The Value of Direct Experience
“The value of direct experience is many things. One benefit is the ability to follow ourselves, to guide ourselves, rather than fully handing ourselves over to spiritual leaders. Recently, a spiritual leader with innumerable devotees throughout the world was uncovered as a paedophile. He used the guise of a spiritual leader very convincingly, as a way of attracting unsuspecting people for his horrible desires. This is one of many examples proving the dangers of blind belief and the lack of inner investigation.
Another benefit is apparent in the person's own spirituality. While many spiritual people seem to walk a vague and abstract path that on inspection has no solid foundation, a person who is able to experience spiritual phenomena themselves comes to realise the concrete nature of spirituality. We lose the misty fog that surrounds much modern spirituality. Instead, we develop along a tangible spiritual path due to the fruits of our own efforts.
Directly experiencing mystical things is magical, strengthening and beyond our imagination. It is exciting and clarifying, gradually giving us everything we need, answering our many questions and putting us personally in the realm of the esoteric. The experience of astral projection, for example, coming out of our body and encountering awesome spiritual beings, occult temples, etc is incredibly liberating and refreshing in that our experience solidifies the reality of things, blowing all the tedious theory that clogs our mind out of the water. What we are capable of is beautiful and we are all able to do it, no matter who we are — even you.
Legitimate spiritual experience reveals the spiritual path. While this is lacking, we can't really penetrate into the heart of what is spiritual. Belief in itself is not enough. We need to know.
There is no requirement in Gnosis to believe or disbelieve, to accept or reject. All that is needed is the interest in approaching the techniques with an open mind, testing the information through sincere effort. We would all testify that the teachings are real and effective — but you don't need to take our word for it; aim for the first-hand experience.”
Dave, The Value of Direct Experience
"In the Thomas gospel, Jesus is presented as a spiritual guide whose words (when properly understood) bring eternal life (Saying 1). Readers of these sayings are advised to continue seeking until they find what will enable them to become rulers of their own lives (Saying 2) and thus to know themselves (Saying 3) and their legacy of being the children of"The living Father" (Saying 3). These goals are presented in the image of"entering the Kingdom"by the methodology of insight that goes beyond duality. (Saying 22). The Gospel of Thomas shows little or no concern for orthodox religious concepts and doctrines...
The Gospel of Thomas emphasizes direct and unmediated experience. In Thomas saying 108, Jesus says," Whoever drinks from my mouth will become as I am; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.”Furthermore, salvation is personal and found through spiritual (psychological) introspection. In Thomas saying 70, Jesus says," If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not bring it forth, what you do not have within you will kill you.”As such, this form of salvation is idiosyncratic and without literal explanation unless read from a psychological perspective related to Self vs. ego. In Thomas saying 3, Jesus says,
...the Kingdom of God is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty."- Wikipedia (Easter Sunday April 24, 2011)
Definitions of unmediated
"1. [adj] - without the interposition of other agencies or conditions
Quotes - Example use of the word unmediated
1. unmediated relations between God and man"
www.webdictionary.co.uk
"unmediated - having no intervening persons, agents, conditions"
www.thefreedictionary.com
"not mediated : not communicated or transformed by an intervening agency"
www.merriamwebster.com
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