Inner Christianity by Richard Smoley

This is not the Christianity that most people know (called exo, exterior or visible, Christianity).  This goes deep and has been, as the text states, like an underground river that has surfaced at times throughout history.  It is the Christian Underground, the Christianity more true to Christ's message than what the visible church preaches today. 

You don't have to profess Christianity to read this book.  It's eye-opening and you'll find some spiritual gems, even some you thought were new age, but actually are part of esoteric (inner) Christianity.  There are also some confusing biblical passages that get explained (and make sense).

This book is not an attempt to sell Christianity, nor is it meant to bring straying believers back into the fold.  It is meant to suggest that the universal truths of esoteric knowledge are expressed just as much in Christianity as in other traditions (Kabbalah in Judaism, Sufi in Islam, etc.)  It is known that the inner traditions of religions have more in common with each other than the exterior forms of those religions.

Again, I encourage you to read the book yourself as you will get more out of it.  I will be discussing what caught my eye, but your journey will surely have differences.

The book starts with a quote from Francis of Assisi:  What you are looking for is what is looking.  Well, that's simple enough, isn't it?  It's saying that the answer to what we are seeking lies within. 

In the Introduction, the author discusses how everything is being challenged and that even Christianity has not been spared, citing that historical and critical methods have revealed that the life of Christ was not historical fact but myths and legends that attached themselves to him after his time.  There have been varying reactions to this, such as rejection and denial, taking refuge in fundamentalism, being confused or just plain giving up. 

What's clear is that we can't just take anything on blind faith.  We no longer live in a world ruled by the comforting certainties of church doctrine and the literal truth of the Bible.  But this has served to invigorate people's quest for the truth.  This impulse fed the New Age movement, alternative spiritualities, and eastern religious traditions.  Many of these stress enlightenment as the goal.  They say our ordinary state of consciousness is not the highest one of which we are capable, but a low-grade delusory state.  Spiritual disciplines such as meditation can free us from this oblivion and restore us to our full birthright as human beings. 

Some of the recent discoveries, like the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library, suggest that that early Christians not only reached insights similar to those of the Eastern religions but also had a sophisticated understanding of human consciousness in their own right.  Many were concerned with what they called gnosis, a word that means "knowledge" in Greek.  This is knowledge of a very specific kind -- direct, intuitive knowing that surpasses ordinary reason and confers spiritual liberation.  Gnosis strongly resembles enlightenment as portrayed by Hinduism and Buddhism. 

Knowledge that liberates consciousness is often described as esoteric, which means "further in."  You have to go further in yourself to understand what this knowledge is about.  The author uses "inner Christianity" and "esoteric Christianity" interchangeably. 

Esotericism teaches that this world within us is as rich and diverse as the outer world and consists of many different levels of being.  (I think QHHT has given us a solid grounding in that!)  Although these levels stand between us and God, they do so not as obstacles but as way stations.  Christ said, "In my Father's house are many mansions.  The Greek word here translated as "mansions" literally means way stations.

There's a difference between esoteric and mystical.  The first is characterized by an interest in these different levels of consciousness and being.  The second is not quite so concerned with these intermediate states; it focuses on reaching God in the most direct and immediate way.  Moreover, mysticism tends more toward passivity:  a quiet "waiting upon God" rather than active investigation.

These brief points suggest what esoteric Christianity offers to the individual:  a way of self-knowledge -- a way, perhaps, to the ultimate knowledge of Self. 

Esotericism differs from conventional views in holding that the Bible has always been meant to be read on several different levels, of which the literal is only one and in fact the lowest.  The third-century Church Father, Origen, wrote [about Adam and Eve] that "... though the incidents never occurred, [they] figuratively reveal certain mysteries. 

As we will see, these "certain mysteries" have to do with the furthest reaches of human consciousness and potential.  Viewed from this perspective, the story of the Fall is not an antiquated folktale but a vivid and accurate account of the human predicament, and the story of Christ is not only an account of a historical man but also a figurative representation of the path that each of us must follow to attain liberation.  [The Fall, as we shall see later, has to do with leaving paradise (a higher dimension) and coming into third dimension.]

So, this is basically what the book is about.  The above was mostly direct quotes, as will the excerpts I post.  [My comments will be in brackets.]  Remember, these are excerpts.  There is much, much more that is available and I highly recommend you get the book and read it in full.

