In the Gnostic tradition, we rely on the study of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge in order to understand the laws that govern nature and that govern our psyche. In order to comprehend the nature of these two trees, or the function that they represent, it is necessary to first understand what is intelligence.
Intelligence is a unique characteristic, a unique functionalism, which, unfortunately, in these times, has been sadly misunderstood and confused. The clue to understand the nature of intelligence is displayed in the Tree of Life (Kabbalah). The Tree of Life is a map or a symbol that consists of ten spheres.
The top three spheres form a triangle, which represents the force that is called the Logos. Logos means “Word.”
The third sphere of the Logos is called Binah, which, in Hebrew, means “intelligence” or “understanding.” Binah is the Third Logos or the third aspect of the Word.
The First Logos initiates. The Second Logos receives or negates. The Third Logos brings the first two together. These three are one, and are called the Trinity. These three forces create. The Trinity is the three in one; it is one force with three aspects. Binah, intelligence, the Third Logos, is that aspect of this trinity which originates all forms of creation.
Therefore, intelligence is synonymous with the capacity to create. When understood in this way, our modern understanding of the word “intelligence” is revealed as being flawed. Real intelligence is creative power. Genuine intelligence is the ability and the means to create. But this is not the entire definition of intelligence. If we were to state a definition for intelligence, we would say: Intelligence is the intention and the ability to act in a beneficial way.
In other words, intelligence is the capacity to act, to create; but true intelligence—transcendental intelligence, superior intelligence—is creative power that is beneficial. In whatever scenario, in whatever situation, it is the ability to act in a beneficial way.
Another way of looking at this is to say that intelligence is the understanding of how to convert energy into a useful consequence, a result—how to work with matter and energy in order to produce the desired result.
When we look at the miracle of this physical body that we have, we see that it implies the existence of tremendous intelligence. The awe-inspiring sophistication of the many interdependent systems that sustain the moment to moment life that we enjoy, is so enormous that our simple mind cannot grasp it; we cannot comprehend it. Even the top scientists and doctors of these times cannot explain the physical body that we have; they have a limit to how much they can understand.
This is also true when we look at nature as a whole. In the entirety of nature we see an enormous, sophisticated, delicately balanced system of interlocking and interdependent laws, whose beauty and sophistication is beyond the capacity of our simple intellect to truly grasp.
The sophistication and the delicacy and the power of all the systems that govern the beauties of nature, the terrors of nature, implies a vast and profound intelligence. What existing system can arise free of cause, free of a design? Yet, do not assume that in asking this question we are implying the existence of an anthropomorphized God. No: in Gnosis, we reject the notion of a so-called “Creator God”; yet, at the same time, we reject the notion of the lack of a creator or designer in nature. In Gnosis, we view both of these extremes as incongruent.
On both sides of the pendulum of the debate about the origin of the universe, the origin of nature, and the origin of man, the Gnostics do not accept either side of the pendulum—because neither side proves true when analyzed in depth. The dogmas of modern science and religion, who have been locked in combat for centuries, are both mistaken. The true answer to understand the mechanisms of nature and the origin of humanity can be found within us, by using the proper tools.
When we analyze nature and look for the cause of existence, it becomes impossible to deny the beauty of the mathematics that organize all existence—the tremendous intelligence which gives rise to so many layers and levels of life. The vast interdependence which allows all of us to coexist is something that simply could not arise without a cause, without a plan, without a design.
If we narrow our focus (since it is hard to conceive of all existence as it truly is) and look only at the construction of an atom, we see an incredible sophistication in the design of the atom—and yet, many scientists reject the notion that the atom was designed or created. Scientists seem to have this notion that the atom originated spontaneously, without guidance, without any sense of design or plan. Yet, when we look at any other aspect of life, we find that it is impossible for any given organism or machine to arise on its own. Everything has a cause. It is impossible for us to take all the parts of a television set and place them on a table and expect it to assemble itself. Even more importantly, it would be impossible for all of the individual pieces of the television set to design themselves. From where does the design originate? From a designer. From where does the mathematical formula originate? From the mathematician.
Therefore, in Gnosis, when we analyze nature, we recognize that nature has arisen because it has a design, it has a plan. It would be easy to assume that this means that the Gnostic tradition believes in an anthropomorphic god, yet this is not so. Gnostics also reject the notion of creationism—that Adam and nature were created spontaneously out of the dust by an old man with a beard—this is also incongruent. Nature does not leap.
Nature is a very sophisticated machine which abides by laws of cause and effect, the law of the balance, the law of the cosmic Trogoautoegocrat, the law of reciprocal nourishment—many laws which help to manage and sustain the existence of all the different dimensions.
There is intelligence in all of nature, without exception. If we see that there is some form of intelligence that resides within the human mind, within the human heart, there is also intelligence in the body, in our digestion, in our organs, in the cells, in the molecules; likewise we see that there is intelligence in an animal, but of a different scale, at a different level. There is also intelligence in a plant, but of a different level. We see intelligence in all things.
Although some might be surprised by this, let us go further: we also see that there is intelligence in a planet, there is intelligence in a solar system, in a galaxy. This is impossible to deny. The tremendous beauty, sophistication, and most of all, organization, that is clearly evident in every aspect of the unimaginable number of stellar bodies, directly demonstrates that it is guided by intelligence, yet humanity has not yet understood what that intelligence is.
Intelligence exists in the movements of the planets, the movements of the atoms, the movements of our bodies. This we cannot deny, for the evidence is overwhelming. And yet, what is that intelligence?
