Chicago Gnosis Podcast

Like Beethoven, Arrigo Boito composed only one opera (Mefistofele), yet whose mystical allegory, musical power, and masterful lyricism continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. This clever yet profound opera also inspires, alarms, and, quite frequently, amuses. Based on medieval legends and Goethe’s play Faust, this work depicts the famous and jaded scholar who makes a bet with the devil: to acquire occult knowledge and faculties at the cost of his soul, or to conquer temptation in the service of the sacred. If Faust can overcome passion, power, and desire, he can enter the divine mysteries and spiritual hierarchies where true peace, realization, and understanding is to be found. Surprisingly, all of this occurs under the auspices of the Transcendent, for without divinely-sanctioned temptation and adversity, there is no development, mastery, or faith, like Jehovah approving of Satan’s afflictions upon Job to prove his candidacy to sainthood (Job 1:12). Or as described by Samael Aun Weor throughout his writings, “Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light.” Discover how an initiate enters the secret path to liberation by facing the necessary forces of opposition and resistance—the mysterious and instructive tests of Lucifer (“the light-maker”)—so as to acquire profound self-knowledge and the wielding of esoteric powers with ethics, purity, and wisdom.

The Greek brother-deities Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death) symbolize the deep significance of these phenomena in relationship to spiritual awakening. By learning about the ways humanity is unenlightened or unconscious, it becomes possible to develop our complete potential and awaken to the realities of the spirit beyond death. See how through an exploration of four states of consciousness as well as many practices for understanding our internal mechanisms of distraction, delusion, and spiritual sleep.

To enter spiritual initiation, one must have inner balance, fortitude, and wisdom from practical experience, because the ordeals for proving one’s candidacy in the mysteries are arduous. Without psychological equilibrium, any adversity, accidental or ordained, will throw a person into chaos and disarray. This is why Gnostic students are always taught how to maintain serenity and balance their three brains: intellect, emotions, and actions, for even without the challenges of initiation, life presents difficulties that quickly disorient, disturb, and disable. See how to take advantage of difficult circumstances by harmonizing body, heart, and mind, acquiring deep insights into the psychological causes of affliction, thereby procuring personal knowledge for the alleviation of humanity’s suffering.

"Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well." —Sylvia Plath, “Lady Lazarus” Little do people acknowledge that before physical death, we first die in thirds (in bodily capacity, emotions, and mind—one at a time, or two to three if we’re reckless and daring). This depends on how often, quickly, and intensely we exhaust our resources through the abuses of everyday life, the latter which have produced an epidemic of physical and mental illness. However, healthy living is also an art, and a more preferable one with verifiable guiding principles, practices, and results. See how through an exploration of diet; religious observances around meat and vegetarianism; the five tattvas of esoteric Hinduism (or the energetic, spiritual elements in food); the three gunas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras; the three brains and their proper and improper functioning within Gnostic psychology; the symptomologies and spiritual causes of physical, emotional, and mental illness; the imbalances of body, heart, and mind in ultramodern living; meditative exercises for conscious management and optimal self-maintenance; the nature of and need for true inner equilibrium to attain high initiation; relevant practices for developing greater personal and social harmony, and much more.

Genuine spiritual healers are rare. Likewise, the process for finding and vetting them is also arduous, uncertain, and time-consuming, usually without positive results given the prevalence of charlatans and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15) who are eager to provide their services for a good buck. This is why it is more practical and beneficial to become one’s own healer, doctor, and master, since it is not only difficult to find uncorrupted traditions and practitioners with proven track records, but that real divine healers are not to be found primarily in the physical world, but in the internal worlds. Likewise, by awakening consciousness in the inner dimensions we inhabit during the normal hours of sleep, we also have more direct means of accessing and knowing the source of legitimate healing, which does not come at any price except a life of virtue and sacrifice for humanity. Discover and apply verifiable, reliable, and effective techniques from the Gnostic tradition of Samael Aun Weor to treat the spiritual causes of illness, thereby transforming oneself into a true Gnostic priest, magician, shaman, or healer.

