever one’s desires call for. The spiritual aspirant is someone who has cast off all this. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So as I mentioned to you, the beginning of accessing real spirituality is overcoming desire. Question: I feel like this is pressing, when you take it all away, are you truly taking it all away? Because there's something that must be left, especially if the desire comes from somewhere. Instructor: Good question. The desire is a cage, is a shell, what we call an ego, a sense of “I” or of self. Within that conditioning, within that shell is the consciousness, part of our soul that's trapped. If we want to develop our spirituality, we have to break those cages, and then you liberate the soul like the genie from Aladdin's lamp, which can grant you the wishes of any spiritual wish you long for. Question: What you're saying is that we've taken the desire to find what's really there? Instructor: Through comprehension of that defect, that desire, we learn to eliminate them and free the energy that's trapped inside, and that builds more consciousness, which develops our willpower further to accomplish greater spiritual works. But, of course, to do that, we have to overcome the Bacchanalia of the mind, meaning the mind's tendency to want to indulge in sensations and negative habits, whether it be through drinking alcohol to excess, or that desire, that craving for sexuality, of indulging with the impulses of the body, but without any sense of spirituality. We talk extensively about how one can learn to use one's physicality, one's body, one's mind, one's heart, and one's sexuality, one's creative energies in the body in order to develop one's spirituality. This is very well known in Tantric Buddhism, known in writings such as The Perfect Matrimony. But in this topic, we're talking about how to abandon the conditions in the mind of desire, of trying to feed cravings that can never be satiated. Instead, to develop equanimity and pure serene will, one has to break the cage. But when I talk about willpower, I don't refer to something rigid, something dogmatic, something impulsive. It refers to an effortless state of consciousness that knows how to act appropriately in any given circumstance. That type of willpower, we can taste it if we learn to meditate and awaken our perception. 
This type of will was illustrated by Jesus of Nazareth in his Passion. We see here in this image, he's praying in the garden of Gethsemane and he physically demonstrated for us the path of spirituality and spiritual will that we need to fulfill in ourselves. Now this path doesn't mean that we have to live like Jesus, meaning physically how he did. Instead, it pertains to how we apply our psyche, our consciousness to adhere to the values he taught. Here he's praying before his passion, knowing that he's going to be crucified, where he stated, “Thy will be done,” meaning “Father, if it is possible, take this cup of bitterness from me, but not my will but Thine be done.” This is a very powerful teaching about how the disciple who enters this teaching or this path finds that there are many forms of bitterness one has to face in relation to confronting one's own impurities, meaning one's defects. Facing certain situations is very challenging, but this is precisely the purging and the furnace in which the silver is extracted from the dross. He says, "Thy will be done, not mine." It is this trust in the divine will, in which our will obeys the will of divinity, in which we can access true peace and overcome our greatest problems. But every one of us will have his own type of Passion; we could say, ordeals, struggles, challenges which we have to face and conquer.
The Sufis teach the following in relation to the relationship between our will and the divine: According to etymology, the disciple is ‘he who possesses will,’ just as the knower is ‘he who possesses knowledge,’ because the word belongs to the class of derived nouns. But in Sufi usage, the disciple is he who possesses no will at all! (Meaning no egotistical will, no self-will, me, myself, mine. It is a will that knows how to obey the divine commandments). Here, one who does not abandon will, (or better said egotistical will) cannot be called a disciple just as linguistically one who does not possess will (meaning conscious will, spiritual will) cannot be called a disciple. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
There's this duality there. It's written in a very enigmatic way to confuse people who were not initiated to the teaching. Instead, it's speaking in a very objective sense, meaning if you want to develop real spirituality, you have to abandon all desire, all self-will, the sense of me, my, and access the true self, which is beyond conditions. That was demonstrated by the path of the will of Christ. In this process, we learn to strive against our own impurities, our own mind.
It is through the path of confronting our own defects in which we learn to acquire true peace. This is known as the doctrine of mujahadah in Arabic, which is where you get the word jihad. The word jihad has many negative connotations today, especially on the news. Sadly, this teaching has degenerated. It's been misappropriated, because the real meaning of the word jihad is not holy war, it is striving to mortify the self, to confront the impurities of the psyche and to change them. Now, Prophet Muhammad was asked by his Companions after they were defending themselves from a group of―I believe it was the Meccans who were trying to kill him, and so rightfully so, he needed to defend himself. The Prophet Muhammad stated: "We are now leaving the lesser holy war to the greater holy war," and the Companions asked, "What, oh Muhammad, is the greater holy war and the lesser holy war?" "The lesser war," he said, "is to defend yourself (or to fight in battle), but the greater holy war is to fight against your own desires (your own defects, your own wishes, and really to do the divine will)."
So, in Arabic there are other words for war, but jihad unfortunately through time has been translated to have that meaning. But jihad means striving to fight against one's own afflictions. This is the basis of spirituality. Confronting and overcoming our own lower self, our conditioned self, and learning to liberate the soul that's trapped in it by comprehending those cages and eliminating them.
So we have the following quote from the Risalah of Qushayri: Principles of Sufism, that elaborates on these points: Know that the foundation and rationale of struggle or striving (mujahadah) is to wean the ego from what is familiar to it and to induce it to oppose its desires (passions) at all times. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We explained before the ego is this negative self that says, "Me, my, I must have, I must do, I must act." Of course this term ‘ego’ has become popularized in modern culture, especially from the work of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, but in Gnostic psychology, ego is not just one sense of self. It is a multiplicity. Every sentiment, every thought, every feeling, every memory can be associated to different defects, different selves, different fragments of consciousness, conditions that have trapped our soul. As a result of our wrong actions in the past, we created these different fragmentations of self, and it is by learning to comprehend these individual defects in which we learn to destroy them, to liberate the soul. And so the ego as we say refers to this pluralized sense of self, this multiple sense of selves. We can say ego is one, as in an ego, but also ego is the whole conglomeration of defects that we have, which is represented in the bible by the story of Jesus exorcising a man who was possessed by demons, in which the man said, "Leave us alone, Jesus," and Jesus said, "Who are you?" And the man said, "I am Legion, for we are many." It's a symbol of the nature of our soul and it's not just a little history of someone in the past, but something psychological.
We say the ego, animal soul, is animal-like because it only seeks to fulfill its own desire, its own impetus. The ego (animal soul) has two traits that prevent it from good, total preoccupation with cravings, (attraction of pleasure), and refusal of obedience (avoidance of pain and harm). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
There's this duality of the mind, meaning craving, aversion; to want to feed desire and then want to run away from pain. These are egotistical tendencies.
From Al-Qushayri’s Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism: When the ego is defined in the pursuit of desire, it must be curbed with the reigns of awe of God (meaning the remembrance of the divine presence in us. This is self-awareness). When it stubbornly refuses to conform to God's will it must be steered toward opposing its desires, when it rages in anger [at being opposed], its state should be controlled. No process has a better outcome than the breaking of the power of anger by developing good character traits and by extinguishing its fires by gentleness... ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
...which is why Prophet Muhammad said.
The strongest among you is he who controls his anger. ―Hadith
And Samael Aun Weor, the founder of this tradition, the modern Gnostic tradition stated that:
Kindness is a much more crushing force than anger. ―Samael Aun Weor
We can heal with compassion. We can disarm an enemy with kindness when it is genuine.
And if the soul finds sweetness in the wine of arrogance, (meaning an intoxicated psychological state, which is a symbol of not just physical drinking but indulging in desire, indulging in psychological tendencies that are harmful, which make one drunk and unaware of one's self) it will become incapable of anything but showing off its great deeds and preening itself before anyone who will look at it and notice it. It is necessary to break it of this habit, dissolving it with the punishment of humiliation by the means of whatever will make the soul remember its paltry worth, its lowly origin, and its despicable acts. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So humiliation does not mean we flagellate ourselves like certain sects, whether in the Middle East or Europe, as monks in the Middle Ages did. The type of humiliation we speak of is humility, to be humble. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Or better said, blessed are the non-resentful, meaning to not harbor negative sentiment toward any other person, but instead to receive criticism from a state of humility.
It is really in different circumstances in which we are confronted with conflicts that we can attain the most spiritual growth. In a moment where someone criticizes us and we restrain our pride in order to not retaliate with our verb, we in turn can develop humility. We recognize that sense of self that is attached to what this person says or doesn't do, is really ludicrous. “It shouldn't have any hold on me,” we should say. “Instead, this defect is something I need to work against, and in fact the person who criticizes me is doing me a favor and is opening the doors for my spirituality. Therefore I should pay more attention and work on my own sense of self, which wants to constantly react.” And that is how we humiliate the negative self. We don't give it what it wants, don't feed it. And of course when you don't feed a desire, it comes back and it fights and it becomes very hungry, which is why this is a spiritual battle, spiritual conflict, and a spiritual training. Kabbalah and Self-Discipline
In this graphic we have an image we study extensively in this tradition. This is the Hebraic Tree of Life known in the book of Genesis alongside the Tree of Knowledge. It is a symbol of states of consciousness, levels and qualities of being, from the highest regions of perception above to the lowest level of matter, energy, and perception below. Below we have this sphere of Malkuth which in Hebrew means kingdom. This is our physical body. We're going to explain the nature of this spiritual discipline in relation to this graphic because this graphic can help us understand who we are, where we are, what we need to change, what we need to work against, what we need to work with in relation to the following quote, whereby we study the nature of controlling these animalistic tendencies, animalistic desires which we contain within our subconsciousness and our lower psychological depths.
The following is given by a Sufi master by the name of Hujwiri, in his book Revelation of the Mystery, where he explains how this spiritual discipline is a matter of training the animality of the mind, the instinctiveness, the impulsivity of the mind to always want to satisfy its desires: Does not training, riyadat (this is the Persian word for riyadat, the Arabic word for training) alter the animal qualities of a wild horse and substitute human qualities in their stead so that he will pick up a whip from the ground and give it to his master or will roll a ball with his foot. In the same way, a boy without sense in a foreign race is taught by training to speak Arabic and take a new language in exchange for his mother tongue. And a savage beast is trained to go away when leave is given to it and to come back when it is called, preferring captivity to freedom. Therefore Sahl (a Sufi master he's referring to) and his followers argue. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
Mortification, meaning striving or mujahadah, mortification referring to humiliation of the ego, to confront the ego, to work against it, to fight against it, and to mortify it. The word mort is the prefix for the word death, and this word refers to the death of those animalistic desires in order to preserve the life of the spirit within us. Through death we gain to spiritual life, as Francis of Assisi taught in his famous prayer: "It is in dying that we live and inherit everlasting life," he said.
So therefore his followers argue: Mortification, striving, mujahadah is just as necessary for the attainment of union with God as diction and composition are necessary for the elucidation of ideas. As one is led to knowledge of the creator by assurance that the universe was created by him, so one is led to union with God by knowledge and mortification of the lower soul. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery 
What is it that we need to mortify? We were talking a lot about willpower. In this tree of life we see at the very center of this graphic, the sphere known as Tiphereth in Hebrew, which means beauty. It can also mean resplendence, splendor. This is the beauty of the soul. This is willpower. And it's the center of the tree of life because this is how we access either the heavenly regions above or how we give into desires below.
Below the sphere of Tiphereth we have what's known as Netzach in Hebrew, meaning “Victory” relating to the mind, to thought, to reasoning. To the left we have this sphere of Hod, in Hebrew means “Glory.” This is our sentimentality, our emotionality, our feelings. Below that we have Yesod, meaning “Foundation.” This is our vitality, our energies: that which gives us strength in the morning when we wake up from sleep, that which allows us to physically exist. It can also refer to the energy responsible for our body for producing our biochemistry, our health, our catabolism, our metabolism, our sexual impulses, the energies that give us life physically, etc. Below that, we have Malkuth, which is our physical body. Above that sphere of Tiphereth, this willpower, we have the divine spheres. Below that we have what we can call the inferior soul: mind, emotion, vitality, and physicality. These are things that we typically use in a negative manner, meaning whether we have negative thoughts, negative feelings, or we produce negative actions with our physicality, our body. Our willpower is part of our soul above, and we see that Tiphereth is human soul. It is the capacity for genuine spiritual beauty, because beautiful action is as contingent upon this fear of action. So remember that these are spheres of being, of consciousness, but also expressions of matter, energy, and perception. This also refers to different dimensions of nature, because our psyche exists in different dimensions and even physically we see that we may be aware of thought, feeling, and sensation. Sensation of course relates to our body, but thoughts and feelings themselves aren't necessarily physical, but we sense them. These are senses that belong to a different level of consciousness or dimensionality that all mix and penetrate and co-penetrate without confusion here within us, here and now. This tree is not something outside. It's something inside, something psychological. It refers to dimensions we can access when the physical body is asleep, and we access the world of dreams where we can see these different regions of this tree of a life in a more subtle manner. But this pertains more to our psychology. Above willpower we have the consciousness, which is divine, the Divine Soul. And then we have Spirit, pertaining to our own inner God, our inner Buddha, our true being. Above that we have this famous trinity known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Hebrew it is Kether, Chokmah, and Binah: “Crown,” “Wisdom,” and “Understanding” or “Intelligence.” These are forces. These are not physical people as the church teaches. Instead, it pertains to qualities of energy and perception that are very high. So we have to use our will to control these lower spheres, to control our thoughts, control our feelings, and control our body in order to follow the will of divinity above. Thy will be done―the Spirit and the divine spheres above. Thy will be done on earth, this body, as it is in heaven. It refers to this graphic. We will talk more in depth throughout our courses about the intricacies of this image and different levels and depths of this teaching. But here we're just giving it in a very synthetic way to give you some context. We see that to strive against one's defects is to enter into contemplation. To contemplate the divine, to meditate on the divine is a matter of comprehension. Comprehension is a profound psychological state in which we access divinity here and now. The Sufis emphasize that if you want to know God you have to fight against your own desires. This doesn't mean to flagellate oneself, to become a morbid person, to become negative, to become melancholic or sad or dejected, because if we look in the mind we see there are elements that are very chaotic and that we don't want, but this is no justification for repression or for a self-flagellating type of attitude, like “I am a bad person and therefore I deserve to suffer.” That is totally not what we're speaking about. That is a negative attitude born from ignorance. On the one hand, there is the craving and aversion. There are two extremes: wanting something and wanting to reject something. These are qualities of mind that we typically swing back and forth between in our daily life which is the pendulum that keeps us hypnotized, keeps us unaware. On the other hand, consciousness and this striving against oneself is born from a state of peace, of equanimity, of self-awareness that is not impelled or conditioned or manipulated by those different forces. Instead, it's a state of peaceful mind in which we can see clearly, “Oh, this sense of anger is arising in me. I see it and I'm separate from it and therefore I can develop this opposite which is compassion.” Likewise with fear: “Oh, I understand this element of fear is rising in me therefore I'm going to remember my God who is the life of the galaxy, of the cosmos, of the universe. Therefore why should I feel insecure when my own divinity is responsible for the universe? Therefore there's no need for fear.” Then fear is nullified. We comprehend it. We understand the virtues associated or trapped within that vice, you could say. For every vice we have, every defect, there is a virtue we can develop when we extract the soul from that cage. “Those who strive to the upmost for our sake,” says the Qur’an, “we will guide them into our ways.” (Surah 29, verse 69) [meaning, whoever mortifies himself or strives against his defects will attain to contemplation]. Furthermore, he contends that in as much as the books revealed to the prophets and the sacred law (Shariah, the introductory level instruction), and all the religious ordinances imposed on mankind involve mortification (striving against oneself). They must all be false and vain if mortification was not the cause of contemplation. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
This means if your mind is chaotic, if you sit to relax and observe your mind, to meditate, you find that there are many distractions that emerge, whether they are memories, daydreams, preoccupations, thoughts of what to do later in the day, what happened in the past, any resentments, fears, worries; these are all surging elements that are chaotic. Of course, in the beginning when we observe that fact, many times we become horrified that this state of being is harming us. The truth is we're just becoming aware now for the first time of our daily mindset. One has to be brave and courageous to continue further, meaning to not be dismayed but to have courage and strength in order to face the chaotic mind and in order to confront it, to change it, to achieve equanimity.
It is with a mind that is free of desire, of thinking, of subjective sentimentalism, feeling, etc., in which the lake of the mind can be clear, pure and pristine in order to reflect the starry images and heavens above. Any time we act upon a desire in our mind, or physically, that is like a rock that lands into the lake and causes a ripple. It is like a ripple that disturbs the lake of the mind and becomes agitated. And likewise we need to learn to transform the impressions we receive in life with equanimity and peace of mind, so that that lake does not become agitated. When it's pure and peaceful, calm, serene, then we can reflect heaven above within our psychological interior. Again, both in this world and the next, everything is connected with principles and causes. If it is maintained that principles have no causes then there is an end to all law and order. Neither can religious obligations be justified, nor will food be the cause of repletion and clothes the cause of warmth. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
There are two levels of individuals, human beings: those of spiritual discipline and those who have attained those heights of contemplation, which is why the following Sufi master, Abu 'l-Sari Mansur Ibn. 'Ammar said the following:
All mankind may be reduced to two types. The man who knows himself and whose business is self-mortification, striving, and discipline, and the man who knows his Lord, whose business is to serve and worship and please him. Accordingly, the worship of the former is discipline, riyadat, (which of course depends on Iradah, willpower, spiritual will) while the worship of the latter is sovereignty, riyasat. The former practice is devotion in order that he may attain a higher degree (the former devotion constituting the introductory level. We practice so that we can eventually experience that truth for ourselves, Haqiqah above). But the latter practices devotion having already attained all. What a vast difference between the two!" ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
One is the discipline of the mind, and the other is the discipline of sovereignty. A sovereign is a king or a queen of nature: a being that has fully mastered him or herself. And so we have to ask ourselves, are we kings and queens of nature, meaning are we fully masters of our thoughts, feelings, actions, impulses, or are we impelled by them? That's a question we have to ask ourselves in order to develop our spirituality.
Faith, Belief, and Will
We emphasize throughout these teachings that there's a difference between faith and belief. We see that belief in itself is a concept of the mind, is a sentiment of the heart―feeling and thinking that something is true simply based on that feeling and that thinking without having the experience of that truth. Now we have to emphasize in this teaching that the willpower we seek to enact is what develops genuine faith. Faith is not belief. To believe that something is true is a concept of the mind or of the heart, a sentiment of the heart, whereas we say that genuine faith is knowing from experience. You put certain causes and effect and you will reap the result.
Now based on this definition, we have the following quote from The Dayspring of Youth by the Master Morya. He said the following: Here we think a note upon faith should be of interest. Initiates (or spiritual masters) say that its meaning has been misunderstood. Faith as the world uses it possesses no spiritual nature. Though in the secondary system it means power and energy applied to action. All success in yoga (yoga meaning from the Sanskrit yug, to unite with the divine, or the Latin, religare, religion, to reunite, it is the same meaning) comes from this application. For the true quality of faith is a solar force that illumines the mind and attracts to it atoms of power and energy. More human wrecks have resulted from their misconception of this quality than man realizes. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
This means it is not enough just to think that something is true or to feel something is true. Those are subjective qualities of the ego. Instead, faith is conscious experience. We know something is true from fact, what we have verified, what gnosis we have gained. And likewise, it is by applying our will to spiritual practice in which we can strengthen that willpower and attain the genuine heights of spirituality, which is why the apostle James stated the following in chapter 2 of his book, verses 14 to 17:
What doth it profit, my brethren, if someone sayeth he hath faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother and sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace and be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead. ―James 2:14-17
Now to conclude this lecture, we'll end with a certain practice you can use to develop spiritual will and develop genuine faith. This is known as the Runic yoga in the Gnostic tradition. The Nordic alphabet is an ancient letter system that implies a very deep yogic practice. Positioning the body in certain postures in order to sing prayer and mantras in order to invoke spiritual energies or in this case in this exercise we have for today, this is known as the Rune Dorn, in order to develop spiritual willpower, or we could say Christ's will. Christ is not just Jesus, but the energy he incarnated, the higher three spheres on the Tree of Life we talked about, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, that tri-unity, that tri-force, which can enter into us when we are prepared.
