Chicago Gnosis Podcast

Sound, vibration, and music are sacred vehicles for the transmission of divine energy, which meditators effectively utilize to experience serenity and awaken consciousness. Through a variety of exercises, including runes, pranayama, and mantras (sacred sounds), we accumulate spiritual force to enliven different energy centers (chakras) of the vital body, thereby accelerating and catalyzing profoun...

Every action in life requires energy and application of will, down to the smallest molecules, atoms, and particles, to the most complex sentient organisms. Practical meditators learn to harness different modalities of energy within their body, heart, and mind, so as to empower the development of their full conscious potential. When energy is directed by intuitive action, we awaken virtue and achie...

Understanding reality through clear perception is a fundamental power of the practical meditator. However, this faculty, known as imagination or clairvoyance in spiritual circles, can either be liberated, free, and pure, or conditioned by egotism, negativities, and desires. Discover the nature of spiritual vision in its multifarious forms and its essential role in the path of self-transformation....

Consciousness is the capacity to perceive, yet perception can be conditioned or unconditioned, based upon its use or negligence. The psychological science of introspection seeks to liberate consciousness trapped within conditions in order to perceive reality in its direct and clear form. Learn about four distinct states of consciousness as taught by Plato in the Allegory of the Cave (from his monu...

Human beings do not merely possess a single brain within the cranium, but within the heart and spinal column as well, since in esoteric psychology, a brain is a psycho-physiological machine that processes energies of different modifications. Just as the mind has its nervous systems and basis within the material, cranial matter, likewise the heart (the seat of emotions) and the spinal column / sexu...

The microcosmic human being is, in his turn, a solar system in miniature, a marvelous machine with various distributed nets of energy that are in distinct degrees of tension... The human machine (as any other machine) moves under the impulses of the subtle forces of Nature. The secret agents that move the human machines are first the cosmic radiations and second the pluralized “I.”  ―Samael Aun We...

"To change is the best; however, we must begin by being sincere with ourselves.  We need to make a psychological inventory of ourselves in order to know what we have in excess or what we lack.” ―Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology Our internal states shape our exterior life. By becoming acquainted with the numerous conditions of our internal, psychological world, we can modify th...

"We all know that we have within ourselves that which is called ego, I, me, myself. Unfortunately, the Essence is completely imprisoned, absorbed inside the ego, and this is lamentable. To dissolve the psychological “I,” to disintegrate its undesirable elements, is something unavoidable and non-excludable. This is the meaning of working upon oneself... "...Unquestionably, the Essence shines within...

"It is not irrelevant to remind our readers that a mathematical point exists within us. Unquestionably, such a point is never found either in the past or in the future. Whosoever wants to discover that mysterious point must look for it here and now within oneself at this exact moment, not a second earlier, not a second later. The two horizontal and vertical lines of the Holy Cross intersect at thi...

Humanity, in an unprecedented and terrifying manner, has precipitated itself upon the path of war, conflict, and destruction. People are continually oppressed by problems that are difficult to address or resolve, resulting in a world-wide bankruptcy of morals and a lack of solutions for our greatest sorrows. Despite such widespread and overwhelming affliction, there are proven remedies for the all...

"The student is not ready until he seeks truth and honesty in all things." ―M, Lord God of Truth Within A lecture on the importance of cultivating sincerity in our approach toward understanding Truth. Learn how to apply practical methods to generate the personal honesty necessary to overcome obstacles of confusion and self-deception in your spiritual work. Resources and References: https://chicago...

"Search for knowledge (the Lost Word) even in China and maybe you will find it in the great Tartar.” —​Sufi Proverb The people of Peking seek the Lost Word: Calaf, the name of the unknown Tartarian prince in exile, whose secret encloses the wisdom of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Tree of Life, and the appellation of the sacred name of God: Hashem. If Turandot's people do not discover...

Learn the mysteries of the three mother letters of Kabbalah: Aleph, Shin, and Mem, the three riddles that Calaf must solve in order to have the right to marry the divine Shekinah (Turandot). She is the heavenly Kundalini power that can take him from exile and destitution to the spiritual heights of inner realization. Yet to do so, the Prince must risk his life upon the path of initiation and willi...