Each chapter (in parts, like 1A, 1B, 1C) will be posted below.  I will also archive them here:  https://earthchanges.ning.com/group/little-red-schoolhouse-of-metaphysics/page/smoley-inner-christianity-introduction.

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  • Right, Byron.  The subconscious (not superconscious) mind is pure literalness. 

    Here's some definitions of literal:

    in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.
    tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.


    Thus, you have to say exactly what you mean, and say it in a positive way.  Even though "paying off debt" is a positive thing to our minds, the subconscious mind hears "debt" and that's what you get.  At least, that's my understanding.
    Byron wilkins said:

    I have been practicing different ways of talking to my super conscious and it seems that something I posted on the DC blog about the universe always says yes so how you ask is very important. I now assume that what I am talking about is happening instead of there being a waiting period.  If you say I don't want to be poor anymore, Universe says yes that's true and you get no help.  
     
    Cheryl Nelson said:

    Right, Peter.  I think we may have covered that from a qhht session or other article recently, but that is a very important point, and the root reason why people SEEM to never get what they want.  Because they/we are getting what is asked for. 

    Kim, I'd not say debt or bills.  I'd say wealth or resources, then take care of the negatives when you have the wealth or resources to handle it.  Put your focus on positive words, not negative words.  Focus on positive topics, not negative topics. 

    Peter S said:

    Cheryl, I agree with the summation that "the subconscious is literal and doesn't read negatives (not)".

    This has been my understanding of the law of attraction - in terms of talking (or thinking for that matter) we attract what ever subject we are focusing on - it doesn't matter whether our inflection is negative or positive.

    For example saying (thinking) I want less debt or no more debt - is just attracting debt, etc.

    This is an extremely important point and one we should all have at the front of our thinking - always refer to anything in the positive.

    Easy to say ... a little harder to do consistently, however, if kept forefront in your mind when negativity or a negative inflection creeps in to words or thoughts - just make the necessary adjustment and it will change your world!

  • Or be more specific and put out the intention for more money or work/job, or whatever would solve the problem.  Think in terms of solutions, not problems.

    Kim B said:

    So just think "need more resources"????

  • I have been practicing different ways of talking to my super conscious and it seems that something I posted on the DC blog about the universe always says yes so how you ask is very important. I now assume that what I am talking about is happening instead of there being a waiting period.  If you say I don't want to be poor anymore, Universe says yes that's true and you get no help.  
     
    Cheryl Nelson said:

    Right, Peter.  I think we may have covered that from a qhht session or other article recently, but that is a very important point, and the root reason why people SEEM to never get what they want.  Because they/we are getting what is asked for. 

    Kim, I'd not say debt or bills.  I'd say wealth or resources, then take care of the negatives when you have the wealth or resources to handle it.  Put your focus on positive words, not negative words.  Focus on positive topics, not negative topics. 

    Peter S said:

    Cheryl, I agree with the summation that "the subconscious is literal and doesn't read negatives (not)".

    This has been my understanding of the law of attraction - in terms of talking (or thinking for that matter) we attract what ever subject we are focusing on - it doesn't matter whether our inflection is negative or positive.

    For example saying (thinking) I want less debt or no more debt - is just attracting debt, etc.

    This is an extremely important point and one we should all have at the front of our thinking - always refer to anything in the positive.

    Easy to say ... a little harder to do consistently, however, if kept forefront in your mind when negativity or a negative inflection creeps in to words or thoughts - just make the necessary adjustment and it will change your world!

  • So just think "need more resources"????

  • Right, Peter.  I think we may have covered that from a qhht session or other article recently, but that is a very important point, and the root reason why people SEEM to never get what they want.  Because they/we are getting what is asked for. 

    Kim, I'd not say debt or bills.  I'd say wealth or resources, then take care of the negatives when you have the wealth or resources to handle it.  Put your focus on positive words, not negative words.  Focus on positive topics, not negative topics. 

    Peter S said:

    Cheryl, I agree with the summation that "the subconscious is literal and doesn't read negatives (not)".

    This has been my understanding of the law of attraction - in terms of talking (or thinking for that matter) we attract what ever subject we are focusing on - it doesn't matter whether our inflection is negative or positive.

    For example saying (thinking) I want less debt or no more debt - is just attracting debt, etc.

    This is an extremely important point and one we should all have at the front of our thinking - always refer to anything in the positive.

    Easy to say ... a little harder to do consistently, however, if kept forefront in your mind when negativity or a negative inflection creeps in to words or thoughts - just make the necessary adjustment and it will change your world!