With this exercise we learn to inoculate our psyche, our body with those high forces, those energies. What you do is you stand with your feet together facing the east when the sun rises. So as soon as you get up from bed, face the east, put your left hand on your left side, your right hand on your right hip, and you pronounce the following mantras: Ta, Te, Ti, To, Tu. Each vowel is prolonged. The sacred sounds when you prolong them and make them vibrate in your body, they activate the glands. They invoke spiritual energies which will invigorate your will and help you to fight against that conditionality and negativity of the psyche.
Simply, this image refers to and looks like a hammer. It is the hammer of Dorn, the God Dorn in Nordic mythology, the God Thor, unfortunately mimicked in Marvel Comics now, but this is a symbol of superior willpower. When you pronounce those mantras prolonged, taaaaaaaaaaa, teeeeeeeeeeee, tiiiiiiiiiii, tooooooo, tuuuuuuuuuu, prolonging each vowel with your full breath inhale, pronounce one of those vowels completely until your lungs are exhausted and then likewise with the next vowel, with ta, te, ti, to, tu.
That activates certain energetic centers in the body, in the psyche known as chakras in Hinduism to activate spiritual faculties. That is how we can strengthen our willpower and give you energy to apply to your spiritual life. If you find that you're sluggish mentally, emotionally, physically, even if you get enough sleep, this is a very powerful practice that invokes those forces, especially if you get up very early in the morning, like five or six, whenever the sun rises, and praying to the divine, you can place your hands on your heart. We do this in the Sufi style or the Egyptian style, right hand over your left over your heart, and whatever words you have naturally, pray to the divine. Say, "My Lord, please grant me spiritual strength in my work in order to fill my heart and soul with peace and with energy." Then do the mantras, like this, the vowels. This is the Runic language or the Runic yoga, which we'll be giving courses about in the future.
Questions and Answers
Question: So we say each of those with one breath?
Instructor: It is “Ta,” one breath, and then the next, “Te,” another breath, and so on with the rest of the vowels. And focus when you mantralize. When you pronounce those sounds, feel the vibration of the vowel in your own mantralization, and focus on the energies that it provokes, and you'll find that it really will, especially if you practice in the morning, when it is good to get up very early and the energies are very conducive to meditate and to pray. This is why the Qur’an teaches the recitation at dawn, how beautiful is that to get up in the morning to pray and to seek remembrance of the divine. It's very powerful. And simply you can do this for ten minutes, you could do it for 30. For however long you feel. Question: It should be done in the morning? Instructor: It can be done in the morning. It's good, better in the morning, but you can do it in the evening too as well, at night. But it is best in morning hours, which are always more conducive for spiritual practice. This develops Christ's will, the will of Christ, the will of the divine in us as it is in heaven. Question: You were discussing how we need to break our mechanical reactivity to life, for example, "If in a moment of anger we can step back from that sentiment, that feeling, and not give into that impulse, that indicates to us that we are controlling and stepping away from that conditioned mind, that negative self, and we are learning to see from a state of objectivity, which in itself creates a serene mind." Similarly, Gurdjieff often writes about the necessity for a man to engage in an internal struggle against his mechanicity; without struggle, there is no possibility to develop autonomy. In my own practice, I get a bit tripped up over this point. Firstly, still being very much asleep, it is difficult to discern if the internal struggle is positive or egotistical. I have a personal tendency toward repression/depression, so while I appear to have considerable restraint at times, I find in meditation that this is often motivated by fear of doing something wrong more than spiritual discipline. I can avoid performing a harmful behavior yet blind myself to the desire provoking it. It seems like at the beginning of our spiritual work, before we have cultivated sufficient psychological equilibrium, we just have to make effort to restrain any will because it is likely selfish desire. However, if this leads to repression, we won't see the unconscious desires that are causing our suffering. Do we need such a strong force of renunciation just to push ourselves to start on the path? How can we aim for the right balance at the beginning? Instructor: Samael Aun Weor explained the following that can help elucidate this topic for you: To experience the Truth is fundamental. It is not by means of exertion that we can experience the Truth. The Truth is not the result; the Truth is not the product of exertion. The Truth comes to us by means of profound comprehension. We need to exert ourselves in order to work in the Great Work and to transmute our creative energies. We need to exert ourselves to live, to struggle and to tread the path of Integral Revolution, but we do not need to exert ourselves in order to comprehend the Truth. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
Comprehension takes no effort. It happens when we are observing our psychological states and do not expect anything. We simply see the psychological processes of the mind for what they are, without exertion (justification or morbidity / repression).
When the Sufis speak of striving, they refer to the meditative path of serenity as taught within Buddhism, the nine stages of shamatha. It takes great effort in the beginning to restrain the mind from harmful impulses and to concentrate oneself, yet this effort becomes effortless as we become acclimated to and familiar with such states the further one develops serenity. You can measure how well you are striving against the mind in relation to how much you comprehend in yourself. Are you understanding the causes of suffering more? Are your psychological states more profound and serene? Do you learn to respond to the unpleasant manifestations of your fellow men and women with equanimity and compassion? Or are you stuck in the battle of the antitheses, reacting to life without comprehension or intuition? The ego of shame can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, whereby we see our faults and make the error of reacting egotistically to what we perceive. The solution is to comprehend what shame is, which is inverted pride, the self that takes pride in, “I am a bad person!” It sounds funny, but when you observe this ego, this is how it functions. It thinks it knows what is bad, but it’s just reactionary. It’s a “Gnostic” ego that thinks it is doing the work and which everyone mistakenly creates when on this path. The solution is to develop remorse, which is a conscious quality that recognizes the insignificance of our individual person before the majesty of divinity. Remorse is also the voice of conscience, the beauty and dignity of the human soul: Tiphereth. This occurs by seeing, by observing the process of thought and emotion involved in such a negative state such as shame, without labeling, hiding, or pushing it away. When we comprehend shame, we feel great surprise, a shock of inspiration, since this is the dynamic expression, conscious shock, or intimate realization of our soul that perceives what we are and why we were suffering. We also perceive the beauty of our own soul by recognizing our errors, a recognition which should produce happiness, since “A discovered defect is a dead defect.” While it’s painful to see the reality of our mind, when self-observation and comprehension is profound, we develop joyful perseverance and beautiful action, because with comprehension of any ego in meditation, we also perceive and can understand the virtues trapped in it. Renunciation is developed the more we comprehend the causes of suffering and no longer go back on behaviors that we know are negative. This always strengthens the consciousness the more we face and overcome trials and temptations. We find balance through consistency of practice, by meditating daily on what we perceive in ourselves. We learn from joyfully receiving the unpleasant impressions of our fellow man and learning to act from compassion and awareness in the precise moments when we are on fire, tested and burned by circumstances. We learn through failing many times and struggling, reflecting on our behaviors, and making better choices when ordeals repeat, so that with time and experience, we perceive that we no longer suffer or make others suffer, but respond to difficult conditions with serenity and insight. 
We're continuing our course on self-knowledge and the discussion of the nature of consciousness, perception, awakening, and understanding―that which we call our genuine identity, that which we call the Being, the Innermost, which the Muslims denominated Allah, and the Christians as Chrestos, Christ; likewise, the inner Buddha amongst the Asian esotericists, or Jehovah amongst the Hebrews. This inner intelligence, this inner divinity, we could say Atman in Hinduism, the inner Self, is beyond our terrestrial conceptions of self. We seek to go beyond our current everyday understanding of who we are, to go deeper, to get insight into who we are as a spirit, as an inner Buddha, as a God.
As Jesus of Nazareth taught, “ye are gods, is it not said so in the scriptures?”―and we must learn to become that, which in our very root, we are. But our terrestrial life, our mistaken sense of self, has hypnotized us from actualizing the truth and understanding that for ourselves, from our experience. Our name, our language, our race, our culture, these things in themselves began in time and end in time. But that which is divine is beyond these terrestrial concepts. So if we seek to understand that which is eternal, we must, in turn, confront and transform that which is illusory. We must be willing to make changes in our understanding of self and our perception. So in this lecture we're going to talk more in-depth about consciousness. Last week, we discussed the nature of awakening: what it means to awaken, and we explained that awakening is to become aware of that divine potential―to awaken that consciousness, that soul, that part of us which belongs to divinity. We seek to develop that based on conscious works and practical exercises. So we mentioned a technique we can use to develop that insight. We have many available throughout the literature we provide. In relation to this teaching of self-knowledge, we are practical. We do not rely on theory. We do not rely on belief. We do not rely on a creed, a concept, a flag. Instead, we base ourselves on practical knowledge, that which we verify, that which we know for a fact. We are scientific, we are methodical, and we seek to verify the teachings given in religion―to know that which Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Krishna, Moses taught. We seek to verify that for ourselves and to make it living and concrete. 
So in the spirit of universality, we've been discussing the nature of self-knowledge as given in the Middle East, to emphasize that this knowledge is not only contingent upon the teachings of the Christians or the Buddhists or the Kabbalists of Israel, but also the Muslim initiates, the Muslim teachers, who in the Middle East gave this doctrine known as Islam, which in Arabic means 'to submit'. So we teach the esoteric or hidden meaning of that tradition, and in the spirit of inclusivity and taking an eclectic approach, we've been discussing this science of relation to the mystical doctrine of Sufism.
So we're going to elaborate on this teaching more in depth, but we seek to submit to our divine will, to our divinity through practice, through a systematic discipline. The primary practice we engage with is meditation, as we'll be explaining and leading up to this introductory course. We have this image of a Muslim master who is kneeling in prayer, and likewise we must learn to develop that connection with the divine that we seek. The Definition of Consciousness
What is consciousness? There are many definitions of this term. In the basic sense we think of consciousness as a physical state of awareness, to know that one is thinking, that one is feeling, and that one is acting. But consciousness in its most profound sense is spiritual. It is the root of perception. It is the root of who we are fundamentally. Consciousness does not pertain to thought; it is beyond thought. Consciousness does not pertain to emotion. It is beyond emotion. Consciousness is beyond the body, but it uses the body. It is beyond impulse, instinct, sensation.
When we sit to practice and to observe ourselves, observe our body as we practice that exercise of Anapana, which is breath work, we become aware that thoughts emerge, sustain, and pass. Likewise, emotions emerge, sustain, and pass. So also with the sensations of our physicality, like clouds or a mirage that disappears as we approach it. If we learn to observe ourselves in this manner, and to realize that we are not thought, that we are not emotion, we are not the body, the question remains as to what we are in our fundamental depth. Consciousness is not thought, as I mentioned, but it can use thought. Consciousness is not emotion, but it has its own profound sentiment, which is pure and divine, its own longings, aspirations, fears, but not from an egotistical sense, of a crippling sense as that implies. Likewise, consciousness is not the impulses that emerge within our psyche, such as a desire to go running or walking, or to eat something, to read, to perform some type of physical activity. Consciousness emerges and is before these experiences emerge, and so when we develop that, we learn to perceive ourselves not as these elements but something beyond that. Our consciousness is something dynamic. It is not limited to thinking, concept, thesis, antithesis, belief, disbelief. Likewise, consciousness is not limited to a feeling of like or dislike, of pleasure or pain, attraction or lack of attraction, and the same with the body, to do or not to do. Consciousness is beyond these elements and possesses its own dynamism, its own dynamic qualities, which we need to experience and verify. We begin to see as we observe ourselves that there are two types of consciousness. There's consciousness that is conditioned by thought, feeling, and will―thought, feeling, and impulse. There's consciousness that is conditioned by those elements. There is a type of awareness involved with thinking, feeling, and acting. But in this dynamic and very expansive science, we begin to see that consciousness cannot be limited just to those aspects that we commonly and currently experience. It's something beyond that. In Sufism, we say that the soul is known as nafs or nafas, which in Arabic means breath. The soul is like breath, it is like breathing, which is why when we practice Anapana, awareness of our breathing in our body, we begin to become aware of not only our physicality, but our thinking, our feeling, and our body. The Sufis explain that nafas can be conditioned or unconditioned based on our will, what we do with it, how we act, how we behave. The unconditioned consciousness in this study, in Gnostic psychology, we denominate with essence, the soul, that purity of consciousness that belongs to God, that belongs to the stars, to Urania, the heavens. Then there's the subjective self, which is all our negative qualities such as fear, anger, resentment, pride, hate, anxiety, suspicion, and doubt, greed. That vast plethora of qualities that we denominate as the ego in these studies: this sense of self, this I, me, who I am, what I believe in, who I consider myself to be. Ego in Latin means I, self. And if we begin to observe ourselves, we see that we, in turn, are not one self. Every thought, every feeling, every impulse is a sense of self that emerges within the screen of our awareness and seeks to act to define itself to do, to fulfill its wants; it is desire. These desires, these different selves, are different senses of self, identity, different qualities, which are related to each other, as in a train of thought. If we are aware of ourselves we see that one memory brings about another, one thought brings about another, and through a chain of association, leads us into a state of slumber, a lack of awareness. It is the sleep of our unconditioned consciousness, our soul, which produces our suffering. If we learn to awaken that pure potentially, that pure consciousness is what grants us access to the divine mysteries. It is that sense of consciousness that does not pertain to self, me, myself. It is perception, but it is not self as we think of it. Yes? Question: So the unconditioned you said is the extension of God in itself? Instructor: Yes. Question: And the conditioned consciousness is essentially anything that's an antithesis of that, and anything that is masking that, anything that is trying to define it? 
Instructor: Yes. That conditioned consciousness is the adversary of God, which in Hebrew is Shatan, which is where we get the word Satan. In this image, we see the Angel Michael defeating the monster or the devil. This is a symbol of how the light of pure consciousness, which is not conditioned, defeats the tenebrous and negative self, which is that sense of self or desire trapped or expressing as fear, hate, pride, vanity, and the seven deadly sins as we know of. So that conditioned self is we call ego or egos. It is desires that are in conflict with each other, and which fight and combat one another for predominance in order to express itself and gain the object of its desires. So it is that precise sense of self or selves, which we mistake for the divine, which produces our suffering.
Question: Does anything come out of this fight? Is this fight... Well, you know, obviously not pointless, because if the fight wasn't going to happen, the fight wouldn't be happening. But I guess what comes out of it then, if Michael here is defeating the monster? What is now attained, or at least maybe not lost, by the monster being defeated? Instructor: Excellent question. So we have to understand ... The thing we must understand is that part of our divine consciousness is trapped within that conditioning. This is the myth of the genie of Aladdin's lamp, the genie, the genii, the jinn, the soul is encased, encapsulated and shelled within that negativity. And so we have to learn how to break those shells, break that conditioning so that the soul, which is trapped, can be liberated. Precisely, this is the path of consciousness, the path of self-knowledge. We gain knowledge by defeating the dragon because that dragon has stolen the maiden. That maiden is our pure essence or pure soul, which needs to be freed, which needs to be conquered. That is to attain the marriage of the knight with his maiden, the warrior with his lady. The Three Types of Soul in the Qur’an
So we state that in this path of developing that pure consciousness, we could say that there are three types of soul, three stages, three demarcations, which are taught within the Qur’an, the holy book of the Muslims, but also within the Sufi doctrine. We say that there is a carnal soul, there is a blaming soul, and then there's also a peaceful soul. In the beginning, the soul is carnal. It is enmeshed within passion, within desire, within the negative product of mistaken action, encased in fear, and these subjective elements.
So that carnal soul is mentioned in the book of, or in the surah of Yusuf or Joseph, the 12th surah of the Quran, verse 53, where Joseph who is imprisoned by his own brothers stated: Yet I do not absolve my own carnal soul (in Arabic, nafs al-Ammara). For the carnal soul, indeed, prompts men to evil except in as much as my Lord has mercy. Indeed, my Lord is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. ―Qur'an 12:53
There's also a next gradation in which we recognize that we have a polluted soul, because that soul is enmeshed within hate and fear and the elements of suffering or elements that cause suffering; we are carnal of the flesh below, terrestrial. But there's a soul that knows how to reproach itself that is beginning to develop and change, which is beginning to conquer that lower animal nature, we could say: those animal-like qualities of conditioned consciousness.
In the Qur’an, this soul is mentioned in the verse, or the surah known as the Resurrection, verse 2: And I swear by the self-blaming soul, the self-reproaching soul. ―Qur'an 75:2
Likewise, there is a third type of gradation, which is the soul at peace, referring to those beings who have fully perfected the consciousness. That conditioned consciousness has been purified and now the consciousness, that is fully elaborated and expressed within the divine, has fully reunited with that source.
Oh, soul at peace, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing. ―Qur'an 89:27-28
Likewise, the blaming self is known as nafs-e-lawwama, and the soul at peace is nafs-e-mutmainna in Arabic. So these are three stages of how the soul achieves perfection, and that is really the goal of self-knowledge. We gain knowledge by comprehending our mistakes, changing them, and not going back to them, but instead learning to transform the nature of our mind and those lower qualities, which obscure the very light of understanding in ourselves.
In relation to talking about consciousness, these qualities, which really are the impetus and produce the consequences of suffering, these are the factors that we need to transform. In Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri, a famous Sufi master, he says the following about the lower self, the nafs or egos: The first part of the constitution of the nafs consists of things forbidden by the command of God or by respect for this majesty. The second of its two parts consists of trivialities and vileness of character in general. In particular, it is made up of pride, anger, hatred, envy, bad behavior, intolerance, and the other blame-worthy characteristics. The worst and most difficult of the elements of the ego is it's supposing that there's something good about itself, or that it has a right to some standing. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is why many people today deify and enthrone hate, pride, self, egotism. “This quality is counted as secretly attributing equals to God.” In the Muslim doctrine, the Qur’an speaks often about shirk, to not join partners with God. In the public sense, in the exoteric sense of the religion, it refers to not worshiping other deities besides Allah, which is a very basic and superficial understanding. Instead, in a conscious sense, to not practice shirk, to practice the unity of God, is to take all the parts of the soul that are trapped in those defects, to free them and unite them all with that light, with the divine.
Anytime we act on fear, on gluttony, on resentment, that is performing shirk because the soul that belongs to God is trapped in that. If we enact that mistaken sense of self, it is perpetuating our suffering, and that's a form of, we can say, in a very strict sense, blasphemy. Because the Lord wants to take all that soul that belongs to him and bring it back to the source. This is why the Bible says that God is a jealous God. There is another form of soul mentioned by the Muslim esoterism, known as nafs al-iblissiyya, the "souls" of Iblis, the devil. The devil is not just a historical figure from some ancient past, but represents a psychological truth about us, here and now. These souls of the devil are the pluralized ego, the multiple selves, like pride, vanity, fear, laziness, lust, gluttony, all the qualities of the lower, carnal soul. Each defect, as we said, is a conditioned and conditioning element, a self that has its own thoughts, feeling, and impulses that never obeys the will of divinity. This spiritual work is focused on destroying the ego, so that the unconditioned consciousness can flourish. In this way, we guard our breaths against God Most High, as the Sufis states repeatedly in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism. We must learn to guard our consciousness moment by moment, to not speak vain things, to not act upon the ego, but learn to work against our faults so that we can transform our lives. 
The Three Brains
But let us talk more about how we can develop that unconditioned soul. In Gnostic psychology we refer to three brains. The word brain in the esoteric sense refers to a machine, not just the physical cerebral matter in our skull. A brain is a center of physiological and psychological activity. We are commonly affiliated with the intellectual brain, which is where we process thoughts. By brain, we're not only referring to just the physical aspect of the soul or of the body. We're referring also to mechanisms in the soul, how the soul functions through the brain because mind is independent of the physical matter. The physical brain is merely a machine or tool that processes the thoughts of the mind, which exist beyond physical matter.
