Gnosis - Book I - Exoteric Cycle

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"BORIS MOURAVIEFF
GNOSIS
STUDY AND COMMENTARIES ON THE
ESOTERIC TRADITION OF EASTERN ORTHODOXY
BOOK ONE • EXOTERIC CYCLE

CONTENTS
Foreword by the Translator xiii
Foreword by the Author xvii
Preface xx
Introduction xxiii
FIRST PART: MAN
CHAPTER I 3
The interior life of man. The instability of the I. Introspection as a method
of work. What we can learn by introspection. The three currents of
mental life. Iron filings. Friction, fire and fusion. The Law of Hazard
or Accident. The plurality of the I. What is man? The body and the soul.
The Personality. The three mental centres.
CHAPTER II 12
Knowledge and understanding. Consciousness and its functions. Four
levels of consciousness: subconsciousness, waking consciousness, consciousness
of the real /, and Consciousness. The problem of being. Four
levels of being. Containing and contents. Knowledge, understanding and
savoir-faire.
CHAPTER III 19
The Personality is an organism enjoying a certain autonomy. The intimate
link with the body. Mastering the latter. Posture of the Sage. Study
of the structure of the Personality. The three mental centres: intellectual,
emotional and motor. Their structure. The three fundamental types of
exterior man: men 1, 2 and 3. Their characteristics.
CHAPTER IV 27
The three I's of man: the I of the body (physical), the I of the Personality
(mental), the real I (spiritual). Their relation in theory and practice. The
987 little I's, resulting from possible combinations of the three centres and
their sectors.
vii
CHAPTER V 33
The physical I as the consciousness of the body. Its field of action. The
mental I as the consciousness of the Personality. The illogicality of the
mental life of man. Explanation of its apparent continuity. Inner and
outer conflicts. Buffers. The auto-tranquillizing mechanism. Various
examples of fusion. Lumps. Pathological cases. Division and dissolution
of the Personality. The constant number of elements composing the
Personality. The Personality of the child. The formation of character.
CHAPTER VI 43
The Personality of the adult man. Its components. Its active and dominant
position in exterior man. Manifestations of the real I. Man no longer
seen as complete, but as a possibility. Aptitude for evolution. Resistance
of the Personality. The general notion of esotericism and its three degrees.
A' and 'B' influences. Formation of a fourth centre; the magnetic centre.
CHAPTER VII 54
The higher centres and their structure. Conditions of their connection
with the Personality. Links between the lower centres and the growth of
the magnetic centre. Repercussions of its development on the Personality
of exterior man. The instrument of morality in exterior man. Junction with
higher centres. Man 5, 6 and 7.
SECOND PART: THE UNIVERSE
CHAPTER VIII 65
Man as an integral part of the Universe. Concept of the Universe as a
living organism. The double meaning of man's existence. The General
Law and the Law of Exception. The Absolute. His non-manifested state,
and manifestation. The three fundamental conditions of creation: Space,
Time and Equilibrium. Three basic principles of life: static, dynamic and
neutralizing. Eternity. Accomplishment. A general notion of the structure
of the Universe.
CHAPTER IX 75
The first fundamental law of the created Universe: the Law of Three.
Discernment between 'A' and 'B' influences. Structure of the Ray of
Creation. Rectifying laws for each rank of the Ray of Creation.
viii
CHAPTER X 83
Functioning of the created Universe. The second fundamental law of the
created Universe: The Law of Seven or Law of the Octave. The Principle
of Equilibrium. The problem of matter-energy.
CHAPTER XI 95
The plan of Creation and its application. The Cosmic Octave. The Lateral
Octave, its functioning and meaning with relation to the Cosmic Octave.
CHAPTER XII 104
Life of the Universe throughout the Ray of Creation. The system of
Cosmoses. Significance of the names attributed to the various ranks of
the System of Cosmoses. Ascending and descending Octaves.
CHAPTER XIII 115
The Principle of Relativity. Objective and subjective notions of Time.
The units of Time. Equivalence table. The constant correspondence
between units of Time: impressions; respiration; waking and sleeping;
lifetime. Table of evolution. Dimensions of Space and Time. Their
parallelism.
CHAPTER XIV 126
The Principle of Equilibrium. The Principle of Imperfection. Life-Love-
Death-Individuality. The perfect couple formed by two polar beings.
