This is a transcription of a talk given at a weekend meeting 2008, the movie of the talk can be found in the movies section. 

Alright, so we’re all in this place, and we’ve come here for a reason: so that we can advance with our inner work. Now, we really need to use the time to get the best out of this, because it’s an opportunity, and like most opportunities, it’s something which happens in time. And in time, things are done, created, and destroyed. Everything moves within it. And this is one more event which has its moment, and which will pass. And like that our lives go by.

How we use our time is very important, because we can easily waste it. We can waste it on trivial things; things that don’t matter. We don’t notice that opportunities are being lost like this, because we just do things that are normal. We just go about our everyday business, our everyday life, and like this, events pass, time passes, which we could’ve used for something more productive. By more productive I mean internally, inwardly, because we can create things in our lives - someone’s created this wonderful building for example - but that’s something which we leave behind at some point. It’s something which decays, something which is gone eventually. But within us, we can create something which lasts forever, something which goes beyond this, goes beyond even this life.

If we don’t have that thing, which we can create, then what’s within us is caught by all the temporary things. It’s taken along; we are fascinated by the things which happen in our lives, by the different events. And like those events pass, so too does our time pass, and then, we become one more person who lived, another creature, pretty much, on the earth who went through the process of being born, growing, perhaps reproducing, getting old, and dying. That’s something that every living thing goes through. And if we don’t carry out this revolution within us, we will be just like another of those living things in nature, just like another organism in nature – something that passes; something that has no real future. Whereas we can create this revolution within us, and build things within us that are beyond time, that are beyond the body, and that are beyond what we can see with the five senses. We can’t see a soul with these eyes, we can’t see a spirit with these eyes, we can’t see Christ with these eyes, and yet, they’re the things which give us immortality. So, our aim, our goal needs to be set upon those things, which are higher in their source, which are not of time, which are not subject to time. If we can do that, then we have a chance of changing our fate – to stop being a creature of nature. And I use the word creature quite deliberately, because unless we fundamentally alter, we are creatures with intellects, nothing much more than that, things which will pass in time.

So, what we’re doing here is very important - it’s not just a meeting for fun, to meet people, have some walks in nature - it’s a meeting that hopefully can be part of an inner revolution, can be part of fundamental inner change, which is going to catapult us outside of nature, beyond it, to take us to the spirit, to create a destiny which is different from the destiny that ordinary humanity has. We can pray as much as we like, but if we never have the spiritual within us, we are not truly spiritual. It is possible to bring about this change, but it takes a lot to do it. It takes a lot of understanding, a lot of change, a lot of study. We have the potential to do it. Every human being has the potential to change radically; everyone possibly can do this. Each starts at their own place, but potentially we’ve all got the chance – that’s if we make use of it, if we take up that opportunity, without letting it just pass by.

Now we know that there are certain exercises in Gnosis. Some, if you’ve tried them, you would have found to have had varying degrees of success with, some might not work at all, but the three essential parts: the inner death, alchemy, and helping others spiritually, are the ones which really bring about change. If we can change inside, we change what we do in our lives. We change then the course of events which take place in our lives. If we don’t fundamentally change, we can alter circumstances here and there, but the causal mechanism is rolling, because we never really go out of that, and then we carry on in more or less the same way. The same kinds of things repeat, over and over again. But if we can see what’s happening inside of us, if we can see the different emotions, different thoughts, feelings, our reactions to events and to people, then, we have the potential to change. And the trick is seeing, not only seeing, but also, remembering to see. And that’s a big problem isn’t it. Here, with a talk we may be reminded to be aware, to watch our thoughts, our feelings, but what happens back home? What happens in ordinary, everyday life? How long will the stimulus of being in a retreat last? After a while, the normal thing is that everyday life just takes over, we get lost in it. And then, a year later, we may turn up to another retreat - essentially the same as we were a year before! Alright, we may have understood this a little bit, or that a little bit, but we haven’t then brought about that revolution – that big change.