Likewise, the emotional brain processes emotion, sentiment, like, dislike. And the emotional brain is the physical manifestation in the heart and its nervous centers that process feeling. Likewise, we have a brain related to movement, instinct, and sexuality, which is impulse or will. We state that the soul can express through these centers or these brains. These machines process forces that belong to the cosmos and belong to our psyche. We need to learn how to use those energies inherent in those centers in order to use them for our spiritual work. The Sufis also teach this, that the soul is not just independent from the body, but is expressed through the body, and that we should learn how to use our intellectual center, our emotional center, and our motor-instinctive-sexual center, these three brains, thought, feeling, and movement, in accordance with the divine will. So the lower consciousness or lower soul, the egos, can manifest in our thoughts, or feelings, or actions. But the soul also can use this machine of the body to process superior thought, superior emotion, and superior action. So the Sufis teach in Al-Risalah, Principles of Sufism, the following: The whole cure of character is the abandonment and breaking of the ego through suffering hunger, thirst, and wakefulness, and through other sustained efforts including the breakdown of strength (we could say egotistical strength, our attachments). For that is also part of the general abandonment of the ego. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So how do we break the ego? How do we abandon the ego? We must learn to suffer hunger, thirst, and wakefulness. To be hungry as a psyche is to not feed our mind and our body, our impulses with substances or impressions that will damage our psyche, that will deepen our state of suffering―such as watching movies that are very violent, very aggressive, with foul language―these elements enter the mind, the mind transforms them, processes them, and they become further conditions of the psyche.
We feed our mind and our heart and our body not just with physical food, but with what type of experiences we surround ourselves with. Divinity has established its own commandments in accordance with religion: don't drink, don't smoke, don't commit adultery, don't commit fornication, whether it’s through the Ten Commandments of Moses or the ten meritorious and non-meritorious actions of Buddhism. Each religion has its own structure or laws, commandments that can guide us to live a superior life. The Sufis and the Muslims say that one should not eat that which is unlawful, which people think refers to Halal, which is the Muslim equivalence of observing a kosher diet. But psychologically we need to become Halal, holy, meaning to eat substances or to take impressions that are going to be beneficial, such as good literature, good books, good music, things that will elevate our way of being. So we have to suffer hunger, meaning that when we begin to restrain our mind, the ego becomes hungry, it fights, it wants to be fed, it wants to sustain itself. Likewise, thirst, thirsty for impressions that would feed that pride or fear or anger, which we used to indulge in. Wakefulness, of course, is how we attain that fasting of the soul to not identify with those elements, to not let them carry one away, and to learn to change them. This implies that the ego is a subtle entity, seated in the physical body, which is the locus of blameworthy characteristics. The ruh (or you can say in Hebrew ruach), the soul, is likewise a subtle entity seated in the body, which is the locus of praise-worthy characteristics. The whole is subjugated one part to the other and that totality is one human being. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
So this machine of the body and of the psyche can process good fuel or bad fuel depending on what we take in and also how we act.
The Path of Life and the Path of Being
Which brings us to this next slide, an image that we repeat and go over in many lectures due to its importance. In this graphic, we have the intersection of a horizontal and vertical beam. That horizontal line refers to life. On the left we have our birth, followed by our childhood. Moving towards the right we have marriage, old age, sickness, and death. This horizontal line of life is mechanical.
Birth and death process themselves cyclically. The soul goes beyond and transmigrates as we teach in other lectures in accordance with the Hindu doctrine. These elements that we consider to be ourselves, as I mentioned, “my language, my name, my culture, my race, my political beliefs, my ideology,” these things come with time and they pass in time. They're transient; they're not eternal. That is all demarcated by this horizontal line, which is the path that everybody follows. It is 100% mechanical, as I mentioned. People go through life without any type of spiritual longing or inquietude, a desire for something more. Those that do, sadly, fall into habits and beliefs in order to encapsulate further within an ideology, a political system, or a religion in a conceptual way. These all belong to the horizontal beam. One can be very devout in one's religion, practice austerities, fulfill the commandments of Islam or Judaism or Buddhism, and yet have no cognizant experience of what those religions teach. One thing is the form, to adopt it as a behavior, but this does not denote knowledge, cognizance, or understanding. That which we want to develop in ourselves is this vertical path. This vertical beam refers to states of consciousness. Above, we have superior states of consciousness known as heavens, Jannat or nirvana, heavenly states or qualities of being. Then we have inferior states referring to that conditioned lower consciousness known as nafs, egos, selves, which is the submerged aspect of this vertical beam. As we talked about in the lecture on awakening, there are those who learn to awaken that free consciousness and ascend upward to heaven, to the divine. But there are those also who knowingly feed their hatred and their fear, and their pride, and deepen their suffering, and they descend that vertical path. When we are walking the spiritual path, we seek to become aware of the present instant. Everything is contingent upon our awareness of our moment. Who are we in this instant? What is passing through our mind? What is our emotional state? What impulses are emerging within us? The primary foundation of meditative science is self-awareness, which in many teachings is very popular today. Awareness is necessary and fundamental to accessing the very deep knowledge we seek. So consciousness, self-observation, awareness of self is found precisely in this moment, where these two beams intersect. Our mechanical way of life intersecting with a spiritual way of life. It has nothing to do with outward behavior, although it can be reflected by that. It refers to inner states or qualities of being, ways of being. So what is the best way to worship that, which is divine, is to be aware of our present, and to be aware of the presence of God. The word awareness in Arabic is muhadarah, which comes from the root word hudur meaning presence. So to be aware of that superior quality of divinity relates to the presence of God, to be aware of that. We call that self-remembering, to remember the divine in our consciousness. That's something we have to taste. No one can teach us this. It has to be verified and lived in ourselves and we will make many mistakes, and we will stumble, and we will commit errors, but as the Qur’an teaches, God calls unto whomever He wills as He wills, and will repeatedly bring us back to the present if we keep forgetting to observe ourselves. That's the challenge, the battle we go through. In the beginning, we see that we are not aware. We're observing, then we get carried away by a memory or a preconception or preoccupation of work or family or whatever. That continually pulls us and distracts us from the present moment. The best act of worship is watchfulness of the moment (says al-Wasiti from the book Principles of Sufism). That is that the servant not look beyond his limit, nor contemplate anything other than his Lord, and not associate with anything other than his present moment. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
The aspect of not associating with anything other than the moment is obvious: not to daydream, not to think about the future, or the past. Neither should one contemplate anything other than his Lord, meaning: to not identify with those negative, subjective qualities. When we see them emerge in our psyche, we don't act on them. We develop restraint. This is the self-blaming soul that is reproaching those lower qualities and is separating from them. This does not refer to a zombie-like, nonchalant, or laconic state where one has no feeling. Instead, it is a very pure and expansive quality.
Remembrance needs to be made continuous, which is known as Dhikr Allah, remembrance of God or invocation of God. Dhikr means remembrance in Arabic. The following teaching is given about remembrance by al-Wasiti. He was asked about the practice of remembrance and said: It is leaving the enclosed court of unconsciousness for the vast space of contemplation, through the power of fearing Him and the intensity of loving Him. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
So contemplation is a very technical term referring to cognizance, understanding, experience, witnessing. If you are familiar with Islam they pronounce the famous Shahada which is, "I give testimony that there's no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet." Contemplation is mushahadah, to witness, to know. We could say a real Muslim is someone who has that experience, who knows God from meditation and from insight. Also, we gain that understanding through fearing him and in loving him. To fear does not refer to the lower qualities of the ego. It is a type of reverence. The word fear could be synonymous with reverence, respect for the teachings given by the divine so that we follow them and really fear the consequences of behaving in a bad way.
Also, we have the following verse from the Quran about the nature of remembrance. This is from "The Thunder," Surah 13, verse 27: Truly God leads astray whomsoever He wills, and guides to Himself whomsoever turns in repentance, those who believe and whose hearts are at peace in the remembrance of God, are not hearts at peace in the remembrance of God (meaning to have that presence within oneself and to not stray from that). ―Qur'an 13:27 
The Allegory of the Cave
That's something we develop progressively, through a process, which is illustrated by this famous art work about Plato's allegory of the cave. Plato in The Republic, who is, by the way, a Gnostic initiate, Gnostic master, taught the nature of four ways of consciousness, four states of consciousness in this famous philosophical Allegory of the Cave. In this image we see a group of enchained people with their necks, hands, and legs caged or chained against the wall, and they're left in darkness. They see across from them the shadows projected from a fire that's beyond the wall from which they are situated with their backs turned. There are people crossing back and forth before the fire carrying different objects, plates, pottery, different dishes, et cetera, which would project through the fire in the cave to those objects, and project shadows against the wall.
In this myth, we find that someone or a few people very rarely are freed from their chains and are taken to face the fire behind the wall. Of course, this is a gradual explanation about that which some philosophers denominate the nature of finding the truth. But here we're going to explain how that relates to states of consciousness specifically in relation to the Greek mysteries. Someone is freed, and, of course, when they face the fire they're blinded. They cannot withstand the intensity of the light because they've been in shadow for so long. Afterward, they adjust; they begin to see precisely where the source of those shadows came from. Whereas, the people against the wall have no conception. They have only seen shadows, they have many concepts, and theories, and beliefs about what those shadows represent, not knowing what's behind them, what's the source. Afterward, by the work of a guru, of a teacher, of a master, or a prophet, this prisoner is taken outside of the cave is dragged, forced out. This is a very terrible experience, but one that is necessary in which one must let go of one's comforts in this cave, and finally is let out into the expanse of the wilderness outside of the mountain. From there, one witnesses the stars for the first time. Of course, the light is very difficult to adjust to according to Socrates, Plato's teacher. Afterward, he sees the sun for the first time, the light and the expanse of the countryside. This is a symbol of psychological states emerging from sleep, of conditioned mind, to unconditioned mind. We see that the people in the shadows are those who have the lowest state of consciousness. They have no self-awareness. They see shadows or nothing. If they see shadows on the wall, we could say those are different beliefs, concepts, ideologies that people project in their mind, on the screen of their understanding. We denominate that psychological darkness, that complete lack of understanding, those shadows, Eikasia in Greek. Eikasia refers to barbarianism, war, complete unconsciousness, a state of darkness, a way of being, which we could see is exemplified by the violence that is occurring today. We simply have to look at the news to see Eikasia in action. But also there is a state known as Pistis, which is when one sees those different shadows on the wall, which are the different beliefs, ideas of humanity. Eikasia means imagination. It's a type of sight, but in the darkness. It is like a nocturnal sight or unconsciousness. One is perceiving, but one isn't aware―this is the terrible irony. People who fulfill acts of violence are not aware of the consequences, or if they are, they don't see it objectively. Therefore, they are perceiving imagination, Eikasia: they see in the dark. Pistis is belief, from the word pisteuo. It is to have a concept, an idea, something to think about that a person adheres to very diligently. Those people in the cave, when they see the shadows, firmly believe that the shadows are one way, philosophy, political party, religion, belief system, or concept, which are represented according to the projections of their mind and they conflict and they argue with each other. Question: Is maybe Pistis a reaction to what you perceive? Instructor: Yes, and all the concepts and beliefs that people have about the mysteries of life and death are just reactions to life, beliefs which don't have any real substance. Beyond that is Dianoia: when someone sees the fire, one has insight. Dianoia refers to revision of belief, to change one's way of thinking. That is awakened consciousness. Notice that these first two states, Eikasia and Pistis, refer to the darkness and the shadows, ignorance. The higher two states of consciousness, the unconditioned states of consciousness, refer to Dianoia and Nous, as we'll explain. Dianoia again, means imagination, but this is a conscious way of seeing without filter, without obscuration. Question: Is this maybe perceiving like a purpose? Instructor: It is perceiving one's self, one's mind, one's heart, one's body, and perceiving the external world without any type of subjectivity, to see it clearly. In this state, we begin to revise our way of thinking, meaning we used to think we are one way but then we see that we are not from the perspective of that active observation. Question: To see it as it is? Instructor: Yes, Dia means “to stand side to side, thoroughly, to step aside” from that which is subjective, to step aside from the conditions in the mind. This is a new way of seeing ourselves. This is awareness, self-observation. When someone escapes from the cave after that long trek and sees the sun for the first time, that is the state of Nous. That is the light of the divine, fully unobstructed, fully manifest: that pure light, which the Gnostics call Christ, that intelligence or consciousness beyond limitation, which is cosmic. That sun is precisely the complete, unconditioned mind, freedom, peace, pure insight or understanding. One thing to mention in this graphic we see some Latin: Lux venit in mundum et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras quam lucem erant enim eorum mala opera―in synthesis saying, "Because the light came into the world and men love darkness rather than the light for their works were evil." So those who are in the cave are attached to their beliefs, the cage of the mind, the cave of the ego. And those who obtain freedom become known as prophets, masters, avatars, because they eventually have to come back down in order to teach others, to guide them, and to show them the way, the truth, and the life. But of course, they are persecuted, stoned, poisoned, killed, murdered, et cetera. 
Kabbalah and Levels of Consciousness
So we talked about levels of being, levels of consciousness, which is mapped out in this image. This is known as the Tree of Life, the Hebraic Kabbalah. The important thing to remember is that the word kabel in Hebrew means “to receive,” to receive knowledge. While we study this image, this graphic of states of consciousness, levels of being, these in turn, serve us to understand our experiences in meditation or out of the body in dream yoga. This tree of life is represented in the Book of Genesis, which is a book of the Gnostics. This graphic shows us the heights of consciousness, of Nous, noetic thought, which is that sun, that trinity above, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which in Hebrew known as Kether, Chokmah, Binah.
Likewise, that energy, that consciousness descends into lower levels of matter, energy, and expression. In the middle triangle we have spirit, consciousness, and will, Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphereth in Hebrew. Likewise, we have the lower quaternary, these lower four spheres, mind, emotion, vitality, and physicality, referring to Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth. This is an image that we study very deeply, which we talk about very extensively, which we'll cover in synthesis here. But this is a map to help us understand consciousness, where we are, who we are. We talk a lot about mind, heart, and impulse, referring to these four lower spheres, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, our vitality, and Malkuth, our physical body. We are here in the physical body, but we notice that in the present moment, mind, emotion, feeling, instinct―these things are manifest in this body. So this entire Tree of Life is not something foreign, outside of us. It's inside; it's here with us, here and now. We can experience those higher states even in our physical body. But of course, with training we learn to put the body in a physical state of rest, and then we go out in order to ascend those heavenly realms and to receive the knowledge we seek. This image of the three circles above refers to Ain, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur, in Hebrew meaning the nothingness, the limitless, and the limitless light. Again, that limitless light, this outer circle, is the sun that Plato referred to, the Absolute, the good, the pure, which is what we aspire towards. We learn through beginning in this body how to ascend this tree and to know that light for ourselves. The following is given by Ibn al-Karbala'i in his book Rawdat al-jinan: When the seeker realizes the station of contemplation (Mushahida or to witness), which is witnessing God's essence, (the purity of that light), comprehending and encompassing all phenomena, "Does not your Lord suffice, since He has witnessed over all things?" (Qur'an 41:53), he continually witnesses lights from the mundus invisibilis, the invisible world. ―Ibn al-Karbala'i, Rawdat al-jinan
So in meditation, when we begin to witness that truth, we begin to see images, dream experiences that are not subjective, but objective, without obscuration in the mind. When we develop ourselves and when we realize that quality in ourselves, we begin to witness this Tree of Life in meditation, whether it's the top trinity or whatever aspect or sphere which God seeks to teach us about, which is us, ourselves, our true nature. In meditation, we can perceive lights, clairvoyant images, qualities of perception that are beyond our physical senses.
From such a mystic’s perspective, this world and the hereafter are one and the same. This can only be realized by a vision that is all heart and spirit, not a view bound by mere mud and mire. ―Ibn al-Karbala'i, Rawdat al-jinan
So what is that view of heart and spirit? It is Dianoia and Nous. Dianoia, meaning revision of beliefs, spiritual, and intellectual culture, synthetic understanding, revision of concepts, self-analysis, self-awareness, self-observation, self-understanding. Nous is purely illuminated intellect, superior mind, God-consciousness, in which we are one with the Lord in us, and one perceives through that light. But of course, that view of mud and mire pertains to Eikasia and Pistis, belief and ignorance. Again, this image is referring to the heavens, what we aspire to.
The following quote, I think I mentioned previously, but I re-emphasize because it's very poignant in terms of this understanding of self-knowledge: Wherever the delusion of "yourself" appears, there's hell. Wherever "you" aren't, that's heaven. ―Abū Sa'īd in Ibn Munawwar: Asrār at-tawḥīd
So who is this “you” we're referring to? It means ego. When there's no conditioned mind, when there's no subjective sense of self, when there is no fear, no pride, no gluttony, no lust, when there is only pure unconditioned soul, one can experience that heaven. It is a state of mind. This map also refers to places that we can visit in the dream state. These are dimensions, levels of being, but more importantly, it refers to who we are moment by moment―qualities of consciousness. So we have to get out of the way, meaning we, as an ego, need to be eliminated so that pure light can be extracted and brought back to the source. Which brings us to the next point about how we do so.
Awareness, Disclosure, and Contemplation
In this image, we have adhan, which is a call to prayer. The Muslims they pray five times a day, which is a very beautiful teaching about the need to develop discipline in one's practices. Likewise, as they pray five times a day, in Gnosis we pray moment by moment. We do not limit ourselves to just particular moments of the day, although we do many exercises and practices and disciplines that we engage with. But prayer and awareness is a moment by moment without respect to time, to be aware of the present.
So how do we become aware? What do we need to do? The following is given by al-Jurayri, he's a Sufi master. Again, he synthesized in this very brief statement how we learn to develop and gain self-knowledge of the divine. Again, this is from Al-Qushayri’s Principles of Sufism. He said that: Whoever does not establish awe of duty in vigilance and his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen or contemplation, (mushahadah) of the divine. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
What is this awe of duty? Reverence, respect, to feel the duty to engage with meditation and practices that are going to benefit our soul. Self-observation, self-remembering, and mantras, many exercises we teach in this tradition, that we engage with in order to develop disclosure of the unseen, which sometimes is referred to as unveiling. Because as we learn to work with positive forces, with mantras, sacred sounds, we invoke divine forces into our psyche, in order to help us control the lower self. These energies, in turn, help us to awaken perception. And so meditation, different exercises of yoga we engage with, these, in turn, help us to expand our consciousness and feed it with the forces that are going to benefit us. That is awe of duty, to have that reverence and respect for the practices and to engage in them repeatedly, daily so that we can tear the veil that covers the mystery. That is the unveiling we seek and the witnessing of the divine, in which we see beyond the veil of our subjective self in order to experience the truth.
We need energy to do so. Consciousness is empowered by forces, which we need to identify and understand. So we are teaching in relation to the Kabbalah those ten spheres or ten modalities of consciousness; those are also forms of energy and matter, from the most subtle, from the top to the most basic and material below. These forces help us when we learn to control them, to aid our spiritual life. 
We included in this image Perseus having slain the Medusa. This is another myth from Greece, very beautiful, that teaches how the hero, the soul has to fight against the devil. How the master, the spiritual initiate or disciple learns to overcome the ego, decapitates it, conquers it, destroys it. Precisely, Medusa's power is in its hypnotism and its conveying men into stone whenever the gaze or their eyes would lock and their gaze would meet. This is a symbol of how Medusa, the ego, the negative self, turns men into habitual creatures, into fragments of stone, symbolizing habits, which become ingrained with experience and time.
There are many people who have habits following that horizontal path of life we were discussing, and they never change them, and we all have certain qualities and habits that we engage with that make us into figures of stone, something that's immovable and frozen, trapped within the confines of the cave, the darkness of the mind, in Plato’s Republic. Whereas the qualities of consciousness we seek to develop are free, liberated, unconditioned. So, how does Perseus kill Medusa? In this myth, it is very beautifully taught. He uses the reflection on the shield to perceive Medusa next to him, and with his sword, cuts off its head. That reflection refers to conscious perception, to perceive with conscious imagination. To see the ego without identifying with it. To see the quality of mind that needs to be changed and observing it, and working on it, and finally decapitating it, but not looking directly at the ego, not looking directly at the defect itself and identifying with it, because to feel oneself in that quality is to become that quality. We become what we think, as Buddha taught, “mind precedes phenomena.” We must learn to not identify with those qualities. To observe them, to see them objectively and with the sword of insight, of wisdom―represented by Manjushri's image of a Buddha wielding a sword and cutting through illusion with fire―likewise we learn to conquer Medusa, which is the nafs, the lower soul. We included also an important quote from Samael Aun Weor in the modern Gnostic tradition, "Wherever we direct attention, we expend creative energy." So when we identify with an ego, we give energy to it, but if we don't identify with it, we feed and empower our consciousness. We must learn how to redirect attention, how to direct our mind, how to observe ourselves, how to act, how to think, how to feel. because every action produces a consequence. Every internal state produces an effect, and we must learn to understand the cause and effect relationship. This path of Self-realization, the realization of the Divine Truth within us, is precisely found by eliminating the undesirable elements of the mind. So, we need to learn, how do we spend our energy? How do we use our intellectual energy? How do we use our emotional energy? How do we use our physical, vital, and sexual energy? We will explain in relation to Tibetan Buddhist teachings on Tantra. 
