“All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the golden tree of actual life springs ever green” – Goethe

Indeed, what good is it to have knowledge intellectually if same is never to be realized practically? The intellectual theory which is not brought to life externally will remain simply that; an intellectual theory. Even this text if its simply read and memorized will remain gray, because its still just another mental concept, but not an actual experience of it. People’s current relationship with their thinking and intellect can be compared to the fish and the water.

We are so ingrained in our identification with thoughts and thinking that it can be hard to experience the actual consciousness. This in turn makes a huge obstacle for the person who is trying to awaken from the sleepy state we find ourselves in. Many people live completely identified with their mechanical mind and intellectual thoughts throughout the entire day. From the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to bed, the mind is projecting and dictating where the focus and subsequently energy should be spent. Then they go to physical sleep and experience so called “dreams” based mostly on mental and emotional sub conscious emanations. Society is constructed very mentally. Every day we are bombarded with mental concepts, thoughts, ideas, other peoples opinion about different subjects and other people’s opions about other people’s opinions. All this, when we get fascinated and identified with it mechanically, while simultaneously feeding it moore energy, further fortifies and strenghtes the identification with our minds. Society is designed for a worship of the mind. Why is that a problem? Because the mind is not what we really are. The mind is a faculty and the mental body is only one of our bodies. As long as we are enslaved with the mind we cannot experience our higher faculties, such as that of the being and the consciousness. The mental body is one of the four bodies of sin and must be controlled and purified. It represents the element air and the wings of the dragon which the knight has to slay. This does not mean that we fight thoughts or that we fight the mind. We control the mind and “fight” it by focusing on the consciousness and trying to stay present in the moment. To simply just be, without any thoughts, with the focus present in our current environment, simply observing ourselves.

The mental body is Netzach and the emotional body is Hod on the kabbalistic tree of life. They both relate to the fifth dimension. If we want to transcend these spheres and move up the tree of life “which is basically states of consciousness”, we have to do so through Tiphereth which is the human soul and relates to willpower.

Practice and experience

“The science of Gnosis is directly concerned with the development of our own inner Self. The concept of self is much debated among religions, theologians, and philosophers. Gnosis is not concerned in debate, but rather the practical experience, the direct knowledge” – Samael Aun Weor

True happiness cannot be experienced in the subjective mind and emotions, it is a quality of the being which relates to the upper sephirah on the tree of life. Happiness based on subjective emotions and thinking is temporary. It comes and goes, because its based on craving and aversion. We cannot think ourselves into happiness. Its impossible to think and theorize ourselves into another state of consciousness, no matter if we are thinking about trancendental things. We have experienced to see ourselves unconsciously in the astral plane walking around in a mall thinking about esoteric topics, but we didnt wake up realizing we were in a dream. Conclusion, thinking mechanically even about esoteric matters is still having the consciousness asleep. We cannot think ourselves into a state of samadhi. Thinking rarely solves anything. Thinking typically leads to more thinking which leads to the draining of the mental energies, abuse of the mental body and ultimately the sleep of our psychic faculties. Watch this lecture on thinking and the mind. We need to make the mind receptive and submissive. In our current state the mind is usually rigid, active and dominant, while our consciousness is passive. There is a strong need to reverse these roles which takes the human being back to its natural state with the consciousness active, illuminated, and the mind passive and receptive. This can only be done through practice and willpower is key. It is of vital importance to have direct experience of higher levels of the consciousness which is beyond the mind. This is because we then have a conscious memory of what it is like to experience elevated states of being which we can then contrast withexperiences of lower states of being, ie when we are in process of thinking etc. If we do not have those experiences we will be like the fish unaware of the water. However, if we practice for example meditation and manage to have genuine experiences of pure consciousness with the mind in silence etc, we manage to escape the water if only for a brief moment. This is important because we experience ourselves on a purer and more true level of being. Even a small moment with sparks of consciousness can give direct experience of what true happiness and liberty actually feels like. Even a small moment of light is a great foundation to build upon.

It is the consciousness, state of being, heart and level of self realization that really counts, not how much knowledge and theories one has accumulated in the mental body. The mechanical monkey mind must be recognized as an obstacle for the light of the being. Therefore, one needs to be vigilant when engaging with the world as to what concepts we allow to ourselves to engage in. The mind should be simple like a child. There exists professors and politicians covered in academic degrees to their necks, but with their consciousness profoundly asleep. Yet, such people are looked up to and even idolized. Direct experiences of the being is what will lift you out of the mud, and for that one needs to practice. The luxury of enjoying a continous state of conscious being is something to aspire towards. This can only be done through practice, efforts and willpower. One must exercise mindfullness during the day and meditation when one can. Thinking will not take you there. No matter what you think.

“One hour of daily vocalization is worth more than reading a million books of oriental theosophy” – Samael Aun Weor

Consider the above statement which sums up the entire argument. Why then do we still insist on reading so much while we practice so little? Do we love our intellectualism too much? It is much better to work, to practice in order to stay conscious, to stay with the being, instead of being absorbed in theories. Only the being can grant us true happiness and the being hardly ever exists in thoughts. Therefore its necessary to stop holding on to theories and mental concepts. Imagine if you will the person who has practiced the daily vocalization for one hour daily for 5 years meeting the person who has read one million books on theosophy. What would be the outcome? One person would have his chakras vibrating at a higher frequency arguably with an elevated state of consciousness. The other person would be a library on legs, able to discuss brilliantly and demonstrate intellectual knowledge on a wide array of theories and topics. However, the very same intellectual arsenal of intellectual knowledge is exactly where his free consciousness would be bottled up.

