The Cathars

[QUOTING]

If you are a student of esoteric literature, you may have read about a remarkable mystery involving the medieval inhabitants of the South of France. There, in the land of the Sabarthez, the cradle of the Cathars -- praised be their name! -- a supernatural power was possessed, the power of the consolamentum. By means of the consolamentum it was possible to bring about a separation between animal-man and spirit-man, between the human-being of this earth and the Original Being, in the form it possessed before time began.

The consolamentum was more than a sacramental seal. It was more than simply a magical outpouring or power, because for the Cathars it involved a definitive break with dualistic life. So those who had received the consolamentum were no longer inhabitants of the earth in the absolute sense. In the true sense of the words, they were in the world, but no longer of the world.

Researchers have often wondered about the identity of the spiritual instigators behind this movement in medieval France. They could see quite clearly that this spiritual awakening, if it could have evolved without any interference, would have embraced the whole of Europe in a way hitherto unknown. Who were the initiates who inspired the movement, and had such an effect on tens of thousands of people, that the church turned against them with a bloody and terrible hatred?

These initiates were world-citizens in the best sense of the word, who literally loved the whole of humankind and who, even now, move and appear among us, wherever an opportunity presents itself. Their traces are to be found from east to west and from north to south. And if one studies world history, one can detect the connection between all the various events and developments they have brought about.

Even so, from the earliest times until the present, they have always remained in the background, cloaked in mystery. There is a hermetic veil between them and the masses, and all attempts of self-willed science to trace the source of the mystery must and always will fail.

For the knowledge, the art and the abilities of the Cathars were universal. Their source was not to be found on earth, but only in the Immovable Kingdom itself.

There are authors who deplore the destruction -- or rather, the apparent destruction -- of the Cathars, and lament the loss of their wisdom and power. But this sorrow is misplaced, because any power, any sublime wisdom whose origin is the Universal Life itself, can never be lost. It is nothing less than the breath of God, which passes over human beings time and time again in its loving efforts to save them, withdrawing again whenever, in their hatred and blood-lust, material and mortal human beings attempt to violate it.

We wanted to consider this European contact with the Universal Power of Love as a prelude to our reflections on a similar divine contact that took place in the Far East -- a contact embodied in the sublime being known as Lao Tzu.

It is not known whether he really lived, or whether he was one person or several. Countless legends surround him like a veil. But one thing is certain -- that he, in his wisdom, could have dispelled all the sorrow of the observers and researchers of that medieval drama in the South of France. Because the mystery of the consolamentum can also be referred to as the mystery of Tao.

People old in experience, who knew Tao
Did not speak of this most secret sanctuary,
Well-knowing that the profane incline towards darkness,
Converting the powers of life into destruction.

If certain powers awaken in the human being
and he become conscious of his great strength
Without breaking away from his lower self-seeking,
The fire smothers in its own cinders.

So do not reveal the mystery to the profane;
Is not the naked eye blinded by too much light?
To govern a nation means to fulfill a great task:
That of giving light whilst standing in the shadows.

It is said that the Cathars possessed secret books expounding the True Life and the Universal Doctrine, which were destroyed by the priesthood of those times. However, the true hidden book of the Cathars is the unwritten book, the same as the book of Tao, and the book 'M' of Christian Rosycross, and the book sealed with seven seals mentioned in the Revelation of John. This book, this Universal Knowledge, is unwritten and hidden from the profane. But it is open, and revealed in fiery, radiant letters, to those who have broken away from their lower self-seeking.

That is why, for the Cathars, the consolamentum was preceded by the endura. The endura is a 'dying as to nature'; it means a freeing oneself of the I-being and making oneself ready for rebirth.

To the extent that you, too, are engaged in this process, you no longer need to waste time and energy searching for books and manuscripts on which to pin all your hopes of liberation. Tao can neither be spoken nor written. Tao, the Way, the Path, can only be experienced.

From The Chinese Gnosis - Jan van Rijckenborgh, Catharose de Pietri

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If you get an opportunity, you may wish to do a little googling on the Cathars of southern France. They are also referred to in history as the Albigensians, a title which found its origin in the 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in the Languedoc region of southern France (the Albigensian Crusade).

Gnosis, the Universal Knowledge, was passed on to us by the Cathars, who received it from those who left Palestine after the crucifixion of the Christ. The purity of the doctrine was so strong that an estimated 30,000 people in Europe became pupils or supporters of the Cathars. This posed  such a direct threat to the established (and thoroughly corrupt) medieval Church that an order was given to have them physically exterminated. Hence, The Albigensian Crusade and its ensuing bloodbath of mass-murder and mass burnings at the stake.

It is apparent that despite the most strident efforts of the monstrosity that was the medieval Church, their attempt to eradicate Truth from the face of the earth did not succeed. The Gnosis will never be silenced. In fulfillment of the Divine Plan, those members of the human life-wave, who, in true yearning, choose to seek this Knowledge, will always have it made available to them.

~ g
.