The revolution goes on step-by-step, from one small increment to another, inwardly. But over time, by doing this, we see that we have achieved something, that there has been change, real change - if we are continuous in it and if we apply ourselves to it. So, then I would suggest that everyone has a look and sees what exactly they’re doing, what it is that you’re doing to bring about real change? What’s going on in your life, what’s happening? Are you discovering what you had hoped to discover? Are you satisfied with the amount that you have been able to observe yourselves? Have you managed to get on the path? Or, has life just carried on, the same old way, the same old things, the same old reactions, nothing fundamentally changing. Remember that we’ve got to bring about a revolution in ourselves, revolution. That’s a big change, a big turn-around.

What’s it going to take to do that? What is it going to take in your life to bring about a revolution, the kind of change which is needed to free ourselves from nature? What’s it going to take? What do you have to change from what you’re doing now? Can you look into that and try and answer it in yourself. Where have mistakes been made, where do they keep repeating, where do the same reactions come back? With what people, with what events, with what circumstances – is it in the time spent alone? What goes on, what fears what worries? What thoughts, anxiety, pleasures, pain, all of it?

If we can study it, then we can see where it’s coming from. And then we can get ourselves free of it, using the techniques in Gnosis, eradicating these egos, eradicating these negative emotions, emotions of all kinds, because beyond the emotions is consciousness, and that is the spiritual core, or root. It’s from there that everything is really built – it’s all built in consciousness. This is the part of us which has the potential for immortality; not the thoughts, no matter what we think of ourselves, whether we think we’re wonderful, or bad, or whatever, all of that is in time. That has no real future. The thoughts just pass, as do the emotions. We’re not going to go on forever with the same reactions. Only consciousness remains, and then it gets submerged.

So, the fundamental part of us that we need to look at in order to bring about this revolution within us is consciousness. And we find that in awareness - awareness of this three-dimensional world, awareness of what’s happening inside of us. This is where the root of our spiritual development lies. If within a day we are being aware, then, we can use that day wisely, we can gain inner knowledge in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. It’s this consciousness which we increase when we get rid of egos. When we get rid of egos, the consciousness which was in them comes back to the main consciousness, and it comes back with knowledge, so we have knowledge about that particular ego, or defect, or state. We have knowledge then, as we go along, about all the different defects that we have. As consciousness increases, the subconscious decreases, but we abstract the knowledge from that darkness of the subconscious, as we gain light, consciousness. We gain knowledge then not only about how we are, but also, how everybody else is, because essentially, we have the same psychology, we have the same make-up as everybody else. More-or-less, we all fall into the same psychological traps and pitfalls. We study them, then, we begin to get ourselves free of them. Then we understand ourselves better, we understand other people better, and then we’re able to help other people. If we have self-knowledge, then we’re in a much better position to give advice to someone. If we don’t have it, then we are just repeating words that other people have spoken. And you can see how empty that is can’t you - to have no experience, no knowledge, nothing inside to really give except repeated words.

So, in Gnosis then, we are trying to bring about this revolution, to bring about this change, and the revolution is in consciousness. This is the starting point, this is what we develop, this is what changes – it increases, and then, at a particular point along the way, the divine, the spirit, the soul, the Christ, merges with it. And from then, those things grow. Eventually they become dominant within us. The egos get less. Later on, the higher aspects of those: the Holy Spirit, the Son, the Father, they become integrated, part of us, they join with that consciousness. And from there, that’s when we go home. That’s where we go back to our original starting point, which we call the Absolute - it doesn’t really have a name. That’s our home, not here. Or those whose will is towards the spirit tend or wish to gravitate in that direction.

We’re in this life so that we get knowledge, and we go back to that point with all that knowledge that we were able to extract out of the darkness of the subconscious. And then, that light has that self-awareness. That light is aware of its own existence. And then, it shines permanently - a light that can never go out. A light that we are trying to, all trying to, I hope, realize within ourselves.

So that then is our goal. It’s the goal of all those who are serious in Gnosis. Although it may seem far off, it is nevertheless the goal. It’s the goal of every person who takes up the Gnostic work. It’s a reachable goal. It’s for people. Spirituality is for people. It’s not just for those who you might’ve read about in books, it’s for people. Everyone can do it, but it’s difficult to do.

Whether we wish to take the steps to do it, then, is our decision. That’s up to us. And that then is a matter for some reflection, some thought, and some understanding as to what it’s going to take to do it. And then, if we decide to do it, then it’s worth putting our whole effort into it, our whole attention, our whole life really into it, in order to make it succeed.