The Word of Eternal Silence. 49 Steps of Spiritual Ascent

«He who contemplates his own nature becomes a Buddha.» (The fourth principle of Zen)

Four thousand years ago, our forefather Abraham founded the religion of monotheism, and two thousand years ago, Jesus of Nazareth ushered in a new era — the Christian era, or, as it is also called, the spiritual era. Each of these eras, lasting 2,000 years, prepared human consciousness for the Era of the Holy Spirit.

Over the past 4,000 years, religion has played a significant role in human development. It established commandments that have served as moral norms for civilized society for centuries, and most importantly, it prohibited human sacrifice, giving human life the highest value. By proclaiming the ideas of humanism, religion succeeded in defeating barbarism and creating a relatively just society. But in the new, spiritual era, humanity must ascend to the next level of development. It is called upon to completely renounce war and violence, awakening within itself the necessary spiritual qualities. But this is impossible without secret knowledge capable of elevating consciousness to a new level.

«It is impossible to live better than by spending one’s life striving to become more perfect.» (Socrates)

While all world religions are more concerned with the soul, helping to perfect and purify it, secret teachings speak of the awakening of the spirit; this is their fundamental difference. No matter how spiritual a person is, without spiritual knowledge they will never be able to renounce violence and injustice. The endless wars of recent millennia, some of which are motivated by religious hatred, are further proof of this. Only a spiritually developed person is able to look at the situation from a distance and stop the violence. In other words, for people to avoid exterminating each other and begin to coexist in an equal and just world, they must acquire a new level of knowledge that will complement religious education and become its next step.

It’s important to note that esoteric knowledge is different from anything you’ve heard before. It alone serves as the invisible thread that will lead humanity out of the labyrinth of suffering into a new, just world. It’s important to understand that this isn’t intellectual knowledge, and success in it can’t be achieved by reading a bunch of books. It’s a spiritual experience that is unique to each person. Gnosis is specialized, secret knowledge that awakens a new spiritual essence, a superhuman, within a person. By absorbing gnosis, a person ascends to a new level of consciousness.

This can be explained using the example of fitness training. Let’s say anything religious helps build triceps, while spiritual knowledge builds biceps. Only when an athlete develops both triceps and biceps will their arms look symmetrical. A person familiar only with religious literature can also be compared to a soccer player who plays well with only one foot. Fans of this sport know that even an average player must have sufficient control of the ball with both feet. Without specialized knowledge, a person lives an incomplete life, and only by absorbing gnosis can they develop a new muscle group, one that had been atrophied, and achieve their desired goal.

«The world is blind; here only a few are able to see. Only a few, like birds, escape from the nets and enter the realm of bliss.» (Buddha)

It’s worth noting that virtually all esoteric teachings are based on Holy Scripture, and each recognizes its truth. However, one of the main differences between the mystery schools and official religion is that the latter interprets Holy Scripture literally, while the mystery teachings interpret it allegorically. We will examine those passages in Scripture that directly or figuratively speak of the spiritual ascent to Silence.

One of the most striking examples is the story of Jacob’s ladder, which the forefather saw in a dream. According to secret teachings, the fundamental meaning of human life is to awaken spiritually and begin to climb the spiritual ladder, which is allegorically described in the forefather Jacob’s dream. Or, as we have already said, to climb the Pyramid of Silence to experience true happiness. Let me quote the description of this dream from the Book of Genesis (28:10—12):

«…10. Now Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran,

11. And he came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place, and put it for his pillow, and lay down in that place.

12. And I saw in a dream, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.»

This dream has special significance for spiritual seekers, as it marks the path to Higher Wisdom, to that radiant delta at the apex of the pyramid. It allegorically speaks of a person’s ability, through their inner work, to ascend through the divine spheres and, with a certain amount of persistence and chastity, to touch Silence. During this ascent, the spiritual seeker receives an ever-higher level of knowledge from angels, or spiritual teachers, their consciousness expands, and they become superhuman.

