O Bliss and Conscioussness Absolute,
Dont let me identify with the little "I"
May I identify with the Universal "I"
May I identify with Thee !
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Simple steps to writing a blog
- By: Akhil Shahani, 2008-03-15
As an entrepreneur who has seen his share of success, you probably have a wealth of wisdom founded on practical experience. If you’ve wanted to share your thoughts with others with similar interests, but didn’t have the time or inclination to author a bestselling book, writing a blog is just the thing for you. Indeed, most CEOs are taking to it in a big way. Why not join the gang?
The most important criterion while writing a blog is to do it with passion. The second is to ensure that the content is of high quality. Also remember that getting and holding the readers’ attention immediately is particularly important in blogging. Why? Because there are millions of blogs out there on the internet and there has to be a good reason for someone to stop at your site and stay. Here are some of them:
o Write on a subject that’s close to your heart – For a businessperson that could be technology, employee motivation, business ethics or something else. This topic will be your theme and the more passionate you are about it, the better your writing will be. People read blogs because they are interested in the personal opinions of people like themselves, and therefore, cold, clinical writing won’t hold water.
o Be conversational – Writing a blog is not the same as crafting an academic treatise, so complex, elaborate text is out. Imagine you are talking to a group of friends. Write in a friendly way – do not talk down to them and keep up a conversational tone at all times. That way, you’ll encourage your readers to write back, and that is the true measure of your blog’s success.
o Credit your sources – Never use someone else’s content without giving them due credit. Always acknowledge your sources and link to them; use quotation marks when you write something that is not in your own words and if you want to post a few paragraphs from another site, please ask for permission first. This is not just basic courtesy but will also ensure that you stay out of potential trouble for copyright violation.
o Think before you post – Content is king in a blog. So write thoughtfully and knowledgeably on your chosen subject. Do not rant and rave and make your readers run for cover! Another important point to remember is to stick to your topic; do not digress too much from your intended purpose. You will quickly lose readers if you do.
o Link to interesting stories – If you talk about something interesting that you found online, provide a link to it. Nothing is more annoying to a reader than having to search for a way to get to something on the Net. Be sure to link to articles, books, products, other sites and anything else you mention in your blog.
o Respond to comments – Always, always remember to respond to readers’ comments. Nothing drives away a reader faster than not having his or her comment answered. It also implies that you are a serious blogger and care about what your readers think.
o Write concisely – Give the maximum amount of information using the optimum number of words. An introduction of 250-300 words is usually adequate. Clear, concise writing laced with appropriate humor is sure to win you a big fan following.
o Use catchy titles – The headline should draw the reader in. When writing a blog, take care to use descriptive phrases that reveal the purpose of the article. A reader typically decides whether to continue reading the post or not, by looking at the title of the blog entry. Tell as much of the story as you can in the headline.
o Post regularly – You need to write frequently and regularly to keep your blog fresh and in your readers’ minds. The blogs that attract the most readers are the ones with constant and consistent updates.
o Write effectively – Use bulleted points to draw attention. Insert sub headings and keep the sentences and headlines short and to the point. Use the "inverse pyramid" structure - mention the core ideas first and fill in the details in later paragraphs. The first two sentences should be enough for the readers to decide if they want to continue reading.
o Edit your post – Review your content before posting. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. This is also a good time to take an objective look at your writing to ensure that you don’t have something offensive or incorrect in it.
The Web has a way of changing things as we know them. Now, you can have thousands of people read what you have to say on any topic. So, find that passion of yours and start blogging – who knows where it may lead? To a published book, perhaps!
Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out Smart Entrepreneur . It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully.
As an entrepreneur who has seen his share of success, you probably have a wealth of wisdom founded on practical experience. If you’ve wanted to share your thoughts with others with similar interests, but didn’t have the time or inclination to author a bestselling book, writing a blog is just the thing for you. Indeed, most CEOs are taking to it in a big way. Why not join the gang?
