Jesus said, “Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell upon rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure.”
The seed of Light, the Living Word and Wisdom, may be sown in one’s consciousness, yet not take root and come to fruition. Teachings and initiations may be imparted but not be integrated and received. Receptivity is dependent upon the state of one’s consciousness, the development of the desire to receive and impart. To receive the teachings of secret wisdom and initiation, one must prepare one’s consciousness, purify and consecrate oneself to Spirit and Truth.
“Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up.” This is the situation of a person who has links to dark and hostile forces, and who is open to extremely negative influences. The demonic beings-forces will immediately devour and dispel the influence of whatever teachings and initiations might be imparted. Indeed, there are some who will approach a holy teacher, a tzaddik, not led by a sincere desire to receive, but for extremely distorted and negative ulterior motives. The dark and hostile forces are attracted like moths to a bright flame and compel the person to approach under the false appearance of a true seeker. Not only will the dark and hostile forces prevent reception of any teachings or initiations, but may also act to attempt to harm the tzaddik, disrupt the continuum, or cause discord in the spiritual community that forms around the tzaddik.
Entering into the mystical path, you must understand that you exist in a play of cosmic forces, Divine forces, demonic forces, and forces of admixture. Behind everything that appears and transpires in this world is the play of these cosmic forces, forces of which the ordinary individual is completely ignorant and unaware. So long as one lives in disbelief or unconscious of these forces, that soul tends to be driven and unconsciously compelled by these forces, held in bondage, as it were, by the play of these forces. It is for this reason that initiates of our tradition seek not only a mystical attainment, that is to say a conscious awareness of unity with God, but also seek knowledge and mastery of the occult or hidden forces, so that they might liberate themselves and others from bondage to these cosmic forces of ignorance and direct the cosmic forces according to the Divine Will. Here we come to understand why there is both a mystical and magical side to initiates in a Gnostic Christian Tradition, and why Divine theurgy plays such a strong part in the spiritual practices taught.
“Some fell on rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears.” This is the state of the person who is completely disinterested and unreceptive to spiritual teachings. Such a state of complete nonreceptivity can occur for many reasons. It could be on account of severe grief that the individual refuses to let go and heal, finding a perverse sort of security in their suffering and being unwilling to seek healing and redemption. Likewise, it could be due to being too caught up in the world and self-cherishing or complete disbelief in anything spiritual or divine. It could also occur to a religious person bound to dogmas generated by mortal human beings and confused about the Truth of enlightenment or God. Preconceptions, preconditions, and expectations of all sorts could cause this unreceptive condition, even a concept appearing so innocent as unworthiness or believing oneself incapable could make the heart and mind dense like stone before the Light-transmission.
What is being spoken of is a dense or dull state of consciousness that does not allow the penetration of the Word and Wisdom of God and thus completely prevents the possibility of the Light-transmission. This is the most common state of the ordinary person in the world. While the first state the Master speaks of is due to extreme negativity, extremely negative actions, and karma, this state is due to a lack of development and evolution of the soul-being. Not everyone necessarily has a level of soul development adequate to receive the inner teachings and initiation. Likewise, it is possible that even a soul that is at that level could stop itself from receiving these things due to ignorance and forgetfulness.
“And others fell on thorns; they choked the seeds and worms ate them.” In this situation, the person does have the capacity to receive and, indeed, is destined to meet a spiritual teacher and guide in this life. But although one may have the capacity to receive and the necessary level of soul development, one is distracted by the world and petty lesser desires, to such an extent that one forgets and betrays the seed of Light received. A choice for one’s desire and the world seems harmless enough, yet it naturally causes stagnation and regression in the soul’s development and evolution and, in a certain sense, can be more harmful than in the first instance of which the Master speaks. Greater damage is done to oneself when there is knowledge of what one is doing, and it is a completely conscious choice, than when an action is performed in ignorance and unconsciously. For this reason, the Master speaks in such a way as to make this sound more horrible than in the case of one under the compulsion of the dark and hostile forces.
Here you will understand that, in receiving teachings and initiations, you must guard, cultivate, and integrate what you have received. Without diligence and self-discipline it is impossible to remain upon the path, for one can be easily distracted by desires and convinced by the conventional wisdom of an unenlightened society that there is no harm in such distractions. All Wisdom Traditions speak of the damage that can be done to one who knows, yet betrays what they know in their own heart.
The first instance of unreceptiveness is on account of dark and hostile forces or what are often called “demonic forces”; the second and third situations are due to forces of admixture, that is to say, forces that are neither Divine nor anti-divine, good nor evil, but rather neutral in nature. Since two states of nonreceptivity are mentioned on account of forces of admixture, it indicates that such forces may prove the most difficult to overcome and perhaps the most challenging to the Gnostic initiate by the very fact that they are not obviously opposed to the Divine or evil and because they are related to things unenlightened societies condone and encourage. Thus more aspirants will fall to the forces of admixture than to the dark and hostile forces. It is for this reason that many among the tzaddikim do not distinguish in their teachings between forces of darkness and forces of admixture. To their disciples, the effect of either is fundamentally the same.
“And others fell on good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure.” This is the situation of the person who is receptive, not only receiving for oneself alone but for the sake of being able to share and impart with others what has been received. Teachings and initiations are not fully received until they are integrated and our reception is not complete until we are able to share and impart these teachings with others. Sharing and imparting the Light received is an integral part of receiving it, and we ourselves are received as we receive others in the Spirit of the Messiah.
Here, we discover that we are all called to the divine labor of the great work and that we receive the Light-transmission only to the degree that we integrate it into ourselves and facilitate its extension beyond ourselves, in one way or another, helping to share and impart it with others. This is the true balance to reception and likewise the reflection of God and the Godhead, the All-Giver.