Energy in the Kabbalah
Again, this image of the Kabbalah we're now discussing is in relation to forms of energy. So, to elaborate on these spheres, we have physical energy below in the first sphere cutting up to the top of the middle or the middle triangle. Likewise, we have the second sphere, which is vital energy, followed by emotional or psychic force, followed by mental energy on the right, the fourth sphere, mind and intellect. Likewise, we have volitional or energy-related to willpower, which is this fifth sphere. Likewise, we have conscious energy, which is what we deeply seek to access through meditation and through self-observation relating to the sixth sphere. Then we have the seventh sphere, which is spiritual energy, which is the Divine. The spirit is God. “The soul is acquired, but the spirit is,” we say.
Above that are higher forms of energy known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, known as the First, Second, and Third Logos, Christ in synthesis. Not just Jesus of Nazareth but the energy he embodied. So, we must learn how to use these energies and to recognize their usefulness in place, to remember that these forces cannot be manipulated or used without consciousness, without the soul being in dominance of them, which is why Samael Aun Weor wrote the following in The Great Rebellion: No matter how much we might increase our strictly mechanical energy, we will never awaken consciousness. No matter how much we might increase the vital forces within our own organism, we will never awaken consciousness. Many psychological (or you could say emotional) processes take place within us without any intervention from the consciousness. However great the disciplines of the mind might be, mental energy can never achieve the awakening of the diverse functions of the consciousness. Even if our willpower is multiplied infinitely, it can never bring about the awakening of the consciousness. All these types of energy are graded into different levels and dimensions, which have nothing to do with the consciousness. Consciousness can only be awakened through conscious work and upright efforts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
So, as I said, we need to conserve our intellectual, emotional, and physical energy. We need these forces to exist. Someone who has no vital energy is either asleep or is dying, is sick. When the vitality leaves the body, that vital force or vital body, we could say, the vehicle of energy, when it leaves the body, the physical body dies. It decays. We need these forces in harmony, but the consciousness must use them. So, even if we multiply these forces, we perhaps get a lot of exercise physically, we do a lot of energetic exercises such as yoga and mantras, meditation. We may engage with prayer of the heart. We may study a lot. These things in themselves are good, but they must be done consciously. The soul must be in command of them.
Question: So, for example, how you stated you could be living out or carrying out a doctrine as in like the rules of the church or rituals and such but not believing or knowing anything about that religion, so, it'd be like basically doing that, just working and doing consciousness, but not doing it consciously, or like doing religious practices to build upon your spirituality? Instructor: When one practices, one needs to practice as if one's brushing one's teeth. We do it for our benefit. Not necessarily because we want to spend the time or enjoy it, but we do it because it's necessary to our hygiene. Likewise, our spiritual hygiene is dependent upon practice. So, we learn gradually through experience how these exercises work, what energy it focuses on, and how we can use that energy consciously. So, that's a skill we acquire through practice, and speaking of which, we always end these series of lectures with an exercise we can engage with. In this practice, we continue to observe and develop our self-analysis, self-awareness from moment to moment, and at the end of each day recollect on how conscious we were of our three brains, mind, emotion, and physicality. Another exercise you can engage with is another sacred mantra, sacred sound, which works with those forces, vibrations of energy. So every day, you can sit in a comfortable posture, whether upright in a chair or if you are flexible and you enjoy the oriental style, you could sit in full lotus, half lotus, but this is not absolutely necessary. What's necessary is that we're fully relaxed. You can sit in a chair, whatever's more suitable and conducive to relaxing the body and not having any tension. Relax your mind, heart, and body and afterward you can visualize within your brain a beautiful white light, followed by pronouncing a sacred mantra called INRI, which is in Latin inscribed above the Martyr of Calvary, Jesus of Nazareth. It said, 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum,' but it's a secret mantra. INRI can also refer to 'Ignis Natura Renovatur Integra,' which in Latin means “fire renews nature incessantly.” So that light and fire of the sun mentioned in the myth of Plato, in the Allegory of the Cave, is a symbol of Christ, an energy and a force that we can incarnate, that we seek to incarnate, that will aid us in purifying our psyche. This mantra works with that force and it attracts energies to the brain to illuminate the mind.
So, we can pronounce this mantra. You sound it in two syllables. Like this 'iiiiinnnn' followed by another breath and then a rolled R as in Spanish, ‘rrrrrriiiiiií.’ If you notice, if you pronounce that and notice the vibration, it will vibrate in the center of the brain. It will stimulate the pineal and pituitary glands, especially the physical brain, the cerebrum and fill it with a Christic force, energy that can develop that insight we seek.
I know for some people that letter could be hard. The R especially if you're not familiar with Spanish or don't speak Spanish, but it's rolled on the tip of the tongue, and I'm sure if you go online and Google it, search it on YouTube, you can find some examples of how to practice that, but when you do these mantras, concentrate on the vibration in the body, in the mind, and visualize with eyes closed a light that fills the cerebrum and the cerebellum, the different centers of our brain, of our mind, with light. You can do that for 30 minutes or 60 minutes, whatever is convenient for you, and that energy will help you to develop the awareness of that unconditioned consciousness. Questions and Answers
Question: I have a question, and this has been actually bothering me for at least the past week or so since, I don't know if you're aware of, the Alton Sterling shootings, like the police brutality cases and such, and something that I’ve become aware of recently is you know, of course, everyone has their own subjective realities and within our subjective realities are the battle of our soul. We, at least, are given hope that we have the ability to overcome that but obviously we are told through scripture that not everybody will. Is it inherent that these people, the people who don't win that internal battle of the soul, are they inherently, I guess, defective? Is it that they are supposed to not win or is that they truly, deep within themselves, that the unconditioned soul does not have the pure willingness to be reunited? Is it that soul's desire to be separated possibly?
Because I've gotten into lots of conversations with people because I believe that every single thing that we experience, especially in the media, is not moreso to just help us know what's going on in the world, but to help us gain greater understanding within our own worlds by knowing about things that other people experience. So, when I approach people about these subjects, I don't do just so like, "Oh did you know what happened?" It's like, "What do you know about what happened and how do you feel about it? How does this change your reality?" Instructor: The Qur’an teaches it beautifully. God calls to Himself whom He will and those who have harmed themselves or have gone astray, He punishes them in relation to their own behavior. So, those in whom the longing to change is not existent, God cannot help, but those who feel that longing to change, who feel that spark of conscience that exists within the unconditioned soul, have the potential to change, and there are many who have lost their potential. The Qur’an speaks about this very extensively, about the Lord calling unto whom He will and those who go astray, who choose to deviate, He lets them go astray, and to not have that guidance is to really be in affliction. Question: Do they have satisfaction in dissatisfaction? Are they okay with where they end up even if you know it seems like God is telling them to go a certain way or at least giving them an option to go, but they choose to go a certain way? Are they, in the end, satisfied with that decision, as satisfied as someone who chooses to go? Instructor: We always say that the soul always has its freedom to choose what it wants, that chooses to deepen the conditioning of the psyche―that's the nature of that soul and that's what it wants―but those who feel that they need something more to change themselves and to transform who they are and to follow that conscience that inspires them and approaches spirituality, that is the calling of God to want to change. In relation to that, that book the Qur’an is very insightful about finding the will of the divinity. To many people, they are only interested in deepening the cage, strengthening the cage that produces their suffering, which is why John Milton, author of Paradise Lost said, "The mind is its own place and can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." Question: About the suffering of others on the path because, like you said, God calls upon whom He calls. In this process, like you said, once they get out of the cave, they want others just to get out of the cave, too, so they have to go back into the cave in order to do so, but once they do they're killed by the people whom they're trying to save. Instructor: Well, literally in the case of Buddha and Jesus, that was the case, but in many cases when someone teaches this type of knowledge, they may meet resistance or criticism from others who don't hold those beliefs or don't really seek to develop that, but when I was referring to that, our spirituality is really expanded and founded upon compassion. So, we don't necessarily have to become a teacher, instead we can find ways to help humanity according to our disposition, our ways. So we learn to use our awakened consciousness to aid us in whatever particular aspect of life we've been placed in order to do that consciously. Question: So, if we have these different outlets. Say, some people like to help others actively, like go out in the community and help homeless people and stuff, but others like to do so with law and politics, if we use all of the energy that we can put into different places, but in a finite amount, but focus all of that energy towards those, are we as fulfilled as trying to do all of these different things, trying to help people in the community at the same time while trying to work in your career outside of the family? Instructor: As to one what has to do, that's ordained by the Being, and you may find from experience in meditation or in the dream state that you have a particular... in fact, maybe many particular things you need to do; it depends on what you need to focus on. For me, I received the experience to teach this knowledge many times by the founder of this tradition, Samael Aun Weor. I asked him about it many times in the astral plane, the internal worlds. But also there are other responsibilities to do that we are forced to engage with. Part of that awe of duty I mentioned from al-Jurayri’s statement in the Sufi book is that we take whatever occupation we're engaged with, whatever job we have, whatever family life we have, and we transform it consciously. We take that daily experience and use it for our spiritual benefit. So instead of reacting to life mechanically on that horizontal line, we are still engaged with life in accordance with cause and effect. Wherever we're born, who we're with, whatever responsibilities we have, we fulfill them, but even better: in a very radical way, in a very transformative way. That becomes noticeable when we do so with consciousness that is not conditioned. Even if people may not really attribute us to being spiritual, they may say, "Oh, he's really the kind person or really benefiting me or really did something of help." We find our vocation or really our divine calling by learning to awaken and we learn to see how we can engage with life with rectitude and love as Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Perfect Matrimony. That answered your question? Question: Yeah, and lastly when you said that people can make a hell out of heaven... It's not essentially what you do or what makes up that reality, but essentially what you get out of it and where you put it, I would say. So, if you're going to be in any type of reality, if you're going to have a family, and a career, and all these other things like you can, but as long as you do them in this type of way and you work towards this thing, it doesn't matter what makes up that reality. Instructor: Well spiritual life, spiritual awakening is not only contingent upon our obligations, but our spiritual life is not separate from our daily life. Our daily life is our initiation into a new way of being. We learn to take whatever circumstances we find ourselves in and we learn to do it consciously. That's how we learn and that's how we benefit others. When I refer to reality, I mean I refer to those higher grades of consciousness. So, we learn to take our physical daily life and make it spiritual and not something habitual or painful. Instead, we learn to transform whatever occurrence we find ourselves in in life and make it a benefit to humanity. That's really our goal. 
(Detail of Christ in the Last Judgment and the two paths of awakening, indicated by the flowers of spirituality for the virtuous, and the sword of condemnation and justice for sinners; artist: Memling)
Gnosticism pertains to a very special form of self-knowledge or self-analysis, popularized through the famous Greek maxim on the Temple of Delphi: Homo Nosce Te Ipsum, otherwise translated as: “Man, know thyself, and you will know the universe and the Gods!” The Greek word Gnosis is knowledge, but not intellectual knowledge. It is knowledge of that which we acquire from our experience, that which we gain from our perception. It is not based on supposition, theory, belief, skepticism, or argumentation. It is something that we know for a fact, and there is no convincing otherwise. Gnosis is the defined result of our actions and is verified through experimentation in a scientific manner. We look at scientific facts, spiritual facts.
For as the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, stated in The Revolution of the Dialectic: Gnosis is lived upon facts, withers away in abstractions, and is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
Therefore when we approach spirituality, when we seek to understand religion, we must be precise. We must be specific and technical with our terminology, with our approach, our analysis, practice and methodology. We cannot indulge in vain, ambiguous and incipient beliefs, conceptualizing that we are a certain way, that we are “spiritual” because we think a certain way or belong to a specific group, that we are somehow special beings deserving praise. Because the truth is, when we examine the facts, when we look at humanity, when we look at ourselves, when we examine our daily sufferings, we find that this planet is in chaos. Many people amongst so-called “spiritual” circles talk about a new Golden Age, and that we are in it. Yet if we soberly examine the evidence, we find that humanity is not in a Golden Age, but has precipitated itself on the path of destruction.
Everybody suffers. No one on this planet, no sentient being, no person that is met on the streets of the cities, can be said to be happy, specifically since such people suffer incredibly. But why? Why do we suffer? What causes our pain? We can easily blame the government, the political establishment, the Democrats, the Republicans, or our friends, our job, co-workers, our spouse. These things belong to the external world, and sadly this is all people think about. But what are the secret, internal triggers that produce the calamities we are now all too familiar with? What in us truly makes us suffer and why? All of humanity’s destructive habits, addictions, desires, and wishes run contrary to divine law. Just as the physical universe is governed by laws, so too is spiritual life. There are laws that govern the establishment, development, and perfection of the soul, laws delivered unto humanity through all the world’s great prophets, religions and scriptures. The reason why people live in such disharmony and agony is due to their internal, psychological imbalances, their inability to conform their psyche, consciousness, or mind, towards the commandments, laws and instructions given by the messengers of the divine. Therefore when beginning these studies, we ask ourselves the following fundamental questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What are we living for? Why are we living? ―Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
Everyone believes that they know themselves, that they are conscious beings, that they know what they do, and yet the facts speak contrary to this. We firmly believe in our customs, our language, and our creed―our job, country, flag, party, name, culture, race, and habits, are qualities born in time and that die in time. And yet the consciousness, the soul, does not belong to these things. Therefore, who are we?
People believe they are awake. People believe that they know themselves. Likewise, in spiritual studies, many people have different conceptions of the term “awakening,” which is the focus of this lecture. Countless so-called “spiritual” groups entertain ideas regarding awakening which are contradictory, inconclusive, vague, ambiguous, obscure, or simply confusing, definitions that are in conflict with the scriptures given by the great masters of spirituality, whether Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Moses, and the prophets. Awakening is a popular term, but how is it practical? What does it mean to awaken? Some people use the term awakening to relate to an inspiration, a sudden inclination to study religion or spirituality. This is basic. This is, however, a fundamental first step. Also, the awakening we seek to understand is not physical. It is not only the awakening of our physical senses when arriving from sleep: our sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. Neither is awakening related to thought, thinking, concepts, sentimentalizing, believing, theorizing, holding on to ideas about ourselves or conjecturing about a philosophy with the intellect, believing something fully with our heart, yet not really knowing anything. As I mentioned, awakening has nothing to do with our name, our job, our language, customs, culture, habits, beliefs, and family. These things came with birth and they end with death. But the consciousness, that which we call soul, is beyond these things. The consciousness belongs to the divine, to God. When I refer to God, I am not referring to an anthropomorphic old man sitting on a cloud of tyranny dispensing thunderbolts and lightning upon this poor ant-hill of a humanity. That is not the God we speak of, but God as an intelligence, as Being, as presence, light, cognizance, which we must learn to access within ourselves when we know how. In strict esoteric or secret Buddhism, only a buddha, a master, knows himself completely and is free from suffering. An awakened one is a buddha, which is a term originating from the Sanskrit root word budh, signifying “awakening,” “consciousness,” “cognizance,” which also relates to the word Bodhi, meaning “wisdom,” or “enlightenment.” This is cognizance of one’s inner divinity, the root of life and our most genuine happiness, which begins as a spark, and transforms into a flame when we know how to cultivate this light. This profound state of awakening pertains to knowing divinity directly, the pure, pristine, and clear consciousness of nature’s laws and the soul’s conformity to them, devoid of personhood, a universal state of being. This is a result of cause and effect, and produces joy, freedom from defect or flaws. This psychological state transcends all pain, self, and conception, as demonstrated in the story of Gautama Buddha Shakyamuni questioned by a brahman. 
A Hindu priest was met by the Buddha. Being astounded by Gautama’s happiness, peace, and presence, he successively asked him, “Are you a deva (a god)?” “Are you a gandhabba (heavenly being)? Are you a yakkha (a nature spirit)?” To which the Buddha replied:
The fermentations by which I would go
People believe that they are awake. Having energy in the morning, getting up from the sleep of the physical body, constitutes a minimal level of perception and consciousness. The type of awakening we speak of in our Gnostic studies relates to spiritual perception, the development of divine faculties, which some refer to as out-of-body experiences, astral travel, lucid dreaming, awakening one’s awareness within the dream state or dream world, to speak face to face with divinity, with angelic beings, directly. This is something very clear and sharp. These are not hypothetical situations. They are not vague, cloudy, obscure, disorganized, nonsensical, chaotic, like the dreams most people relate when they seek interpretations.
The awakening we refer to is the direct result of putting specific scientific procedures into place, a new form of discipline we engage with. Awakening has one purpose: to gain knowledge of divinity by understanding the causes of suffering in ourselves, thereby removing such causes through cognizance, comprehension, and superlative analysis resulting from experience. We seek to change how we perceive life by removing that which filters our perception, in order that we possess pure, objective and divine cognizance. This is why Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes!” As you see in this opening image, we have Sufi disciple, a master of the mystical or esoteric teachings of Islam, in prayer. Islam in Arabic means “submission to God’s will.” We must submit to the divine will and divine laws if what we want is to become a new being, an awakened one, a phoenix bird that rises from out of its own ashes. We are going to examine the nature of awakening in relation to the Sufi tradition, the mystics of Islam and of the Middle East, due to the simplicity, profundity, and accessibility of such teachings for beginners, as well as to show the universal nature of this wisdom. 
He Who Knows Himself Knows His Lord
There are levels and levels of consciousness. Consciousness is light, the capacity to perceive not only physical phenomena, but spiritual noumena, the truth behind things, spiritual principles.
The 14th Dalai Lama explained that we must develop the conviction, based on practical works, that the consciousness has the capacity to expand to an infinite degree. Such a statement parallels the Qur'an's teaching in verse 35 of Surah al-Nur, the Light Surah, which profoundly states: “Light upon light!” And as Prophet Muhammad exclaimed in verse 114 of Surah Ta Ha: “My Lord, increase me in knowledge!” The path of self-knowledge can be depicted through a marvelous ladder, wherein we ascend through the application of spiritual discipline and works. This is the same Jacob's ladder in the Old Testament, whereby he witnessed the angels ascending and descending. The Sufis corroborate the teachings of the Greek Temple of Delphi through the following proverb: “He who knows himself knows his Lord.” Likewise, they also explain how to arrive at consciousness of divinity within oneself through the application and understanding of spiritual practice. Spiritual law, practice or discipline pertains to Sharia in Arabic, which in Sufism does not literally pertain to the exoteric, punitive laws of Muslim countries, but to how we awaken consciousness so as to know divinity in different levels, degree by degree. It is by following good conduct in our daily life that we will come to know divinity, the path, the ladder that ascends to higher states of consciousness, the way of experience, the truth, known as Haqiqah in Sufism. Here is what the Sufi master Al-Qushayri had to say about this topic in his Risalah: Principles of Sufism: The divine Law commands one to the duty of servanthood. The Way, the inner reality, is the contemplation of divine lordship. Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. Divine Law brings obligation upon the creation, while the Way is founded upon the free action [or experience] of the Real. The divine Law is that you serve Him. The Way is that you see Him.
This is the law of cause and effect. If you want to awaken your conscious, spiritual perception, unfiltered, unobstructed by limited notions of self, you must fulfill the requisites of religion: be a good person; do not lie; do not steal; do not fornicate; do not adulterate; do not commit sexual misconduct; do not steal; etc.