The most important criterion while writing a blog is to do it with passion. The second is to ensure that the content is of high quality. Also remember that getting and holding the readers’ attention immediately is particularly important in blogging. Why? Because there are millions of blogs out there on the internet and there has to be a good reason for someone to stop at your site and stay. Here are some of them:
o Write on a subject that’s close to your heart – For a businessperson that could be technology, employee motivation, business ethics or something else. This topic will be your theme and the more passionate you are about it, the better your writing will be. People read blogs because they are interested in the personal opinions of people like themselves, and therefore, cold, clinical writing won’t hold water.
o Be conversational – Writing a blog is not the same as crafting an academic treatise, so complex, elaborate text is out. Imagine you are talking to a group of friends. Write in a friendly way – do not talk down to them and keep up a conversational tone at all times. That way, you’ll encourage your readers to write back, and that is the true measure of your blog’s success.
o Credit your sources – Never use someone else’s content without giving them due credit. Always acknowledge your sources and link to them; use quotation marks when you write something that is not in your own words and if you want to post a few paragraphs from another site, please ask for permission first. This is not just basic courtesy but will also ensure that you stay out of potential trouble for copyright violation.
o Think before you post – Content is king in a blog. So write thoughtfully and knowledgeably on your chosen subject. Do not rant and rave and make your readers run for cover! Another important point to remember is to stick to your topic; do not digress too much from your intended purpose. You will quickly lose readers if you do.
o Link to interesting stories – If you talk about something interesting that you found online, provide a link to it. Nothing is more annoying to a reader than having to search for a way to get to something on the Net. Be sure to link to articles, books, products, other sites and anything else you mention in your blog.
o Respond to comments – Always, always remember to respond to readers’ comments. Nothing drives away a reader faster than not having his or her comment answered. It also implies that you are a serious blogger and care about what your readers think.
o Write concisely – Give the maximum amount of information using the optimum number of words. An introduction of 250-300 words is usually adequate. Clear, concise writing laced with appropriate humor is sure to win you a big fan following.
o Use catchy titles – The headline should draw the reader in. When writing a blog, take care to use descriptive phrases that reveal the purpose of the article. A reader typically decides whether to continue reading the post or not, by looking at the title of the blog entry. Tell as much of the story as you can in the headline.
o Post regularly – You need to write frequently and regularly to keep your blog fresh and in your readers’ minds. The blogs that attract the most readers are the ones with constant and consistent updates.
o Write effectively – Use bulleted points to draw attention. Insert sub headings and keep the sentences and headlines short and to the point. Use the "inverse pyramid" structure - mention the core ideas first and fill in the details in later paragraphs. The first two sentences should be enough for the readers to decide if they want to continue reading.
o Edit your post – Review your content before posting. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. This is also a good time to take an objective look at your writing to ensure that you don’t have something offensive or incorrect in it.
The Web has a way of changing things as we know them. Now, you can have thousands of people read what you have to say on any topic. So, find that passion of yours and start blogging – who knows where it may lead? To a published book, perhaps!
Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out Smart Entrepreneur . It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully.
Write a blog - it’s easy
- By: Akhil Shahani, 2008-03-15
Now that you have decided to write a blog for your business, what is the next step for you? How do you go about creating that blog? We’ve put together a list of 5 tips to help you on your way:
1. Know your audience – Who are the people that you are targeting? As with any strategy for a good business, it is critical that you identify your niche audience. Answering this question will help you write a blog that will keep the readers interested.
2. Locate your blog – Choose a good site where you want to blog. There are different blog sites available on the internet, some of which are free and allow you to start blogging immediately. If you want to register your own domain name and run your blog on your own server, you will need to install server side blog software. Many web hosts offer an automatic installer that will get your site up and running quickly. Once you have selected the site where you want your blog located, register yourself to create an account. Create a unique title for your blog and provide a brief description that will let others know what it is all about.
3. Choose a template – Most blog sites give you different options for your blog design. Choose one that matches your taste and is in keeping with the theme. Most of them also let you customize it with your own html code, but if that is not your cup of tea, leave it alone – most templates are pretty good. Make sure that the template that you choose reflects the kind of business that you are running - go in for a professional look with corporate colors.