It’s worth noting that the radiant delta motif appears in Jewish and Christian traditions. However, their main difference from esoteric teachings is that the delta at the top of the pyramid depicts not an eye, the All-Seeing Eye, but the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God, and sometimes God the Father or Mother Goddess. This symbol can be seen in many temples, as well as in paintings by famous artists of the past, which depict the ascent of the ladder from Jacob’s dream, drawing on ancient knowledge.

Piscator’s Bible — «Jacob’s Dream» (1643)

Jacob’s Ladder, Greece; 16th century (Greece, Mount Athos, Dionysiou Monastery)

Frans II Francken (1581—1642) — Jacob’s Ladder

James Tissot (1836—1902) — Jacob’s Ladder

Delta with the Tetragrammaton (altar of the royal chapel of the Palace of Versailles, France)

Every spiritual seeker must steadily climb higher and higher up the spiritual ladder to touch the divine Light, the Highest Wisdom. The summit is steep, and one will fall back many times, but one must find the strength to continue the climb.

Most people are at the lowest point of their evolution; others, like Sisyphus, climb and then slide back down, which is why there is so much violence in the world. When humanity rises one, two, or three stages in development, it will completely renounce violence. People will become more considerate of their neighbors, the natural environment, animals, and insects. The world will be transformed, and a golden age of equality and justice will dawn. All enlightened thinkers renounced violence and urged their followers not to resist it, for violence begets violence, and only water can extinguish fire.

We stand at the threshold of a new time, an era of spiritual revolution, when the governance of the world will pass to people with awakened consciousness. They will be called upon to contribute to the foundation of a new, just society. Such a world existed at the beginning of time, and that era was called the Golden Age, but due to human ignorance, it was destroyed. After this, the Divine Mother disappeared, and her daughter, the princess-soul who dwells in this world and within each of us, fell into a deep sleep. In other religions, the awakening of the soul and its subsequent encounter with the Divine Mother, as we have already said, is associated with the third eye, which was long ago closed due to human ignorance. This mystical eye, like the Divine Mother, bestowed harmony upon humanity, imbued them with the gift of foresight and a different perception of reality.

Secret teachings also say that the material world is like the mind of a constantly evolving adolescent — a kind of Macrocosm, which we can tentatively call the Cosmic Man or Divine Mind, within which we reside. Some esoteric schools say that a person represents the various parts of their body, that is, those from which they were formed, while others say that people reside within the mind of the Cosmic Man, each representing a specific thought. This is why it is considered important to side with Light thoughts. As the Cosmic Man matures, so does the Microcosm, that is, the humanity within it. During the process of evolution, this divine Mind has gone through several stages of development: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and now, roughly speaking, youth. As it matures, new interests emerge, and its range of hobbies expands. The macrocosm of children’s literature is moving into more serious literature, becoming fascinated with electronics and robotics. In other words, the transformation of the higher mind is accompanied by a transformation of the material world. Our civilization is developing in parallel with the Cosmic Man, and therefore an intellectual leap is inevitable. But the question is whether humanity will be able to achieve it smoothly or through upheavals.

Let’s return to our sports example. While working on the first muscle group, that is, studying religious books, the teenager had unconsciously been touching the second group as well, but now he set a goal to consciously devote special attention to it. Religion was meant to prepare the higher Mind for the most important knowledge — esoteric. Similarly, a child first learns numbers, then arithmetic, and then moves on to algebra. Mental and spiritual knowledge do not infringe upon each other or compete with each other; on the contrary, they are meant to complement each other and smoothly lead the hero to excellent results in cosmic learning in the vastness of the vast Universe.

«A precious stone cannot be polished without friction. Similarly, a person cannot develop himself without a sufficient number of difficult attempts.» (Confucius)

In secret teachings, Silence is presented as the counterpart of the First Father or, as some say, the highest attribute of the Creator. In monistic religions, God is one and singular, and all attributes, such as wisdom, mercy, severity, and others, are gathered into the overall image of the Creator. Therefore, the Voice from Heaven, which spoke to the great prophets, is called God. But as traditional religions teach, at a certain point, the Creator hid from this world, and his will was to be proclaimed by Bat-kol (literally translated from Hebrew: «Daughter of the Voice»).

