Gnostic Gospel, Pt 4: The Fullness--Hierarchies of Consciousness

Notice: There is now a separate blog dedicated to the New Gnostic Gospel. You can get there by clicking here.

When last we left the ALL, the ALL had just differentiated itself into self-aware units of consciousness. In Gnostic terminology these newly formed units are called "aeons." 

Over the course of illuminating the Gnostic Gospel, the Simple Explanation has designed a series of visual metaphors representing facets of Gnostic and Christian belief. For the fullest understanding of this article, you may wish to read the entire Gnostic Gospel Illuminated series from the beginning.  If you would prefer to first read the "Simple Gnostic Gospel, Part One: The Father, The Son, and the Birth of The ALL," click here.

The instant the aeons became self-aware, the ALL fell out of their unthinking, blissful union and arranged themselves into "The Fullness"--a hierarchy of aeons with “minds over minds, words over words, superiors over superiors, degrees over degrees, being ranked one above the other. Each of those who glorify has his own station, rank, dwelling place, and place of rest, which is the glorification he brings forth.” [The Tripartite Tractate, v.70] 

The Hierarchy of the Fullness

The hierarchy of The Fullness prefigures the patterns of our universe. "Minds over minds, words over words, superiors over superiors" refers to personalities and how they relate to one another. "Degrees over degrees" and "ranks" refers to the manner by which things are sorted, stacked, and ordered--first, second, third, superior, inferior, and so on. Each with its own "station, rank, dwelling place, and place of rest" reflecting the fact that each self-aware entity has its own place in the grand scheme, with a location different than others' and its very own point of view. 

The aeons dream of Paradise

"For each of the aeons is a name corresponding to each of the Father's qualities and powers. Since he exists in many names, it is by mingling and through mutual harmony that they are able to speak of him, by means of logical thought. Thus, the Father is a single Name because he is One, but nevertheless innumerable in his qualities and names." [The Tripartite Tractate, v.73]

The newly self-aware aeons were not separated from The One Who Is, "rather, their birth has the form of a spreading out, by which the Father spreads himself out into that which he wishes, in order that those who have gone forth from him may exist as well." [The Tripartite Tractate, v.73]

The Father of the aeons--that being the Son and embodiment of the Formless One--is the Holy Spirit that "breathes through the members of the ALL" and moves them to search for the unknown, "just as somebody is moved by a fragrance to seek the source of the fragrance." [The Tripartite Tractate, v.72] "For its sweetness lets the aeons sense an indescribable pleasure, and gives them the thought that they should be united with the One who desires that they should know him in oneness, and that they should assist one another... having no occasion to turn away through thoughtlessness from that in which they are placed." [The Tripartite Tractate, v.73] The Son's Spirit "is the trace by which he may be sought." [The Tripartite Tractate, v.73]

"The whole structure of aeons, then, is yearning and seeking to find the Father perfectly and completely, and this is their irreproachable union... For the Father gave the aeons a starting point and a root, so that they are stations on the calm road leading to him... for he spread out faith and prayer for what they do not see, a firm hope in what they do not comprehend, a fertile love longing for what they do not behold, an eternally receptive understanding of the mind, a blessing that is richness and freedom, and, for their thoughts, the wisdom of one whose desire is the glory of the Father." 

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Those readers who are put off by the name "God" or other religious words like the "Father," the "Son," and the "Holy Spirit," are free to continue using more modern memes like "consciousness" and "self-awareness," "algorithms" and "fractals." You may study these same topics in my Simple Explanation blog and book. However, if you are already familiar with Hebrew and Christian memes, then you will understand these Gnostic writings without needing to first dip into the Simple Explanation, and so you may skip the following translation.

The Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything refers to the Father as the Metaverse, that which is above our Universe.

The Simple Explanation calls the Son the Universal Unit of Consciousness, because while identical to the Father, or Metaverse, this all-knowing consciousness is now also a singular Unit. In fractal terms, the Son is the first iteration of the pattern of consciousness. 

The ALL is every thing that will ever be, in potential. They began as unrealized fractal iterations of the pattern of the Son. This is the second iteration of the singular Unit, which carries the formulae of our universe. 

By this point in the Gnostic Gospel, the Fullness has realized itself and become the expressed fractals of the third iteration: the proliferation of singular Units of Consciousness. These fractals are called "aeons," and they have multiplied into the potential of all forms, processes, and personalities. In same way that an individual's DNA carries its species' potential form, so each unit of consciousness carries within itself the complete pattern of creation. 

The ongoing cooperation amongst the Fullness is the prototype for the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule, which the Simple Explanation puts it this way: "In order for units of consciousness to join and work together for the greater good, they need to share relevant information, they need to assist one another's efforts, and they need to love one another."   

In the same way that the ALL sat in unitary perfection together while singing the same song of praise, so do we all instantiate the pattern of cooperation needed to "get the job done" when we work together for the greater good, without selfish motive. So, too, the Fullness, though differentiated into units of consciousness with individual stations and ranks, dreams of a Paradise where everyone knows their job and does it in perfect cooperation with others for the benefit of all. 

Hierarchies are essential to our manifested universe.