Certain behaviors and habits are the result of conditioned consciousness, defects and errors, and constitute actions that produce and perpetuate suffering. Positive, virtuous actions are the result of awakened, unconditioned and free consciousness, of divine remembrance, and help to produce and perpetuate happiness for oneself and others. Positive actions aid us in removing the conditions of our psyche, hence the emphasis within Sufism for purity of mind, heart, and body. There are some who believe that the etymological meaning of the term Sufi designates the 'pure wool' or 'purity' of soul, Suf, that adorns the great initiates, the great practitioners. Therefore, if we want to realize our inner divinity, we must cultivate the causes and conditions for the fruition of that realization within us, through psychological purification. When we purify our consciousness, we ascend to higher levels of consciousness, of being. If we give in to desire, our conditioned psyche, habits, and egotism, strengthening our negative qualities, we descend and enter inferior levels of consciousness or being. Different religions have different ways of explaining good behavior, of how to cultivate virtue. In the Gnostic tradition we have a vast array of practices and teachings about how to discipline ourselves so that we can experience the way, the truth, and the divine life. Therefore, this scriptural affirmation goes against millions of books being written for a modern, “New Age” public, which affirm that anyone can experience the divine by doing whatever they want, by creating their own mantras (sacred sounds), by creating their own reality, by giving into their egotistical desires. This is all one hundred percent subjective and harmful, because it demonstrates a profound ignorance of cause and effect, a fundamental law of nature. If you feed the conditions that trap your consciousness, you will enter into suffering. If you want to free the consciousness of its conditions, you must break the cages that trap and enslave your true nature, so as to achieve genuine contentment and happiness. If you want to know yourself and therefore know divinity, you must enact the causes for that result. You cannot change the law. Ignorance of the law does not procure exclusion from its results. Therefore, ignorance is the worst of sins, according to Socrates 
Knowledge and Comprehension
Which brings us to our next point. If you wish to know divinity, you must deeply understand the laws that lead to its fruition based on your experience. Intellectual knowledge or memorizing information is not enough. There must be profound comprehension.
Knowledge and comprehension are different. Knowledge is of the mind. Comprehension is of the heart. ―Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
There are hundreds of thousands of spiritual teachers in the world today, many who have memorized the Bible, the Qur’an, the Bhagavad-Gita by heart, and yet they do not demonstrate the ethics and virtues propounded by their religion, as illustrated by numerous cases of sodomy, molestation of children by priests, and other horrible crimes committed in the name of “spiritual brotherhood” and “religion.” People may have a lot of knowledge in the mind about religion, and yet fail to fulfill even one precept given by their tradition. This is why Christ taught his disciples to be vigilant, stating: “By their fruits you will know them.”
People know many things about God, astral travel, awakening consciousness in dreams in order to converse with the angels, etc. Yet have they experienced these truths themselves? Likewise, we may have many cherished beliefs and knowledge regarding our terrestrial identity, and yet we fail to comprehend who we are in a deep manner. This ignorance is illustrated in the case of some alcoholics who, knowing their addiction is harmful, continue to engage in bad behaviors, in drinking to excess. This example shows us that while we may have a lot of knowledge of right and wrong, we still may lack comprehension of the consequences. If we place our hand on a hot stove, we will retract our hand in pain. Therefore, we have gained a superficial form of comprehension, of gnosis, that to put our hand on a hot stove is to get burned. Sadly, with many of our ingrained habits and customs, we continue to indulge in behaviors contrary to divine laws and fail to see the results. We may know it is wrong to be angry and yell at another person, yet we may do it anyways. We may know it is wrong to be sarcastic to someone in a given instant, and yet fail to restrain our negative comments. If we want to awaken, we must learn to comprehend what behaviors are detrimental to ourselves and others, and not act on them, to see these psychological tendencies for what they are and not allow them to persist and subsist in our minds. This is comprehension; we know in our hearts that something is essentially wrong, and therefore we behave accordingly. This is very different from having a concept in our heads. Instead, this is the voice of conscience, of ethics, of spirituality, speaking to us. Our minds are tarnished and imperfect as a result of too much negativity, conditioning, and false knowledge, and not enough comprehension. The remedy is to deepen our awareness of divinity, to purify ourselves and to follow the ethical conduct of the great religions. For as Prophet Muhammad taught: There is a polish for everything that takes away rust; and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God. ―Hadith: Sahih Al-Bukhari
Likewise, awakening and comprehension are synonymous. True spirituality or understanding is developed through following the heart, as the Sufi master Ibn ‘Arabi explains:
May God open the eyes of your heart, shedding His divine light. The angelic realm, which contains the potential of future creation, incorporeal existences, the meaning of all and everything to come, and divine power, is the element from which the visible world is created and, therefore the material world is under the influence and domination of the angelic realm. The movement, the sound, the voice, the ability to speak, to eat and to drink is not from the existences themselves in the visible, material world. They all pass through the invisible world of the angelic realm. We think that we see with our eyes. The information, the influences of perception, are due to our senses―while the real influence, the meaning of things, the power behind what sees and what is seen, can be reached neither by the senses, nor by deduction and analysis, comparison, contrasts, and associations made through intellectual theories. The invisible world can only be penetrated by the eye and the mind of the heart. Indeed, the reality of this visible world also can only be seen by the mind and eye of the heart. What we think we see is but veils which hide the reality of things; things whose truth, whose meaning may not be revealed until these veils are lifted. It is only when the dark veils of imagination [fantasy] and preconception are raised that the divine light will penetrate the heart, enabling the inner eye to see. Then either the sunlight or the light of a candle will become a metaphor for the divine light. ―Ibn ‘Arabi: Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom
All of us are hypnotized by our mind, by our projected self-image. We have many fantasies about who we are, and yet we fail to see ourselves in our true reality. This is evidenced by the fact that other people never see us as we see ourselves, which is always a source of tremendous conflict. We have a lot of knowledge in our heads that we identify with, such as our name, language, customs, education, etc., and yet our suffering attests to the fact that we do not comprehend the genuine sources of our suffering, which are constituted by our fears, attachments, aversions, and ignorance.
True awakening occurs when we know how to put knowledge in its proper place, through deep comprehension of the heart. As you see in this graphic, knowledge belongs to the horizontal line of life: knowledge we gain from birth, life, to death. On the left of this horizontal path is our genesis, followed by childhood, adolescence, adulthood, marriage, children, old age, decrepitude, and death towards the right. This is the path of terrestrial knowledge, which is necessary and fundamental for living in the world in which we are. But comprehension is the vertical path, an ascension to higher levels of being, ways of being, in conjunction with the present moment, found at the precise point where these two beams intersect, in the middle. We cannot avoid the horizontal line of life, but we can learn to transform it by ascending to a higher way of being, a superior level of consciousness. We must learn to respond to life with a sense of ethical discipline, rectitude, and love, which constitutes the path of the heart above. Learning to behave in a conscious manner helps us to ascend to higher ways of being, levels of being, along the vertical path. Ascending this vertical line, we come to experience heaven or heavenly states as defined by some religions. Yet if we continue as we are, identifying with psychological states of hatred, anger, pride, fear, sarcasm, lust, desire, etc., these negative qualities will take us down this vertical path towards submerged states of consciousness. The vertical path below signifies states of suffering, chaos, affliction, and pain. This is known as hell or diabolical psychological states within religion. If we do not change our ways of being, we will eventually descend on that path where we will awaken into more suffering and pain than we currently experience. 
The Paths of Life and Death
The Judeo-Christian-Muslim traditions, as well as the Eastern mystical doctrines, emphasize that there are two fundamental paths of awakening: one of a higher way of life, and another towards deepening states of suffering.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ―Daniel 12:2
We can awaken and liberate consciousness from its conditions: pride, hate, greed, avarice, and the infernal qualities known in some traditions as sins or defects. Or we can strengthen our cage: our animalistic qualities of gluttony, aggression, and destruction. The choice is ours based on our behavior.
Look at humanity! What path has it chosen? Have you ever reflected on this? With world-wide acts of prostitution, adultery, degeneration; wars emerging here, there, and everywhere, are the signs not clear for us? Human beings are worse off than they have ever been, which is why many artists have depicted this spiritual dilemma of “To be or not to be” by painting the Last Judgment. As you see in this image, Christ above represents the highest aspect of consciousness or divinity that we can aspire to within ourselves. To his right are those souls who know how to obey divine laws, thereby developing peace, happiness, compassion, conscious love, charity, and faith. They ascend up the steps into the temples of the sacred mysteries. Those beings who never sought to change, who indulged in desire, who fed and saturated their diabolic conditions of mind, enter into regions of flames, symbolic of states of suffering and a deepening awareness of their psychological limitations and imprisonment. While heaven and hell are referenced as places in the cosmos and in nature, these more importantly refer to levels of being within us, ways of behaving. Does our consciousness resonate with compassion, virtue, philanthropy, altruism, and happiness for others? Or do our states of consciousness vibrate with wrath, avarice, doubt, envy, and dissatisfaction with the happiness of others? Examine yourself to see where your consciousness gravitates, and be sincere. Sincerity is the doorway leading to awakening in an unconditioned, positive light. In the bottom center of this image is the archangel Michael, who is weighing the deeds of souls in accordance with their actions. Just as there is a record in a physical court of law for transgression, likewise do the heavenly masters or heavenly beings, the buddhas or angels, evaluate our actions based on facts, evidence, and full consciousness of our state, in which the Qur’an represents as two books, one for the virtuous and one for the vicious, wherein are inscribed all the deeds we perform. The record of the vicious is indeed in Sijjīn.
Sijjīn is typically associated with the lowest hells or states of conditioned perception. Illīyūn can refer, in Islam, to the highest heavens, a mountain peak that overlooks everything. This symbolizes having a consciousness so high and elevated that it perceives all things, all phenomena, without conditioning.
The Qur’an, the mystical book of the Muslims, refers to gardens of paradise and the flames of infernal passion, desire, of thirst insatiable, as representations of mind. We repeat: these are not just places, but ways of being. We gravitate to places in this great nature based on the qualities of our mind. We vibrate with dimensions in the cosmos based on our level of being. Likewise with our daily life. Nobody can deny the fact that there are different social levels. There are churchgoing people, people in brothels, farmers, businessmen, etc.
Sadly, humanity is addicted to negativity, and is averse towards the divine life, for as John Milton stated in Paradise Lost:
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. ―John Milton, Paradise Lost
Simply examine what people worship today. Turn on the television and you will find entertainment and shows on killing, on cruelty, on deception, criminality. People have made a heaven of hell, being addicted to negative behavior. Likewise when someone teaches the masses about the heavenly path, people scorn such a prophet or messenger, and may eventually try to kill him, as we saw with the crucifixion of Jesus, the poisoning of Buddha and Socrates, the persecution of Muhammad, etc.
The Publican and the Pharisee
So we must be profoundly analytical and honest with ourselves. We have to take a self-inventory, known by the Sufis as muhasabah, and observe what qualities we have in abundance and what we lack. We must learn to consider ourselves as strangers by observing our own minds in action, perceiving ourselves from the perspective of the free consciousness, which must in turn awaken and comprehend the other conditioned parts of the psyche.
This work on oneself goes beyond our concepts of good and bad. We must be sincere and comprehend how none of us are completely innocent in life. If we consider that we are “spiritual” people, filled with such-and-such good qualities, virtues, we must be willing to consider how we may be mistaken. Otherwise, why would we change? A thing is good when it suits us and bad when it does not. Within the rhythms of poetry, crime is also concealed. There is much virtue in the villain and much evil in the virtuous…
Simply look at some priests today who are molesting children, and yet who consider themselves to be holy people. Jesus warned about such hypocrites in his parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, whereby a rich priest went to pray in the temple, congratulating himself and boasting of his good qualities, and denigrating a poor man in the corner who was beating his chest in repentance, feeling too guilty to be forgiven for his deeds. Christ said that the poor man’s prayer was granted, since it was sincere, whereas the Pharisee, the so-called spiritual person over-confident with himself, was not. A Pharisee is a person from any religion who thinks and believes they are holy and justified, when in truth they only believe, having no development. Therefore:
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. ―Matthew 19:24
To be rich is to feel oneself self-sufficient, especially from divinity. The Qur’an as posits a similar parable in Surah 18: The Cave, Verses 32 to 43:
Draw for them the parable of two men for each of whom We had made two gardens of vines, and We had surrounded them with date palms, and placed crops between them.
So what are we? Are we rich, psychologically, feeling that we possess virtues that we do not? Or are we poor, recognizing that we have nothing, and from this honest foundation ascend towards the Being, acquiring genuine knowledge?
The Sufis state that the greatest quality or foundation for the disciple to have is poverty, to feel oneself as poor, to recognize one's true lack of spirituality, since humility opens the pathway for elevation. Wherever this sense of “me,” “myself,” or “I,” is absent, we experience the plenitude of the Being. Or as Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Aquarian Message: “God seeks the nothingness in order to fill it.” 
Genuine Awakening and the Tree of Life
Therefore:
Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears – there’s hell. Wherever “you” aren’t – that’s heaven. ―Abū Sa’īd in Ibn Munawwar: Asrār at-tawḥīd, ed. Shafī‘ī-Kadkanī, 299
Our egotistical sense of self obscures us from accessing the heavenly realms of levels of being, represented by this graphic. This is known as the Tree of Life in the Book of Genesis, and is a map of awakening: from the lowest states of matter, energy and consciousness, to the most refined, synthetic, essential, and spiritual at the top. This is known as the Kabbalah, which comes from the Hebrew word: קבל Kabbel / qabal: to receive. This is the spiritual wisdom we gain by awakening and liberating consciousness in these ten spheres of modes of being.
The Tree of Life signifies the multi-dimensionality of nature, which penetrates, co-penetrates, and subsists together and integrally without confusion. These ten spheres or modes of being are with us here and now, but we are typically not aware of them. We are at Malkuth, which in Hebrew means: Kingdom, the physical body. Above this physicality we have vitality, emotionality, mentality, will, consciousness, spirit, and the highest divinity, known as logos, Kristos, or Christ, the primordial root energy at the basis of every fundamental cosmic unit. These are distinct gradations of consciousness, energy, matter and perception that we will examine with more detail in subsequent lectures. However, we will state that this map is essential for understanding our inner spiritual experiences, such as through meditation or the study of dreams. This graphic illustrates for us where we are in a given moment, at what level of consciousness we gravitate towards. The spheres above Malkuth are the heavens, whereas the shadow of the Tree constitute the Klipoth or inferior dimensions, negative states of being, the submerged, conditioned and infraconscious aspects of the soul, known in religions as hell. Remember that these spheres are with us here and now, but we are not awakened to them yet. We may feel that we are active in our physical bodies, but yet may not be aware of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations, or impulses. This lack of awareness of what we are thinking, feeling, and doing in a given moment of the day signifies that we do not know the Tree of Life within us. Simply try to review everything you did in a given day, down to the smallest detail, and see if there are not spaces or gaps in your memory! Awakening means to change all that, to not be unconscious or unaware of any aspect of our daily life. The important thing to remember is that if we want to ascend up the vertical path of being, of awakening, we must do so by conquering ourselves and dominating our lower passions, so that we no longer remain in “hell,” the inferior qualities of being, but instead rise to a higher way of being, the Tree of Life. 
The Present Moment
So how do we awaken? We have presented and explained the need to awaken, but now we are going to elaborate on the methods for doing so.
Many teachings in this day and age speak of mindfulness, awareness, attention, consciousness, and perception. There are also many doctrines about intuition or insight into the present moment in which we find ourselves. These are all basic introductions or kindergarten steps for accessing complete awakening of our divine potential. Awakening unconditioned perception begins in this present instance in which we find ourselves, at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical beams, the conjunction of the line of life or knowledge and the line of being. I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say that the “now”―waqt―is that in which you are. If you are in the world, your “now” is this world. If you are in the next world [the higher dimensions of the Tree of Life], your “now” is the next world. If you are in joy, your “now” is joy. If you are in sorrow, your “now” is sorrow. He means by this that the present moment is that which has dominance over a person. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Every genuine spiritual endeavor begins by learning to pay attention and to not be distracted by memories, thoughts, daydreams, sentimentality, fears, problems, etc. It means to expand and heighten one’s consciousness of the present moment.
Wherever you are, do not forget what you are doing. Simply be. If you are driving you car, don't think of other things. Pay attention to your mood, your thoughts, your psychological states. Do not let your attention be dominated and distracted by other things, but learn to dominate the moment through vigilance. The Sufis elaborate on the importance of solely paying exclusive attention to the present moment, without looking forward or backwards in time: Waqt [the present moment] may refer specifically to the time in which one is. Some people say that the present moment is between the two times, that is, the past and the future. And they say that the Sufi is the “son of his moment.” This means that he occupies himself immediately with whatever sort of devotion should come first in a given moment. He bases himself upon what is required of him at the time. It is said, “The dervish cares for neither the past nor the future of his moment: he cares for the moment in which he is.” And regarding this, “To be preoccupied with what escaped you in a moment that has passed is to waste a second moment." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Al-Qushayri states that the true disciple bases himself upon what is required of him at the time. All of us have responsibilities in this physical plane, work, employment, familial duties, etc. Therefore, are we certain that we are paying attention to what we are doing as we fulfill our obligations? Remember that Gnosis is precisely the doctrine of momentariness. We have to stop thinking about the past or the future, and simply look and what is going on around and within us. It is by paying attention to the contents of our psyche during social interactions that we learn to discover hidden defects whose existence we never suspected.
Therefore, how do we interact with certain people? Why? What motivates us to speak a certain way? To gossip? To lie? To criticize? Have we ever considered the secret motives of our speech? For why we might feel disdain towards someone we deem less important to us? To those we think are inferior? What qualities surge in our mind around people who provoke us? Whom we dislike? Our sense of pride? Are we sure that we do not possess the same qualities of the person we ostracize and condemn? Have we ever questioned ourselves when interacting with others? Interactions with people is a full length mirror by which we can comprehend our own faults, because if we are attentive only of the present moment, without invoking the past or the future, we find that our psychological tendencies, desires, and conditioning emerge within the screen of our perception, within our attention when we know how to direct it inward. This is known as muhasabah, inner-accounting, precisely because we must make a psychological account of the qualities we lack and the qualities we have in abundance. We have to self-discover ourselves in action. We must also learn to be aware of our surroundings and our intimate connection to the divine presence, labeled muhadarah, awareness of the Divine Self, within Sufism. We call this self-remembrance in the gnostic tradition. We learn to gain comprehension of hudur, the presence of God, through muhadarah, awareness. Simultaneously, we must also direct our attention inside, studying our intimate defects through self-observation, inner accounting or muhasabah. In order to know divinity we first have to look inside to see what is obstructing the light of divinity within our consciousness. By perceiving our faults and comprehending them, we in turn can liberate ourselves from those conditions. Self-observation is how we acquire new information about who we are and why we behave, so that we can work to remove negative elements in the psyche and thereby produce greater cognizance, peace, happiness, and compassion. Our spiritual life is not exclusive to attending meetings. It is constituted of every interaction we engage with in daily, practical life. Spirituality is not limited to the church or the mosque, but in our homes, with our children, with our co-workers, and especially with people who give us difficulties. Do we respond with kindness towards someone who insults our hurt sense of dignity, our pride? How do we react towards the condemnation or criticism of others at work? Remember that our daily life is our spiritual path, and how we behave in every instance determines whether we will initiate a more spiritual way of being or strengthen a more demonic way of being. 
The Moment is a Sword
We define our spiritual life depends on what we do from moment-to-moment. As Buddha taught in the Dhammapada:
Preceded by mind are phenomena, led by mind, formed by mind. If with mind polluted one speaks or acts, then pain follows, as a wheel follows the draft ox’s foot.
What thoughts, feelings, or impulses emerge when we get up in the morning? When we go to work? When we speak with a friend, co-worker, or relative? Do our actions and words produce harmony and friendship, or do our actions create resistance, conflict, and struggle?