4. Write effectively – Write a blog in such a way that it will be read, time and again. Remember, blogging is all about content. If your content isn’t interesting or relevant to your target audience, there will be no readers for your blog. Keep it brief and adopt a friendly, conversational tone
5. Update regularly – You might think it’s easy to write a blog – well, you’re both right and wrong. Setting one up is simple, but maintaining it on a long term basis is something else altogether. Post messages often and your audience will keep coming back for more. Regular updates to the content on your blog increases your visibility on search engines. Add more information, tips and commentary and invite comments and feedback. Do your best to post at least two or three times a week to keep your visitors interested and coming back for more
To increase the effectiveness of your blog, you could also add on extras:
o Add counters to keep track of visitors to your blog.
o Offer the ability to subscribe to your blog and get posts by e-mail.
o Promote your blog by adding a link to your blog in your email signatures.
o Add advertisements to your blog to earn residual money.
Blogging is here to stay, so go ahead, hop on the bandwagon!
Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out Smart Entreerneur . It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully.
Now that you have decided to write a blog for your business, what is the next step for you? How do you go about creating that blog? We’ve put together a list of 5 tips to help you on your way:
1. Know your audience – Who are the people that you are targeting? As with any strategy for a good business, it is critical that you identify your niche audience. Answering this question will help you write a blog that will keep the readers interested.
2. Locate your blog – Choose a good site where you want to blog. There are different blog sites available on the internet, some of which are free and allow you to start blogging immediately. If you want to register your own domain name and run your blog on your own server, you will need to install server side blog software. Many web hosts offer an automatic installer that will get your site up and running quickly. Once you have selected the site where you want your blog located, register yourself to create an account. Create a unique title for your blog and provide a brief description that will let others know what it is all about.
3. Choose a template – Most blog sites give you different options for your blog design. Choose one that matches your taste and is in keeping with the theme. Most of them also let you customize it with your own html code, but if that is not your cup of tea, leave it alone – most templates are pretty good. Make sure that the template that you choose reflects the kind of business that you are running - go in for a professional look with corporate colors.
4. Write effectively – Write a blog in such a way that it will be read, time and again. Remember, blogging is all about content. If your content isn’t interesting or relevant to your target audience, there will be no readers for your blog. Keep it brief and adopt a friendly, conversational tone
5. Update regularly – You might think it’s easy to write a blog – well, you’re both right and wrong. Setting one up is simple, but maintaining it on a long term basis is something else altogether. Post messages often and your audience will keep coming back for more. Regular updates to the content on your blog increases your visibility on search engines. Add more information, tips and commentary and invite comments and feedback. Do your best to post at least two or three times a week to keep your visitors interested and coming back for more
To increase the effectiveness of your blog, you could also add on extras:
o Add counters to keep track of visitors to your blog.
o Offer the ability to subscribe to your blog and get posts by e-mail.
o Promote your blog by adding a link to your blog in your email signatures.
o Add advertisements to your blog to earn residual money.
Blogging is here to stay, so go ahead, hop on the bandwagon!
Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out Smart Entreerneur . It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
How Do I Run A Profitable Internet Marketing Blog?
- By: Noel Swanson, 2008-02-23
This is Christopher Stigson, a blogger who has spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out the blogging game. I think I've finnally cracked part of the code and I'm sharing this with you today. The point of this article is to run a test and at the same time share some knowledge about internet marketing blogs.
It's a common thing to hear about success stories on profitable blogs these days.. Some generate amounts of up to $100,000/month and beyond. Profitable they are. You as a blog owner probably need to do a few things differently in order to get the most out of your internet marketing techniques and take a few steps to increase search engine rankings, make more money and have it run on autopilot.
Having a well defined anchor text using a keyword is a smart way to increase search engine rankings. But search engine rankings isn't the only way to get free traffic. See, there is a lot of traffic to be gained from RSS submit, which is an RSS syndication software. You can also get a lot of traffic from socialbookmarking sites and more.
You should always "sub-niche" your internet marketing blog. Doing "traffic", or "articles", or maybe "eBay marketing" is a good way to "sub-niche" your sites. It's not at all difficult to sub-niche and it's far more profitable since you WON'T be burried hundreds of miles down in the 46th page of Google!
When you have got a niche within the "internet marketing niche" it's easy to start generate some income. See, most people are targeting "make money" and "how to make money" and "make money online", but this is NOT what you want to do. Instead head over to keyword research tools and find long tail keywords in the internet marketing niche.