“Gnosis lives in deeds, withers away in abstractions, and is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts” – Samael Aun Weor

Because a noble thought, even how loving and noble it is will still only be a thought unless or until its acted upon. Therefore, true Gnosis is lived in deeds. Whatever mental concepts we have of ourselves will and can never be the true totality of what we are, because they are just concepts. They only exist in the mental sphere and thats it. It is far better to loose all mental concepts we have about ourselves and others, Then we are free to simply be and to perceive others simply as they are, without the horrible interference of the mind with its prejudices and judgments.

The cult of intellectualism

In a society that worships and applauds the intellect, it is somewhat ironic to see arenas of spirituality and esotericism adopting similar trends, as they should arguably propose an opposition towards it. Thousands of groups exist online where members discuss and argue daily about who is wrong and who is right. Someone will share what he has read to a group and in the group there will be someone who has read something different. Thus, the argument starts. This is all a horrible waste of time and energy. Even in Gnostic groups, we have seen true hoarders of intellectual theories, who are walking libraries acting as parrots. They collect and hoard spiritual theories in the same way someone else collect memorabilia etc. Books and theories have their place. They exist so that teachings can be given intellectually for it to then be executed practically in order to bear fruits. We cannot achieve Gnosis or the being by reading a book, but a book can intstruct, can guide and even inspire us towards the practice the will lead us to a direct experience of the divine. It is very disturbing to experience diffusors of the Gnostic doctrine who renders worship to the cult of the intellect and who loves to theorize and discuss. Because of the dualistic nature of the mind with its thesis and antithesis, everything can be debated intellectually by simply expressing that of the other pole of what was previously expressed. After some time this can become tedious and tiresome and serves only to drain the student of psychic force.

“Our mind must be simple and humble and filled with the most profound respect. Our disciples must carefully avoid any argument in order not to waste their energy uselessly” – Samael Aun Weor

It is also disturbing to see people in Gnosis who are in position of authority defending intellectualism and the use of the mind. Particularily when V.M. Samael Aun Weor always spoke about the importance of having a serene, simple and obedient mind in order for it to receive the frequencies of higher faculties. Take a look at any “esoteric” online group and you will see person after person asserting themselves one after each other. Each one presenting his theory of what he has read or heard someone else say. How many of these people are talking from something they have experienced? Ironically, their debates can never be solved or come to an end, they can only overcome the polarity of the other person. This is because they are all coming from the intellect with its pole of opposites. Too much value has been placed on the intellect in this day an age, so much that we forget about the consciousness and the being. The cult of the intellect has penetretated most social arenas and most part of society as a whole. You can intellectualize and conceptualize yourself in any way shape or form that you like, but you will always be what you are and nothing more. The mental concepts and ideas we have about ourselves are fantasies. We are better off putting them to sleep. Behind all the layers of different “me”s, the being always remain. It is better to experience the superior reality of the inner Father, the one who is beyond all concepts and identities, than the vile multitide of the different intellectual “I”s. In a society that renders complete worship to the intellect, one needs to struggle and work in order to not get caught in its frequency. This is because all facets of modern day life works towards putting your focus and consciousness bottled up in the mind. Therefore, conscious action combined with willpower needs to be exercised in order to enjoy prolonged states of consciousness as opposed to mechanical thinking.

Consciousness begins where intellectualism ends

We can never do away with the mind, but we can change how we use it and how we respond to it. In order to not get completely drowned in all the concepts and ideas of the cult of the intellect, continous practice is needed. The more we meditate and manage to obtain states of mental tranquility, the more the neuron pathways in our brain change so that we can easier access the frequencies of the consciousness instead. This takes time. Even if one puts himself in a state of Samadhi. As the meditation is finished, the pull towards the intellect will manifest as soon as the person starts engaging with every day life again. However, with continous practices over periods of time, our consciousness will get stronger as our gravity towards it increases. The act of self remembering during the day in order to use willpower to push focus back towards the pure consciousness is gold. This can be practiced similarily to mindfullness. To always try and be present in whatever we are doing. It should be stated that alongside these daily practices, there is a need to change our relationship with the mind. We need to stop identifying with its concepts, and we need to stop feeding the intellect unconciously. We need to stop hoarding “knowledge”, concepts, beliefs, ideas and subjective expressions. And even moreover we need to stop being fascinated by them.

“The highest form of thinking is no-thinking” – Samael Aun Weor

Indeed, we do not have to be anything, nor do we need to label ourselves or others as anything. The wisdom of the Being begins where the screaming of the mind ends. There is a profound need for meditation and more meditation combined with self rememberance and vigilance throughout the day. According to the cult of intellectualism, one becomes a spiritual person by reading spiritual books and becoming knowledgable about spiritual theory. However, this is a big lie. The truth is that reading spiritual things can make us feel good or even inspired, but it does not last if never acted upon. This is simply a trick to keep you trapped in the mind, because as long as you are in the mind thinking, the pure state of simply being will not be experienced. Nothing new is born simply out of a theory, but of a corresponding action. Practice, practice and even more practice is what is needed. Be careful and critical about what you read not to mention everything you choose to put in your mind. Ask yourself “Is this of any real value?” “Is this inspiring?” “Is this motivating?” “Does what Im reading have any purpose for the awakening of the consciousness?” What you choose to spend mental energy is your choice and no one else`s. Therefore become conscious about what you allow your mind to engage in. Imagine your mind as a beautiful garden and do away with everything that does not add to its beauty. Reading should arguably be used as a tool for motivation and inspiration whenever one feels the need for it. For every hour of reading we should have about 6-7 hours practice. It is by practicing the use of the consciousness that we ultimate change ourselves. Ask yourself if thinking ever produced happiness for yourself. Real liberty, genuine happiness and truth lies at the end of our mechanical mental processess. Do not take my word for it. Take up the practice with tenacity and seriousness and experience it for youself.