Church of Gnostic Luminism

 

THE LUMINIST MANIFESTO
VII. (R)evolutionary Ethics

 

 

 

Luminist Manifesto: (R)evolutionary Ethics

 

 

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

This principle, called the Law of Thelema, will provide the basis for the ethical and moral teachings of our new Church. Please understand, lest you be led astray, that this means: find out what your true will is, and then do that, and nothing else. 

This maxim is based on a theology for the New Aeon, the next phase of human evolution. It views Samadhi or Illumination as a prerequisite, a basic starting point, rather than the final goal, as it was viewed by Old Aeon systems.

Once one’s mind has been “turned on” to the light of the macrocosmic perspective, the true will, or the optimum choice that an individual can make in every situation, can be clearly distinguished from the “false will,” the idle whims and desires of the finite ego.


The Divine Will

Ultimately, the true will of every woman and every man is identical with the “divine will” as it applies to them. The Christian prayer, “Thy will be done,” and the Thelemic commandment, “Do what thou wilt,” are identical from a Luminist perspective, as the hidden identity between one’s real Self and the Deity has been revealed and recognized. Thus, the new spiritual orientation proposed here is a fulfillment of, rather than a contradiction of, the old religions of Earth. (As it was written in the Testament of Christ: I am come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.)


Karmic Patterns

From the universal or macrocosmic perspective, it can be seen that the choices we make every moment of our lives — our every action, every spoken word, and even every thought — cause waves of vibration to radiate out through the universe, forming intricate patterns and designs as they resonate and interact. These patterns, which can be “read” clairvoyantly by Initiates, give color and shape to the experienced reality of incarnate beings in the material worlds. (The subtle impressions made in the trans-spatiotemporal “æther” or psychoplasm by these patterns are traditionally called “the akashic records”.)


Divine Esthetics

The Divine Will (the collective consciousness of all that is in its active mode), motivated by an aesthetic sense of beauty and harmony, reaches out into time and space and shapes these karmic patterns into artistically pleasing designs. From the incarnate or particular perspective, this shaping action manifests as our own deepest or most intrinsic volition (true will), if we attend to and attune ourselves to it. By aligning our conscious will with our true will (or, in mystical terms, surrendering the ego to the divine), we allow our lives to be harmonized with the Cosmic Purpose.


The Fates

An image of this process is given in the inspired paganism of ancient Greece: The experiences we have in life are symbolized as threads of destiny that are interwoven on the cosmic loom with the strands of possibility, into a tapestry of intricate design. The weaving is done by the Goddesses of Fate (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos). Devout prayers and invocations directed to these Goddesses have been known to produce truly miraculous effects.


Universally Applicable Ethical Principles

The individual is the final authority for all practical applications of the Law of Thelema, “Do what thou wilt.” Nevertheless, though every individual is unique, certain ethical teachings will be found to be universally applicable. Among them, the Church of Gnostic Luminism will recognize these:

Personal Responsibility: Participants in the experience of gnostic revelation will find that they are ethically bound to live in such a way that their every action, word, and thought aids the spiritual evolution of all sentient beings, rather than hindering or distracting others from it. (No actions are neutral; each either weighs or lifts).

Harmlessness: All life is sacred; every living being is a manifestation in material form of the Divine One. We must each live in such a way as to cause the least possible harm to the other beings that share our reality. This is the ideal referred to in Christianity as “the golden rule” — and the same idea appears in almost all traditional religions of the world. Obviously this implies an attitude of forbearance and compassion for other beings we encounter in life. Other implications include the following:

Vegetarianism: Refraining from the eating of animal flesh and the use of products resulting from the slaughter of animals (fur, leather, animal-fat soaps, etc.), and preferably avoiding as well commercially produced chicken eggs (which support the lifelong torture of literally billions of animals) and bovine mammary secretions (milk) (an industry interlocked with the “veal” market which slaughters baby cows that are cruelly tortured for the duration of their short lives).

Pacifism: Refusing to participate in the deliberate infliction of physical harm to other beings, except for acts of self-defense or defense of loved ones; boycotting militarism and other forms of organized violence, including the payment of taxes used for such purposes; and in our private lives, avoiding the projection of anger and destructive thoughts at others, which constitute violence on a telepathic level.