The Mayans were not only advanced in astronomy, astrology, and mathematics, but also spiritual psychology. Explore the nature of our internal universe and the way to awaken consciousness through Mayan symbolism, mythos, and principles, beautifully demonstrated within The Flight of the Feathered Serpent, a revolutionary book of Mayan esotericism.

While modern occidental medicine recognizes and treats physical symptoms of disease, such prescriptions often fail to address the internal causes of illness, primarily since health is not merely a physical reality, but a multidimensional problem. The Gnostic tradition, on the other hand, offers deeper remedies for the psychological, metaphysical, and internal causes of sickness that can safely complement the work of medical professionals without causing serious complications. This is because complete human beings are not merely material, but energetic, conscious, and spiritual, and by simultaneously correcting both external infirmities and their internal causes, symptoms are alleviated and the root of disease can be comprehensively cured. See how through an exploration of the Tree of Life: a map of our body, psyche, and mind; the three brains of esoteric psychology; and the art and science of meditation.

“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 Not all “spiritual” awakenings are positive, demonstrated by the pervasive testimonies of those who profess enlightenment while their lives fall apart. Much of what is promulgated as legitimate mystical experience is often the byproduct of psychological negativity and internal conditions of mind, not the liberated, spontaneous, and free consciousness that knows how to resolve problems with intuition (the ability to discern and know without having to think). Learn how to differentiate between the illusory perceptions of conditioned selfhood and the harmonizing, equilibrating states of divine reality through practical exercises from authentic spiritual traditions.

Numerous spiritual traditions speak about the miraculous power of Kundalini, the transformative energy and intelligence of the Divine Mother. However, much propaganda abounds regarding its requirements, effects, manifestation, and evolution within the individual. What people don’t realize is that the widespread psychological imbalances, confusion, and dangers attributed to Kundalini is actually its opposite: Kundabuffer, symbolized by the tempting serpent of Eden (Genesis 3:1), the fiery serpents that afflicted the Israelites in their desert sojourn (Numbers 21:6), and the inverted tail that characterizes demons (Revelations 12:4). Kundalini is different: the brazen serpent of Moses that redeems and heals (Numbers 21:8-9); the prudence, serpentine wisdom, and dove-like harmlessness that guides authentic initiates (Matthew 10:16); the sacred power that uplifts the Son of Man (John 3:14) and the Pentecostal tongues of fire or Holy Spirit that descends upon the inspired apostles (Acts 2:3). The way to know and experience the difference depends on a person’s ethics, purity, and cooperation within a perfect matrimony, not expensive workshops, fees, or blessings from a “guru.” By fulfilling spiritual laws through the qualifications of the heart, it becomes possible to work with the real power of divinity, the sexual force that allows one to be truly born again (John 3:5).

Every disciple of the straight and narrow way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14) must inevitably experience the afflictive consequences of their former actions. The question becomes if they do so with resignation, acceptance, and perseverance, so that by consciously and patiently paying what one owes before the divine law, spiritual debts are reconciled and wisdom is cultivated. However, the process is a prolonged and grueling one, designated by some authors as “dark nights of the soul.” In such moments of despair, loneliness, and abandonment, the practitioner lacks inner illumination to guide them forward in the psychological work, or as Christ exclaimed on the cross: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). While spiritual nights are painful and experienced by everyone in the Gnostic path, they are a necessary step towards self-realization, for ordeals and tests are fundamental for proving one’s candidacy in the mysteries. As Beethoven demonstrated in his life and his only opera, the initiate can overcome the punishment of the law through tenacity, negotiation, forgiveness, and supreme faith in divinity. See how in the conclusion of Beethoven’s only opera, whereby Florestan seeks his liberation from the prison of karma with the help of his courageous wife Leonora, the divine soul that descends like an angel from heaven to redeem the fallen Sophia.