If we act virtuously, then we will inspire virtue in others; we will produce happiness for others. This is a fundamental law of nature: cause and effect, known in the East as karma. Therefore, in accordance with the law of action and consequence: One of the sayings of the Sufis is, “The moment is a sword.” That is, in just the way that a sword severs, the present moment shows forth the influence of God’s action, ending things and bringing them to be. It is said, “The touch of the flat of a sword is temperate, but its blade cuts”―the one who treats it gently is safe and the one who treats it rudely is destroyed. Thus with the “now”: Whoever submits himself to its authority is saved and whoever resists it deteriorates and declines. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
If you are negative towards another person, you will inspire negativity within that person. Therefore, the moment as a blade will cut you. But if you are temperate, peaceful, and kind towards your critics, your actions will produce comfort, ease, and balance.
When confronted with terrible circumstances, a virtuous, cultivated, and trained mind will serve as our greatest protector and aid. If we continue in unconscious, destructive, and resentful behavior, never learning to see another person’s point of view, we will in turn deepen our suffering and the suffering of others. We will fall upon our own sword. It comes to my mind a story of a Tibetan Buddhist monk who was imprisoned by the Chinese after the expulsion of Tibetans and the desecration of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries by the Chinese army. The 14th Dalai Lama asked him, “What is the greatest danger you faced?” This monk replied, “Losing my compassion for the Chinese.” This is a powerful statement! Eventually this man was freed, and he continued as a monk, never losing sight of the goal: to generate superior states of being and not to give in to conditioned, negative psychological reactions, to dominate the present moment and submit himself only to what is being experienced here and now. Whether or not we are in prison, we still suffer. If we react negatively, we will continue to suffer and exacerbate our problems. But if our mind is peaceful, we can easily and patiently withstand wrongs, maintaining serenity, and never losing touch with our inner divinity and the divinity of others. This is how the sword of perception, of vigilance, of insight, will defend us when we need it most. Likewise, when confronted with difficult people, the greatest advantage we can have is always responding with consciousness, with remembrance of divinity: The best weapon that a human being can use in life is a correct psychological state.
So question yourselves from the perspective of conscious attention. What specific types of events provoke or invoke your anger? Fear? Resentment? Why do you act and behave a certain way around certain people? Where are your thoughts coming from when your vanity is hurt, when you are offended? Why are you always offended by certain comments? Are you certain that responding with frustration will aid you at work, with your co-workers, your spouse?
Everything passes away. Nothing in life is static. Therefore, to hold on to a sense of self, such as anger, pride, hatred, desire, lust, as if it is permanent―to believe in and give our energy to these egotistical qualities that are transient and insubstantial, meaningless and unimportant--is absurd, harmful. Such psychological states deepen our suffering, precisely because there is a lack of communion between our internal states and the external event. External events are always changing, therefore, why hold on to them with so much attachment, with a desire for permanence? We always want something that doesn't coincide with the facts, and therefore we suffer tremendously inside. Wherever we direct our attention, we expend creative energy. To give energy to our inner demons is to prolong our pain, to strengthen the cages we have built around ourselves. To cease suffering, we must cease with desire. If we want to be happy, we must not give in to our desires, but learn to observe them with consciousness, to understand the roots of these thoughts, feelings, and impulses, so that they have less dominance over what we say and do. We must learn to adjust our internal states to meet the needs of each event. In this way we learn to use the sword of perception for our favor, to defend ourselves from negative thinking, feeling, and acting. When you learn to follow the intuition of your innermost divinity, your Being, than you will learn how to competently negotiate and navigate the seas of your life, not only for your benefit, for the benefit of others. Our egotism, pride, resentment, etc., is the enemy of God, the enemy of the Being. If we want divine aid, we have to go against ourselves, to go against the grain of our mechanical behaviors, habits, and ways of thinking. The Sufis teach that if we want realization of the divine, we must wage a holy war against the infidels, which are the conditioned elements of our psyche. Divinity, of course, always aids the soul in this difficult struggle to awaken. Remembering God with the heart is called the sword of seekers. With it the seeker slays his enemies [egos, defects, nafs] and drives off [karmic] troubles that are headed for him. Even if difficulty should overshadow the servant, his fleeing to God Most High in his heart immediately turns away from him the thing he hates. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism 
Examine this image of St. Michael, who is often depicted slaying the devil, the dragon. מיכאל Michael in Hebrew comes from מיכ Mica, “Who is like” אֵל El, or “God?” This is a rhetorical question, telling us that no one is like God, the resplendence, light, or consciousness of divinity, the Being. Michael is an angelic being outside of us, but here represents the solar intelligence of our Being, as well as how the soul must wage bloody battles against the afflictions of the mind, the dragon, the monster, our diabolic qualities or egotistical desires. He does so with a sword, representing wisdom, remembrance, and insight. In some religious paintings, St. Michael is depicted carrying a scale, representing how the solar intelligence of our innermost Being is the one that brings balance, harmony, and justice to our psychological universe. This is how he conquers the creator of illusion and suffering.
The same meaning is represented in the next graphic of Manjushri. Here is a buddha, an awakened one, conquering the illusions and hypnotisms of desire through the sword of prajna, wisdom, insight, gnosis, or consciousness. By awakening our consciousness, and by destroying the shackles of our understanding, we can arrive at self-knowledge, represented by the book he also carries in his other hand.
The book represents knowledge, whereas the sword represents being, insight, consciousness. Therefore, knowledge and being must be harmoniously balanced within us in order to establish the flaming powers of comprehension in our psyche. With superior knowledge, we can learn to redirect the course of our life, and with practical wisdom and insight, cut through to the sources of our greatest problems, thereby liberating our soul, awakening it definitely. The Sufis state: They have recited about this:
Meditation is the path of polishing our perception, of purifying our insight. Your mind precedes all phenomena. We become what we think. Think wrong thoughts, and you will produce wrong results. But achieve serenity of mind, insight, patience, and understanding, by learning to pay attention, you learn to access the essential nature of your consciousness, which is peace, compassion, and love.
Behavior, Gnosis, and Meditation
In synthesis, we seek to change our behaviors and states of mind in a fundamental way. Awakening results from knowing how to transform the psyche into something positive and conscious, free of limitations. It means that we know how to act in every instance of life in an appropriate and defined way.
Abu Hafs Haddad of Nishapur says, "Sufism [or gnosticism] consists entirely of behavior; every time, place, and circumstance have their own property; he that observes the properties of each occasion attains to the rank of holy men; and he that neglects the properties is far removed from the thought of nearness (to God) and is excluded from imagining that he is acceptable to God.” ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
What aids us in this endeavor are spiritual practices, the fulfillment of the divine law, so as to experience the truth, the way or the path. Samael Aun Weor wrote that meditation is the daily bread of the Gnostic. Meditation is the science of acquiring self-knowledge, of understanding the causes of conflict within us in order to remediate them. Meditation is how we overcome our personal and conditioned sense of self, the ego. As the Sufis teach:
It is in a state of tranquility where we can remove the conditionality of the mind in order to free and awaken the soul, the consciousness, from bondage. By increasing our knowledge of divinity through removing the causes of suffering, we in turn develop true peace of mind.
Practice
To aid us in this endeavor, we will be providing a series of exercises in order to aid you in accessing and realizing the principles we have covered in this lecture and in this course. We recommend you study and fulfill these practices each week in a diligent way, so that you procure definite and consistent results. Consistency is key, since without steadfastness in one’s spiritual discipline, one can attain nothing. However, as you continue to practice and see the benefits of such exercises, you will naturally be inspired to continue and deepen your work.
For this week, you can refer to the following exercise:
Mantras or sacred sounds will help elevate the consciousness, providing it with energy so as to awaken it, thereby helping us to vibrate with superior levels of nature. This is a preliminary exercise in order to eventually develop meditation in its genuine sense, but that is something we will cover in the following weeks.
When we discuss religion, mysticism, occultism, the study of what is hidden from our perception, beneath the surface of the senses, really what we are speaking about is a particular form of experience or realization of what is inside. And we explain in the Gnostic doctrine precisely what the obstacles are within our psychology that prevent us from perceiving what is real, from knowing what divinity is, which we in these studies denominate “the Being.” As the founder of our tradition Samael Aun Weor stated, “The Being is the Being and the reason for the Being to be is to be the Being Himself.” This Being is a form of cognizance, perception, or energy which is beyond the mind, beyond will, beyond the heart and the body. In Buddhism this is the root cognizance of our inner Buddha, and our inner Being is the Buddha, the awakened one, which in Christianity we call Christ. This light or presence, this force known as divinity inside, this Being we seek to discover through spiritual practice, is precisely what we want to know, and what any genuine seeker of religion has come to precisely encounter within him or herself.
Any person who is entering any religion or spiritual teaching seeks to know God directly, not through theory, not through intellect, not through belief, but through direct perception of what is genuinely real. So we differentiate this type of spiritual understanding as being, cognizance, comprehension, whereas we differentiate this from intellectual knowledge, scholasticism, debate, theory, something that is intellectually fascinating or something that is to be argued for or against. We are not interested in that type of dynamic. We seek to know God directly. Of course, in this teaching, we study many books, many scriptures to help us understand what is this root perception in ourselves, known as the consciousness, that is part of our inner God, our inner Buddha, our inner flame. But of course, we always balance the study with practice. In this teaching, we highly emphasize the need for practice and the need for effective methods to transform our mind and to experience divinity. 
In this lecture, we are precisely going to discuss this point: what divinity is, and what is the type of knowledge that we need to know divinity directly. In this first graphic, we have a famous Tibetan Buddhist saint named Milarepa who was quite a remarkable figure because he actually was a criminal. He was someone who committed many crimes and had in fact incurred many debts as a result of his criminal behavior. But he realized precisely his position, his culpability, and took responsibility for his actions, and he actually became one of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist saints, which Mahayana Buddhism venerates and which we proudly study.
Milarepa gave a very beautiful teaching about this demarcation between knowledge and divinity, the Being: Just as fog is dispelled by the strength of the sun, and is dispelled no other way, preconception (or intellectual knowledge) is cleared by the strength of realization. There is no other way of clearing preconceptions. Experience them as baseless dreams. Experience them as ephemeral bubble. Experience them as insubstantial rainbows. Experience them as indivisible space. ―Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs from Tibet’s Beloved Saint
So if we genuinely want to know what God is inside, to experience what divinity is, we need to abandon a lot of our own preconceptions about who we are as an individual. Of course, this is a very challenging and difficult step to ask oneself and confront oneself, by asking this question: “Who are we really? Who is God inside of myself? What is divinity? How do I experience my own inner divinity inside?” When we ask this question, it comes to my mind a very famous Sufi teaching, which is from the mysticism of Islam:
He who knows himself knows his Lord. ―Sufi Proverb
Also, the Greek maxim on the Temple of Delphi taught,
Homo nosce te ipsum (in Latin): Man, know thyself, and you will know the universe and the gods. ―Oracle of Delphi
So we have to really confront this question in ourselves: if we do not know God inside, who is our inner divinity, our inner Being, the question is, do we really know ourselves in depth? This is precisely the maxim or ultimatum that any college of initiation or school of mysteries has taught, to ask this question: who are we, and do we know divinity? If we are honest and really examine the abundance of spiritual literature, genuine literature from different religions—whether from Hinduism as the Bhagavad-Gita, Buddhism as different sutras and tantras, teachings of Kabbalah such as the Zohar, the Talmud or the Torah, or the Tarot, the Egyptian mystical teachings; likewise, in the Middle East as the Quran and many different scriptures that have all taught an integral science by which we can unite with divinity—the thing is to ask ourselves what we know, genuinely, because if we do not know who is our inner Being, our divinity inside, as religions have pointed out, it means we do not fully know ourselves. This is the brave step we need to take when seeking genuine spirituality, genuine realization of divinity, to ask ourselves what is it we really know and to find what is valid and what is invalid.
We find here Milarepa. We chose this image because he is listening, actively. He, being a great saint, is demonstrating his humility by the fact that he is learning. He learns from all human beings, all sentient beings, without distinction. Even though he attained great realization, still he had an understanding that upon great heights of spiritual knowledge one has to be humble and to learn from all beings. So we should imitate his example. We should attempt to approach religion from the honest perspective and understanding that we do not know and that we seek to know, and that, as the gospels teach us: Ask, and it shall be opened unto you. Knock on the door, and it will be opened. Seek and ye shall find. ―Matthew 7:7
We want to understand precisely what prevents us from knowing divinity, whether given the name of Christ, Allah, Buddha, Ahura Mazda amongst the Zoroastrians—many names for divinity. We need to understand precisely what in us is preventing our perception of that divinity.
So we talk a lot about in these studies the difference between concept and reality, the difference between knowledge and being. Reality is the being, is that divine force inside us that we can actualize in this instant, if we learn to pay attention as the psyche. Concepts are our beliefs, our habits, our ideas about what religion teaches or what we experience, more importantly. 
In this image, we have Rene Descartes, a French philosopher who is famous for stating, “I think, therefore I am.” And we politely disagree with Descartes by explaining that to think is not to be. The way to understand that difference is to understand that thinking is a type of process in our psyche that we typically identify with as being our identity, but if we learn to observe ourselves in our totality, understanding that our thoughts change, by observing our emotions change, by looking at our body, we find that sensations come and go. These things fluctuate. These are not permanent. So where is the inherent, intrinsic nature of this perception that we have? This is a very famous Buddhist teaching which we study: impermanence of the self. We find that these things are impermanent, therefore where is our genuine identity in this very moment?
So thinking is a process that really is mechanical, you can say. The mind can store information, concepts, have theories about the nature of language, philosophy, the nature of reality, but thought or thinking, concepts, are not the reality itself. It is merely a projection from the mind that tends to label information. So we experience phenomena, but then we think and label those phenomena. This is the big question we need to ask: what is the reality that we are experiencing in the moment? In these studies, we talk about mindfulness and self-observation, to observe one’s body, one’s mind, one’s heart, to be aware and have the understanding that intrinsically we are not our thoughts. We are not sensations of the body. We are not the emotions. We are a type of quality of consciousness beyond that. And this consciousness can experience a dynamic of emotions and sentiment which is superior, divine, which we seek to access through practice. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” So what does it mean to be, to say, “I am?” Jesus of Nazareth who is the head of the Gnostic Church, the Christ force through him explained that “I am the way, the truth, and the light.” In Hebrew, in Kabbalah, Ehyeh asher ehyeh, “I Am that I Am,” which is what Moses heard from the burning bush, the Tree of Life, on Mount Sinai. When Jesus said, “I Am,” really divinity in him said, “I Am.” It was not the physical personality of Jesus whom people worship, but instead it is divinity inside that says, “I Am,” the Being, the presence that is eternal. Our thoughts may change, our appetites or habits, our beliefs, our theories, our experience of life may change, but God does not change. And that force is inside and eternal, that we can experience, and that says, “I Am,” Ehyeh, in Hebrew. Descartes says, "I think, therefore I am," and the thing is God does not think. God knows. God is not some anthropomorphic figure in the clouds, but is a force, an intelligence, a divine presence in our heart, in our very core of our consciousness, which we can experience if we learn the method. God does not need to think. He is. There is the very famous saying of Jesus of Nazareth when he was persecuted by the Pharisees in his time, the people who believe that they know about spirituality but don't. They asked him, "Are you the Christ?" He said, "Before Abraham was, I am." Abraham, if you're not familiar with Judaism, was the founder of that tradition, and the people who were persecuting Jesus of Nazareth were very attached to their tradition and did not want to see what is revolutionary or new. Therefore, he was crucified. People have concepts about the nature of divinity, about being, but the reality is something we have to experience, since it is beyond thought. Therefore, to think is not to be. To be is to be aware of thought, how it flows and changes and fluctuates, be aware of our emotional states, and the experience of life as sensation, as they fluctuate. I'd like to quote from you one author, in this tradition, the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition; his name is Samael Aun Weor. He states in his book The Great Rebellion precisely this dynamic between concept and reality. Who or what can guarantee that concept and reality are exactly the same thing? Concept is one thing, and reality is another. There is a tendency to overestimate our own concepts. It is almost impossible for reality to equal a concept. Nevertheless, the mind hypnotized by its very own concepts always presumes that concept and reality are the same. Any psychological process that is correctly structured using precise logic is opposed by a different one, strongly developed with similar or superior logic. Then what? ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
If any of you have ever studied philosophy, particularly the teachings of Immanuel Kant, he talked in his doctrine about the nature of knowledge and concept, known as the antinomies of reason, basically that you can have two arguments of equally plausible evidence and dissertation, different thoughts, beliefs that are equally plausible but contradictory, such as, "I believe in God," or, "I don't believe in God." One could provide evidence either way. It can be convincing, depending on the articulation of thought. These are contradictions or paradoxes, because both can be true or false at the same time, depending on your argument.
The point that Immanuel Kant was emphasizing in his contribution to Western philosophy was that the intellect cannot know the truth. Reading cannot show us truth. We can have ideas. We can learn methods. We need to educate our mind. This is necessary, but the actual experience or cognizance of what the divine is comes about as a result of spiritual practice. We can have an idea in our mind about why one religion is better than another, and someone of another religion could have the same belief about their tradition. There's conflict; this is why the world is such a mess, is in the state that it's in, due to people precisely deifying the intellect, people stating that the intellect can know the truth, and that we are the possessors of the truth, and that everyone else in the world doesn't know. This is really sad, because we teach in Gnosis that all religions are universal, that they teach the same science with different language and different symbols, in accordance with the culture and the time in which Gnosis is disseminated. Samael Aun Weor emphasizes this point: Two severely disciplined minds confined by ironclad intellectual structures argue with one another. They debate and dispute over this or that fact of reality. Each believes its own concept to be exact and the other to be false. Which is right? Who can honestly guarantee either case? Which one shows that concept and reality are the same? Unquestionably, each mind is a world of its own. In each and every one of us lies a kind of pretentious, dictatorial dogmatism that wants to make us believe in the absolute equality of concept and reality. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
We all have this tendency to want to affirm our ideas about work or sports or politics, beliefs, economics. Every aspect of our life, we have certain attitudes that we project, and that we want to affirm to other people. When other people don't affirm that in us, we feel conflict; we feel pain; we feel struggle. But we have to understand that struggle comes from inside, psychologically, and that if we resolve the conflict in our mind, the need to affirm our beliefs, and simply to be receptive to the flow of life in the instant, we learn to understand people better. That in turn creates better harmony in our relationships with others.
The Level of Being
In our relationships to others, we talk about what is known as the level of being. We have a very concrete image we use to teach the nature and the relationship between knowledge and being. We're talking about concepts, ideas, intellectual knowledge, which we store in our intellect, our mind. Likewise, we talk about the being, perception, cognizance, consciousness, understanding of what is real, the perception of our mind, our heart, our body in this instant. We find that two lines intersect in a given point, and that point is this moment.
In Sufism, we talk about the Arabic word waqt, which means the moment. The Sufis talk very extensively about this, and so do the Buddhists. In kabbalah, we find the same teaching, called mindfulness, to be aware of our understanding of divinity here and now, in our presence. That in turn develops and changes our relationships with others. Our habits and our ideas and our attitudes shape our life. Our mind shapes our life. What we are inside attracts the different and various circumstances of life outside. So, if we change the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we act in relationship to others, obviously the external world will change. The problem is, people want to hold on to their concepts about reality, and they push it onto reality, expecting others will conform to their beliefs. We find this in different countries throughout the world, such as the Middle East where they believe everyone should be Muslim. In America, we have more so-called freedoms, and people are free to agree to disagree, but there are tendencies in us and all human beings to want to affirm our beliefs, and to have others conform to that. If we change the way we think and we are understanding of the idiosyncrasies of others, to be aware of the mind of others, likewise we change our attitudes about ourselves, to generate compassion towards others. We then attract different circumstances of life. We talk about the level of being. The quality of our mind determines the quality of our life. Acquiring things, materialism, goods, can satisfy us for a moment, but the genuine happiness of the spirit inside, the divinity inside, comes about by being present, and being aware that we have divinity within us. Therefore, we have no need to fear economic problems, or as Jesus taught, "See the lilies of the field? They toil not, nor spin. See likewise the birds and fowl of the air. They have need for raiment, and yet the Lord sustains them. How much more so you being made into this present image. Shall you not receive the benefit of your Lord?" That comes about as we learn to reconnect with our divinity. We change our level of being. So, what is the level of being? It is our way of life, our thinking. Samael Aun Weor in his book Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology explains this: Nobody can deny the fact that there are different social levels. There are churchgoing people, people in brothels, farmers, businessmen, etc. In a like manner, there are different levels of being. Whatever we are internally, munificent or mean, generous or miserly, violent or peaceful, chaste or lustful, attracts the various circumstances of life. ―Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology 
In this image, we have two lines. The horizontal line is the line of life. On the left, we have our birth, our childhood, progressing to the right towards school, education, work, family, career, friends, marriage, old age, sickness, death—progressing towards the end. This is a mechanical process in which we go through life experiencing our economic issues, our daily issues, from birth to death.
