Answers On The Living Body, The Endura

The below are answers to questions posed by Brian in the Comments section of the post "Million-Year Journey".

Q: What is union and what is a living body or group body?

A: The gnostic Living Body is defined as follows:

"A gnostic Living Body is the 'Ark' referred to in the Book of Genesis. It is a Body that is built in co-operation with the forces of the Universal Gnostic Chain of Brotherhoods, in the service of the Harvest that must be gathered in at the end of a Cosmic Day and carried safely into the New Life-Field".

A gnostic Living Body manifests itself on all planes and sub-planes. It carries the pure astral forces of the Divine Kingdom and makes these forces available to all those who are walking the Path of Return. Those who choose to live out of these pure astral forces will be able to transmute and ultimately transfigure their microcosms, if they can remain steadfast in surrendering the 'I' and maintaining their focus on a new attitude of life.  The LRC represents the terrestrial aspect of this gnostic Living Body, which always reappears when humanity reaches the end of a minor or major world-cycle in order to gather up those souls who are ready to be liberated from the nature-of-death.

Q: When we go the Path do we give up our personality to become part of a something bigger(the brotherhood?) or re-union with the Light Force of God?

A: When we resolve to walk the Path, we are resolving to transfer control of our microcosm from the nature-born self, or I-being, to 'the Other One' that is awakening within us as a result of the effect that the Divine Touch of the Gnosis has had upon our Divine Spark. We refer to this transfer of control as 'self-surrender'. The medieval Cathars called this process the 'endura', which can be defined as follows:

"Endura is the path of I-demolition, the path of the final death, through the surrender of the 'I' to the Other One, the Immortal Man, the Christ within us. It is the path of John , who 'makes straight the paths for his Lord'. It means putting into practice the words: "He -- the heavenly Other One, must increase, and I must decrease. I must perish so that the heavenly Other One may live within me".

The path of the endura is the ancient path along which the fallen human-being rises toward his True, Immortal Self. The gnostic fire of purification brings about a complete and fundamental reversal in his life and he then returns to the Father.

Life in dialectics (duality) is a life leading to death (dissolution); the path of the endura means a voluntary death leading to True Life. It is the path of the true, God-seeking human-being: 'He who will lose his life for My sake, will find the Life".

Many are tripped up at this stage of the journey, because the thought of erasing the self will elicit fear in the new pupil. It is the I-being that creates this fear, because the 'I' is habituated to preserving itself. It knows what you are contemplating and reacts accordingly. The new pupil begins to believe that if he or she walks this Path, he or she will 'cease to exist'. That is far from the case! On the contrary, the pupil will live as never before! As the Other One increases in its influence and strength, the current personality will not be erased, but will be subsumed, absorbed into the glorious, multi-dimensional Personality that will arise, like a Phoenix, from the ashes of the old nature-born I-being.

Q: Is being an extreme individualist a hindrance to the Path? But do you have to be a bit of an extreme individualist to go on the Path to walk away from the family, cultural, religious, politic, nature born norms?

A: This is a good question and an interesting paradox. Yes, the individualization of human souls has resulted in fiercely I-centered entities whose first, third, and last thought is always that of preservation of the self, i.e., "What is best for ME?" This rigid, constant and ruthlessly self-focused thinking has resulted in all of mankind's past and current problems and is responsible for the world that we see around us today. Individualism, the idea of a separated self, in and of itself is not a 'bad' thing. It is the I-focused thinking that accompanies this sense of 'I am' that is the problem.

When one undergoes the fundamental reversal mentioned in the previous answer, the first thing that has to happen is that the pupil must no longer think of the self first ("the 'I' must decrease..."). This is why unselfish service-to-others is stressed so heavily for those who are undertaking to walk the Path of Return.

On the other hand, one does have to be more than a bit of an individualist to forge an attraction to the Gnosis, to the Christ-radiation that is not-of-this-earth. Such thinking represents a tearing-away from the aeonic forces that control the masses of humanity in the natural world. It is the height of individual thought and indicates that the current personality is inhabiting a mature microcosm that is ready to move away from the glamour of the natural world in order to pursue its true destiny, the One Goal of Humanity.

Please note that although as candidates on the Path we recognize that we must leave the things of the natural world behind, this is accomplished not by retreating to a cave in the woods to eat locusts and berries for the rest of one's life. It is impossible to physically withdraw from the world in today's age and time. Besides, there are hardly any pristine wildernesses left anywhere for one to hide in!

Therefore, we must effect our withdrawal by cultivating an attitude of life characterized by non-attachment. We must no longer become attached to the things of this world. Yes, we need to eat, but we don't need to eat to excess, or slaughter our younger brothers in the animal kingdom for their flesh, or eat things that are detrimental to the physical body simply because they look 'good' or taste 'good'.  Yes, we need clothing, but we do not need to dress to impress others, or spend enormous sums on designer clothing, or slaughter animals for their hide or fur. Yes, we may need to work for a living, but we do not need to identify with our job, or chase high salaries and positions, or hurt others in the pursuit of same.

The world is what it is. We have to live in it because it is the field of development that has been created for this life-wave to experience in. The true pupil on the Path realizes that although we are still in the world, we can no longer be of the world. Therefore, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's (the material I-being). Render unto God, that which is God's (the reborn Soul, or microcosm).

Above all, we should not abandon our spouses or children. Our families are karmic responsibilities that we do not have the right to walk away from. Do your duty in life. Do not shirk your responsibilities. Care for those you love and for all men and women, but always with a sense of detachment. Detachment does not mean 'not caring'. It means to not become attached to outcomes, expectations, etc.  We, as pupils, must carry within us the knowledge that we are undergoing a process of surrender that requires the walking of a fine line. We are engaged in a moment-by-moment endeavor to help the Divine Man within to re-assume control over the microcosm and ultimately, to transfigure it. In order to achieve this Good End, the 'I' must steadily decrease in influence, until nothing is left of the old nature-born 'I' that can mislead or deceive us. Only then will we be on our way to becoming the pioneers of the New Race that is now being born.

~ g
.