Simple example could be "traffic generation". That's our "IM sub-niche". Great. Let's go do some keyword research before we get carried away. Let's say we type in "traffic" and it spits out "increase search engine traffic" as a viable keyword. Then head over to Google and type it in. Now head over to Yahoo and use "link:http://www.yourcompetition.com" to see the backlink count for your competition. If it's below 1,000, go for it! There's our sub-niche-long-tail-keyword. Yippie, let's get going!
Now when you have a topic and a keyword it's time to create a domain name that has similar or an exact name of the keyword. So "www.increase-search-engine-traffic.com" would be ideal for "increase search engine traffic". You can go as far as doing "www.increasesearchenginetraffic.com", but I like the dashes. For search engine rankings, I personally haven't seen it matter.
It's time to write content. Since we have a keyword, in this case "increase search engine traffic" all we have to do is write content about the subject and post to our new internet marketing blog. Simple and smart! You also want to collect some 15-50 keywords more and type content using these keywords. Start posting them to various article directories online and start to see profits. Recommended directories include ezinearticles and goarticles.
Before you buy anything online, make sure you check Chris Stigsons' excellent free Internet Marketing Blog, featuring various Internet Marketing Tips and tricks. He's a marketing expert who creates internet marketing products like crazy.
Article Source : Article Wisdom
This is Christopher Stigson, a blogger who has spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out the blogging game. I think I've finnally cracked part of the code and I'm sharing this with you today. The point of this article is to run a test and at the same time share some knowledge about internet marketing blogs.
It's a common thing to hear about success stories on profitable blogs these days.. Some generate amounts of up to $100,000/month and beyond. Profitable they are. You as a blog owner probably need to do a few things differently in order to get the most out of your internet marketing techniques and take a few steps to increase search engine rankings, make more money and have it run on autopilot.
Having a well defined anchor text using a keyword is a smart way to increase search engine rankings. But search engine rankings isn't the only way to get free traffic. See, there is a lot of traffic to be gained from RSS submit, which is an RSS syndication software. You can also get a lot of traffic from socialbookmarking sites and more.
You should always "sub-niche" your internet marketing blog. Doing "traffic", or "articles", or maybe "eBay marketing" is a good way to "sub-niche" your sites. It's not at all difficult to sub-niche and it's far more profitable since you WON'T be burried hundreds of miles down in the 46th page of Google!
When you have got a niche within the "internet marketing niche" it's easy to start generate some income. See, most people are targeting "make money" and "how to make money" and "make money online", but this is NOT what you want to do. Instead head over to keyword research tools and find long tail keywords in the internet marketing niche.
Simple example could be "traffic generation". That's our "IM sub-niche". Great. Let's go do some keyword research before we get carried away. Let's say we type in "traffic" and it spits out "increase search engine traffic" as a viable keyword. Then head over to Google and type it in. Now head over to Yahoo and use "link:http://www.yourcompetition.com" to see the backlink count for your competition. If it's below 1,000, go for it! There's our sub-niche-long-tail-keyword. Yippie, let's get going!
Now when you have a topic and a keyword it's time to create a domain name that has similar or an exact name of the keyword. So "www.increase-search-engine-traffic.com" would be ideal for "increase search engine traffic". You can go as far as doing "www.increasesearchenginetraffic.com", but I like the dashes. For search engine rankings, I personally haven't seen it matter.
It's time to write content. Since we have a keyword, in this case "increase search engine traffic" all we have to do is write content about the subject and post to our new internet marketing blog. Simple and smart! You also want to collect some 15-50 keywords more and type content using these keywords. Start posting them to various article directories online and start to see profits. Recommended directories include ezinearticles and goarticles.
Before you buy anything online, make sure you check Chris Stigsons' excellent free Internet Marketing Blog, featuring various Internet Marketing Tips and tricks. He's a marketing expert who creates internet marketing products like crazy.
Article Source : Article Wisdom
My blog counter is up !
My blog counter is up due to heavy Article Marketing, linking of blogs and sites and submitting urls, blogs & feeds to directories ! I have 30 blogs on Blogger and all counters show increase in the number of hits !
