Transfiguration is a gnostic method of accomplishing the endura, which is the process of completely replacing the mortal, separative, earth-born human being with the original, immortal, divine being — the true Spirit-Human-Being intended by the divine plan of creation.

It could be that some people cannot help feeling a sense of disappointment at this statement, because in a little corner of their minds they still harbour the thought that, through transfiguration, they might somehow be able to preserve their own selves. This is because they put their own interpretation on the words of Jesus the Lord, which they think mean: He who is willing to lose his life through the endura shall keep it through transfiguration. However, since transfiguration and the endura go hand in hand, what will be kept according to Jesus’ words cannot possi­bly involve any aspect of the dialectical being.

Nevertheless, the endura does not mean simply being dead, as seen from the viewpoint of nature. The dialectical ego, as the personality-system’s centre of consciousness, may be dissolved and gone, while the candidate’s old physical vehicle is still alive. Disintegration of matter, the dissolution of the personality-system, can occur later, preferably much later. For it is very useful to be able to go on using the old personality in the service of the holy work, to fish people out of the sea of life in the nature of death.

No, the endura is the process of calling the soul to life, and entrusting it with the guidance and government of one’s entire state of being, neither wanting nor being able to do anything else than to accept this leadership uncon­ditionally.

In this way, the candidate becomes like Paul, for he enters the state in which he can say: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me’. By saying this, the candidate does not mean that within his I of nature some kind of a Christ-aspect is hidden, but he is referring to the soul that has been awakened and reborn in his micro­cosm.

Not a single vestige of the dialectical consciousness can be preserved on this path. Eventually, only the life of the old personality-system remains, and it is maintained for as long as is possible and necessary under the guidance of the reborn soul. This situation is reflected in the gospel story of John the Baptist and Jesus the Lord who exist for a long time as two separate beings, until the former has completed the task allotted to his personality. So we can see now that what is ‘kept’ is the soul, which remains eter­nally alive in what Lao Tzu calls ‘Tao’.

But if, in Jesus’ words, there is something to be ‘kept’, then it follows that, conversely, this something can also be lost. ‘He who is willing to lose his life for My sake shall keep it’. These words imply that if one remains unwilling to follow that path, then the life-process will operate in reverse, in a fatal sense. Then it will be: He who wishes to keep his life (in the ordinary sense), shall lose it.

So it is possible for a microcosm to be denatured if, in the end, it proves unwilling to walk the path of soul-liberation. The sevenfold atom of the Lotus will then be detached from the microcosm, which will be dismantled and all its components returned to their source.

So the path of the endura through transfiguration is a logical, natural and noble path, and the only way of lifting the curse of our existence and reaching a reliable solution to the human problem.

If we stress this point it is because, throughout the ages, the path of the Gnosis has always been discredited as a very unnatural one. But following the path to which we are called by God can never be unnatural, even though appearances may often point to the contrary.

Only think of the processes of metabolism, so widely understood nowadays. It has been proved that every cell in our bodies is periodically replaced. The body’s entire structure is renewed every seven years, and by the time one cycle of renewal has come to an end, another one has already begun. This metabolic process gradually slows down as we advance in years and our vitality decreases, until sclerosis and other forms of degeneration set in. In­evitably the time arrives when the mechanism definitely ceases to work and the metabolism reaches its inevitable end. The result is zero, absolutely zero, so it goes without saying that there is no question of this kind of death end­ing in victory.

How different it is, though, if one fulfils the endura through transfiguration! This process, too, affects the metabolism, but then in quite a different way. Through transfiguration, all the atoms and cells of the personality-system are changed and charged with Mercury-power, the power needed to become an immortal human being. Through this metabolism the dialectical personality gradually loses its nature-born character and the whole being is transformed. The Mercury-power is concentrated mainly in the head sanctuary, where it modifies practically all the organs of the brain, resulting in a new faculty of consciousness.

This transformation goes on unfolding with extraordi­nary potency until, at its peak, almost everything that typifies the dialectical self has disappeared. It has lost its hold on the microcosm. It can no longer maintain itself. It has been neutralised.

At the same moment, the fiery body of the soul-being is set free, as if driven by a mighty fire. In this way, as a result of the new process of metabolism, the pilgrim loses the distinctive aspects of his dialectical self and, at the same time, his true self is reborn. Then, having fulfilled his task, the pilgrim can depart as a genuine servant in a death that has brought the one true life.

Source: ‘Transfiguration’ of Catharose de Petri