In what ways have the Buddhist teachings you have learned so far challenged your worldview?

Alexander Rivera

The Buddha’s Gnosis

I do not have a strong faith planted firmly in any traditional religion, however my views have been influenced by some esoteric works, namely what academic scholars have dubbed “Gnosticism” which is a vexing subject to define, but for the purposes of this essay I will explain. From contemplation on reading various associated texts, a certain resonance was felt within me. With those details in mind, I have gleaned much from Buddhism and have found many similarities and differences between the two that I will discuss in detail as welcomed inclusions to my thoughts and opinions about God, the nature of reality and their relationship with the self and ego.

Buddhism has challenged some of my beliefs—such as the mystery of God’s existence. The Buddha did not engage in debate concerning the existence of God. In fact, metaphysical speculation would have been rejected in favor for the work dedicated to alleviating pathos of the mind as Nyanaponika Thera explains: “Although belief in God does not exclude a favorable rebirth, it is a variety of eternalism, a false affirmation of permanence rooted in the craving for existence, and as such an obstacle to final deliverance.” The omnipotent deity or an eternal self in this context are seen largely as irrelevant and even an impediment. To paraphrase the Buddha’s second hand parable found in the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: if you were shot with an arrow would you ask what wood the shaft was made out of, or if the tip was obsidian? What angle was the arrow shot from? Who shot it? If you are shot, none of these details would matter. Your immediate thought is to “get it out!” Since it causes great pains, you are suffering. I believe this is because no mind in pain would care for such trivial details. However, before making final assumptions, there are many parallels to consider.

Gnosticism was an esoteric tradition that infused Judeo-Christianity with Platonist philosophy that existed at the dawn of Christianity. Various groups within Gnosticism held ascetic attitudes and placed emphasis on the transcendent immaterial realm while devaluing the physical universe as a transient shadow. The awakening through man’s spiritual essence played an important role in their mystical and cosmological writings featured predominantly in their religion which can be accessed in the form of translated codices called the Nag Hammadi Library found in Egypt, 1945. Since the physical cosmos were largely seen as limiting constructs that enslaved the luminous divine spark—the only possible redemption from it was through a cultivation of “gnosis” (Greek for knowledge)—an intuitive and revelatory recognition of inner divinity. Although no set definition exists for gnosis (much like Nirvana), it can be described as a developing spiritual insight that awakens and frees the sleeping soul from the cycle of suffering; similarly to enlightenment. Authors Smith and Novak support this idea: “Mystics in every faith report contacts with a world that startles and transforms them, a world that cannot be plumbed by language.” (93)

Herbert Christian Merillat notes some further parallels between the two traditions: “In both Gnosticism and Buddhism, the opposite of gnosis or consciousness is ignorance, the root evil. Drunkenness, blindness, poverty, deficiency, emptiness, were favorite Gnostic metaphors for the un-knowing state of humankind.” The chapter in his book continues to note early contacts between Buddhism and Classical Romans which can explain some of the similarities between both traditions. Another scholar J. Kennedy goes on to support Merillat’s findings: “If Buddhism was to influence Christianity, Gnosticism might be supposed to furnish the most likely channel. Gnosticism was anterior to Christianity, and was open to Indian influence.”

Life forms in our fallen, counterfeit cosmos are entirely governed by programming (by D.N.A) where one form lives off from the death of something else—thus producing suffering. Other laws such as time, karma, reincarnation and physics in all its forms were considered an artificial illusion destined for entropy. Restrictive and suppressive religions and forms of government were also part of this system of control. All is not well with the world and there is some greater reality behind it and even the creator is malicious and deranged. Scholar Kurt Rudolf emphasizes this sentiment: “The world is the product of a divine tragedy, a disharmony in the realm of God, a baleful destiny in which man is entangled and from which he must be set free.” (66)

These sentiments are similar to the Buddhist notion that entropy pervades material existence. The only thing permanent in the eyes of a Buddhist is impermanence itself. The Christian-Gnostic text, The Sophia of Jesus Christ tells us:

Everything that came from the perishable will perish, since it came from the perishable. But whatever came from imperishableness does not perish but becomes imperishable. So, many men went astray because they had not known this difference and they died.

Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism both hold that everything is subject to entropy, and absolutely nothing exhibits an eternal nature because there are no absolutes. Perhaps this is the notion in Buddhist thought which gives rise to the rejection of metaphysical speculation. However, in Mahayana Buddhism, there seems to be a belief in the immanent, universal Buddha-nature as authors Smith and Novak once again reveal: “In the words of a famous Mahayana text, ‘There is a Buddha in every grain of sand.’”. (67) They also address the Theravada and Mahayana sects themselves, “Whereas Theravadins follow their founder in considering metaphysics of dubious worth, Mahayana texts spawned elaborate world pictures replete with many-leveled heavens and hells.” (70) They continue to list many differences between the two schools, but more importantly, Mahayana Buddhism shares with Gnosticism in their emphasis on the metaphysical.

In Gnostic mythology, the dream-world that mankind finds himself exiled in is owned by the “demiurge” meaning craftsman (a term specifically borrowed from Plato’s Timaeus). The demiurge is called “Yaldabaoth” (often equated with the Old Testament deity of Yahweh-Lord of Hosts, hence the name) who in combination of arrogance and ignorance, set himself up as lord over the earth that cannot see anything beyond him while mistaking himself for the true God. The Gnostics in the ancient world perceived the world as being actually ruled by this ignorant chief ruler and his inferior angelic-demonic authorities or “archons”—hinted by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. They were opposed to holy angels/aeons that populated the limitless light beyond and tried to always stop their attempts to send down a redeemer. The Apocryphon of John reiterates:

Yaldabaoth is the first ruler, who took great power from his mother. Then he left her and moved away from the place where he was born. He took control for himself other realms with luminous fire, which still exists. He mated with the mindlessness in him and produced authorities for himself… (Meyer 146-147)

It goes on to explain that the demiurge and the archons’ origins emerge from a disaster committed in a turbulent fall from the divine realm by his angelic mother Sophia (wisdom), without the consultation from her mate the Word or Logos. She can be understood as a holy symbol for gnosis, pregnant with knowledge that leads one out of ignorance and blesses those who seek to study and share in her knowledge.

The closest parallel in Buddhism as far as the demiurge goes would be Mara, the lord of illusion, desire, death and rebirth. A writer from one website, Rev. Jnana identifies Mara as a “…familiar figure in the rich lore of Buddhism, most especially as the deva, or supernatural being, whose forces attack the bodhisattva Siddhartha Gautama as he sat beneath the pipal tree prior to his Enlightenment.” The demiurge and the archons could very well be metaphors for human character flaws of the ego trapped in ignorance and desire. In Buddhism, the annihilation of the ego along with its attachments is suggested to realize self-awakening. To the Gnostics, as long as the spark is veiled within the realm of the archons, immured in illusion its experience of the world is deluded. In order to know something directly, the release of our preconceptions, addictions, and emotional cravings are necessary. The scholar Rupert Gethin describes these archons, “…in the subtle form of the conceit “I am” clings to the aggregates as a faint smell of dirt might still cling to washed clothes.” (162)

I do not reject the Buddha’s teachings in favor for Gnosticism; rather I attempt to find a right balance between both. The quest is a personal, life-long journey and shouldn’t be limited to just one doctrine or philosophy. I find them to be both invaluable in the understanding of reality and myself. Yet still, I find myself here for the time being until the moment of my death. The path is left to each of us to follow as we are the ultimate authority of our destiny: will we drown in our own ignorance or will we become our own master? The Gospel of Truth puts it eloquently, “Through Christ he enlightened those who were in darkness because of forgetfulness. He enlightened them and gave them a path.”

Works Cited.

Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Smith, Houston, Novak, Philip. Buddhism: A Concise Introduction. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

Rudolf, Kurt. Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism.New York: HarperOne, 1987.

Barnstone, Willis, Meyer, Marvin. The Gnostic Bible. Massachusetts: New Seeds Books, 2003.

Herbert Christian Merillat. The Gnostic Apostle Thomas. 1997. 5 April 2008.

Kennedy, J. “Art. XV. – Buddhist Gnosticism, the System of Basilides.” The Journal of the Great Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1902. p. 377-415. Buddhist Digital Library & Museum. 5 April 2008.

Lance Owens. “The Sophia of Jesus Christ – The Nag Hammadi Library.” 5 April 2008.

Robert M. Grant. “The Gospel of Truth (Grant Translation)– The Nag Hammadi Library.” 5 April 2008.

Nyanaponika Thera. “Buddhism and the God-idea.” Access to Insight. 2004. 5 April 2008.

Thanissaro Bhikku. MN 63: “Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta.” Access to Insight. 2004. 5 April 2008.

Rev. Jnana. “Reflections on Mara.” Urban Dharma. 14 April 2008.