Karma. The influence of the principle of Equilibrium on the Law of
Seven, allowing explanation of the nutrition of the Universe. Organic
correspondence between form and content.
THIRD PART: THE WAY
CHAPTER XV 141
Definition of the Way. Illusion. The Way and the wilderness. The Track
and the path of Access to the Way. Return is prohibited for those who
enter the Way: the Way is a one way street. Resistance of the General Law
to those seeking the Way. Evolution of the Personality and birth of
Individuality. The real I and real Life.
ix
CHAPTER XVI 151
Moral bankruptcy to which exterior life leads. Exterior man experiences
the need to search for the Way when he constates and recognizes his own
moral bankruptcy. Arrangement of his interior 'cage' sheltered from 'A'
influences. Discrimination between A' and 'B' influences. Non-confluence
and interior non-considering. Exterior considering. The leaven of the
Pharisees. Invisible warfare. The Mystery of the Accomplishment.
CHAPTER XVII 163
Lying and stealing are dominant characteristics of exterior man. Different
categories of lies. Ceasing to lie to oneself: the first condition for success
in the search for the Way. Love suppresses lies. Truth frees one from
slavery. Independence. Salvation. Success by conscious efforts joined
with divine grace. Four elements for progress in the search for the
Way. Negative and positive methods.
CHAPTER XVIII 176
Relations between man and woman from the esoteric point of view. The
role of woman in the fall and in redemption. The inspiring woman. The
three paths of Access to the Way. Possible targets to be reached. The
problem of the new man. Representative types of the elite in historical
evolution. Four modes of perception, of study, and of influence over the
exterior world: Philosophy; Religion; Science and Art. Alternation of
types 2 and 3 in the past. The current era tends to favour the appearance
of men 4, agents of synthesis, with the goal of resolving the dilemma
between cataclysm and the appearance of a New Earth (according to the
prophesy of St Peter). Magnetic centre of humanity, currently in formation,
in its ensemble.
CHAPTER XIX 193
Being and seeming to be. Confusion between these two notions in exterior
man. The principle of Imperfection as a first condition of Creation. The
meaning of Creation consists in the realization — starting from the Zero —
of a Unity resembling the Infinite, composed of an infinity of unities born
of the imperfect zeros which represent the Souls after the fall. The
Accomplishment. The general resurrection and esoteric evolution. The
doctrine of the Present. The Present is outside Time. The Present of
exterior man. The slot. The three dimensions of the Present.
x
CHAPTER XX 203
Exercises aimed at acquiring the real Present. Mastering the body and the
Personality, and making contact with higher levels of Consciousness.
Eight groups of physical and mental exercises — breathing techniques
form a bridge between them. Passive constatation. The higher exercises:
concentration, contemplation and ecstasy. Diagram of the Way. Seven
sections and three Thresholds: the first, from the wilderness to the Staircase,
leads to the second Threshold. Once crossed, the disciple then enters
the Way itself, leading to the third Threshold. The limit of evolution in
terrestrial conditions. Description of the stages of the Way.
CHAPTER XXI 224
The gulf between the wishes and the abilities of modern man. Evolution
can fill this gulf. Knowledge, understanding and savoir-faire. The
Androgyne. Return to pre-adamic unity by fusion of two polar Individualities.
Halted growth and development of Personality an obstacle to
such a fusion. Personality must be developed all along the Staircase to full
expression. Desire, faith, strength and discernment. Love. The plane of
eternity as the domain of the possible. Realization in Time. Pseudoreincarnation.
True reincarnation: conscious, voluntary, and individual,
situated entirely in time. The original film as it is conceived in eternity. Its
introduction into time. The eternal return in a so-called reincarnation;
unconscious, involuntary and non-individual. Teams. Free movements of
exterior man form the original film, which turns approximately in a spiral.
Karma. Conscious efforts can transform the film. Collective pseudoreincarnation,
conscious work on the film, neutralization of Karma and
the return to the original film. Esoteric shortcut by the joint work and
conscious efforts of two polar beings forming one Microcosmos. Fundamental
importance of finding and recognizing the polar being. Prerequisite:
renouncing free movements. Criteria of polarity. Crossing the first
Threshold needs renunciation; the second Threshold needs a positive
program.
Postscript 253
Bibliography 255
Appendix 271"