Chicago Gnosis Podcast

New guest lecturer! Many people often turn to spiritual practice when dissatisfied and disillusioned by materialism. However, they may not know where to start when confronted with the abundance of information out there, or, after practicing for some time, do not get the results they hoped for. In this lecture, we will discuss the fundamental factors required for spiritual development, addressing different practices that can affect the seven levels of our being, thereby awakening our consciousness.

Karma is the law of cause and effect within every dimension of nature. However, while people study this divine law within diverse religious and philosophical traditions, they often ignore how our common use of sexual energy determines many deleterious outcomes for ourselves within the domains of life, society, profession, relationships, and spirituality. See the logical consequences of Rodolfo and Mimi's unresolved disputes, unbridled lust, and adultery through the contraction of an incurable and fatal sickness, the fate and fruit of our current humanity's former actions.

Act II builds on the suspense and burgeoning relationship between Rodolfo and Mimi, newfound neighbors and bohemian lovers in the Latin quarter of Paris. Their spark of divine love is juxtaposed with the contrasting passion and suffering of Marcello and Musetta, the latter whose adulterous liaison serves as the locus of lustful competition, jealousy, and spite. Such destructive tendencies are representative of our collective humanity's consequent obsession with carnal desire and adultery, symbolized in Revelations as the scarlet whore who entices the multitudes with false prophecy and blind promises that lead to intense affliction. See how spiritual initiates like Puccini warned against following blind passion and the ways to recognize salvation within oneself: the path of chastity or sexual purity within the perfect matrimony.

While revered throughout the world for its impassioned arias and romantic motifs, La Bohème conveys troubling messages regarding the nature and trajectory of modern living, particularly concerning sexual relations. Discover how Puccini, a Masonic initiate, encoded within his supercilious and compulsive characters a profound warning to those who would seek to enter the spiritual path. By flirting with presumption, indulgence, and desire, the opera's characters enter the wide and broad gate that leads to disaster; see how to avoid the pitfalls of contemporary existence so as to enter the straight and narrow way that leads to spiritual life, and which few actually find (Matthew 7:13-14).

After demonstrating maturity, ethics, and integrity in the probationary path, candidates of initiation are granted the opportunity to advance in greater degrees of spiritual development. Through a perfect matrimony, a couple can strive, overcome, and develop themselves in the beginning stages of mastery. See how through its moral, psychological, and esoteric requirements, accompanied by mystical revelations, experiences, and celebrations within the higher worlds.

While alchemy, kabbalah, tarot, and psychology have developed as distinct traditions throughout history, they share profound roots within the esoteric mystery schools of antiquity. Rather than forming a new age hodgepodge or vague constellation of disparate belief systems, these principles convey the multifaceted nature of spiritual practice and divine realization from different angles, constituting a unique body of experiential knowledge known in Greek as γνῶσις gnosis. Therefore, properly prepared individuals can utilize these insights for interpreting the highly symbolic, mystical, and alchemical art of opera, whose composers were often Freemasons initiated into the secret allegories and disciplines of the ancients. This lecture explains some of the spiritual traditions behind Puccini's La Bohème, which will serve for future viewings and discussions on its gnostic symbolism, especially in relation to creative energy (alchemy), character representations and archetypes (kabbalah), predictive, prophetic, and pragmatic implications (tarot), and the path of internal transformation (psychology).

Learn and celebrate how one individual changed the world. References from Glorian Publishing Who is Samael Aun Weor? (Articles and Resources)Samael: The Fifth Angel (Course)Get Spiritual Strength Through Blessed Food and Drink: Have Eucharist at Home

All of the principles outlined in this course point towards a specific goal: divine realization upon the inner path of spiritual initiation. By mastering our psychology, sexuality, and sufferings in daily life, we become radically distinct individuals characterized by the highest ideals, embodied by humanity's greatest luminaries and prophets. This final lecture reviews three principles for entering, walking upon, and mastering the spiritual path, whereby a common person becomes an enlightened individual: the birth of virtue, the death of desire, and selfless service for humanity.

Guest lecturer! Amidst the complexities and difficulties of life is a simple truth: every action produces related consequences. While true in physics, this dynamic is even more profound in relation to our behaviors, mindset, social interactions, and psychology. See how to affect genuine spiritual change through an introduction to five mystical principles, described in the East as karma and in the West as the divine law. Learn also of common pitfalls, antidotes, and anecdotes for lasting personal transformation, as well as how inspired action can produce the longed for changes we seek in our daily lives.