The scientists believe that humanity is the most intelligent force of life. Of course, most of us in some way or another probably have this belief as well, even if it is subtle. We believe we are the most elevated, supreme civilization. We believe that we are the smartest people ever in history. Yet, Gnosis tells us that we are not.
Scientists and doctors believe that they are the most supreme amongst all human beings; that they are of “superior intelligence.” The scientists of this time are performing all kinds of experiments in order to break the code, in order to make themselves God, to create life by means of artificial insemination, cloning, gene therapy, mutations, grafting, and all manners of manipulating matter and energy. And they believe that this is “intelligent” and they proclaim that it is “intelligent,” and yet, we question this affirmation.
When the scientists perform all of these experiments, they believe they are creating life. When they clone an animal or a cell, they exclaim with great excitement that they are advancing science, and somehow bettering humanity. And yet, when observed and analyzed in its depth, we can see that the scientists are not really creating anything—they are simply manipulating forms; they are simply manipulating something that nature already made. They are taking elements that already have life, and simply combining them in different ways. This is easy. But to create life?—it is impossible for them.
The scientists cannot create life and they will never be able to create life. They can create a cell, they can manipulate atoms or molecules in order to create compound forms, but they cannot create life. At this juncture is an impassable wall that science has been banging on for years but will never transcend. Why?
In their stubbornness, many scientists refuse to recognize that the real intelligence that creates life is beyond their grasp, because that intelligence is the very force which science has been emphatically trying to deny. That force is Binah, the Third Logos, also known as the Holy Spirit or Shiva: Intelligence.
Binah is the illuminating fire, the creative force of God. But, again, this is not a Creator God who sits on a throne—this is intelligence, this is a form of consciousness that is far beyond what we know of as consciousness.
When scientists are manipulating atoms or molecules, trying to originate life, they can manipulate the forms, they can combine different particles, or molecules, and combine them together in order to create little bodies, or even big ones; but they cannot give it life. The only one that has that ability is the Holy Spirit. The giving of life is a power that belongs to the gods.
Unfortunately, the scientists refuse to recognize this and continue with their experiments, failing to see that the intelligence that they are trying to emulate cannot be emulated in the way that they are trying to do it. And unfortunately, they reject any idea, any teaching, any concept which contradicts them. And we have seen this historically many times—with Galileo, Columbus, Newton—many scientists, many investigators, many initiates, many philosophers, who have projected a concept or an idea which challenged the established science, and all the scientists laugh, mock, and ridicule these ideas until they are proven true. It is sad that the scientists cannot even live up to their own ideal: to rely only upon the evidence. Sadly, scientists do not do this.
We saw the blind dogmatic fanaticism of the “educated” with Columbus and his expedition; we saw it with Galileo, and with Copernicus; we saw it with the recognition of bacteria and viruses. All these things were rejected by the so-called “men and women of science.” The same will be true of the statements that Gnosis makes about intelligence, about the Third Logos. They will laugh at us, reject us, and ridicule us, until the moment arrives when their theories vanish as the illusions that they actually are, banished by the facts of existence.
In the base of every form of matter there is consciousness. The atom itself is a triumvirate, a trinity, of:
- energy
- matter
- consciousness
This is why the scientists cannot create life; they can manipulate the energy and the matter, but they do not have the consciousness to create life. This is the key.
In fact, scientists cannot even agree what consciousness is, or if it even exists. This is because they have their own consciousness deeply asleep, and they have no practical knowledge of what it is. It would be marvelous for them to experience what the consciousness is. Then, they could be become real scientists, with the ability to work with all three aspects of existence. To work with any consciousness outside of you, you must have awakened your own consciousness.
When we talk about Cosmic Intelligence, or Binah, we are talking about Cosmic Consciousness. This is a cognizant power to create; and we, in our current state, have very little access to cognizant power. The reason is because we are asleep. We do not have our consciousness awake; we do not have our consciousness empowered by that fire of the Holy Spirit which, in the Gospels, is called the Fire of the Pentecost and, in India, is called Kundalini.
The Third Logos, or this illuminating, intelligent fire, is not an individual. The Third Logos, Binah, is a force, an energy, an intelligence, which is conscious; it is not an individual, it is not a person. It is the root intelligence of nature.
Where do we see this intelligence reflected? Observe the multiplication of the chromosomes. Observe how, when the sperm and the ovum meet in the womb of any creature, each sperm, each ovum has 48 chromosomes—(as a side-note: modern science says there are 46 chromosomes because they do not perceive two additional chromosomes that correspond to the fourth dimension, the ethereal body, the vital body; regardless of whether we say 46 or 48 chromosomes, both the sperm and the ovum have a fixed quantity of chromosomes)— when they join, when they unite, those chromosomes are added together, but the resulting product has also 48 chromosomes.
How is this possible?—that such perfection in mathematics can be achieved spontaneously, without guidance, without laws? How can you have perfect mathematics without a mathematician? Clearly, such perfect, consistent facts in nature imply the existence of a mathematician, an intelligence that can add and subtract. That intelligence is the Third Logos, the Holy Spirit in Christianity. In Hinduism, this intelligence is called Shiva. Shiva is the power of creation, and exists in every atom, in every mineral, in every plant, in every animal.
Therefore, if the very atom reflects this intelligence, then all of the bodies that the atom becomes, or forms a part of, also reflect this intelligence. This is how we can look at our physical bodies as an example. The intelligence that manages all of the systems, all of the functions and processes of our physical body, has its root in this Third Logos or Cosmic Intelligence. That Cosmic Intelligence becomes differentiated as it descends into matter; it becomes particularized. It arranges itself according to the construction of matter in order to manage the systems of that matter.