  • How would you re-word less debt?  By thinking I want to pay all bills off?

  • Cheryl, I agree with the summation that "the subconscious is literal and doesn't read negatives (not)".

    This has been my understanding of the law of attraction - in terms of talking (or thinking for that matter) we attract what ever subject we are focusing on - it doesn't matter whether our inflection is negative or positive.

    For example saying (thinking) I want less debt or no more debt - is just attracting debt, etc.

    This is an extremely important point and one we should all have at the front of our thinking - always refer to anything in the positive.

    Easy to say ... a little harder to do consistently, however, if kept forefront in your mind when negativity or a negative inflection creeps in to words or thoughts - just make the necessary adjustment and it will change your world!

  • CHAPTER 1 (C) Monasticism, Hermeticism (Hermes Trismegestus), Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, Modern Figures in Esotericism; The New Age

    Another strand of the Gnostic tradition left its mark on mainstream Christianity:  the need for the liberation of the spirit from its bondage to the world.  This liberation was sought by a group of men and women who retreated from the world into the deserts of Egypt starting in the third century.  They came to be known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and became the first monks and nuns in Christianity.  One thing that seems to be absent from the monastic writings is any kind of preoccupation with society at large.  So, where was their Christian concern when the Western Roman Empire was crumbling around them?  Social concern seemed low on their list of priorities, but a broader perspective suggests that the monasteries performed an extremely vital function.  They served as respositories of learning and civilization in an age when these seemed almost certain to perish.  They also cleared land for agriculture  and provided sound management of the land, creating the economic basis for European civilization.  "In a sense they determined the whole future history of Europe," writes Paul Johnson; "they were the foundation of its world primacy."

    This raises a major issue in esoteric work:  the relation between the individual's quest for God and the needs of a society as a whole.  Monasticism's key role in forging the modern West suggests that there is no conflict between inner development and contributing to the larger good of humanity; in fact, an individual can develop fully only if he or she takes part in a larger work of this kind. 

    Skipping ahead, a movement sprang up closer to the centers of power and helped feed and inspire the Italian Renaissance, inaugurated by the rediscovery of the Corpus Hermeticum, a series of esoteric writings attributed to a legendary divine being called Hermes Trismegistus ("Thrice-Greatest Hermes").  [I have read it meant "thrice-born.]  Like many Greek texts, it was brought to Italy after Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453.

    The Corpus Hermeticum immediately drew a great deal of attention, for Renaissance scholars believed Hermes Trismegistus  had been a contemporary of Moses, and they thought these texts contained the occult wisdom of ancient Egypt.  Around 1492, the Corpus Hermeticum was translated into Latin, and for the next century and a half the translation (along with the translation of Plato) revived the tradition of Hermeticism, which permeated all aspects of Renaissance culture and which continues to exercise an influence down to the present.  

    The Hermeticists see the planets as influencing all areas of human and natural life.  We might look up at the stars at night and feel the conflicted impression that these bodies are both unimaginably remote and intimately bound up with our souls.  The esoteric worldview suggests that there is a deep truth behind this intuition. 

    A parallel movement involved the introduction of the Kabbalah, the esoteric tradition of Judaisum, into Christianity, in the fifteenth century.  The mixture of Kabbalah and Hermeticism in the early modern era was a rich and heady one.  It inspired the great mages of the Renaissance -- adepts in the arts and sciences  and also in the mysteries of magic and invocation.  Because of fear from the masses, it became dangerous to be too well known.  The quest for inner knowledge is rarely a popular one.  It is too far afield of common interests and arouses the suspicion of those who fear and hate anything beyond their own horizons.  Consequently, esotericists tend to work either in isolation or in small enclaves -- lodges or secret societies--that conceal themselves from the world's eyes except when their work requires them to step onto the public stage. 

    One of the most striking examples of a more public fac for esotericism can be found in a mysterious seventeenth-century movement known as Rosicrucianism.  Unlike medieval Christianity, which often stressed the wretchedness and baseness of humanity, the Rosicrucians (Rosy Cross) emphasized the "nobleness and worth" of the human race.  They helped set the stage for two of the main trends of the modern era:  human rights and experimental science.  An intricate web of evidence connects this movement with the rise of Freemasonry (known also as Masonry).  While Freemasonry was an old esoteric order that thrived in Scotland from late medieval times (possibly representing a continuation of the Templar legacy), in the seventeenth century it was brought to England, where it was associated with the rise of the scientific revolution. 