It is this voice, also called the Voice from Heaven or the Voice of God in Scripture, that conveys the will of the Creator and serves as the connecting thread between God and His creation. Through Bat-Kol, the Creator proclaims His will to conscious, awakened humanity and guides them to salvation. This same voice spoke to prophets, great kings, and enlightened ones.

In Kabbalah, two levels of revelation are known: the «Great Voice,» called the voice of Eternal Silence, what is known in secret teachings as the Voice of Eternal Silence, and the second is the «Daughter of the Voice» (Hebrew: «Bat-kol»). The Book of Zohar states that this voice is not external, but internal, and when Holy Scripture speaks of the Voice of God, a voice from heaven, it refers to internal processes. The Voice of Eternal Silence is feminine; it was heard in the Garden of Eden, but was later concealed, and in this world only the voice of her daughter, Bat-kol, can be heard.

Book of Zohar, Bereshit Bet:

«Rabbi Simon (Hebrew: Shimon) said: «Just as the Torah is between two houses (two women). The first is Upper and hidden, sealed, and the second is more revealed.

The first is also called the «Great Voice,» the one mentioned in Deuteronomy 5:19: «The Great Voice that was heard no more,» that is, the Great Voice that was hidden.»

And the Zohar continues:

«It is an inner Voice that cannot be heard as speech. It speaks constantly, but it can never be heard.

The Great Voice is a voice that speaks in secret, a subtle inner voice that can no longer be heard.»

Gnostic literature places special emphasis on Eternal Silence. It existed long before the Aeon Logos (Word). Silence, known in Gnostic teaching as the Aeon Sige (eternal Silence), has a daughter, or, according to other versions, a sister, named Ennoia (Thought). In Gnostic history, Ennoia, the first thought of the Creator, at some point became proud and fled to create independently, but, upon descending into the material world, was captured by the Archons, the dark thoughts she herself had created. The Archons continue to hold her captive, preventing her from returning to her parents.

In Greek mythology, the separation of the Aeons of Sige and Ennoia, or the Aeons of the elder and younger Sophia, corresponds to the myth of the separation of Demeter and Persephone. In that story, Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. She greatly missed her mother Demeter, but could not leave Hades, and so Zeus’s messenger, Hermes, stepped in as savior. Hermes descended into the underworld, rescued Persephone, and returned her to Demeter. If we turn to another, more famous Gnostic story of the deformation of the Pleroma (wholeness), the cause of the Fall was the prideful Aeon Sophia (Wisdom), as a result of which her daughter was cast out of the Pleroma into the Coenoma. The entire story revolves around their eventual reunion, the elder Sophia and her daughter, the younger Sophia-Sirim. In the mystery schools, these myths illustrate the process of inner salvation. They are meant to constantly remind people of their primary mission: the salvation of the soul, called the «harlot,» and its return to paradise with the help of Hermes. To better understand the Gnostic view of inner processes, I will cite excerpts from the book «The Song of the Sirim.»

History of the Pleroma and Kenoma

1. The Beginning of the Pleroma

In the beginning was the Unbegotten Father, also called the First Father. He had many other names, including the First Principle, the One, the Silence, Bythos, the Bottomless, the Abyss, or the Depth. This unbegotten, primordial, and perfect Aeon existed long before all things came into being. The First Principle had a mate, called Sige (Eternal Silence), also called Ennoia (Thought).

Despite the fact that the incomprehensible First Father remained silent all this time, love overwhelmed him, which is why Love is one of his names. At some point, wanting to share this wonderful feeling with someone else, he decided to create his own offspring of Aeons.