Princess Turandot​ of China will only marry a man of noble blood who successfully answers three riddles.  If he fails in any, he must submit his head to the axe. Puccini's masterpiece has captivated many admirers, since its most famous aria Nessun Dorma, "No man shall sleep," is one of the most recited around the world. However, humanity does not understand that this opera is a profound teaching o...

The secret teachings are not only profound and subtle, but beautiful and complex, especially in the way they are depicted through opera. This lecture will introduce you to some fundamental principles behind any operatic work, specifically the esoteric sciences of kabbalah and alchemy: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Music is highly mathematical, and since kabbalah is the science of num...

"The Guardian of the Threshold of the mind is similar to the smoke of the flame. The Guardian of the Threshold of the mind is a terrible demonic creature. It lives by reacting against the exterior world with waves of pleasure and pain, with waves of likes and dislikes, and with waves of hatred, envy, greed, slander, selfishness, etc." —Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose The first ordeal that the candid...

The path of initiation has been cited throughout all the world's great religions and mystical traditions in allegorical form. However, the key and method for entering it has never been revealed until the publication of The Perfect Matrimony in 1950. This key is sexual alchemy: the science of harnessing our creative potential to empower our noblest, spiritual aspirations. Just as the sexual force h...

Throughout history, serious spiritual aspirants have sought to enter the most sacred, divine mysteries, but to do so requires conscious efforts and sacrifices. Initiation is dependent upon the qualities of the heart, verified through the intimate internal experiences of the soul. However, before we can pass the threshold of the mysteries, we must prepare our minds, hearts, and bodies to become a l...

"Christ taught three ways in order to reach union with the Innermost. When he was preaching to the multitudes, when he was mystically exalted, he showed us the way of Ramakrishna, Kempis, and Francis of Assisi. This is the path of Anthony of Padua and Theresa of Jesus. This is the Mystical Path. When Christ was walking with Magdalene, the repented prostitute, when he was among publicans and sinner...

The Judeo-Christian Bible is replete with profound symbolism, most notably the mysteries pertaining to the anointment of prophets and kings.  This lecture explores the esoteric meaning of anointment through oil (Hebrew: שֶׁמֶן shemen, semen, or creative sexual energy) and how this spiritual force aids the sincere practitioner of any religion towards psychological purification and redemption. This...

The Bible is deep, intricate, and mystical. Its psychological teachings, moreover, offer insights into how to practically develop our complete spiritual potential. Through its allegorical narratives, the Torah and Gospels depict the soul’s inception, struggles, and redemption. By comprehending the Bible’s cosmological dramas and its characters’ symbolic roles, aspirants can learn how to enact last...

Christ is a universal principle within all religions, not only incarnated within Jesus of Nazareth, but Quetzalcoatl, Krishna, Buddha, Moses, and all masters properly prepared through initiation. Just as the Spring sun resurrects nature, likewise Christ, the cosmic solar energy of divine intelligence, resurrects spiritual life within the soul through the mysteries of Easter. Discover how through a...

"I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal, I died as animal and I was Man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar With angels blest; but even from angelhood I must pass on: all except God doth perish. When I have sacrificed my angel-soul, I shall become what no mind e'er conceived. Oh, let me not exist! for Non-exist...

Esoteric science begins where empirical science ends: through the objective development of spiritually-illuminated consciousness. This is in order to investigate mystical phenomena as cited throughout Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and other religions. Learn about perception, time, the spatial sense and the science behind conscious investigation, the laws governing the multidimensionality of th...

Millions venerate the profound architectural and artistic achievements of the ancient world: the Egyptian, Aztec, and Mayan pyramids; the immaculate sculptures of Greece and Rome; the sacred Buddhist iconography of India, China, and Tibet, and countless other marvels. While such artifacts testify to the cultural, historical, and religious legacy of their creators, they also convey the secret teach...