More traffic due to Web Marketing 2.0. But then I am not fully satisfied; I want more traffic.
So Web Marketing 2.0 has done the trick. I created profiles on MySpace, Ibibo, Yahoo Answers etc. I submit my 180 articles to article directories, have 30 blogs and 5 websites cross-linked. I submit my urls to search engines every day !
Hope you will do the same and get more traffic for your blogs
My adrevenue increased fivefold this month. I am getting more checks, apart from Google and Adbrite monthly checks !
Good Luck !
More traffic due to Web Marketing 2.0. But then I am not fully satisfied; I want more traffic.
So Web Marketing 2.0 has done the trick. I created profiles on MySpace, Ibibo, Yahoo Answers etc. I submit my 180 articles to article directories, have 30 blogs and 5 websites cross-linked. I submit my urls to search engines every day !
Hope you will do the same and get more traffic for your blogs
My adrevenue increased fivefold this month. I am getting more checks, apart from Google and Adbrite monthly checks !
Good Luck !
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tips for maximizing Your Google AdSense Revenues
- By: Raj Kumar, 2008-02-20
Despite what you may hear, the Google AdSense program is not for everyone. There are some types of web sites that do poorly no matter how hard the owners try, and there are others that should be doing well but the webmaster simply isn’t putting in the effort to make things happen.
Here are some tips to make AdSense work better for you. If you do them all and you’re still not having any luck, then you just might be running one of those sites that don’t make money
1. Determine if your visitors are “in the mood”
Like I mentioned at the top of this article, some web sites just don’t work with pay-per-click programs.
The best performing sites fall into one of these categories:
• Sites where users go and expect to buy something while they are there. E-commerce sites fit the bill here..
• Sites where users go to find specific information on something that they want to buy now. Music and video review sites, vacation information sites, resume building sites, etc. You don’t have to actually be selling these types of things; your site can just be a Mecca for information pertaining to these things. Then, when the visitor comes to read your content, they are more likely to click on your ads.
• Sites where people who have disposable income and a credit card like to visit. This includes sites with money management, investing and lifestyle content.
• Sites that draw a large amount of new users every day. Free coupon sites and “How to” sites are good examples.
• Sites where people go who expect to read ads. Classified ads and shopping comparison sites fit into this category.
2. Make sure that your visitors don’t feel that you just want to grab their money
Give them plenty of relevant and well-written content. If writing isn’t your best skill then hire someone to do it for you. Good content brings steady traffic and steady traffic pays the bills.
3. Play by the rules
Google has some very specific Terms of Service (https://www.google.com/adsense/policies) for participating in their AdSense program. Learn those rules and follow them so you don’t lose all of your investment by getting shut out.
4. Use the tools that Google gives you
Google gives you tools for determining the best keywords for your site, measuring ad performance, and setting up different ad “channels” for fine-tuning ad results. These guys and girls are the 800 lb. Gorillas in the Pay-Per-Click market. They didn’t build these tools just to keep their programmers busy. Take advantage of their knowledge for they are very big and you are not!
5. Tweak, fine-tune and then tweak again
you should never be happy with your AdSense performance. If it’s good, then you need to make it great. If it’s great then you need to make it amazing. If it’s amazing then you need to take it to the UPS club. The UPS club? Google sends all checks over $10,000 per month to the webmaster via UPS overnight delivery. Now there’s a club that I wouldn’t mind belonging to.
6. Get more traffic
No matter how much traffic you have, you need more. More eyeballs translate to more clicks. Even if you’re only pulling a 2% click-through. That’s a lot of clicks when you have thousands of visitors each day.
7. Experiment with new keywords
new keywords can bring new ads and new eyeballs along with it. Set up some new pages on your site and experiment with different content. Once you get something that’s working then refer back to Tip # 5.
You can see results in near real time when you use Google’s AdWords. Don’t be afraid to be different. If something that everyone else is doing doesn’t work for you, then invent something that does work and get it on your site.
For more Free Resources Googleatmcash
Article Source : Article Wisdom
Despite what you may hear, the Google AdSense program is not for everyone. There are some types of web sites that do poorly no matter how hard the owners try, and there are others that should be doing well but the webmaster simply isn’t putting in the effort to make things happen.