Whether we call this intelligence “God,” or “Anima Mundi,” or “Super-Soul,” or “Allah,” or “Buddha”—it does not matter—the force is there, that intelligence is there, and it gives us the capacity to live. Our goal is to come to know that consciously. The Gnostics are not satisfied with believing in it. We want to know it, to see it, to experience it.
When we look at ourselves, we can see that our psyche reflects these three forces of the Trinity. We have three brains, three proponents of psychic energy, three converters, or, in other words, parts of a machine, which receive, convert, and transmit energy. These three brains are:
- our intellect
- our emotion
- the third brain has three parts: motor, instinctive, and sexual centers
The three brains are the managers of the forces of intelligence that flow in and out of us. The question for us becomes: What intelligence is utilizing these three brains? What intelligence is guiding our actions? And, are we truly behaving intelligently? Remember the definition of intelligence: to act in a beneficial way; to have the intuition, the impulse, the understanding, the intelligence, to utilize matter and energy in an beneficial way.
So look again at this trinity that I explained:
- matter
- energy
- consciousness
We are here, in matter and energy. The body is physical matter. That body is empowered by energy, but it is guided by intelligence, by consciousness. So here is the critical question that Gnosis presents to us: What intelligence is guiding our actions? Are we cognizant of the intelligence that guides us? Are we conscious of it?
Gnosis tells us that we are not. This is why we pray: “Intelligence and wisdom, crown me.” Intelligence and wisdom are Binah and Chokmah, and the crown is Kether.
- First Logos: The Father. Kether, which in Hebrew means “the crown”
- Second Logos: The Son. Chokmah, which in Hebrew means “wisdom”
- Third Logos: The Holy Spirit, which in Hebrew means “intelligence”
This Gnostic prayer calls upon these forces to descend into our three brains, to guide us, to help us to utilize our matter and our energy consciously, in order to create and to act in a beneficial way.
In Buddhism, intelligence is understood in a very different way from the west. In the Lankavatara Sutra, it is written that Mahamati asked the Buddha, “What is intelligence?”
The Buddha said, “It is the inner state of the realization of wisdom.”
Now, this is an interesting statement. The Buddha said that intelligence (Binah) is the understanding of wisdom (Chokmah). This is a Kabbalistic statement and yet it did not come from the Jews, it did not come from the West; this statement came from the East. This demonstrates the universal nature of Kabbalah.
Chokmah, wisdom, is the Son, the Christ, the force of love, compassion. The Buddha said that intelligence is the understanding of love, of the ability to act with compassion to benefit others. This is superior intelligence.
Gnosis states that we are not a “superior intelligence” because, if you observe the actions of humanity, it is clear to see that we are not conscious of our own matter and energy. We are not cognizant of wisdom, of Christ. Otherwise, how would the world be the way it is now? How would we have created this environment, which poisons our very selves with pollution, both physical and psychological, with toxins, both physical and psychological? How is it that we would have created this environment within which so much of our energy and matter is devoted to war, to violence, to lust, to destruction?
All of these examples demonstrate a lack of beneficial intelligence, a complete absence of true intelligence; but they do demonstrate the presence of another form of intelligence. However, it is a diverted intelligence, a perverted intelligence, a diabolic intelligence.
The forces of the Third Logos flow through our three brains continually. When they are infected with desire, such as the desires of lust or pride or envy, all of which exist in the animal mind that we have, then those forces become destructive, they become polarized negatively.
When we are identified with matter and energy, when we become entranced or hypnotized by matter or energy, then our consciousness becomes enslaved and we behave in a harmful way, in a destructive way. The forces that flow through us—through our intellect, through our emotional center, and through our actions—become destructive, and create consequences that harm. This is the opposite of what the root intelligence (Binah) intends, yet this occurs because we are identified: our consciousness is asleep.
Unfortunately, modern science, modern thinking, seeks to increase our identification with matter and energy. The modern, materialistic philosophy of life denies the existence of the Cosmic Intelligence. When that existence is denied, the human person, the human organism, is left without the ability to connect with that understanding, and is left adrift, asleep, identified.
Our modern, materialistic philosophy sees the human organism—you and me—as mere machines that consume and produce, and that is all. You can see that the modern economic and political systems that have been arising in the last few hundred years are based upon the notion that human beings are only machines that consume and produce. These economic and political systems seek to take advantage of that, in order to make the few in charge more powerful. Thus, in their actions they deny the existence of the Being, of the Consciousness, that Cosmic Intelligence which resides within every atom within every person.
When humanity is deprived of the connection with God—with the Being, with their own interior Cosmic Intelligence—then those cognizant values are made unavailable, and what is left is the animal mind, which does consume and produce, under the guidance of desire. The result is that the human organism becomes morally bankrupt. The psyche degenerates, because there is no guidance from the values of the Cosmic Intelligence. The values of the consciousness are not there in order to provide the understanding, the intelligence, to act in a beneficial way. So, instead, we act in a selfish way to feed desire, to feed our sense of security, our attachment to matter or energy, which are mere sensation.
As a result, the human being is stripped of individuality, of its unique idiosyncrasy, of its free will. Our materialistic philosophy of these times sees us as simple machines that consume and produce. Whether that system is called “capitalism” or “communism,” the factual evidence is the same: the individual is a machine to be used, and kept as a machine. Any machine that seeks to escape its programming is seen as a threat to the system.