This is a path that is not necessarily integral with the vertical line as we find in this image. This vertical line is known as the line of being. This refers to the quality of our perception, the quality of our consciousness. There are superior levels of being and there are inferior levels of being. A person who is a drug addict or a prostitute, someone who dwells in bars or is a criminal, like in the case of Milarepa, has a very low level of being, meaning: these people, in many people's eyes, are usually inferior in society. They have a lot of suffering in their life. Their level of being is inferior, because they are engaged in habits which are destructive. Above that, we have superior levels of being. This is not to talk about social class specifically, but qualities of our mind, whether we have a generous heart, compassion, understanding, peace, love towards humanity. Likewise, this refers to the virtues of the Being inside, which we develop as a result of working on the obstacles in our mind that prevent us from accessing that light. The Being and life intersect in this moment, and the way that we ascend to a superior level of being is precisely by learning to direct our attention. What are our thoughts? What are our feelings? What is our mood? To observe that is fundamental, to have a sense of separation, not as a zombie-like state, like the state in which we are dull people, but to really live life intensely, with profound awareness, insight, cognizance—this is the line of being which we discriminate between what in us is real and what is false, because all religions teach us that we don't know the truth. We don't know divinity, and that we have created many obstacles inside, like our anger, and pride, laziness, lust, defects, habits that are destructive, whether to a minor or severe degree. Obviously in the case of Milarepa, when he was a criminal, it was very severe. He was believed to have been practicing certain arts in esotericism which are very negative. He was known as a witch or a sorcerer, somebody who knows how to use the mind to harm others. He realized his mistake. He realized that he was harming others and himself as a result, and then he renounced his habits, decided that he wanted to follow a path of virtue. Then he started to ascend the vertical path of being. This indicates for us, really, how all the great saints of religion were people who were just like us, or perhaps even worse, people who committed a lot of wrong, and then as a result, changed. They recognized that they were suffering, and that they made others suffer. It's precisely when we recognize how we make others happy or how we make others suffer in our daily life, in the moment, that makes us reflect inside: what is our level of being and where do we want to ascend? Moment by moment, we learn to ascend to a higher level of being as we develop our cognizance and awareness. Buddhism teaches this fact very beautifully in the Dhammapada. It's a famous Pali scripture of Sutrayana Buddhism, the foundational level of the religion, which emphasizes my points, and which the Buddha taught 2,500 years ago: Preceded by mind are phenomena, led by mind, formed by mind. If with mind polluted one speaks or acts, then pain follows, as a wheel follows the draft ox's foot. Preceded by mind are phenomena, led by mind, formed by mind. If with mind one pure one speaks or acts, then ease follows as an ever-present shadow. ―Buddha, Dhammapada
If we perform good action, generating from our mind, we produce happiness in our relations. If we have anger or pride, that affects others, and makes others suffer.
The foundational teaching of Hinduism, and really any religion, is ahimsa, meaning: nonviolence. People think this just pertains to abstention from physical violence, such as Mahatma Gandhi's political movement against the British. That's the basic level, but Gandhi, who knew this teaching very well, was practicing ahimsa inside, psychologically, to not think harmful thoughts, to not feel negative emotions, to not let his mind harm others. This is nonviolence. This is really the definition of kindness, generosity. This type of insight begins to develop in us genuine understanding about the nature of our problems on a very deep psychological level. This is what is known as comprehension. Comprehension is not the intellectual ascertainment or understanding of a concept. Comprehension is something very profound, in which we understand in a moment of epiphany, really—and all of us have had this experience—where we know that a certain type of action or belief is wrong, and that we shouldn't engage in that habit or belief or idea or emotion. We know that something is really harmful for us, and so we stop, and then our life improves as a result. At a basic level, we could say that a person who is an alcoholic, who really realizes the damage of alcohol, comprehends how it's destructive, will never taste a drop of it again, knowing that that element will disorganize his or her psyche. The difference between comprehension and knowledge is that even though we intellectually have knowledge about something, it doesn't mean that we will act on it. In the instance of an alcoholic, he may intellectually know that alcohol is harmful, destructive. So is drugs, marijuana, barbiturates, different types of toxins that destroy the mind. We can know intellectually that it's wrong. We've been taught and told it's wrong, but still we might do it. The difference in a person who really comprehends why some behaviors are harmful is that they will never act on that again. When we really know in our heart that something is right or wrong, we will always follow that path, and we will not digress. Samael Aun Weor states: Knowledge and comprehension are different. Knowledge is of the mind. Comprehension is the heart. ―Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
Intellectually, we may have a lot of ideas about certain habits: we should stop eating too much junk food, or we should exercise more. We may know it's right, but we don't necessarily act on it. These examples operate on a very superficial level. The type of level that I'm seeking to address is something very psychological, very deep, about the way we perceive life, habits that we are not even aware of psychologically, which influence us. This is known as the subconsciousness or unconsciousness in Freudian psychology.
When we comprehend what internal, unconscious or subconscious elements obstruct our experience of reality, then we know in our heart what to do. Therefore, we don't act on the whims of our desires or negativities, but instead we comprehend how to work inside of ourselves to integrate with divinity. So, this is the teachings of religion. Religion comes from the Latin religare, which means to reunite. The Sanskrit yug, for the word yoga, means to reunite. It's the same meaning. So, we seek to comprehend how to unite with divinity, and to overcome false concepts that we may have, to confront that dynamic inside. Now, when we talk about this type of knowledge, it needs to be explained that we have certain knowledge in our mind, concepts about and beliefs about who we are psychologically, which may not be grounded in the facts. This is not to totally throw away the use of knowledge. As you see here, we have many books, in which we teach many aspects of this science, which are good to read. We emphasize the need for study to know what religion genuinely teaches, how to practice, how to meditate, how to transform one's mind. We need education to know how to do these things, but the type of knowledge we seek to abandon is false knowledge, beliefs that aren't grounded in fact—theories, ideas about who we are as individuals which obstruct us from going deeper inside. Practical and Impractical Knowledge
Part of the teachings that I'm going to explain throughout the rest of this lecture come from Sufism. Sufism, if you don't know, is the mystical tradition of Islam, which in its esoteric part was a very beautiful tradition which taught this science, before it deviated, before it digressed or degenerated, as with any religion. This is a teaching from a Sufi master by the name of Al-Hujwiri, in his book called Revelation of the Mystery, Kashf al-Mahjub. He explains something very important that I find very useful and perhaps you might too:
Knowledge is obligatory only insofar as it is requisite for acting rightly. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
The type of knowledge we need is the knowledge that's going to help us to change. That's really the most important knowledge, and having a vocational knowledge to help us to live in this society, we need. But as it continues:
God condemns those who learn useless knowledge," from the Qur’an, surah 2, verse 96. The Prophet Mohammed said, "I take refuge with thee from knowledge that profiteth not." ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
What is the type of knowledge that could be useful? We can think of many examples, and we only need to think about our own experience to think about what are certain things that we've read or studied that haven't necessarily been applicable to life, such as going to university. We learn many things that are useful and interesting, but do we use all of it? Honestly, in most cases, we won't. As it says in the scripture:
Much may be done by means of a little knowledge, and knowledge should not be separated from action. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
What is the knowledge that we need? The knowledge to know how to act rightly, to know how to act from the presence of our divinity inside, who knows right from wrong, good from evil. It's a type of comprehension in our heart that tells us what to do, like a hunch. We know what is right and wrong in a given instant.
This is the meaning of Jiminy Cricket in the story of Pinocchio. It's an initiatic story. Pinocchio is a wooden boy who wants to become a real man, a human being. Like us, we want to be made into the image of God, a human being that reflects divinity completely. That's a genuine human being. We want to aspire to that. Jiminy Cricket is the voice of his conscience on his shoulder that says, "Don't do that. That's wrong." Of course, in the story (it wasn't depicted in the Disney film, but in the novel by Carlo Collodi), Pinocchio took a hammer and killed the cricket. That explains in us how, when we have a sense of what is right or wrong, we suppress it. We justify with our intellect. "I should drink more coffee, because I need to stay awake," even though we know it's wrong or could be a bat habit—a simple example. We suppress that hunch and justify with our intellect why we should do something when we know it's wrong. This is the difference between knowledge and comprehension. In relation to this quote, we need knowledge that's going to teach us how to listen to that voice of Jiminy Cricket. That's why we study the Bhagavad Gita, the scriptures, the Torah, the Zohar, to learn how to act rightly, to learn from masters, genuine spiritual teachers who have fully manifested divinity inside. The Prophet said (and then Hujwiri explains here the nature of individuals who study intellectually without having comprehension): The devotee without divinity is like a donkey turning a mill," because the donkey goes round and round over its own tracks and never makes any advance. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
A donkey is a very interesting symbol. If you didn't know Pinocchio, Pinocchio was turned into a donkey. He was instructed by the blue fairy, symbol of his inner divinity, the feminine aspect of divinity as the Virgin Mary, the divine goddess Durga in Hinduism, who tells him, "You need to go to school," meaning: go to esoteric school to learn how to change, learn useful knowledge to transform your mind, how to become a real human being.
But Pinocchio is confronted by his friends. His friends come. "We should go to the land of play," meaning: we don't have to study and work, but we just play all day. Of course the blue fairy had warned Pinocchio before, "Those who play all day and never work end up turning into donkeys." A donkey is really a symbol of an intellectual, someone who has a lot of ideas in the mind but is still an animal inside, with a lot of anger, pride, vanity, lust, laziness, greed, defects. The truth is, all religions teach that we are really like that donkey that needs to be tamed and rode upon, like Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Meaning Christ inside us, our inner divinity, needs to ride our mind. The donkey is the mind. It's a stubborn animal, which can memorize information but doesn't necessarily know the truth. A Sufi Master once specifically stated that, "An intellectual is like a donkey with a load of holy books." The donkey has a lot of knowledge of scripture, but doesn't have the actual experience of what scripture teaches. We're not saying that this type of knowledge is useless, but it has to be in balance with our practice. We need to study the scriptures, but we need to comprehend them, more importantly. Balancing Knowledge and Being
This combination of genuine comprehension of traditions or religion with our study produces comprehension. We talk about the line of life, our horizontal line of life and the vertical line of being. We need to combine our intellectual study with the science of meditation to really comprehend scripture, how it applies to our life, otherwise it's useless. We can know the scriptures and the gospels by heart, the Qur’an by heart, the Bhagavad-Gita by heart, but if we continue to act in harmful ways, or having anger inside even at a subtle level, it means that this knowledge is not practical. We have to use what's practical in our life to change so that we can know divinity.
As Samael Aun Weor states in The Great Rebellion: Being and knowing must be balanced to establish a sudden blaze of comprehension within our psyche. When knowing is greater than being, it causes all kinds of intellectual confusion. If being is greater than knowing, it can produce cases as serious as that of a stupid saint. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
If we have a lot of intellectual knowledge but no comprehension, no genuine realization of what the teachings present in religion, we can get confused. This is what happens all over the world with people. They study religion for a long time, have a lot of conviction and belief in the tradition, but then they see contradictions in it, and then feel dissatisfied. Then they get confused about their tradition, about their culture, and they decide to leave to another religion. They hop like a butterfly to another tradition, another flower, and repeat the same habit, trying to find genuine insight. but without understanding that the problem is not in the religion; it's in our mind, how we approach the religion, because the different traditions teach us how to unite with divinity. So, knowing without being can create confusion intellectually. Also, to have a lot of practice and spiritual discipline but without study of what the different religions teach us can create a case as serious as a stupid saint. We find many practitioners of yoga, and I specifically am not necessarily referring to the yoga studios in the West, but yogis who practice in the Far East, who are very dirty, despite having the choice to live a life of some comfort; they decide to live sleeping on a bed of nails, things which don't necessarily produce a lot of comprehension—just domination over the body, thinking that this is going to take them to God. They may have certain practices or certain understandings about religion, but they don't study the tradition which they are in. They don't study other religions. They don't have a profound culture or comprehension of the different faiths and how they relate. 
What comes to my mind in the case of the stupid saint is a very famous Russian existentialist author. His name was Fyodor Dostoevsky. He wrote a book called The Idiot specifically, which is the case of a stupid saint. Although being famous in Western literature, Dostoevsky is not recognized as an esotericist; people don't know that he knew this science and was warning certain practitioners or initiates, people with development, to not be like the case of this prince in the story, Prince Myshkin, who is very saintly and very holy. People in the novel are genuinely attracted to his virtues, but Myshkin doesn't understand the 19th-century Russian culture which he lives in, and he's easily manipulated. He knows he's manipulated, but he allows it. So, if he had a little bit of intellectual study and knowledge about the way cultures work and society works, he wouldn't allow himself to be pulled in that direction, but he is really the fool. If you know about Egyptian mysticism, the Tarot of the Egyptians, the Arcanum 21: Transmutation–the card of the Fool—is precisely the case of the stupid saint. We need to balance knowledge with being to avoid this fate.
To continue on this point, we find again the continuation of the scripture by Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery, specifying that the knowledge we study has to be practical, has to apply to our life, otherwise it won't have depth. Some regard knowledge as superior to action, while others put action first, but both parties are wrong. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
Again, what Samael Aun Weor stated was stated by the Sufis nine centuries ago.
Unless action is combined with knowledge, it is not deserving of recompense. Prayer, for instance, is not really prayer unless performed with knowledge of the principles of purification and those which concern the Qibla. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
The Qibla in Muslim tradition is the direction of a niche in the wall, or the direction pointing to Mecca, where the Muslims would pray.
For those who are not Muslim, really this pertains to how in us in the West, we have to know what direction we are concentrating on in our practice, to know what is the object of our meditation or discipline, and to not waver. The symbol of the Muslims praying to the stone of the Kaaba has many kabbalistic symbols, which we're not going to go into detail, but the fact that they pray to the east towards the rising of the sun really leads to the worship of the divinity, known as Allah, which is Christ, the solar Logos in Greek, the Son. The Qibla points to the holy city of Mecca, which is where they dedicate their prayers. Likewise, we have our own Qibla. When we sit to practice, we have an object of concentration to help us develop a focused mind. It is not really prayer unless performed with knowledge of the principles of purification, and those which concern the Qibla, and with knowledge of the nature of intention. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
Basically, what I said about concentration: we have to know what we're intending. Every practice that we have in this tradition, whether certain forms of yoga or mantra recitation, has a specific purpose, so we have to know what intention we are working with within a certain exercise.
Learning committed to memory are acts for which a man is rewarded in the next world. If he gained knowledge without action and acquisition on his part, he will get no reward. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
We may read a lot, but if we're not aware of the real depth of what we're reading and its application to our life, such knowledge is easily forgotten and is therefore useless.
Hence, two classes of men fall into error. Firstly, those who claim knowledge for the sake of public reputation but are unable to practice it… ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
…such as the Pharisees in Jesus's time, who really knew a lot about Judaism but didn't practice. Therefore, when they saw Jesus as an example of the highest divinity, when he fully manifested that in himself, he produced a lot of hatred and envy among his enemies.
Secondly, those who pretend that practice suffices and that knowledge is unnecessary. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
So in addition to people who believe that we have to study a lot, read a lot, and don't need to practice, there are those who think that in religion one has to do a lot of practices, but not study. These are both wrong beings.
For instance, what comes to my mind is the 14th Dalai Lama. We respect him as a great master in this tradition. He's a very powerful being, really, a great master, a Bodhisattva, who really exemplifies the beauty of Tibetan Buddhism. He not only has a very profound scholarly knowledge, but his level of being is very high, as evidenced by the way he interacts with others. Generally people see him as a very funny man, and he really connects with them from his Being, from his inner Buddha. He emphasizes that one needs to study and practice. Traditional schools or colleges of initiation which used to admit people in the past would have students practice six hours a day and then study six hours a day, and so dedicate their entire time in the monastery or mosque or ashram to fully develop intellectual knowledge and comprehension of that knowledge is unison. 
This image is Buddhist. This is a famous deity known as Manjushri, who in Buddhism represents the balance of knowledge and being. In his right hand, he carries a sword, his left hand, a book.
The sword traditionally represents being surrounded by fire, the penetrative insight of the consciousness and of our Being that cuts and severs all ties to illusion, the direct perception of what is real inside. The book represents scriptural knowledge, or the more accurate Buddhist terms we use are wisdom and method. Wisdom, if you break down the word etymologically, comes from the word vision, vis-dom, the power to see. This is not physical sight. It's spiritual sight, which is very deep. The sword is surrounded by flames, represents how the fire or energies of divinity, which is known as Christ in Gnosticism, strengthens our awareness to cut through illusion inside. The book is our need to practice the methods, the teaching, to study the scriptures. Knowledge and being together is synthesized in Manjushri, a great deity venerated by the Buddhists. Divine and Human Knowledge
Likewise, we have to emphasize that knowledge is necessary, but not for the sake of memory. Also, when we talk about knowledge, there are really two forms. I'm going to explain this in relation to the Sufi scripture we've been commenting on, Revelation of the Mystery:
Knowledge is of two kinds, divine and human. The latter is worthless in comparison with the former, because God's knowledge is an attribute of himself subsisting in him, whose attributes are infinite, whereas our knowledge is an attribute of ourselves subsisting in us, whose attributes are finite. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
This is very profound, because in Sufism, or really the mystical traditions of Islam, they say that when we know God directly, one acquires those attributes inside. Allah or the being, our inner divinity, manifests in our psyche in order for us to know him directly, and that knowledge of him is a quality of being. It's self-knowledge, genuine spiritual knowledge. In Hinduism, we call it Atma Vidya, Knowledge of Atman, the Divine Self.
People when they hear this think, "Self-realization? That means the common self that I have." It doesn't mean that. To experience the superior self of divinity, we have to really transcend all the type of knowledge we have of ourselves on an intellectual level, because the knowledge of ourselves that we have, of our job, our culture, our language, our customs, our habits, our beliefs, our family, these things are terrestrial. They are finite. They have a limit, a beginning and an end on the line of life. Our language is acquired at birth or in childhood, and we lose our language, and our customs, and our culture when we enter the grave. Those of you who are familiar with reincarnation, or the doctrine of the transmigration of souls into different bodies, can experience this; we teach it as science. We have methods to be aware of our past lives, to study where we come from. For me personally, this is not something I believe. It's something I know, because I remember. I've had experiences about my own past lives by doing certain practices in this tradition that helped me to have insight, to explain why I'm in the certain situation that I'm in. With reincarnation, or better said, reincorporation, one understands that perhaps one was not in America but in the Middle East as a Sufi, or in Asia as a Buddhist. I've personally had the experience where in certain past lives, I was Muslim, but I'm totally not from that tradition now. I learned Arabic, and I knew that tradition and culture within a very ancient time, but where has it gone? I memorized, and I studied, and I learned this, but it didn't keep with me, because it wasn't part of my being. I didn't really awaken my consciousness at that point. Being aware of it now makes me think that the things that we study in this life, if they're not comprehended and experienced, we forget them when we go to the grave. That's all part of the line of life. Real, genuine spiritual knowledge is the line of being, Atma Vidya, self-knowledge, knowledge of Christ, of Allah, of Buddha, inside. Knowledge has been defined as comprehension and investigation of the object known. But the best definition of it is this. A quality whereby the ignorant are made wise. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
This is talking about the genuine meaning of spiritual knowledge. It isn't intellectual, but spiritual, from insight. It's a quality whereby the ignorant are made wise. To be ignorant doesn't mean to not have book knowledge. We think of people in the country, people who are not part of the city or universities, as being ignorant. They don't study or read books. They're not cultured. That's not the meaning of ignorance. To be ignorant is to lack gnosis. Ignorance, i-gnosis. The prefix “I,” before ignorance, negates gnosis, signifying “without.” Gnosis means knowledge from experience, therefore ignorance means to have no understanding of who God is, because God is the true identity.