Here are some tips to make AdSense work better for you. If you do them all and you’re still not having any luck, then you just might be running one of those sites that don’t make money
1. Determine if your visitors are “in the mood”
Like I mentioned at the top of this article, some web sites just don’t work with pay-per-click programs.
The best performing sites fall into one of these categories:
• Sites where users go and expect to buy something while they are there. E-commerce sites fit the bill here..
• Sites where users go to find specific information on something that they want to buy now. Music and video review sites, vacation information sites, resume building sites, etc. You don’t have to actually be selling these types of things; your site can just be a Mecca for information pertaining to these things. Then, when the visitor comes to read your content, they are more likely to click on your ads.
• Sites where people who have disposable income and a credit card like to visit. This includes sites with money management, investing and lifestyle content.
• Sites that draw a large amount of new users every day. Free coupon sites and “How to” sites are good examples.
• Sites where people go who expect to read ads. Classified ads and shopping comparison sites fit into this category.
2. Make sure that your visitors don’t feel that you just want to grab their money
Give them plenty of relevant and well-written content. If writing isn’t your best skill then hire someone to do it for you. Good content brings steady traffic and steady traffic pays the bills.
3. Play by the rules
Google has some very specific Terms of Service (https://www.google.com/adsense/policies) for participating in their AdSense program. Learn those rules and follow them so you don’t lose all of your investment by getting shut out.
4. Use the tools that Google gives you
Google gives you tools for determining the best keywords for your site, measuring ad performance, and setting up different ad “channels” for fine-tuning ad results. These guys and girls are the 800 lb. Gorillas in the Pay-Per-Click market. They didn’t build these tools just to keep their programmers busy. Take advantage of their knowledge for they are very big and you are not!
5. Tweak, fine-tune and then tweak again
you should never be happy with your AdSense performance. If it’s good, then you need to make it great. If it’s great then you need to make it amazing. If it’s amazing then you need to take it to the UPS club. The UPS club? Google sends all checks over $10,000 per month to the webmaster via UPS overnight delivery. Now there’s a club that I wouldn’t mind belonging to.
6. Get more traffic
No matter how much traffic you have, you need more. More eyeballs translate to more clicks. Even if you’re only pulling a 2% click-through. That’s a lot of clicks when you have thousands of visitors each day.
7. Experiment with new keywords
new keywords can bring new ads and new eyeballs along with it. Set up some new pages on your site and experiment with different content. Once you get something that’s working then refer back to Tip # 5.
You can see results in near real time when you use Google’s AdWords. Don’t be afraid to be different. If something that everyone else is doing doesn’t work for you, then invent something that does work and get it on your site.
For more Free Resources Googleatmcash
Article Source : Article Wisdom
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Light In The Bridal Chamber
V.W. Frater William J. Morris, VIIo
"If anyone becomes a child of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is here, he will not be able to receive it in the other place. He who will receive that light will not be seen, nor can he be detained. And none shall be able to torment a person like this, even while he dwells in the world. And again when he leaves the world, he has already received the truth in the images. The world has become the Aeon (eternal realm), for the Aeon is fullness for him. This is the way it is: it is revealed to him alone, not hidden in the darkness and the night, but hidden in a perfect day and a holy light."
This quotation is taken from the edition of The Gospel According to Philip, edited by James M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition (HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1990). What follows are my comments on this passage.
To me, this passage sounds like many others in the mystical tradition speaking to the reality of inner visions of Light. The Jewish and Christian forms of gnosis believed that God is a God of Light, and that Children of the Light are destined to reconnect with this divine or heavenly Light again. I know of many Gnostic, Sufi, and Christian mystics who describe reaching a level in contemplative prayer where the Divine Light becomes
visible to them. They conceive of the soul as being the "bride," and God as being the "Bridegroom." When the two become one in the bridal chamber of mystical union, the Light appears, then soul and oversoul are truly one in the Mystery of Light.
Orthodox mysticism, to this day, views contemplation of the divine Light as a way to experience union with God. They call it "Theosis." Sufis also say that: "By the Light of Allah I see Allah." By seeing God's Light, the soul is drawn like a magnet back to the Place of the light.