There is a lot of talk around the world about freedom or individuality, but in no place is there a chance to really pursue it. Anyone who challenges the system is rejected; anyone who speaks their own idea and own mind, is ridiculed; anyone who stands alone, is feared. Anyone who goes against the current is considered a threat.
The humanity that we have now is a collective mind that moves in groups, groups of consumers and producers, manipulated by a malignant intelligence that seeks to feed itself. If a sheep strays from the flock, it is ridiculed, attacked, criticized, sometimes killed. Yet most of the time, the sheep is reabsorbed into the flock by means of the most effective tool the diabolic intelligence uses: desire. The rebel sheep is seduced through its desires.
Free, divine Intelligence does not have the ability to fully develop itself within a collective mind. Real intelligence is individual. Each of us has our own inner Cosmic Intelligence that is unique to us. It is the very reflection of the nature of our Being. It is eternal; it is our own. It is beyond what we know of as intelligence, or even individuality. It is far beyond what we think of as individuality. And yet, it is individual; but it must be developed. In the current state that we have, we do not even know it exists, much less have it developed. It is in its primordial state.
The herd of humanity is being guided further and further into degeneration by means of the enforcement of collective mind: to go with the flow, to keep up with the neighbor, to maintain the status quo, to follow fashion, to be like your friends, to be like your idols, movie stars. Much of the time, the status quo calls itself “rebellious” or “revolutionary,” but it is not.
One interesting manifestation of this unfortunate materialistic philosophy, actually claims itself to be anti-materialistic: communism. Communism proclaims itself as being anti-materialistic and designed for the good of the community. But the danger of communism is precisely that the individuality of the person within that system is stripped away. No one is allowed to think as they will, to act as they will, to speak as they will. Instead, that system seeks for everyone to agree, to go with the flow, to be a part of a group. In the end, we see that whether a socity is called communist or capitalist, the end result is the same: humanity still suffers intensely.
There is nothing wrong with groups; we need groups. But more than that we need to develop our consciousness to its fullest extent. When the possibility of developing our full capacity is removed, and the human machine is forced into a manner of living in which it must conform, the possibility for individual development is removed. The end result is a nation of automatons: machines that do what they are told. This is not what a human being should be.
When we observe the ants or the bees, we see the end result of this type of society. In the ants and the bees we see highly organized, very sophisticated systems of economics and politics. Yes, ants and bees have economic systems. They have beautiful economies: self-sustaining, self-perpetuating, interdependent. But those economies, those systems, allow no possibility for the arising of an individual. They depend upon collective mind, mechanical behavior—and this is not the goal of the Christ. Yet, in every country in the world, we see humanity is more collective than individual.
Chokmah, the Christ, the Son, does not seek to cultivate a herd of sheep. He seeks to convert those sheep into shepherds. You cannot become a shepherd if you still think like a sheep.
It is necessary to know not what to think or what to do, but how to think, how to do.
We need a new way of thinking, a new way of behaving, that does not seek to compare with others or rely on precedent, but seeks instead to rely on the Cosmic Values of our own Inner Being.
In other words, intelligence is not mechanical. It does not repeat. It does not replicate.
Real intelligence is not in a machine. A machine can only replicate; a machine can only repeat and do what it is told.
All of us in these times are astonished and fascinated with the computer. And some people are astonished and say, “Look how intelligent the computer is!” This is wrong—the computer can only do what it is told. That is not intelligence; that is simply a machine.
Real intelligence is intuitive, spontaneous, unpredictable.
Real intelligence cannot be controlled by others. This is why society fears real intelligence, and crucifies the prophets, and ridicules the truly brilliant.
Unfortunately, we confuse the intellect with intelligence. Somehow, in these times, we have gotten this idea that someone who is very intellectual is very intelligent. We fail to realize that these are two totally different things. The intellect is only one of our three brains. We also have an emotional brain. We also have a motor-instinctive-sexual brain. Each of these three has its unique abilities and can be under the guidance of superior or inferior intelligence. But they are not intelligence in themselves; they are simply transformers, converters; that is all.
Nowadays, people have this idea about intelligence as being equal to intellect. And we watch these games shows where people display tremendous ability to answer obscure questions about inconsequential issues. They know the most infinitesimal details about our pop history, or about movies, or tv, or so-called historical facts, and we become astonished and say, “Wow!—she is really intelligent!” Yet, this is not a display of intelligence, on any level. This is a display of memorization; that is all. To quote facts, to memorize a teaching, or a doctrine, or some form of study, or knowledge, is a capacity of the intellect; it is the capacity of a machine.
Really, anyone can memorize something, and remain stupid. There are many scientists, doctors, philosophers, people who are highly educated in our educational system, who others call “intelligent.” And yet, these same people are the ones who create atomic bombs, the ones who are creating food sources that lack any nutritional value. These are the same people who are creating medicines that are supposed to cure one thing but, in fact, destroy other things. These so-called intelligent people are behind chemical weapons, biological weapons, computer viruses, the proliferation of pornography, thermonuclear weapons, economic policies that cheat the populace and fatten the politicians and the rich, resource management policies that drain the soil of nutrients, fill the air, the lakes, and oceans with pollutants and atomic waste, and gradually exterminate life on every level of nature. Where is the intelligence in that?