Anarchism: Refusing to participate in or condone social institutions that allow coercion of, or the deprivation of essential life support to any person; working for the elimination of all such institutions; and in our private lives, seeking solutions within family and community that do not involve coercion or deprivation.

Truthfulness: We must each strive always to refrain from deliberately misinforming, misleading, or deceiving others, either by commission (lying, bearing false witness) or omission (failing to fully and accurately embody and represent the truth). Lack of truthfulness creates static and dissonance in the collective psyche, prevents conscious telepathic communion, isolates us from other beings and from higher consciousness, and inhibits the development of Gnostic Illumination. (Of course, tactical compromises may be necessary in these Last Days of pre-revolutionary society, and during the revolutionary period itself; but we must not lose sight of the ideal, nor forget to adhere to it in our homes, liberated areas, and guerilla camps; for it will form the cornerstone of post-revolutionary society.)

Purity: We must strive to constantly maintain an awareness of the sacredness of Life in all of Its manifestations, eliminating from our lives anything that dulls or distracts from the vision. Such areas as diet, hygiene, home economics, family relations, and sexuality are directly related to this concern, which is reflected in the first two of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, yama and niyama.

Social responsibility:  Our individual lives comprise essential elements of the social groups and communities that we move through and partake of. As we move among them, we must strive to be aware of the effects we are having on each. Our external responsibilities are as important as our “internal” responsibilities to ourselves; the difference is just a question of which part of the phenomenon you choose to focus your attention on. The following are among the essential guidelines for conscious, Illumination-friendly interpersonal and community relations:

Custodianship of personal resources:  The “property” that life has placed under our control comprises a trust that we are caring for on behalf of the community that we are a part of. It is our responsibility to care for such property, and to make it available to those who, in our judgment, most need it, or could most benefit from it: it is for such ones that it has been placed temporarily in our hands. This particularly applies to:

Land and natural resources.

The necessities of life, such as food, shelter, and medicine, and the facilities for their production and distribution.

Books, works of art, musical recordings and instruments, and other cultural and educational resources.

Care of the less fortunate: It is everyone’s responsibility to share in the care of those among us who are temporarily or permanently unable to provide for themselves. Rather than exteriorizing this responsibility and placing it in the hands of “government” or other forces outside of ourselves, we must each recognize our own responsibility and make it a priority to ensure that those close to us are properly cared for.

Participation in collective decision-making: Freedom implies responsibility. To maintain a free society, we must each take an active part in shaping the collective decisions that affect our lives. We must learn to cooperate on areas where agreement is possible, while agreeing to disagree about other matters; and we must learn to reach agreements in a non-threatening, non-authoritarian, non-hierarchical manner.

Ecological responsibility: A major area of ethical concern is our responsibility to the planet of which we are a part.

Custodianship of planetary resources: We must strive to be aware of the effects our actions will have on future generations, and of our responsibility to maintain the balance of the living systems that make up our environment. Through involvement in collective decision-making at all levels of society, we must constantly remind others of this vital responsibility.

Preservation of biodiversity: We must act to ensure the safety of the myriads of species of life that share our world, and protect their habitats from disturbance or destruction. Technologies and industries that are harmful to Earth and / or Her inhabitants must be either abolished, or moved to a safe distance from the planet’s fragile biosphere.

  The infinite expanse of space awaits us with unlimited opportunity for alternative locations to which industries harmful to the planet’s bioplasm can be safely moved.  The development of extraterrestrial space for human industrial use must be made a top priority.  In space, unlimited free solar energy can be tapped, and harmful wastes can be disposed of by placing them on barges and pushing them into the Sun. Raw materials on Luna and in the Asteroid Belt can be used to build and fuel a fleet of self-replicating industrial/agricultural habitats.

Alternatives to the primitive and dirty rocket propulsion system must be developed to make our access to extraterrestrial space safe and affordable. Construction of a permanent “elevator cable
” anchored on Earth and tethered in zero-G space, as portrayed in Arthur C. Clarke’s novel The Fountains of Paradise, could make space travel as routine as a railway line. The industries that remain inside the biosphere must be certified harmless to organic life. We must accept no less than the declaration of a protected wildlife habitat zone covering the entire planet.


Our motto will be:

“Heal the Earth that gave us birth;
seize the stars whose wealth is ours!”


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