    Powerful esoteric thinkers in the twentieth century included Rene Guenon, a French metaphysician whose writings expound one major theme:  a hidden esoteric doctric that lies at the center of all the great world religions; the Austrian esotericist Rudolf Steiner, an heir to the Rosicrucian heritage; H.P.  Blavatsky, who founder of the esoteric school known as Theosophy; the psychologist Carl G. Jung had strong affinities with inner Christianity; G. I. Gurdjieff; Boris Mouravieff,

    G. I. Gurdjieff's philosophy has to do with "the sleep of man."  Although we lead our lives in waking consciousness, he says, in fact we go around in a hypnotic state.  The chief feature of this stupor is dissociation between the three principal parts of our being:  the mind, emotions, and body.  Only by long and assiduous work in unifying these "centers," as he calls them, can one truly fulfill the commandments of Christ.  Otherwise it is impossible:  a person is too much at the mercy of the conflicting centers pulling in opposite directions.  For Gurdjieff, attaining higher consciousness is a prerequisite for being able to carry out the teachings of Christ. 

    Gurdjieff, Jung, and Steiner are often seen as seminal figures of the New Age, a loosley definite movement that has left an indelible mark on the American spiritual landscape.  One of the most famous and influential New Agree communities is Findhorn, a collective based on the northern tip of Scotland, renowned for its phenomenal vegetables, allegedly produced by communicating with nature spirits.  Findhorn's founder, Peter Caddy, revealed that he had receivd much of his own guidance and inspiration from a Rosicrucian master whom he calls Dr. Sullivan. 

    While there have been other major influences on the New Age (the prime ones being Blavatsky's Theosophy and Hinduism and Buddhism), it is undoubtedly true that the movement often has a strong esoteric Christian flavor.  Even those with no allegiance to Christianity make frequent reference to the "Christ consciousness" or the "Christ within."  But New Age teachings differ from the Christianity taught in the churches.  Not only do they stress individual responsibility for one's beliefs, but they also tend to favor such doctrines as karma and reincarnation.  They also lay great emphasis on personal evolution--a term borrowed from Darwin but in this case referring to the growth of the individual (and collective) soul over many lifetimes. 

    Possibly the most powerful connection between the New Age and esoteric Christianity lies in an enigmatic work known as A Course in Miracles.  The Course, as its devotees call it, is one of the most curious phenomena of recent times.  It is a channeled work, which means that the woman who wrote it down, a New York pyschologist named Helen Schucman, did not claim to have originated it, but believed it was transmitted telepathically to her -- in this case, from an inner voice claiming to be that of Jesus Christ.  Some have remarked about the resemblance between the Course and certain Gnostic teachings, particularly the notion that the world we know is the product of a lower and deluded form of the mind.  In the Course's teaching, God creates ceaselessly as a means of extending his love.  His creations, including us as the collective Son of God, have the power to create in love as well but in our self-generated sense of fear and separation have instead made the world we see.  We must escape from this deluded frame of mind.  This sounds like the world hatred of the Gnostics.  But here the Course departs from Gnosticsm.  Like all teachings and scriptures, the Course must be taken on its own terms -- not by way of credentials but by how it speaks to one's own being.

    END CHAPTER 1

  • CHAPTER 1 (B) ARCHONs, EGO, DEMIURGE, EARLY CHURCH FATHERS (CLEMENT AND ORGIN)

    For the Gnostics, the bondage of the world consisted not of external political and social control, or even the limits of physicality, but the nature of the mind as it had been molded by the planets.  These influences were personified as the archons, the rules of the seven planetary spheres, who were not the servants of the true, good God but inimical celestial gatekeepers.  To be liberated was to vanquish their dominion, not in the outside world, but in oneself.  The Epistle to the Ephesians alludes to this idea:  "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  (Eph. 6:12)

    Although expressed in mythic terms, the Gnostic view was extremely sophisticated.  It recognized one of the most essential truths of spiritual life:  that the things in ourselves with which we most identify--the personality with its likes and dislikes, loves and hatreds--are not ourselves in the deepest sense but encrustations that fetter and impede the true essence of the self.  On spiritual illumination can free this self.  [Later, we will see that the personality is not the spirit, but a an element of the soul/psyche, which contains a large component called the ego, a mental construct that drives most people.]