After working with energy, the consciousness becomes inflamed and awakened. However, this type of birth is only one side of a spiritual equation. The rest of the work necessitates the comprehension and death of psychological contaminants like anger, lust, and pride. By directing energy towards the purification of the mind, it becomes possible to be fully rid of repetitious and harmful internal states, thereby enacting lasting, profound, and radical change. See how through a practice known as retrospection meditation.

We perceive with more senses that mere sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Rather than exclusively depend upon empirical data, it is possible to explore, with psychological senses, the roots and origins of numerous internal states. While openly denigrated by modern society, the faculty of imagination is actually the means by which to investigate non-physical or metaphysical phenomena such as thoughts, feelings, and desires. Through understanding five forms of imagination, it becomes possible to distinguish reality from illusion, the truth of cosmic being from the clever machinations our own mind. Learn also practical techniques to develop positive forms of imagination for the awakening and liberation of self.

Ever wonder why New Year's resolutions don't work? While we might will something, it may not come to fruition because we lack energy, enthusiasm, and consistency for accomplishing it. Likewise, without proper spiritual force, we will not have the inspiration, comprehension, and zeal for overcoming resistance. Learn how to conserve and harness energy for the awakening of your spirituality, specifically through exercises of pranayama, chakra work, and sacred sexuality.

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." ―Matthew 6:24 Examine your life. Whom do you serve most from moment to moment? Is it your unconditioned consciousness, or desires? By understanding our psychological states, it becomes possible to intuitively choose what superior actions to embody and follow. In this way, we willingly engage in selfless behaviors  for the well-being of our communities.

All religions and mystical traditions speak about divine reality. But how do we experience it? Likewise, how do we cultivate it daily, from moment to moment? Discover the basis for remembering divinity, what it entails, and how to cultivate such a relationship through practical techniques.

By comprehending and eliminating our defects, we produce the awakening of the consciousness within dreams. This is the sacred return of the soul to divinity within this very life, without needing to physically die. We can competently navigate the higher worlds, the internal dimensions, and receive direct guidance from the Being through profound meditation and spiritual practice: (see Dream Yoga and Astral Travel). On every Saturday the 13th, we can perform the Spiritual Practice with Melchizedek, supplicating to the genie of the Earth to guide us in the path of mystical death. Such a process radically awakens the disciple during the normal hours of sleep, so that the soul can personally converse and commune with divinity with joy, inspiration, and spiritual healing.

Critiques and explanations regarding divine sexuality. See the following references to Glorian Publishing: Courses Evolution of SexKabbalah of GenesisMeditation EssentialsSamael, the Fifth Angel Books by Samael Aun Weor The Major MysteriesThe Perfect Matrimony Lectures by Samael Aun Weor Questions About the Path: The Wisdom of the BeingQuestions of Importance to Women

The basis of understanding reality is direct perception. While contemporary science accepts sensory and conceptual means of apprehending truth, the ancient mystical traditions taught that the awakened consciousness possesses superior faculties beyond the limitations of individual subjectivity and personal bias. Rather than imprison oneself within a sensual or believing mind, it is possible to awaken a third type: the inner that knows how to perceive and comprehend states of being beyond subjective materiality. By developing the inner mind, we come to experience and witness our true nature.

The proper use of sexual energy can empower us to attain the highest spiritual potential, though we must be aware of the dangers that the misuse of this energy can cause.

Our current psychological state is not unitary, but aggregated within varying levels of density. Another analogy is a spectrum or gradient marked by two extremes. The lowest qualities of being are attributed to affliction, confusion, pain, ignorance, and a whole constellation of destructive behaviors, characterized by complexity, problems, and all their concomitant sufferings. As hinted by the great mystical traditions of antiquity, superior states of being relate to spiritual awakening, serenity, and religious experiences of divine reality. Discover how to identify, discriminate, and understand various forms of perception through four states of consciousness: sleep, dreams, wakefulness, and spiritual illumination, so as to master one's complete potential.

The foundation for experiencing the most fundamental truths of human and divine reality lies within the field of psychological self-observation. By watching our thoughts, feelings, and impulses, it becomes possible to discover who and what we really are, not from any theory, theology, or belief system, but direct perception: the basis of real faith.