Wishing to bestow upon the Aeons the best the Creator had within himself, he placed the seed of his future offspring in Sige’s womb, after which Sige emanated from herself the first pair, the syzygy of the Aeons. These were Nous, also called the Only Begotten, the Beginning of Beginnings, and the Father of Aeons — in other words, the root of all Aeons, since all subsequent Aeons descend from him — and Aletheia.

This was the first tetrad, the four highest Aeons:

The First Father and Sige (Silence);

Nus (Mind) and Alethea (Truth).

After some time, the second pair of Aeons, Nous and Aletheia, wishing to emulate the First Father in all things, emanated from themselves a new pair: Logos and Zoë. Logos is considered the beginning of the Pleroma, the Aeons, and all subsequent creations.

Logos and Zoe in turn produced Anthropos and Ecclesia.

This is the second tetrad:

Logos (Word) and Zoe (Life);

Anthropos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church).

Together they formed the first eight Aeons, the Ogdaod.

Having produced the pair Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe emanated ten more Aeons, which made up five pairs.

Here are their names:

Bitios (Depth) and Mixis (Mixing);

Ageratos (Eternal Youth) and Genosis (Unity);

Autophyes (Essential Nature) and Hedone (Pleasure);

Akinetos (Immobile) and Syncrasis (Mixture);

Monogenes (Only Begotten) and Macaria (Happiness).

The pair Anthropos and Ecclesia also emanated from themselves six pairs, twelve Aeons, the last of which are Teletos and Sophia.

Here are their names:

Parakletos (Comforter) and Pistis (Faith);

Patrikos (Father’s) and Elpis (Hope);

Metricos (Motherly) and Agape (Love);

Ainos (Praise) and Synesis (Intellect);

Ekklesiasticos (son of Ecclesia) and Makariotes (Beatitude);

Teletos (Desired) and Sophia (Wisdom).

2. Events in the Pleroma

These fifteen pairs, thirty perfect Aeons, constituted the Pleroma, that is, the fullness and integrity of the First Father. Of all the Aeons, only Nous, the Only Begotten, could enjoy the Creator’s boundless majesty. He was also granted the honor of being initiated into the mysteries and plans of the First Principle. For all the other Aeons, the First Father remained invisible and incomprehensible.

The descendants of Nus reverently fulfilled the commandments they received, the main one of which forbade not only approaching the First Father, but even thinking about him once again, since his greatness was incomprehensible to the descendants of Nus.

With each generation, the Aeons drifted further and further from the Source, the Root of all things, and despite the prohibitions, they secretly desired to know more about the Creator of all things, the First Principle. The descendants of Nous were tormented by questions: who is the source of all Aeons? Why are they born in pairs? How did they end up in the Pleroma? And why did the First Principle reveal itself only to Nous?

Despite all these questions the Aeons posed, they displayed humility, and none of them intended to violate the prohibition, until one day the youngest of the Aeons, descended from Anthropos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church), whose name was Sophia (Wisdom), desired, despite the prohibition, to know the First Principle. Becoming proud, she abandoned her mate, Teletos, and, driven by passions, rushed toward the incomprehensible First Father, the Source of all.

Sophia was driven by pride, not love, as she thought. She was convinced that her action would elicit admiration from the other Aeons, who were hesitant to do something similar, fearing they would violate the prohibition.

Despite all the obstacles, in her quest to comprehend the greatness of the First Father, she pressed ever further. She almost succeeded in approaching the Source, but the Inner Limit (Oros), guarding the Creator’s peace, stopped her. It reminded Sophia that the First Father was incomprehensible and returned her to Teletos.

3. The appearance of the younger Sophia, Sirim

Although Sophia returned to her mate, her action had consequences. In her quest to unite with the incomprehensible First Father, she produced a formless entity, previously unknown in the Pleroma, something that an Aeon without a mate could produce. Sophia attempted to conceal this entity, also known as a miscarriage, fearing that her imperfect creation would be expelled from the Pleroma.

