South African Sophian Gnostic Circle
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Weeding the Garden Practice
posted Sunday, 9 September 2007
Although we have been blessed with abundant rain, there is signs of Spring everywhere. Getting close to the Spring Equinox ones mind naturally turns to the garden, and when one looks around in the garden, one can also see the weeds popping up.
Weeding the Garden Practice
From time to time, cultivating a garden, we must go out and weed the garden; of course, it is far easier to weed our garden regularly, rather than waiting for it to become overgrown. The same is true in the mind and heart, for negative thoughts and emotions arise from nefesh behamit (the bestial nature) and sitra ahara (the evil inclination) like weeds in the garden, and in a similar manner they must be rooted out – if we do this on a regular basis, turning away from negativity and cleaving to the positive, it is easier than when we let ourselves get carried away by negativity.
When you weed the garden outwardly, weed the secret garden of your mind and heart inwardly – as you pluck out the weeds outwardly, pluck out negativity inwardly; in the same way, as you appreciate the growth and flowers of the outward garden, so appreciate the positive within yourself and cultivate it. This is the practice of weeding the garden.
Having shared this practice it must also be said that what we call “weeds,” when known and understood in their proper context, are often medicinal herbs bearing healing power; the same may be said of negativity – there is a spark of holiness in it that can be drawn out. With knowledge we can put “weeds” to work for the good, and so also we can put negativity to work for the good – for example, if I am overcome with greed, then in my greed I know what is good to give, and in giving what is good my greed may be transformed into generosity or charity, a medicinal herb for the soul. Thus, with knowledge, while weeding the garden, you may recognize the healing power in the herb and put it to good use; of course, in either case, the apparent weed will be plucked just the same!
What is the essence of Weeding the Garden Practice? Choosing to cultivate what is positive and to remove what is negative – when there is knowledge of what is positive within what appears as negative, then it is drawing out what is positive.
Moment by moment, day by day, this is easy to do – a practice for good for everybody; even a little child can do it.
From time to time, cultivating a garden, we must go out and weed the garden; of course, it is far easier to weed our garden regularly, rather than waiting for it to become overgrown. The same is true in the mind and heart, for negative thoughts and emotions arise from nefesh behamit (the bestial nature) and sitra ahara (the evil inclination) like weeds in the garden, and in a similar manner they must be rooted out – if we do this on a regular basis, turning away from negativity and cleaving to the positive, it is easier than when we let ourselves get carried away by negativity.
When you weed the garden outwardly, weed the secret garden of your mind and heart inwardly – as you pluck out the weeds outwardly, pluck out negativity inwardly; in the same way, as you appreciate the growth and flowers of the outward garden, so appreciate the positive within yourself and cultivate it. This is the practice of weeding the garden.
Having shared this practice it must also be said that what we call “weeds,” when known and understood in their proper context, are often medicinal herbs bearing healing power; the same may be said of negativity – there is a spark of holiness in it that can be drawn out. With knowledge we can put “weeds” to work for the good, and so also we can put negativity to work for the good – for example, if I am overcome with greed, then in my greed I know what is good to give, and in giving what is good my greed may be transformed into generosity or charity, a medicinal herb for the soul. Thus, with knowledge, while weeding the garden, you may recognize the healing power in the herb and put it to good use; of course, in either case, the apparent weed will be plucked just the same!
What is the essence of Weeding the Garden Practice? Choosing to cultivate what is positive and to remove what is negative – when there is knowledge of what is positive within what appears as negative, then it is drawing out what is positive.
Moment by moment, day by day, this is easy to do – a practice for good for everybody; even a little child can do it.
There are steps along the way in an actual self-realization process, cycles of coming into being, as it were; it could very well be argued that one must begin to “pull the apparent weeds” in order to acquire greater spiritual discernment and skillful means – the play of dualism being used to come to the recognition and realization of the non-dual.
There is something to be said of the experience of pulling the apparent weeds whether in immaturity or maturity – an insight that can only be gained through the actual experience; no matter how much one pulls the apparent weeds, more apparent weeds come in the place of those that are pulled. We can say this, and we can intellectually accept this, but then it is only a concept in the mind that does not facilitate any actual spiritual progress; to facilitate progress, it must be known and understood on an experiential level.
In this process, on the one hand, we recognize a certain futility to the pulling of apparent weeds with regards to the fruition of the soul in enlightenment and liberation – we find that the outer gospel only carries us so far in the self-realization process; on the other hand, we discover the relative benefit to the pulling of the apparent weeds and the outer gospel, so that coming to the inner and secret gospel we understand them in their appropriate context – advanced teachings that do not contradict or negate the basic teachings, but rather progress from them as a foundation.
When we read and contemplate Valentinian scriptures we must bear in mind that Valentinian’s never saw themselves in conflict with the growing Orthodox, but rather presented their teachings as an evolutionary development based upon those of the outer gospel – this reflects something about the path of actual self-realization in Christ, the play of the generation and fruition stages in the Way.
To actually receive the inner and secret teachings of the gospel a certain self-purification and self-knowledge is necessary – and so we may say of the reception of the Gnostic and Light Transmission; it is not an absolute self-purification, but relative and incomplete, but along with it comes the acquisition of true insight and positive merit or energy that we need for right reception of the Light Transmission.
There are certainly practices within the Sophian lineage that are apparently opposite to “pulling the apparent weeds,” and yet they rest upon the experience of pulling the apparent weeds and ultimately are found not to be in opposition.