    The Gnostics believed that the world was irremediably evil, created not by the true, good God but by a second-rate deity known as the Demiurge (from a Greek word meaning "craftsman").  Gnosis is a way of fleeing from this jerry-built universe.  Jesus was a messenger sent by the true God to help us escape. 

    While Clement battled Gnosticism (his letter mentioned the secret Gospel of Mark is chiefly devoted to combating a libertine Gnostic sect known as the Carpocratians), his chief work (the Stromateis, meaning "patchwork" or "micellanies") showed that orthodox Christian faith was perfectly consistent with true gnosis.  Clement goes so far as to characterize the true Gnostic as the summit of Christian virtue; gnosis, the knowledge of God, is an end worthy in itself.  He writes, "Could we, then, suppose any one proposing to the Gnostic whether he would choose the knowledge of God or salvation; and if these, which are entirely identical, were separable, he would without the least hesitate choose the knowledge of God."

    Origen was a pupil of Clement.  Origen is an embarrassing figure for those who claim that there has been a single consistent doctrine handed down from Christ and the Apostles.  Origen's teachings were considered orthodox in their own down, being condemned two hundred years later.  In his time, he was considered "the greatest teacher of the Church after the Apostles."  Yet he taught a number of ideas that differ from mainstream Christian doctrine as it has come down to us.  He argued for the preexistence of souls before an earthly life, for reincarnation, and for a final restoration of all things at the end of time.  The fact that he could expound these views within the church of his era suggests that they are compatible with the essence of Christ's message.  It also leads one to think that later pronouncements of orthodoxy may have closed off some ways of understanding that could be helpful today. 

    Origen spoke of different levels of existence, both visible and invisible:  the divine, the spiritual, the level of the soul or psyche, and the physical realm.  This cosmic scheme parallels the inner anatomy of human beings.  Each of us is a microcosm, a reproduction of the universe in miniature.  In the hidden teachings of Christianity there are three levels to the human makeup:  the spirit (in Greek pneuma or "breath"), the soul (psyche in Greek), and the physical body.  This tripartite structure is central to esoteric Christianity.  It existed before Origen and goes back to at least Paul (for instance, see 1 Cor. 15:44 for his reference to the "spiritual body" of resurrection.)  One thing about this schema that may seem peculiar is that it distinguishes between the spirit and the soul--a demarcation that has often been ignored by Christian thinkers.  

  • CHAPTER 1 HIGHLIGHTS:  THREADS OF A HIDDEN TEACHING (A) HISTORY OF GNOSTICISM

    This chapter gives a history of gnostic (inner) Christianity beginning with Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215).  Through these historical threads it is revealed that original Christianity may have been closer to an occult lodge or secret society than to a religion.  There are hints throughout the Gospels and the Apocrypha.  There was a secret Gospel written by Mark in Alexandria "for the use of those being perfected" and which would "lead the hearers into the innermost sanctuary of that truth hidden by the seven [veils]."  The Gospel of Thomas (Nag Hammadi Library) is extremely short and simple.  It consists of 114 logia of Jesus--sayings, usually aphorisms or parables--connected with the minutest amount of narrative.  The very simplicity of Thomas suggests that it may be extremely ancient; it may even be older, and closer to Christ himself, than the canonical Gospels.  In it, Jesus does not preach the end of the world;  he performs no miracles; he does not claim to rescue people from their sins or to be the Messiah long awaited by the Jews.  But it does, enigmatically, mention a secret knowledge that conferw spiritual liberation; as he says in the opening verse, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these saysins shall not experience death."  Thomas is considered a Gnostic text.  The conventional view is that Gnosticism was a heresy that grew up in the second century.  But if Thomas is as old as it seems, it suggests that Gnosticism in some form is not a deviation from Christ's teachings but may hark back to Christ himself.  

    It goes on to say that from the beginning of Christianity, there were divergences in faith communities:  some aligning with James in Jerusalem (who wanted to keep the Jewish law), Paul's churches who didn't want to observe Jewish law; the community that formed around John, and that of Thomas in Syria.  There were disputes among these churches.  The Johannine (John) and Thomas communities tended more towards Gnosticism.  For Gnostics, what was most important was not deliverance from sin; it was awaekning the "hidden wisdom" to which Paul alluded.  And the deliverance it promised was not from eternal damnation but from esoteric Christianity have always called the "world" -- the congeries of forces in life to which human consciousness is subject.

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