So all of us are ignorant to a degree. We all have ignorance and darkness in our mind since we haven't really experienced divinity, what God is, so we are ignorant. We are ignorant because we have the ego, the “I,” inside, the mind, the intellect divorced from the Being. We may be cultured and intellectual, but we may still be ignorant due to lack understanding of the genuine nature of reality. We lack genuine understanding of reality because of the “me,” “myself,” the “I,” the false self, egotistical states of suffering, which prevents us from knowing divinity. We have the “I” inside that negates true knowledge, I-gnorance. God's knowledge is that by which he knows all things existent and nonexistent. He does not share it with man. It is not capable of division nor separable from Himself. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
Therefore, if we want to know what genuine spiritual knowledge is, we have to unite with our divinity; that is the meaning here, because real knowledge is not in books, but it's in our experience of divinity. That's a part of Him and Her, masculine and feminine.
The proof of it lies in the disposition of His actions, since action demands knowledge in the agent as an indispensable condition. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery
This is very interesting if we know the Christian scriptures, especially since the book of James says, "Faith without works is dead." We may believe in a tradition or faith, but if we don't have practice or action, it's a dead faith. It's a dead religion. Therefore, action demands knowledge as the agent, is indispensable. Action and knowledge, being and knowledge, have to be combined.
The divine knowledge penetrates what is hidden and comprehends what is manifest. It behooves the seeker to contemplate God in every act, knowing that God sees him and all that he does. ―Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub: Revelation of the Mystery Self-observation and Awakened Consciousness
In this teaching, we talk about observation, exercising spiritual perception, like a muscle. We show this image again to emphasize that it is precisely in this moment in which we learn to observe ourselves, to have the perspective like we are seeing ourselves for the first time. In this teaching, we talk about a saying by the founder of this tradition who says, "The truth is the unknown from moment to moment." There's always something that we need to be seeing new inside of ourselves and also outside, through alert novelty, clarity, where we sense and understand life in a new way.
We've all had this when we were younger, in a moment perhaps with family, where we were present in the instant, and we felt the joy of being alive. In a moment like that, there is clarity, and we see life as if it is completely new. We didn't have our education or our ideas to project and to create problems and worry us. Instead, we were living life in the present. Children have access to that more than adults, because they haven't developed what is known as personality yet, their custom, or habits. Also, this is why Jesus taught that one must become like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven, to have an innocent mind, a mind that sees life in a new way in each instant. Usually we go through our home or our job mechanically. We don't really think about what we do. We just do it. It means that we're not really cognizant of what we're doing. It's precisely from moment to moment that in this instant we learn to perceive life. We say that awakened perception of life is like watching a film. We try to see life in a new way, each instant, without identifying ourselves with exterior circumstances or negative internal states. When thoughts emerge, really we have to learn how to separate psychologically from thought, from feeling, from sensation. We call this self-observation, meaning: we are observing from the perspective of the consciousness. This consciousness is called soul in some religions. It's called buddhata in Buddhism, essence of the Buddha. This is really our genuine spiritual nature, which can resolve all of our issues when we develop it. Likewise, this superior state of being is not something necessarily devoid of thought, feeling, or sensation, but it means that we comprehend what we are experiencing in this moment—not identifying with it but instead identifying with God, the joy of God, who is Being, who is presence, who is genuine faith, love, and compassion that is limitless. These are qualities of divinity that we learn to develop as we separate from what is negative in us and learn how to comprehend how part of our soul is conditioned by these elements, such as anger, or pride, or vanity as we were discussing. We learn to observe this all in ourselves, to have the perspective that we are seeing ourselves as if we'd never seen ourselves before. Again, this refers to the beginning of our lecture, the need to see life in a new way, to understand that the type of knowledge we seek is inside, and that we need to learn how to reevaluate what is it we know. This watchfulness is known in different traditions by many names. In Buddhism, it's called mindfulness. In this tradition, it's called self-observation. In Sufism, it's called muraqaba, vigilance, to be in vigil. If we learn to start observing ourselves, we find that we get distracted. We suddenly realize, "Wait, what happened a minute ago?" If we examine our day, we find that there are moments or periods in which we don't remember what happened. We should really remember everything we do, even the thoughts or our feelings or emotions we have in a given instant. When we find that there are gaps in our memory about what happened or what we said to a certain person, it means that we're not cognizant. It means that there are gaps in our memory. To be in vigil, in different traditions, they sometimes do practices all night. They don't sleep physically. I'm not speaking about that specifically. To be in vigil is to be awake as a psyche, because in the myth of Psyche in Greek teachings, mythology, Psyche is asleep. She needs to be awakened by Eros, the force of love, the Being. To remember divinity in this instant is to be in vigil. It's also to be in prayer. To pray is to speak with divinity inside, to connect with divinity, with whatever words are natural to us. A teaching from a Sufi scripture, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism, states the following. This quote is from a Sufi master by the name of Al-Wasiti: The best act of worship is watchfulness of the moments, that is, that the servant not look beyond his limit, not contemplate anything other than his lord, and not associate with anything other than this present moment… ―Al-Wasiti, quoted in Al-Qushayri's Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
…meaning, we have to stop thinking about where we're going to go, or our daydreams, or job. If we're driving our car, let's drive our car. Let's not think about our family or spouse or other things, but be present when we're driving, because really the reason why there's so many accidents is because people are asleep psychologically. They don't pay attention. They're not aware of what's going on inside or outside. We do this all the time. We're not aware of ourselves. The best prayer to divinity is to be aware and awake, and to not contemplate anything other than the presence of our divinity. That's something we learn to develop and cultivate through spiritual practices that we have in this tradition, that help us generate energy to strengthen our soul.
In this image, speaking precisely about the need to become a child, we have an image of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child. We need the mind of a child. It doesn't mean that we're stupid, weak, or vulnerable. It means that we have the qualities that are naturally spontaneous and generative in a child, which is love and fascination, and a profound awareness of things. You see a child, they look at everything with amazement, and we've lost that, but that's something that we can regain inside as a spiritual quality. It doesn't mean we become like infants physically, but really the meaning is psychological. We have a profound love for life in this instant.
We emphasize the following from our teacher in this tradition, Samael Aun Weor, in his book Tarot and Kabbalah, about the need to become like a child: One has to change the processing of reasoning for the quality of discernment. Discernment is the direct perception of the truth without the process of reasoning. Discernment is comprehension without the need of reasoning. We must change the process of reasoning for the beauty of comprehension. The mind must be completely transformed into an infant. It must be converted into a child full of beauty. ―Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah
What is discernment? It means to know something without having to think about it. We have a hunch, we know something is right or wrong, and then the intellect debates. "I should do this because," and then we have many excuses and reasons in the mind, but first that hunch comes like a lightning bolt, sparks in our heart, and then the thunder of the mind comes after and says, "We should do this instead... I have this reason. I need to do this or that."
We need to learn how to discern what is objective in us. What is that lightning that we experience, and what is reasoning? By this we're not referring to the need to get rid of the intellect altogether. We need the intellect, but we have to understand its place. It's useful in its place when it serves our Being. Knowledge that's in the service of our inner God is useful, but knowledge, a mind that knows how to reason without the virtues of divinity, is harmful, like a scientist who can create atomic bombs and more creative ways to kill other human beings. People use their reasoning for evil things. We see this all over the world. Instead, we want to learn how to use our mind to develop the virtues of divinity. 
The Tree of Life
Synthesizing everything we've stated, we have the following teaching by another Sufi master. People talk about heaven and hell in religion in different traditions. The type of self-knowledge we're talking about requires the abandonment of our previous conceptions of self and to enter into a new experience of who we are as a divinity, and who is divinity inside of us.
In this image, we have what is known as Kabbalah, the tree of life. This is simply a map of being. It's a structure that shows us the nature of divinity and its different aspects. It's not our intention to explain each aspect, but just to emphasize this tree of life is precisely the burning bush that Moses saw as a symbol of divinity, the tree of being. This tree of life is inside. It's a map of our consciousness, and really represents for us heaven, superior ways of being, superior states. Hell for us is not a place, but a mental state. When we are gripped by anger, we suffer, we are in hell. When we are afraid, we're uncertain about our life, where we're going, what we're going to do economically to pay our rent, we suffer. That's hell. John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, he stated the following: The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. ―John Milton, Paradise Lost
Likewise our mind determines our life. We have this quote from a Sufi master who very beautifully and succinctly states:
Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears, there is hell. Wherever you aren't, that's heaven. ―Abū Sa’īd in Ibn Munawwar: Asrār at-tawḥīd, ed. Shafī‘ī-Kadkanī, 299
It doesn't mean that it's a type of nihilism, but it's a negation of our inferior ways of being and their replacement for a superior way of being. To experience joy, we have to get rid of anger. We have to comprehend our psychological elements that make us suffer and to remove them in order to free the consciousness that is trapped inside, like the genie in Aladdin's lamp. We need to remove our false conceptions of self, because that's hell. The suffering that we have, terrestrial suffering in daily experience, is a type of hell for us. Heaven is where we see that we are not necessarily a part of that as a soul, and that we can escape that if we learn to pay attention.
Following the theme of this lecture, we've been explaining a lot from Sufi doctrine. In this image, we have a very famous image of Prophet Mohammed, who in this symbol is riding a mystical animal whose name is Al-Buraq. We understand from Gnosis that all religions are really precious pearls. They all express a divine teaching. This is not a representation of the religions as they are today, but in their original root; these teachers came to found and explain the root signs of how to liberate consciousness, how to free ourselves from suffering. Likewise, we explain also in many lectures how even a misunderstood and misrepresented tradition like Islam has a place in this tradition, particularly the symbol of Mohammed riding an animal to heaven, Al-Buraq.
The mythological creature is represented as the size of a mule with the face of a woman, the tail of a peacock. I know there are people who literally believe this happened, but this is a symbol. We can explain it through teachings like kabbalah, that this is really something applicable inside. Al-Buraq means “lightning.” That lightning is the energy of divinity we call Christ, which can take us up from here, in this physical world, up the tree of life, as you saw in the Hebrew image. In his teaching, he explained how one can ascend from suffering to a superior level of being. The Sufis really explain this very beautifully: In general, it is to the measure of one's alienation from one's own ego that one attains direct knowledge of one's lord… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
…meaning heaven is where we are not, our defects. Heaven is when the soul, the mind, is in peace and silence, and can reflect the beauty of divinity inside psychologically.
I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say, "One of the tokens of the gnosis of God is the achievement of deep awe and reverence for God. If someone's realization increases, his awe increases." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Again like a child, we look at life and we see that we have awe, that spontaneous feeling of joy such as when we see a rainfall outside, and the expression of a sense of peace about the beauty of what we're experiencing. Without having to think about it or saying, "This is beautiful," we just simply relax and reflect on the nature of the sight that we're experiencing. The type of awe that we experience, on a superficial level we could say, and at a deeper level, we begin to experience what divinity is, we feel that awe of that tremendous power that is inside of us that can give us genuine happiness.
If someone's realization increases, his awe increases, meaning: if someone's knowledge of divinity, genuine knowledge of what divinity is, increases, his awe increases. "Gnosis requires stillness of heart, just as learning requires outward quiet. If someone's gnosis increases, his tranquility increases." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We teach the science of meditation as the core practice, how to achieve mental silence, peace so that we can know divinity directly. As our knowledge of divinity increases, we have more peace in life, more joy, because we begin to remove what in us obstructs us from the goal.
This type of state requires that we abandon false knowledge about ourselves. Of course, this is a very challenging thing to confront, but all religions teach the need to really confront the obstacles that are inside that prevent us from reaching divinity. All that is impure in us psychologically needs to die, as Jesus taught with his passion, meaning he represented how any person on this spiritual path needs to remove the impurities. That's precisely through his crucifixion. It was a very painful process, but one that transformed him radically. This is something that he represented with his life. That's something that we need to do inside. It's not something to be believed in outside, but from practice. 
Annihilation and Subsistence in the Being
In this image, we have again some Sufis in prayer. To emphasize what is the nature of being, I'm going to continue elaborating with two more quotes from Principles of Sufism, which is a Gnostic text.
There is no finding the truth save after the extinction of the ordinary human condition, because when the power of reality manifests, (or the power of Being), the perception of material things cannot endure." This is the meaning of the saying of Abul Hussein Al-Nuri: "For 20 years, I had been finding and losing. When I have found my lord, I have lost my heart. When I have found my heart, I have lost my lord. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What does that mean? If we identify with our self-will, we forget God, but if we remember God as a universal presence inside, one forgets one's usual sense of individuality. This is something that is fearful and frightening to the mind, because the mind does not know what is beyond itself, but this is a type of cognizance which is liberating, which we can develop through practice. As we become associated and affiliated with what are the states of divinity inside, there is a sense of freedom and genuine happiness, because that energy known as Allah or Christ or Buddha inside is eternal. It never changes or dies.
It is also the meaning of the saying of Junayd: “The knowledge of unity is contrary to its existence, and its existence is contrary to the knowledge of it.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What is this knowledge of unity? We talk about how God is one. In Judaism, we say:
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
Basically in a synagogue, when you pronounce this, it's basically the declaration of faith of Judaism. You cover your eyes. You say, “Shema yisrael yod-chavah eloheinu yod-chavah echad,” meaning, "Jehovah the Lord, Jehovah is one." The Muslims say:
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ
This unity is a type of integration with divinity; it’s an intelligence that is not dispersed. God we say is one, is a singular force, which is one with the cosmos. We want to seek to become one with that cosmic consciousness. The knowledge of unity is contrary to its existence, meaning in the beginning, we study. We have intellectual ideas about what this type of state of being is, and then later we come to experience it. First we study, then we practice, and then we experience. This is really the gradual practice that we develop, and its existence is contrary to the knowledge of it. Again, if we have the knowledge about these teachings but don't experience them, we need to learn to experience them, which is why we have different books that give different practices for that.
The final quote here. We have an image of Arabic calligraphy. In Arabic, this represents Al-Nur, meaning the light. This is a famous surah from the Qur’an, which says, "Light upon light." That light is our inner perception, our inner lord inside. We all have that light of divinity within us, which we can actualize if we learn to practice it, exercise it.
The final quote we have here, from Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri, summarizes our points about the nature of being. The man of being possesses both sober balance and obliteration of self. ―Al-Qushayri Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning egotistical self. Sober means, really, the teaching of being balanced psychologically and not being drunk on egotism. It’s not something physical. It's not a reference to just abstaining from drinking alcohol. In Islam, Muslims don't drink alcohol at all, but the psychological meaning of it is that we're not intoxicated by false conceptions of self, but instead, we are obliterated. That negative sense of self we have is obliterated, and there's only the presence and joy of divinity inside.
His state of sobriety is his continued existence in the real. His state of obliteration is his annihilation in the real. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Heaven is where we aren't, but hell is where our mistaken sense of self is.
These two states always come upon him in succession. When sobriety in the real overcomes him, he acts and speaks in truth… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
…which is why certain masters who really united with divinity very fully, like Jesus, could say, "I am the Christ," because Christ was manifest in him, or certain Muslim prophets like Mansur Al-Hallaj, a famous Sufi poet, said, "Ana 'l-Ḥaqq," meaning, "I am the truth," meaning God spoke through him. The Muslims of the time had him tortured and mutilated, because they were offended, because that's the name of God. He says, “I am God," like Jesus said, "I am the Christ." People don't understand that it's divinity inside that manifested within the terrestrial person, the Being manifested in that individual.
The prophet reported from God Most High relating a non-Qur'anic divine utterance or Hadith Qudsi, Muslim oral tradition. "With me, he hears, and with me, he sees." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
That profound state in which there is no individual sense of self but there's only God inside is really the goal.
To conclude, we emphasize that we need to balance our study with practice. We need to study the nature of being inside. What is our being? Who is our being? Who is our divinity? These are things that we've begun to understand as we reflect and observe our daily life. Questions and Answers
Question: What daily practice do you have to run that internal connection with divinity?
Instructor: The primary practice we use is meditation. We have many exercises also, such as mantras, which are sacred sounds. By learning to work with the energies of our body, and our mind, and heart, we learn to activate spiritual perception. By working with sacred sounds, those sounds help to vibrate the different glands of our body, to activate what is known as chakras, the spiritual forces or circulation of energies which can awaken our consciousness. We have many exercises with mantras, such as exercises called runes, a type of Tibetan yoga postures, meditation specifically, and exercises called transmutation, where we transform the energies of our body to consciousness. All the books that we sell have many practices to use. These are very practical books for how to awaken that perception. You can find more information on our website as well for different individual practices. Comments or questions? Question: I've been studying higher thinking for probably longer than all of you have been alive. Not until I heard the word Being did it trigger something very authentic, very accurate, or whatever. It basically really helped. I had not heard that before. I'm placing high value on the language that I hear. Instructor: We say in this teaching, particularly in The Revolution of the Dialectic, it's a book from our founder of this tradition. He states that, "Socrates demanded precision of his terminology." We use many terms that are very specific and scientific. Being is one of them. In Arabic, we call it wujud, or we simply say being, but in nature it refers to our divinity inside. We have to understand that the Being is here and now, and that we can only access it if we learn to direct attention from a new perspective. Question: Do you have these books here? If you're sort of a novice and trying to learn more, what do you recommend to read? Instructor: I'd recommend Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology. This book explains the foundation for working with consciousness and how we learn to direct attention. The teachings of self-observation or mindfulness that we've discussed in brief are fully explained in that text. It's a very strong and powerful teaching. I haven't found any other author who has been more explicit. We study in this tradition many scriptures, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and in terms of practical application, these texts that we have available have been helpful, because they're very clear and very powerful, and practical. Personally, I would advise learning about self-observation, learning awareness about oneself, one should study Revolutionary Psychology, the book that you have in your hand. As an introductory text, it's very practical. It explains how to understand self, what is self, what is being, and what is divinity. If there's something you want to look at more in-depth, you can look online. If there are more questions, we'll conclude. Question: I think I understand what you're saying and I understand why we want to study this, but if I really understand it, why do I sometimes feel the resistance to practice? Instructor: That resistance is, in psychological terms, we call ego. Ego is Latin for I, and we say that we don't have one I but many ‘I’s. Pride is an I, anger is an I, lust is an I. It's a different defect, a different type of self. As we begin to study this type of teaching and practice, we get resistance, because the mind does not want to experience or does not want to change, fundamentally. 
This is precisely the great drama that any saint goes through, such as you see the temptation of St. Anthony, in which he's surrounded in his images and artwork by many demons. The demons are inside him. Those are different defects that are fighting against him to destroy his spiritual work. This is the meaning of the word Satan. It isn't a guy in a red suit with a pitchfork and horns. It refers to Hebrew Shatan, which means adversary. God wants to develop something inside of us, but our own defects don't want to change. They want to hold onto their habits, so there's a big battle that we have to face. The fact that you have resistance is normal. The next step is to develop understanding of what is that resistance so that you can overcome it.
Question: How do I develop that so that I can overcome? Instructor: Comprehension. You need to observe. Like it says in Revolutionary Psychology, when you have a problem, when you have a conflict or resistance in your mind, observe that in yourself. Observe what is inside. That's the key. If you don't see it, you can't change it. If you see it, you can transform it. Question: I see it, so how do I kill it? Instructor: Basically, we have meditation. I am really happy for that question, because people are afraid of what we call mystical death. They hear about the Buddhist annihilation, the death of the ego, and they get scared. What will I be after I die as a mind? Meaning, the Being will be there. Study the book Revolution of the Dialectic. It explains that, and we'll talk more in depth, but thank you for coming. |
