Excerpts from The Gospel of Philip
The dark powers wanted to
deceive man, to confuse
relationship with the truly good.
They took good names and gave
them to the bad, so that with these
names they might bind them.
“Already the axe is laid,
at the root of the trees”;
it will not only cut the trunk
but also sever the root.
Jesus pulled up the root
of worldly sinfulness;
prophets partly did his work.
Each one of us must dig down deep
within ourselves and find the root
of this evil egotism in the heart,
so it will perish.
If we ignore this root,
more poisonous fruit
is produced in the heart;
it becomes our task master
and enslaves us, forcing us
to do what it desires.
It is powerful until seen and is active;
ignorance is the mother of all evil;
It will end in death!
For those who come from this
iniquity will cease to exist.
When all the Truth is revealed
then man may be perfected.
Truth, unlike ignorance, while latent
is at rest, but when revealed
is stronger than the foe.
It brings freedom!
John wrote: “Truth
will set you free.”
Ignorance is slavery,
Self-knowledge is liberation.
Growing up, I was staunchly against all things religious. In my nescience I could not find value in religious stories I considered to be fairy tales, yet I could understand that the value of an Aesop fable was in the allegory, not the stories of the animals. The idea of “sin” was linked to the ideas of a burning lake of fire and an eternity of damnation ruled over by fallen angels. An excessively selfish child operating within a Second Order of Consciousness like myself quickly rejected the concept that my own desires would drag me towards such an uncouth place that “couldn’t possibly exist.” As the Third Order of Consciousness kicked in, Hell became a threat by others to yield to their wills, not any particular Divine will: “Don’t do this or that or you’ll go to Hell!” Ancient words being wielded by modern men to achieve their own goals hammered in my personal belief that maybe it was all nonsense. The fire and brimstone imagery was never what was important in the words left behind by our ancestors; I understand now that they were meant as a warning that our behaviors have a profound effect on us, now, here on Earth.
I have been faltering, and that is my recent Truth that I cannot ignore. As Halloween approaches, massive bags of candy lay dormant, awaiting only purchase from ignorant souls such as myself. It isn’t as if I don’t know how awful sugar is for me, but rather I choose to live in ignorance about the addictive and unhealthy nature of consuming little “Fun Sized” candies. We might imagine that Jesus’ disciples spoke of grand ignorances in terms of horrid Sin such as lust and wrath, yet it is truly ignorant to assume minor “poisonous fruits” to be better than major ones.
Sugar is indeed a task master and slave driver. The addictive nature of sugar creates an unending cycle of energy crashes and cravings. That they dare call these little packages “Fun Sized” is most certainly the work of “dark powers” deceiving man; I most certainly cannot find the fun or merriment in feeling depressed, groggy and heavier the next day after a few Fun Sized candies and chocolates. I imagined myself able to treat myself in moderation with one small package of candy occasionally, yet the truth at the heart of this matter is that these candies seem almost designed to evoke the selfish Second Order within me. The designs of brightly colored wrappers remain unchanged since my own childhood, and perhaps we all know how difficult it is to break decades of psychological conditioning. I’ll end up with my hand in the bag of candy before I even realize it.
In this matter, I must remember one root of my personal evil: I’m not yet very capable of moderation when it comes to addictive behaviors and substances. I have successfully stopped drinking because I have not had a sip in many years. I have successfully stopped smoking because I have not have a puff of a cigarette in two years. I have successfully stopped being dependent on caffeine because I have not had a sip in a year. I have no desires for those past poisons either. How can I successfully fend off the dreaded Hell of diabetes if I continue to munch on sweets? The whole point of Halloween is to give these candies to the trick-or-treaters, not myself, even though Halloween was my favorite holiday as a child. However, do I want to doom children to the same sugar addictions I face to this day as an adult? What child would even accept broccoli as a Halloween treat? The dilemmas we face as adults that want to be responsible are complex and require much thought. I must remember to have constant vigilance when in a world filled with many treats that are simply tricks. In the meantime, I think I’ll have just one small piece of chocolate...