This paragraph from Philip also speaks of divine protection as a result of seeing the Light of heaven. One is protected from the forces that seek to keep the soul confined to the lower planes. These would be the archons (rulers), principalities and powers, the Demiurge (false god), the hierarchy of negative or dark spirits that, in the gnostic system, try to prevent the soul from ascending through the heavens. In the East, these would be the forces of Maya or illusion, Yama (the god of death), and the Kal Niranjan
(Lord of Time). The Kal is the eastern name for the very same gnostic Demiurge, the universal mind-god who wanted his own realm to rule over.
To contemplate the divine Light during this life is preparation for the afterlife, and like other schools of mysticism, the community that wrote Philip advocated seeing the light now, in order for one to be assured that one would go to the place of the Light in the next life. St. Symeon the New Theologian of the Orthodox tradition expressed the same idea a found the Gospel of Philip. This is a point that both Gnostics and the Eastern Orthodox Christians agreed upon.
The Gnostics who wrote and studied the books of the Nag Hammadi Library very much saw heaven as a present tense reality for the mystic-the veil between "this life" and "the next life" was much thinner in their view than it is today in conventional Christianity of the West where that veil seems to be almost completely impenetrable, made of concrete. Not so for the ancients however, who thought that it was possible for living human beings to see God, see visions of Light, converse with angels, and travel in spirit to the heavenly realms while alive in the human body.
Heaven is also for the living, in fact one must, in some Gnostic systems, have access to the heavens now, making journeys of mystical ascent while alive, in order to assure safe passage in the afterlife. Thus, the gnostic writings focus upon the journey of the soul ascending through several different heavenly realms on the way back to the Supreme Being. This concept of souls travelling through several heavens on the way back to the One is not confined only to gnostic literature, it's also found in the New Testament, books of Enoch, Dead Sea Scrolls, and, in fact, many of the apocryphal books that didn't make into the fourth century bible canon presented the view that there are several heavens and that human beings: Enoch, Isaiah, Baruch, Moses, Paul, Thomas, James, Peter, Mary, John, other
Children of Light (you and me) can experience this as well. "But when I came, I opened the way and taught them, the chosen and the solitary, the passage by which they will pass-those who know the Father...." (Dialogue of the Savior, Nag Hammadi Library).
As to their methods-how Gnostics did it-that information, for the most part, is not written down. Books like Pistis Sophia and the Gospel of Thomas speak of the "Mysteries of the Kingdom of God," alluding to things "taught to the disciples in private." "Jesus said, 'I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 62)
The writings of Dionysius the Areopagite and other mystical Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, and Sufi texts, suggest a need for spiritual Knowledge to be transmitted from teacher to student via a process of initiation. Then, like now in the schools of spirituality, the view was that this Knowledge is only something that a few people are interested in, so is meant only for those who are ready for it. Something like the familiar axiom: "When the student is ready, the Master will appear."
I suspect these mystics wanted to keep their contemplative practices quiet as they would seem way too "sci-fi," to "far-out" to most people. Some parts of the Gnostic and Mandaean scriptures resemble the near-death experiences that people report these days: Light, tunnel of Light, Being of Light, life-review, revelations, visions of the heavens, souls as sparks of Light or pure energy, angels, beautiful heavenly music, and upon being returned to the waking state, a major repentance or changing of one's life takes place, with the visionary being transformed into a loving and compassionate soul as a result of these kinds of encounters in the worlds of Light.
Article Source : Sric Canada
"If anyone becomes a child of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is here, he will not be able to receive it in the other place. He who will receive that light will not be seen, nor can he be detained. And none shall be able to torment a person like this, even while he dwells in the world. And again when he leaves the world, he has already received the truth in the images. The world has become the Aeon (eternal realm), for the Aeon is fullness for him. This is the way it is: it is revealed to him alone, not hidden in the darkness and the night, but hidden in a perfect day and a holy light."
This quotation is taken from the edition of The Gospel According to Philip, edited by James M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition (HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1990). What follows are my comments on this passage.
