Gnosticism, Theosophism and Spiritism - Comunidade Jessênia

JESSENIAN COMMUNITY
SIXTH CYCLE OF MEDICAL LECTURES
Gnosticism, Theosophism and Spiritism
(PUBLIC LECTURE)
Date: June 2, 2012
Time: 5 p.m. (GMT -03:00 Brasilia)
Location: City of Guarulhos, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
SERHS Executive Guarulhos Hotel
Rua Dr. Ramos de Azevedo, 100 ‐ Centro
Phone: (+55‐11) 2197‐7700
Fax: (+55‐11) 2197‐7701
Gnosticism, Theosophism and Spiritism
Since the middle of the 19 th
century A.D., it has been performed
magnificent works aimed at gathering, in a great and peaceful appreciation, the
spiritual efforts throughout the ages of all peoples, with different cultures and
behavior, focusing on each one’s historical, anthropological and doctrinal essence.
It is such a glorious deed that it will provide untold benefit to mankind in the Age
of Aquarius.
Two academic subjects (History of Religion and Science of Religion) were
born as a result of those efforts and they have aided to place a groundswell of new
concepts and religious ideas very worthwhile in the Western, moving therefore
this side of the planet, socially and historical restricted in Christianity, from its
unitary, Christian religious axis, and opening it towards the boundaries of Eastern
religions, such as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. However, in a
complementary direction, Western man needs to delve into the sublime and
fundamental Christianity’s soul, by accepting and acknowledging its ancient virtue
of universal, Pansophical religion. On this direction, Jessenian Community
teaching moves.
Both Orthodox and Gnostic Christianity owe very much to Egyptian Jew
Philo of Alexandria, through whom philosophic currents of Plato, Pythagoras, and
many other Greek sages have been paralleled with those doctrines of Moses and
of Old Testament prophets. Additionally, one can be called universalist only if
1

estowed with broad view, reaching inclusively several other vision angles, of
which Orthodoxy has lost sight, although, in the first centuries of its existence, it
had accompanied Gnosticism and assimilated many doctrinal elements of ancient
religions from Mediterranean basin. Furthermore, among its doctrinaire bases, it
is located, for instance, Neoplatonism, which is pervaded with Greek, Eastern and
even Jewish philosophic contributions.
The lecture Gnosticism, Theosophism and Spiritism is to present a
response from Gnosticism to Theosophical and Spiritistic Pansophism, intending
neither exactly to repudiate something, nor to practice an apology equivalent to
that from the Orthodox, which considers heretic and nefarious everything strange
to understanding and objectivity. Conversely, such response consists in
demonstrating that Gnosticism is founded on a very wide Pansophic proposition,
which penetrates in the essence of ancient religions, without losing sight of basic
esoteric Christian teachings.
Theosophism, a result of Mme. Blavatsky’s efforts, should not be seen in a
superficial manner, when one is studying its emergence in the last decades of the
19 th century A.D. Moreover, it should be noted that from Theosophism the
magnificent work of George Mead was risen, including in it a translation and
examination of the Gnostic Gospel of Pistis Sophia.
Spiritism, an area where Blavatsky has visited, undoubtedly has made a
significant impact on her course, and it has brought to the Western, crystallized by
Christian Orthodoxy, the teachings on karma and reincarnation, familiar to
Buddhism, Hinduism, as well as to Judaism, particularly the Cabalistic one.
However, Kardecist-type Spiritism, originated in France, has a part of its
history not quite known in Brazil by most of esotericists: besides Allan Kardec,
that doctrinal current has also developed in virtue of the work of Jean-Baptiste
Roustaing from Bordeaux, in the South of France.
The author of a work named The Four Gospels, a result of mediumistic
intermediation, Jean-Baptiste Roustaing has made room for Gnostic influence in
Spiritism, which is not noticed in literary and doctrinal side belonging to Kardec,
and not rarely it contradicts the latter.
The formally Roustainguism, as that Spiritistic current has come to be
known, is clearly prone to Gnostic Docetism and has many points in common
with Catharist Gnostic doctrine.
To a Mystery School with Neo-Catharist Gnostic tendency, such as
Jessenian Community, Roustainguism meeting with Catharism and Gnostic
Docetism should not be overlooked; instead, it should be noticed and
investigated. Therefore, one can see Roustaing going along with Gnostic content
has eventually brought on the contribution of the remarkable thinker Pietro
Ubaldi, so that Spiritistic and Theosophist Monism can be paralleled with
Jessenism, this one evidently grounded on Catharist-Gnostic dualism.
2