Where is the intelligence in all of these educational systems that want the students to memorize, memorize, and memorize, but never learn how to think, how to act intelligently?—so that students come out at the end of their supposed education, without a clue about life or how to really live. Instead of really knowing and understanding how to act and how to live, they just have their heads full of theories and their shoulders burdened with debts. Where is the intelligence in that?
Real intelligence creates. Real intelligence is creative; it is intuitive. The intellect cannot create anything. The intellect can compare, it can reason; it can store information and retrieve it. But it cannot originate anything new. The intellect can combine A and B, but it cannot create. It can only originate something if it has creative power. That creative power comes from elsewhere; it comes from the consciousness. But again, what consciousness? Where does that creative power come from?
The production of the atomic bomb required creative power, and it required the intellect. It required scientists to utilize their three brains in order to produce this result of the atomic science. But where did that intelligence come from? Where did the guidance come from? Where did the idea come from?
To find the source, look at the result. When you measure and analyze the result, you can find the cause.
What benefit arises from a so-called ‘smart-bomb’? Or from an atomic bomb? Do you think that God intended that? Do you think that Christ intended that? What intelligence is guiding us to create these things?
In these times, we have the so-called I.Q. test, which means “intelligence quotient”—and it is supposed to be a measurement of intelligence. People take this test, and they get high scores, and they say, “Well, I am a genius.” But this test does not measure intelligence. It measures the ability to repeat, to compare, to memorize. It measures the intellect. They should call it the “intellect quotient”—because there are different capacities of intellect. Some of us have an intellect that has more depth or breadth to compare and analyze information, and this is a very useful tool—but it is not intelligence.
When we talk about intelligence, we have to look more deeply into the matter. Intelligence is not limited to the intellect. Intelligence cannot be measured with a test, because intelligence is creative. Intelligence, real intelligence, sees beyond the limitations of the intellect, sees beyond the limitations of the existing system, to find the true solution to a given problem. We all admire Albert Einstein, and he is widely considered to have been a very intelligent person, and yet he did poorly in school; he failed test after test. How is that? If he was so intelligent, would he not have done well on all his tests? Would he not have been a model student?
The secret to understanding the intelligence of a person like Einstein, is that intelligence is not intellectual; intelligence is creative. Einstein had a profound gift of intuition. He was not necessarily an intellectual person—he was an intuitive person. And, in fact, real mathematics is intuitive, not intellectual. He was able to arrive at his theories and conclusions by an intuitive mathematic process, not by the intellect.
Therefore we can see, that real intelligence, as in the case of Einstein, cannot be cultivated or even measured by our modern educational systems—because the modern educational systems are based in the intellect, not in intelligence. Our modern systems are trying to teach students to memorize and repeat. This is not intelligence. This is what a machine does. A machine memorizes something and repeats it, and that is all it can do. Real intelligence is the ability to create something new.
Real intelligence can be seen in such persons as Shakespeare, Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Gandhi, or Buddha. Some of these people had no education, but had profound intelligence. Some of the most intelligent people on earth are illiterate, have never read a book, and yet, have an intelligence that is extraordinarily creative and penetrating. But, of course, western materialistic philosophy rejects them. Anything that is outside of the western world is rejected by western materialistic philosophy as being somehow “inferior.”
The source of real intelligence is within us. It is within the consciousness. Not in matter, not in energy, but beyond matter and energy. Real intelligence comes from within. A good example of that is the Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni was well-educated, well-informed, but developed his own understanding by investigating within himself—not through studying books, not by acquiring degrees, or going out and trying to fulfill some social responsibility like being king. Instead he looked in his own mind. And looked into the root of his own mind to find the values of his own Being, of his own inner, individual intelligence. That is what illuminates his teaching.
When you study the teachings of the Buddha, you see a profound, penetrating intelligence which is deeply psychological and extraordinarily wise. It did not come from memorization, and we cannot imitate Buddha by memorizing what Buddha taught. In the same way, we cannot imitate Jesus or become like Jesus by memorizing what Jesus taught. We become like Jesus or Moses or Buddha by going within, as they did.
Moses also found his own inner intelligence, the fire of the burning bush, that fire that he saw in meditation, which is the fire of Binah, the intelligence of God, which gave him the understanding and wisdom to act. This is something inside, not outside.
Therefore, when we look at all these people that we call intelligent, having real intelligence, we see that they are very ethical, very disciplined people—Shakespeare, Beethoven, Mozart, Gandhi, Wagner, Michelangelo, Botticelli, da Vinci—all of these great creators whose intelligence sparkles with life. All of them were highly disciplined, highly ethical, and highly moral, and guided by their intuitive impulse to do good, to inspire others, to help others. You see nothing of selfishness in these works—what you see is a genuine and sincere offering to humanity.
In other words, all of these people learned how to use their three brains with discipline—controlling their three brains, and opening their inner mind to receive the guidance of the burning bush, the Holy Spirit, through intuition, through conscious development. In order to acquire that we need a simple mind. As Jesus says in the Gospels, we need to have the mind of a child.
What does the mind of a child have that we lose as adults? A mind of a child is open to all possibilities. The mind of a child is willing to entertain anything, any idea, any thought, any concept, as being possible. The mind of a child has the capacity of astonishment, of wonder, of being amazed and impressed with the beauties of nature. We lose that as adults; we lose the capacity for astonishment, and we close the mind, and make it very closed and dense and tight—and only say what we are supposed to say and only do what we are supposed to do, according to the programming that we have received. A child does not do that. A child has an open mind, a beginner’s mind.
