The Holy Language contains a rich variety of stories about fish and fisherman. We read of miraculous draughts of fishes where the nets tear from the great load or of equally miraculous great draughts· where the nets do not tear. At times people are not only given bread to eat but also fish and there are many, especially among the disciples, whose trade is that of fisherman. The disciples are called while they are busy fishing, or working at repairing their nets.
With the twelve stanzas of the epic of the crucifixion the pupil ends his journey through the fields of dialectics, on the way to the house of the father. The morning of the resurrection has come and we will now devote our attention to what this glorieus victory in the Gnostic sense signifies for us. We must have a complete survey of what and who rises from the tomb and what the tomb is to grasp all that transpires during the course of the resurrection.
In geographical Jerusalem there is a building called the Continue reading →
We no longer send daily emails for our free online program ‘Spiritual Easter’. If you would like to participate in Spiritual Easter 2022 (April 10-17), you can access the eight narratives and eight reflections via the above links.
During the autumn equinox light and darkness are precisely in balance with each other. Subsequently the influence of the darkness begins to increase more and more as the power of the light is fading. The darkness is the deepest around Christmas and we can only wait in confidence until the light is born again. That is how people of yore experienced the alternation and struggle between the light and the darkness in their own lives.
Before villages and towns were bathed in electric light, the increasing darkness was almost tangible to the inhabitants and they could not help but eagerly await the new light. They heard stories about the miraculous birth that took place in this darkness in the distant past: God’s son was born in a hidden place in order to liberate humanity from the darkness. The light that would soon become stronger again was a sign of this birth. It was not only an external light but could also be experienced as an inner light that pierced the darkness of everyday life. Continue reading →
Rembrandt, Christus bij Martha en Maria, 1669. Teylers Museum
The touch of the Holy Spirit, its radiative activity, leads the pupil right to the heart of real life, to an intense activity — for the salvation of one child of man means at the same time the calling and awakening of many others.
You will be on the path as soon as the Holy Spirit has touched you with its radiation-power, when you have become receptive to it and react to it. And if you do react, the result will always be that you are led away into the desert by the Holy Spirit. This means a task in one’s own being and a task in the world. Continue reading →
One day as Jesus and Lamaas walked alone in plaza Jagannath, Lamaas said, my Jewish master, what is truth?
And Jesus said, truth is the only thing that changes not. In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be. Now truth is aught, and has Continue reading →
One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said, these tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things were made of thought and where we build up character.
We use the square to measure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square. We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and desires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness. We use the axe to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character symmetrical. We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part. We use the plane to smooth the rough, uneven surfaces of joint, and block, and board that go to build the temple for the truth.
The chisel, line, the plummet and the saw all have their uses in the workshop of the mind. And then this ladder with its trinity of steps, faith, hope and love; on it we climb up to the dome of purity in life. And on the twelve-step ladder we ascend until we reach the pinnacle of that which life is spent to build: the temple of perfected man.
Now, Rabbi Barachia of the synagogue of Nazareth, was aid to Mary in the teaching of her son. One morning after service in the synagogue the rabbi said to Jesus as he sat in silent thought, Which is the greatest of the Ten Commands?
And Jesus said, I do not see a greatest of the Ten Commands. I see a golden Continue reading →
20-03 Sunday before Easter, The passage
21-03 Monday before Easter, Passing through the gate
22-03 Tuesday before Easter, The mystery of life and death
23-03 Wednesday before Easter, The cleansing of the inner temple
24-03 Thursday before Easter, Surrendering to your inner master
25-03 Friday before Easter, Showing new inner strength
26-03 Saturday before Easter, The crucial victory over yourself
27-03 Sunday before Easter, Liberation of the inner being