To me, this passage sounds like many others in the mystical tradition speaking to the reality of inner visions of Light. The Jewish and Christian forms of gnosis believed that God is a God of Light, and that Children of the Light are destined to reconnect with this divine or heavenly Light again. I know of many Gnostic, Sufi, and Christian mystics who describe reaching a level in contemplative prayer where the Divine Light becomes
visible to them. They conceive of the soul as being the "bride," and God as being the "Bridegroom." When the two become one in the bridal chamber of mystical union, the Light appears, then soul and oversoul are truly one in the Mystery of Light.
Orthodox mysticism, to this day, views contemplation of the divine Light as a way to experience union with God. They call it "Theosis." Sufis also say that: "By the Light of Allah I see Allah." By seeing God's Light, the soul is drawn like a magnet back to the Place of the light.
This paragraph from Philip also speaks of divine protection as a result of seeing the Light of heaven. One is protected from the forces that seek to keep the soul confined to the lower planes. These would be the archons (rulers), principalities and powers, the Demiurge (false god), the hierarchy of negative or dark spirits that, in the gnostic system, try to prevent the soul from ascending through the heavens. In the East, these would be the forces of Maya or illusion, Yama (the god of death), and the Kal Niranjan
(Lord of Time). The Kal is the eastern name for the very same gnostic Demiurge, the universal mind-god who wanted his own realm to rule over.
To contemplate the divine Light during this life is preparation for the afterlife, and like other schools of mysticism, the community that wrote Philip advocated seeing the light now, in order for one to be assured that one would go to the place of the Light in the next life. St. Symeon the New Theologian of the Orthodox tradition expressed the same idea a found the Gospel of Philip. This is a point that both Gnostics and the Eastern Orthodox Christians agreed upon.
The Gnostics who wrote and studied the books of the Nag Hammadi Library very much saw heaven as a present tense reality for the mystic-the veil between "this life" and "the next life" was much thinner in their view than it is today in conventional Christianity of the West where that veil seems to be almost completely impenetrable, made of concrete. Not so for the ancients however, who thought that it was possible for living human beings to see God, see visions of Light, converse with angels, and travel in spirit to the heavenly realms while alive in the human body.
Heaven is also for the living, in fact one must, in some Gnostic systems, have access to the heavens now, making journeys of mystical ascent while alive, in order to assure safe passage in the afterlife. Thus, the gnostic writings focus upon the journey of the soul ascending through several different heavenly realms on the way back to the Supreme Being. This concept of souls travelling through several heavens on the way back to the One is not confined only to gnostic literature, it's also found in the New Testament, books of Enoch, Dead Sea Scrolls, and, in fact, many of the apocryphal books that didn't make into the fourth century bible canon presented the view that there are several heavens and that human beings: Enoch, Isaiah, Baruch, Moses, Paul, Thomas, James, Peter, Mary, John, other
Children of Light (you and me) can experience this as well. "But when I came, I opened the way and taught them, the chosen and the solitary, the passage by which they will pass-those who know the Father...." (Dialogue of the Savior, Nag Hammadi Library).
As to their methods-how Gnostics did it-that information, for the most part, is not written down. Books like Pistis Sophia and the Gospel of Thomas speak of the "Mysteries of the Kingdom of God," alluding to things "taught to the disciples in private." "Jesus said, 'I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 62)
The writings of Dionysius the Areopagite and other mystical Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, and Sufi texts, suggest a need for spiritual Knowledge to be transmitted from teacher to student via a process of initiation. Then, like now in the schools of spirituality, the view was that this Knowledge is only something that a few people are interested in, so is meant only for those who are ready for it. Something like the familiar axiom: "When the student is ready, the Master will appear."
I suspect these mystics wanted to keep their contemplative practices quiet as they would seem way too "sci-fi," to "far-out" to most people. Some parts of the Gnostic and Mandaean scriptures resemble the near-death experiences that people report these days: Light, tunnel of Light, Being of Light, life-review, revelations, visions of the heavens, souls as sparks of Light or pure energy, angels, beautiful heavenly music, and upon being returned to the waking state, a major repentance or changing of one's life takes place, with the visionary being transformed into a loving and compassionate soul as a result of these kinds of encounters in the worlds of Light.
Article Source : Sric Canada
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