The truly highly creative people that we talked about kept their minds open: kept their intellects open, kept their hearts open, kept their motor-instinctive-sexual brains open and functioning normally. They learned how to open their inner minds to receive inspiration, from moment to moment. In simple terms, they did not consider themselves experts at anything, and were always ready to receive something new.
We have all experienced this at some point: when facing a certain problem, something we needed to solve, when we are really thinking and concentrating and trying to figure it out, we only get confused, because usually we are relying on the intellect too much, which is only comparing A and B (the many options that we face), and ultimately cannot resolve the problem. Or we rely on the emotional center which only can compare “like and dislike” or “pleasure and displeasure,” and so we become confused by our feelings. Or we compare through the instinctual brain, which is only “fight or flight,” impulse, yes or no, run or stay, and this also cannot cannot resolve the problem. So we are generally like this: confused about the right way to act, because our three brains are easily confused. But then we go take a shower, and stop thinking about all these options, and without us asking for it, the answer appears—when we are not thinking about it. Just, all of a sudden, the answer is so obvious, because the mind was open—not thinking, not obsessing—instead, the mind is open, simple.
The capacity to receive inspiration is something that we develop through discipline. Many of us would like to imitate or emulate these very creative figures, so artists and musicians all study their predecessors, to try to understand the secret. Many end up merely imitating their idols, which is what we see now. Imitation is easy, and is the way most people follow through life. Yet, the secret of all the great, creative, and impactful persons in our history is that they did not imitate—none of them. Who did Wagner imitate? Who did Beethoven imitate? Botticelli? da Vinci? They were each their own person, guided by their own intelligence. They learned from others, but they did not imitate.
In other words, they learned to put their three brains under the service of inspiration, which comes from the Spirit. They learned how to put their mind under the service of their own Third Logos: their own intelligence. That force is energy, but conscious energy, that manifests itself in matter.
Cathexis
Sigmund Freud began to see something of this. Sigmund Freud, in his investigations of the psyche, saw quite clearly in his studies that a man or a woman becomes what they are because of the way they use energy and the mind. That energy, the primary energy, the root energy, is sexual. Freud called this “cathexis.”
Cathexis simply means the psychic energy that is invested into any mental formation; it could be a person, it could be an idea, it could be a memory. That psychic energy comes from, in Freudian terms, the libido, which is sexual. This is why Freud stated that the base of the mind is sexual; the base of behavior is sexual. He was able to see that quite easily. His teachings are not complete, but they point towards the truth. Samael Aun Weor explained more about cathexis, and clarified what cathexis is.
When we understand that the sephirah Binah (intelligence) symbolizes the fire of the Holy Spirit, which is the creative force, we know that force is sexual energy. Creation occurs because of sex, in every level of existence. We create life sexually. Physically, it is obvious that in order to create any life, we cannot do it in a laboratory, we have to do it through sex. Even with artificial insemination and other procedures, the root of that creation is sexual energy, which the scientists are merely manipulating. Sex is really the only place that, at our level, we can create.
Emotionally and intellectually, we also create by using the sexual energy. The same energy that feeds our sexual forces is also disseminated and flowing through our three brains, through our three nervous systems. That is the power of this trinity—Kether, Chokmah, Binah—the three in one. Those three forces descend into us through our three nervous systems, through our three brains, and then we, by means of will, utilize that force.
And again, the question arises: What will? Whose will guides us? If the Holy Spirit provides us with this energy, who guides us in our use of it? Who guides us? Who guides the scientist to create bombs?—to create weapons? Who guides the politician to entrap people, to lie to them? Who guides the businessman to cheat his customers? Who guides a great artist to produce a work like the Sistine Chapel?
This is the question that Gnosis presents to us. This is what we have to discover in ourselves. What is guiding us from moment to moment? What intelligence? What is it that is giving us the impulse to act, to think, to feel? We have to know that for ourselves, consciously. We have to understand that within us we have this energy, cathexis: psychic energy that we can utilize in different ways.
Most of what we are is the result of this energy that has been used in the wrong way.
- The energy that is used in the wrong way, or a harmful way, is called “loose cathexis.”
- The energy that is used in the proper way, in the beneficial way, is called “bound cathexis.”
- The energy that is as yet undirected, or without direction, is called “free cathexis.” Free cathexis is the energy that is waiting to be guided, the energy that is arriving at this moment.
When we are under the influence of any given ego, any given desire—the desire for security, the desire for money, to be admired—these are all conflicting wills, conflicting desires. For example, if we have a spouse, we may have felt at one moment that we appreciate and love our spouse, and the next moment we become angry with them and hate them, while in the moment after that we become indifferent to them. These three states of will represent three different ways that the cathexis, the energy, was being used. These illustrate the “loose cathexis,” because they have no discipline coming from the Being—they are loose like an animal running wild. This is how our mind truly is—it is like an animal: instinctive, impulsive, irrational.
Anyone who has attempted to seriously learn how to meditate is immediately confronted with this fact: the mind is on the loose; the mind is out of control. Some traditions call it the “monkey mind.” It goes here, it goes there, up and down, backwards and forwards—from one thought to another thought, from one dream to another memory, to the future to the past, never staying in one place, never staying on task, never staying still. These states of consciousness, in their entirety, are called loose cathexis. They are the result of the energies of the psyche that are out of control—that is, they are not under the guidance of the Spirit.