In many esoteric and Spiritistic gatherings, it is quite often raised the
“accusation” that Jessenic Gnostics present themselves as pessimistic as those
ancient Gnostics and that they conceive earthly world and the cosmos
surrounding us as a place where death, sorrow and life desolation rule, given we
are subjected here to the law of Samsara Wheel, enunciated by Buddha as
following: being born is suffering; growing and maturing are suffering; aging and
sickening are suffering; and dying fatally connected to the need of being born
again in the very same Samsara nature is suffering too.
Theosophism and Spiritism speak of involution and evolution in a positive
and optimistic manner, even though authors such as George Mead and Roustaing
are found in their literary source, those authors inclined to Gnosticism and
Catharism, both of the latter ones being with dualistic character, and thus with the
vision that Samsara is but suffering, and true life of peace and sorrowless resides
in another wheel named Dharma-Nirvana.
The non-dualistic vision of the Wheels of Nirvana and of Samsara,
common in Mahayana Buddhism, has reached the Western by means of
Theosophical Society, inserted in the vision of Hindu doctrines. Nevertheless,
Jessenes observe Buddhism in a more esoteric and dualistic way, through
Theravada and Jainist vision, for, from that angle, one finds the Manichaean
current of Gnosis, the basis of all the reformation promoted by Cathars in the 12 th
century A.D., in the south of France, including in Roustaing’s city (Bordeaux).
Bordeaux is located in Aquitania, an area which, in the 4 th
century A.D.,
experienced a momentous esoteric period of religious-Gnostic appreciation,
promoted by a certain Egyptian missionary called Marcus, and then by Priscillian
of Galicia. On the Priscillian Gnostic substratum, the Gnostic currents of Templar
Knights and of Catharism have emerged, pervading the Road to Santiago of
Compostela.
Accordingly, the South region of France, as well as Spain and Portugal
compose a magnificent area, responsible for discovering and civilizing the
Americas 1 . That area, in its turn, has had its civilizing process performed firstly by
the Celts with their priests (the druids); by Rome, with its army initiated in
Mithraic Mysteries, which have come from Zoroastrian religion with dualistic
disposition; and by Marcus, by Priscillian, by Templar Knights and by Cathars.
Some Kardecist spiritists, as inflexible enemies of Roustainguism, get
surprised with the fact that Brazil is the only country to accept the ideas from that
current. However, we should keep in mind we are a direct fruit of that civilizing
hand, whose limbs are Bordeaux, Santiago of Compostela and Tomar, this being
one of the most important Templar cities in Portugal.
1 The author is aware of British colonization in North America.
3

In Western world scenario, there are today two major active Gnostic
currents: Jessenian Community and Golden Rosycross 2 . By considering the
recent symposia and great conferences of Golden Rosycross, it is noticed that the
latter has started to approach Blavatsky’s Theosophism. It is also been relatively
successfully circulating in the bosom of that School a book concerning the
“Invisible Servers of Mankind”, with a language characteristic from esoteric
currents of ascended masters. It indicates that such approaching is in a rapidly
developing, towards the point where Theosophism and Spiritism, emanated from
the allegedly ascended masters, meet each other, originating the ideas of Ramatis
(those ideas promoting the Universalist spiritualism), of Trigueirinho, of Arcane
School (Alice Bailey), of the movement called Saint Germain and Violet Flame,
as well as of other similar ones.
Jessenian Gnosticism also moves universalistically, but with a moderate
dualistic character, although it hosts absolute dualists in its ranks. Jessenian
Community moderate dualism does not stop referring to involution and
evolution, however based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, Andrew Welburn, and
the teachings of Max Heindel, for, in that direction, it meets with Rosicrucianism
(Max Heindel) and Gnosticism (Andrew Welburn), as well as with Zoroastrianism
(Rudolf Steiner).
Monism is completely respected and investigated in Jessenian Community.
The Eastern side of our School appeared in 1950, in Israel, in the monistic
bosom of Jewish Cabalah, with some cabalists devoted to study the dualism of the
Essenes from Qumran and those from Egypt (the Therapists), the latter being
very friendly with the dualistic Platonist physician Philo Judaeus of Alexandria.
Thus, Jessenian Gnosticism also ennobles its Pansophia and offers it to
everyone dedicated to research the Truth
Dear spiritualist researcher. We believe that our cycle of lectures named
Gnosticism, Theosophism and Spiritism will provide you the opportunity to add
clarifying knowledge into the extant gap in Aquarian Pansophia, which is, up to
the present time, established only on Theosophism and Spiritism. We are very
glad to be presenting to this New Era the Pansophic vision of Gnosticism.
We are affectionately expecting your presence.
xxxx
2 Aka Lectorium Rosicrucianum.
4