Chicago Gnosis Podcast

Many spiritual devotees preach about the need to love. However, what many lack is the knowledge how. Compassion must be balanced with wisdom, otherwise it can fall into complacency with crime. Likewise, wisdom without love is impractical, inapplicable to the problems of daily living. Genuine spirituality is therefore based on facts and direct, conscious experience. Discover how the ancient mystical traditions, primarily Christianity and Buddhism, explain what enlightened compassion signifies: how to apply intuitive insight to the complexities of being, so as to cut through suffering and arrive at comprehension, even when it is severe.

Learn the principles, laws, or qualities of the soul as explained within Christic Buddhism: 1. DANA, the key of charity and love immortal. 2. SHILA, the key of Harmony in word and act, the key that counterbalances the cause and the effect, and leaves no further room for Karmic action. 3. KSHANTI, patience sweet, that nought can ruffle. 4. VIRAG, indifference to pleasure and to pain, illusion conquered, truth alone perceived. 5. VIRYA, the dauntless energy that fights its way to the supernal TRUTH, out of the mire of lies terrestrial. 6. DHYANA, whose golden gate once opened leads the Narjol toward the realm of Sat eternal and its ceaseless contemplation. 7. PRAJNA, the key to which makes of a man a god, creating him a Bodhisattva, son of the Dhyanis. ―The Voice of the Silence The final lecture of this course explains the Paramitas or Perfections of Mahayana Buddhism in relation to the Christic teachings: the fundamental principles in which a bodhisattva of compassion develops. Through the paramitas, the master sacrifices him or herself for humanity while developing bodhichitta: compassion for humanity and insight into the abstract nature of reality: the profound and limitless emptiness of the Absolute within Hebraic Kabbalah.

In a world of increasing perplexity, hatred, and confusion, it is even more imperative to return to the ancient spiritual traditions for guidance. The genuine mystics have always provided an ethical and moral compass for navigating adversity, albeit their message has been veiled except through direct experience of fundamental principles. Fortunately, Christianity, Buddhism, and Sufism offer profound insights into the nature of divine compassion: selfless love enlightened by clear perception. By awakening our ability to perceive and understand, we arrive at deepened serenity and the wisdom to transform suffering despite its rising intensity.

Is life predetermined? Do people possess individual agency? Can serious mistakes be forgiven? Learn how to understand the complexity of causal laws (defined in Sanskrit as कर्म karma) while developing a personal relationship with divinity based on grace and good works.

"The PATH is one, Disciple, yet in the end, twofold. Marked are its stages by four and seven Portals. At one end — bliss immediate, and at the other — bliss deferred. Both are of merit the reward: the choice is thine. The One becomes the two, the Open and the Secret. The first one leadeth to the goal, the second, to Self-Immolation. "When to the Permanent is sacrificed the Mutable, the prize is thine: the drop returneth whence it came. The Open PATH leads to the changeless change — Nirvana, the glorious state of Absoluteness, the Bliss past human thought. "Thus, the first Path is LIBERATION. But Path the Second is — RENUNCIATION, and therefore called the "Path of Woe." "That Secret Path leads the Arhan to mental woe unspeakable; woe for the living Dead, and helpless pity for the men of Karmic sorrow, the fruit of Karma Sages dare not still." ―The Voice of the Silence Upon entering the heavenly regions of Nirvana or the superior dimensions of nature, two paths open before the initiate: the spiral path of liberation or selfish bliss, or the straight path of sacrifice and renunciation. Learn about the secret, straight path of the bodhisattva: "the essence or incarnation of wisdom / Christ" that leads the practitioner towards the absolute heights of divine attainment, known in the Hebraic Kabbalah as the Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur: the Absolute. This path has been taken by all of humanity's greatest sages, prophets, and luminaries, especially Jesus of Nazareth, who demonstrated with his revolutionary life the way of selfless service and boundless compassion. Through sacrificing oneself for numerous humanities, the bodhisattva of the straight path may be granted entrance into the highest degrees of enlightened experience.

"False learning is rejected by the Wise, and scattered to the Winds by the good Law. Its wheel revolves for all, the humble and the proud. The "Doctrine of the Eye" is for the crowd, the "Doctrine of the Heart," for the elect. The first repeat in pride: "Behold, I know," the last, they who in humbleness have garnered, low confess, "thus have I heard.” "The Dharma of the "Eye" is the embodiment of the external, and the non-existing. The Dharma of the "Heart" is the embodiment of Bodhi, the Permanent and Everlasting." ―The Voice of the Silence True spiritual knowledge, the Heart Doctrine, is gained from direct experience, not from books, lectures, scriptures, scholasticism, intellectualism, or debates. Discover how true wisdom and understanding of Dharma, the divine law, is based upon our living experiences of the truth, denominated in the East as bodhi: the light, perception, and wisdom of Christ. This lecture explains the nature of the Heart Doctrine and the essence of bodhichitta, the wisdom-mind, mind-heart, or heart of compassion within esoteric Buddhism and the Christic path of initiation. Real wisdom is gained through selfless service, for in order to attain complete liberation of the psyche, compassion and sacrifice for others is necessary. Resources: Carmina Burana: O Fortuna Carmina Burana: Fortune Plango Vulnera

Stress and tension are the norm for modern Western life.  Relaxation is essential for entering a state of meditation, for without profound serenity, it is impossible to clearly observe the contents of our own mind and arrive at comprehension. Learn how to enter a state of lucid equanimity through pronouncing and prolonging the mantra Om (ओम्), a sacred syllable of divine import. By saturating our mind, heart, and body with superior influences, we strengthen the consciousness, minimize suffering, and enter the region of spiritual clarity.

A preliminary relaxation exercise to prepare for concentration, serenity, and meditation. By establishing a firm but relaxed posture, meditators can forget the body and withdraw attention within. When the body is calm and suspended, the consciousness can investigate and understand new phenomena within the screen of the imagination.

A continuation on our practical series of runic yoga, an ancient mystical practice encoded within the Nordic language (Futhark ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲ). The Rune Ur (ᚢ) is the second letter of this sacred alphabet. From the solar, projective forces of the Rune Fah (ᚠ, the Divine Father) emanates the lunar, receptive powers of divine femininity, Ur (ᚢ, the Divine Mother). Ur or the Hebrew אור Aur is the light of spiritual consciousness, born in us through this profound exercise. Discover how to connect with the eternal feminine through this rune, so as to empower your heart and ability to positively impact your community. Resources: The Rune Fah PowerPoint Presentation The Runes Course (Glorian Publishing) The Magic of the Runes (Samael Aun Weor)

A basic technique for remembering one's thoughts, emotions, impulses, behaviors, and activities. By serenely visualizing the events of the day and recalling them upon the screen of lucid imagination, the consciousness strengthens its ability to perceive and understand situations, interrelationships, virtues, errors, and solutions. Through dispassionately reviewing voluntarily evoked imagery, we begin to probe the underlying, psychological causes of suffering, discovering the way to transform pain into wisdom.