Unfortunately, all the those energies create consequences. Every action creates a consequence. Every action, every energy, is producing some result. Therefore, this creative power that descends into us continually is being utilized by the will of each little ego we have within: egos that are proud, envious, jealous, fearful, indifferent, lazy, gluttonous, etc. The desire for money, the desire for power, the desire for recognition, the desire for admiration—all of these are different, conflicting desires, fears, cravings, aversions, laziness, hyperactivity—all are utilizing the free energy, but in the dispersed, chaotic way, transforming the free energy into loose cathexis. This is why we are in the state we are in now, in psychological darkness.
Fortunately, there is a way to change that: through self-discipline, and through the awakening of the consciousness. When we become cognizant of our three brains, watching ourselves from moment to moment, harnessing those forces that are moving through our intellect, through our emotions, and through our motor-instinctive-sexual impulses, we consciously begin to direct those energies by will—our will, not the will of any desire within us, not the wishes or will of another person, not the will of society—ours: the will of our own Innermost. When we do that, truthfully, honestly, with humility, serving our own inner intelligence, our own Being, this energy becomes bound cathexis.
Bound cathexis is the psychic energy harnessed by God, harnessed by our own Being. But let us make a clear differentiation here: bound cathexis is free of “I”; there is no “self” in bound cathexis. There is individuality, but it is not selfish. Bound cathexis is the psychic energy that drives the intellect, the emotion, and the motor-instinctive-sexual brain under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that Divine Supernal Intelligence (Binah) that understands Divine Wisdom (Chokmah, Christ), and thus receives guidance from Christ, which is love, which is compassion.
Therefore, bound cathexis, the psychic energy harnessed by the forces of the Being, uses the energies towards acts that are beneficial for everyone. This is where we can derive the inspiration to act in a way that is good—to act, to behave, to think, to feel in a way that takes full advantage of the matter and energy in any given situation. This is only possible when we are conscious, awake, aware, paying attention in the moment. The bound cathexis is where we find the values of the Being.
So then the intention of Gnosis, clearly, is to encourage us to question the will that is inspiring us from moment to moment—we need to question ourselves, to question our actions, to question our thoughts, to questions our feelings—to develop a sense of inner separation between the consciousness, here, and the matter and energy that it is surrounded by. This is an important distinction.
Remember the three aspects of compounded things? Matter, energy and consciousness. These three are within us, but we do not know how to work with them in harmony. If we did, the Earth would be a paradise.
The consciousness is able to act within the matter of the body through the energies of the pineal gland. The matter of the body is enflamed with energy. If the consciousness fails to recognize itself as distinct from the matter and energy of the body, then it sleeps, which means it has no control over that organism. This allows another intelligence to step in and take control; that intelligence is the legion of the ego, which works through our three brains as:
- the demon of the mind
- the demon of evil-will
- the demon of desire
When our consciousness is asleep, we do not even see those demons; we think they are us. In other words, we think that the desires we feel are the desires of our true self. We think that the thoughts we think are the thoughts of our true self. Worse, we think that the sensations and desires for sensation that we feel are the sensations of our true self. It is distressing to say it, but we have no idea about who we truly are, and what is truly within our minds.
By becoming cognizant from moment to moment, by awakening the consciousness, by fueling our consciousness with the pure fires of the Holy Spirit, though transmutation, we begin to see the reality of our situation and, in that way, we can change it.
Once we begin to recognize our true situation, and begin to question the wills that drive us, we can begin to analyze the loose cathexis. Trapped within that energy is the psychic energy that we need. Trapped within our anger is a tremendous amount of consciousness that we need to free in order to put it into the service of God, to put it into the service of Christ. This is the purpose of the psychological work—to analyze the loose cathexis, to destroy it, to make the unconscious conscious, and in that way, awaken.
When that process is well advanced, the person who is accomplishing it has gathered unto themselves more conscious values, more psychic energy, more intelligence, more understanding. That person is different. Moses is different—Krishna, Jesus, Buddha, St. Francis, Milarepa—all of them are very different from us. They are awake. Intelligent. With a lot of energy. Where did they get the energy? From themselves. From their own mind. By freeing their mind of its cage. We cannot do that by imitating anyone. We cannot do it by mimicking them ,or acting like them, or memorizing what they said.
We only awaken our own consciousness, our own intelligence, by discovering who we really are—the inner Being, God, the Buddha, the Divine Within—and fully becoming that, bringing the values of our own Being into manifestation.
We have to learn to act with intelligence. We need to use our time well.
Let us not confuse learning, memorization, degrees, with intelligence.
Real intelligence is defined in action by how we behave, by the consequences of our action, by the results. It is not necessary to be erudite to be intelligent. What is necessary is to be awake—to free the mind of its cage, the cage we ourselves built.
Q: The different spheres below Binah, there are also forms of intelligence there? Do they also create?
A: All the spheres of the Tree of Life represent differing levels of density, depending on what way you are looking at it. Different levels of density of matter and energy. So of course, the lowest of the ten is the physical world, which is very dense, and that is this three dimensional matter that we inhabit now. Each sphere above that is less dense, but it is nonetheless, a vehicle. You could put it in terms of a lens that receives light, and changes it, in some way.
The physical body receives light from the vital body, and the light that the physical body receives is transmitted in its level, according to a certain purpose. So for example, trees receive energy and transform that energy in order to sustain the atmosphere, to sustain the soil, to sustain the plant, according to their function. Our physical body has the same function. There is a level of intelligence there that is managing those transformations. The same is true on every other level. There are levels of intelligence. Just like we see in the physical world, from simple atoms, to minerals, to plants, to animals, to human beings, and beyond—to planets and suns—many levels of intelligence; each one has its purpose and its place.