Upon learning of Sophia’s formless fruit, the Aeons were terrified, thinking that such offspring awaited them as well. The Pleroma, where the Aeons were born in pairs from male and female essences, was engulfed in turmoil. The harmony that had reigned since its founding was disrupted, and since Sophia, in a fit of passion, had violated the prohibition and given birth to a child without a partner, it was decided to banish the younger Sophia from the Pleroma.

Upon learning that her child was about to be banished, Sophia tried to protect it and begged the Progenitor for forgiveness. But since she had violated the prohibition and given birth to a formless being, forbidden to remain in the Pleroma, her prayers were not accepted. To appease the Aeons, who were terrified by the sight of Sophia’s child, the Progenitor produced another Aeon, neither paired nor female, also called the Cross. The Aeon Cross, unlike Oros, fulfilled the duties not of the inner Limit, guarding the chambers of the Progenitor, but of the outer Limit, that is, it was supposed to protect the entire Pleroma and the Aeons within it from external incompleteness, the Kenoma. The outer Limit cleansed Sophia of her passions and separated from her the formless miscarriage, also called Sirim. After these events, the purified Sophia remained in the Pleroma and was returned to Teletos, while her child, the younger Sophia, Sirim, was led beyond the Pleroma, or, as they say, cast down into the Kenoma. To further protect the Aeons from imperfection, the Progenitor commanded the outer Limit to ascend the Cross erected at the entrance to the Pleroma and guard the approaches.

4. Events in Kenoma

During her fall, Sirim saw the light of the Pleroma and imprinted it on her memory forever. Remaining in the void and darkness, in a place called Kenoma, she suffered greatly, longing to return as soon as possible.

To restore order in the Pleroma, the First Father gave instructions to Nous with Aletheia emanate a new pair of Aeons, whose names are Christ and the Holy Spirit.

They were called upon to calm the Aeons, restore order to the Pleroma, and subsequently care for its integrity. Christ and the Holy Spirit once again reminded the inhabitants of the Pleroma of the laws of the Forefather and His incomprehensibility, and also informed them that this very incomprehensibility is the foundation of the reigning order, integrity, and eternity of the Pleroma.

Having accepted the guidance of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Aeons regained their peace, and only Sophia continued to pray to the Progenitor for forgiveness. Over time, the other Aeons inhabiting the Pleroma joined her prayers, and the all-merciful Progenitor took pity on Sophia, promising through Nous that in the future her child would return to the Pleroma and be united with its mate.

The thirty Aeons rejoiced at this news and, wishing to express their gratitude to the Origin, decided to create a collective Aeon in His honor.

Each gave the best they had, and thus, to the glory of the Creator, the perfect Aeon was created, named Irenaeus (in Hebrew, Yehoshua — Jesus). This Aeon is not paired, but only male, as its counterpart is the younger Sophia, Sirim. Along with Irenaeus, twelve angels were born, who were to accompany and protect him everywhere. This common fruit of the Pleroma was also called Logos, Christ, High Priest, and Savior, for he was destined to find Sirim in the future, save her, and then return her to the Pleroma.

The formless, powerless Sirim, who was in Kenome, did not know that her mother had been forgiven and that a new Aeon, Irenaeus, had been created for the glory of the First Father and for her salvation.

5. Design of Sirim

After Christ and the Holy Spirit had restored the integrity of the Pleroma, they were given another mission: to descend into Kenoma to give form to the younger Sophia.

Arriving in Kenoma, also known as the desert and the Kingdom of Darkness, Christ discovered the younger Sophia, unformed. She crawled along the ground, unable to even rise due to her nature. Christ formed Sirim, also known as the passions of the elder Sophia, after which she took the form of a female Aeon, but not a paired one. In the future, uniting with the purely male Aeon, Irenaeus, they would create a new, perfect pair of Aeons. Having completed their mission, Christ and the Holy Spirit hastened to return to the Pleroma.

The younger Sophia, having become an almost perfect Aeon, began to seek those who had given her form, and rushed after Christ and the Holy Spirit into the Pleroma, but the outer Limit, guarding the approaches to the Pleroma, blocked her path and ordered her to return to Kenoma.