In this we may say that a child is always supervised in the pulling of weeds, and receives instruction in the discernment of the plants in the garden; of course, it naturally takes time for a child to understand how to pull apparent weeds up by their roots, as well as to learn the medicinal use of herbs – one day, when the child becomes a mature adult, they will leave the play of cultivating the garden behind all together having recognized the True Wisdom of the Natural State, but having developed the Human Intelligence and Speech in the process, the foundation for the dawn of the Perfect Thunder Intelligence of Divine and Supernal Being.
Children love to have something to do, and they are always looking for an opportunity to play – in wisdom we can make educational toys and games, honoring the joy of the child at play, while facilitating the development of the Human Intelligence and Speech. Of course, the child plays in the unreal, but through that play the real is eventually discerned as the child grows and matures.
In terms of the practice of pulling the apparent weeds among Sophian Gnostics, of course, there is an assumption of the knowledge of the Silent Witness and understanding of Primordial Meditation – two practices taught to all novices before any instruction in practices such as the pulling of the apparent weeds.
The cultivation of the Silent Witness and Primordial Meditation do not just generate the presence of awareness and spiritual discernment that allow us to recognize the apparent weeds, but they produce the state of non-attachment and non-aversion through which it becomes possible to “pull apparent weeds,” as well as to transform them into good medicine, the poison being used to make the antidote. Quite naturally, in fruition, recognizing the underlying nature of all that appears, the Ain Nature, all of this play is transcended.
In closing we can say that the pulling of apparent weeds before the cultivation of the Silent Witness and Primordial Mediation can be very beneficial at times, with some individuals, for in so doing individuals may discover the futility of attempting to pull apparent weeds without the capacity of the Silent Witness and Primordial Meditation – thus, in so doing, an individual might recognize the wisdom and necessity of these two practices, and becoming willing to the cultivation of this capacity.
There is something to be said of the experience of pulling the apparent weeds whether in immaturity or maturity – an insight that can only be gained through the actual experience; no matter how much one pulls the apparent weeds, more apparent weeds come in the place of those that are pulled. We can say this, and we can intellectually accept this, but then it is only a concept in the mind that does not facilitate any actual spiritual progress; to facilitate progress, it must be known and understood on an experiential level.
In this process, on the one hand, we recognize a certain futility to the pulling of apparent weeds with regards to the fruition of the soul in enlightenment and liberation – we find that the outer gospel only carries us so far in the self-realization process; on the other hand, we discover the relative benefit to the pulling of the apparent weeds and the outer gospel, so that coming to the inner and secret gospel we understand them in their appropriate context – advanced teachings that do not contradict or negate the basic teachings, but rather progress from them as a foundation.
When we read and contemplate Valentinian scriptures we must bear in mind that Valentinian’s never saw themselves in conflict with the growing Orthodox, but rather presented their teachings as an evolutionary development based upon those of the outer gospel – this reflects something about the path of actual self-realization in Christ, the play of the generation and fruition stages in the Way.
To actually receive the inner and secret teachings of the gospel a certain self-purification and self-knowledge is necessary – and so we may say of the reception of the Gnostic and Light Transmission; it is not an absolute self-purification, but relative and incomplete, but along with it comes the acquisition of true insight and positive merit or energy that we need for right reception of the Light Transmission.
There are certainly practices within the Sophian lineage that are apparently opposite to “pulling the apparent weeds,” and yet they rest upon the experience of pulling the apparent weeds and ultimately are found not to be in opposition.
In this we may say that a child is always supervised in the pulling of weeds, and receives instruction in the discernment of the plants in the garden; of course, it naturally takes time for a child to understand how to pull apparent weeds up by their roots, as well as to learn the medicinal use of herbs – one day, when the child becomes a mature adult, they will leave the play of cultivating the garden behind all together having recognized the True Wisdom of the Natural State, but having developed the Human Intelligence and Speech in the process, the foundation for the dawn of the Perfect Thunder Intelligence of Divine and Supernal Being.
Children love to have something to do, and they are always looking for an opportunity to play – in wisdom we can make educational toys and games, honoring the joy of the child at play, while facilitating the development of the Human Intelligence and Speech. Of course, the child plays in the unreal, but through that play the real is eventually discerned as the child grows and matures.
In terms of the practice of pulling the apparent weeds among Sophian Gnostics, of course, there is an assumption of the knowledge of the Silent Witness and understanding of Primordial Meditation – two practices taught to all novices before any instruction in practices such as the pulling of the apparent weeds.
The cultivation of the Silent Witness and Primordial Meditation do not just generate the presence of awareness and spiritual discernment that allow us to recognize the apparent weeds, but they produce the state of non-attachment and non-aversion through which it becomes possible to “pull apparent weeds,” as well as to transform them into good medicine, the poison being used to make the antidote. Quite naturally, in fruition, recognizing the underlying nature of all that appears, the Ain Nature, all of this play is transcended.
In closing we can say that the pulling of apparent weeds before the cultivation of the Silent Witness and Primordial Mediation can be very beneficial at times, with some individuals, for in so doing individuals may discover the futility of attempting to pull apparent weeds without the capacity of the Silent Witness and Primordial Meditation – thus, in so doing, an individual might recognize the wisdom and necessity of these two practices, and becoming willing to the cultivation of this capacity.
May the Mystic Rose come to full bloom in us, the heavenly flower of our secret garden; amen.