When we describe Binah, this is the Cosmic Intelligence, which is the accumulation of all of those other forms of intelligence: the sun, the root, all life, in its complete entirety, is the intelligence of Binah. So you see that? It is one thing, but differentiated into many. It is both one and multiple; that is what we call God. God is both one and multiple. Just like the ocean—the ocean is vast, deep, and beautiful—it is one—but is has waves, it has particles, it has molecules, it has many components, it has many moods, many facets, but it is the same ocean. Binah is exactly like that, but deeper.
Q: Are ants and bees moving along the degenerating path?
A: Both ants and bees are products of past psychological phenomenon and represent the degeneration of those psychological stages. So yes, they are both degenerating currents in life. They are devolving.
Q: Were people like Botticelli, Shakespeare, and Einstein, initiates?
A: Some of them were. Certainly Beethoven, da Vinci, Mozart, and Wagner were initiates. Some of the other ones—I do not know. The case can happen that, the physical body, the terrestrial person, may just be a regular person like anyone, and have no conscious knowledge of Gnosis or the nature of their Being, but may have a mind that is able to receive the guidance of the Being, and to act in a way that is beneficial. So we may see, for example, certain figures in history who accomplished a great task, such as founding a civilization, or guiding a great people from one place to another, or performing something useful or beneficial for humanity. It does not mean that the person was an initiate. It may just be that the Being was guiding them, so we cannot make assumptions; we have to investigate.
Q: What are some things we can do for our school age children who…
A: That is an excellent, wonderful question: How do we teach kids? The role of the parent cannot be overemphasized in guiding children. It is unfortunate in these times that there is the tendency for parents to put the education of their children into the hands of other people. Parents want to drop off the kids at daycare, to drop off the kids at school, at the babysitter, at the grandparents, etc. and in general avoid taking an active role in guiding their children. This is very unfortunate.
Samael Aun Weor wrote a book specifically about education, called Fundamental Education, and the essential point of the book is this: it is necessary for us to teach our children how to think, not what to think. We should not enforce upon them the necessity to simply imitate others, but instead we should teach them to think for themselves. In order to do that, they have to understand how to use the consciousness, to awaken their own consciousness, to question themselves and others, not in a confrontational way, but in a sincere way—to truly look into everything to find out what is the best way to think, the best way to act, the best way to be. So I would recommend studying that book.
Q: I think a lot of people have a hard time differentiating between intuition versus instincts…people have a very vague idea of what intuition is…it is this thing…
A: That is true. Intuition is very hard to explain to someone who has not experienced it.
The language of intuition is something very different from the language of our trapped mind, from the language of the ego. The way that the Being speaks to us, the way that we receive guidance from the consciousness, is multi-faceted. The Being is God, so He has the ability to give us guidance and instruction through many ways. The best way to receive the guidance and instruction of the Being is by learning how to meditate.
When we learn to meditate, really meditate—not simply sit in concentration, or repeating mantras, or visualizing, but putting the mind in the state of active, conscious receptivity—this equates to putting our own matter and energy in a state of quietude, while the state of the consciousness is very active. This is something that you can only learn by taste, by the experience of it.
Intuition is something very direct, very real, very personal. To arrive at the understanding of it, the experience of it, requires most importantly, that the mind is under control. So, that is our first step. None of us should make the assumption that we know what intuition is, or we know how to understand it—because our own mind is so tricky, so sneaky, that it can easily look like, feel like, taste like intuition—and this is the great danger.
It requires enormous discipline, restraint, and prudence, to really receive and act upon the guidance of intuition. There are stages in the process. If your mind is out of control, first control it. This is a long process. This can take years. To really, really learn how to discipline the mind and put it in its place; this will not come overnight. Do not expect that you will start getting intuitive guidance next week. You might. But to learn how to see that for what it is and differentiate that from the impulses of the mind takes a lot of experience. There is a lot of information in the Gnostic teachings about intuition, how to understand it, how to interpret it, how to grasp it—but they all come back to meditation; they all do. Meditation is the sole means to develop, understand, and use intuition well. Otherwise, it is easy for us to be misled by our own mind.
Q: In order to grasp intelligent concepts of other intelligent people… [inaudible]
A: This is also true. In order to understand the teachings, to understand the intelligence of Gnosis, or the intelligence of any scripture, we have to be acquiring our own intelligence. In order to grasp and understand the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita, or the Bible, that intuitive understanding comes from our own development, inside—not merely from the study of that scripture—but from our own consciousness becoming free and awake, from our own intelligence being present. And actually, this is one of the ways that the Being can guide us—very beautifully—is through exactly that. By awakening our own intelligence, freeing it of desire, freeing it of the cage, that intelligence can recognize the intelligence that exists outside of it—in other teachers, teachings, scriptures, even in nature. Nature is a great guide if we learn to see it for what it is. But to do that, we have to first comprehend our own nature, inside.
Q: It seems like, most of us think that the intelligence we have now, is enough for us, after we go into the next life, to talk to angels, to talk to gods, you know… like real life starts after we get there…
A: That is an excellent point. It is true that people tend to have this idea that the intelligence we have now is enough, but let me tell you something: the intelligence you have now, is enough to get you exactly where you are now, and no further, that is it. If you want to go beyond the situation you are in, you need more intelligence, but good intelligence, free intelligence, conscious intelligence. Otherwise, things will not change for the better. To ascend to a higher state of Being, you have to acquire things you think you have but do not, and abandon things you think you do not have, but have in abundance.
