Dearly beloved friends:
It is with immense pleasure that I send you a Gnostic poem entitled…
…THE PERFECT MIND
It was found among the Nag Hamadi manuscripts. It goes back about two thousand years in time. The one who speaks in this poem is the divine SOPHIA, the soul that was sent from the AIN and that, having fallen, seeks to return to its origins. Hence, she herself questions her destiny.
I was sent forth from the power,
and I have come to those who reflect upon me,
and I have been found among those who seek after me.
Look upon me, you who reflect upon me,
and you who listen, listen to me.
You who are waiting for me, take me to you.
And do not banish me from your sight.
And do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing.
Do not ignore me anywhere or at any time.
Be on your guard!
Do not ignore me.For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the limbs of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring,
but he is the one who begot me before the time of the birth.And he is my offspring in due time,
and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.Why do those who hate me love me,
and those who love me hate me?
Those who disavow me, confess to me
and those who confess to me disavow me.Those who tell the truth about me, lie about me,
and those who have lied about me, have told the truth about me.Those who know me, are ignorant of me,
and those who have not known me, know me.
For I am knowledge and ignorance.I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Give heed to me.I am the one who is disgraced and the great one.
Give heed to my poverty and my wealth.
Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out upon the earth,
and you will find me in those that are to come.And do not look upon me on the dung-heap
nor go and leave me cast out,
and you will find me in the kingdoms.
And do not look upon me when I am cast out among those who
have fallen into disgrace and in the most remote places,
and do not cast me out among those who are to be slain.But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel.
Be on your guard!Do not hate my obedience
and do not love my self-control.
In my weakness, do not forsake me,
and do not be afraid of my power.Why do you despise my fear
and curse my pride?
I am she who exists in all fears
and strength in trembling.I am she who is weak,
and I am well in a pleasant place.
I am unconscious and I am wise.Why have you hated me in your counsels?
For I shall be silent among those who are silent,
and I shall appear and speak.
Why then have you hated me, you Greeks?
Because I am a barbarian among the barbarians?
For I am the wisdom of the Greeks
and the knowledge of the barbarians.
I am the judgement of the Greeks and of the barbarians.
I am the one whose image is great in Egypt
and the one who has no image among the barbarians.
I am the one who has been hated everywhere
and who has been loved everywhere.I am the one whom they call Life,
and you have called me Death.
I am the one whom they call Law,
and you have called me Chaos.
I am the one whom you have pursued,
and I am the one whom you have seized.
I am the one whom you have feared,
and you have gathered me together.I am the one before whom you have been ashamed,
and you have been shameless to me.
I am she who does not keep the holy days,
and I am she whose holy days are many.
I, I am godless,
and I am the one whose God is great.
I am the one whom you have reflected upon,
and you have scorned me.
I am incomprehensible,
and they have learnt from me.
I am the one that you have despised,
and you reflect upon me…I am the one whom you have hidden from,
and you appear to me.
But whenever you hide yourselves,
I myself will appear.
For whenever you appear,
I myself will hide from you.[…]
I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
and the finding of those who seek after me,
and the answer of those who ask for me,
and the power of the powers in my knowledge
of the angels, who have been sent at my word,
and of gods in their seasons by my counsel,
and of spirits of every man who exists with me,
and of women who dwell within me.I am the one who is honored, and who is praised,
and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
I am a foreigner and a citizen.
I am the substance and the one who has no substance.
Those who are not with me are ignorant of me,
and those who are in my substance are the ones who know me.
Those who are close to me have been ignorant of me,
and those who are far away from me are the ones who have known me.
On the day when I am close to you, you are far away from me,
and on the day when I am far away from you, I am by your side.[…]
I am the control and the uncontrollable.
I am the union and the dissolution.
I am permanence and I am impermanence.
I am the one below,
and they come upon me.I am the judgment and the acquittal.
I, I am sinless,
and the root of sin derives from me.
I am apparent lust,
and chastity dwells in me.I am the voice attainable by everyone
and the speech which cannot be grasped.
I am a mute who does not speak,
and great is the multitude of my words.
Hear me in gentleness, and learn from my roughness.
I am she who cries out,
and I am cast forth upon the face of the earth.
I prepare the bread and in it I enclose my soul.
I am the knowledge of my name.
I am the one who cries out,
and I listen.[…]
You who are vanquished, judge them who vanquish you
before they judge you,
because the judge and partiality exist in you.
If you are condemned by this one, who will acquit you?
Or, if you are acquitted by him, who will be able to detain you?
For what is inside of you is what is outside of you,
and the one who fashions you on the outside
is the one who shaped the inside of you.
And what you see outside of you, you see inside of you;
it is invisible and it is your garment.
Listen to me, you who listen
and learn from my words, you who know me.
I am the voice that is attainable to everyone.
I am the speech that cannot be grasped.
I am the name of the sound
and the sound of the name.
I am the sign of the letter.[…]
And I will speak his name.
Look then at his words
and all the writings which have been completed.
Give heed then, you who listen
and you also, the angels and those who have been sent,
and you spirits who have arisen from the dead.
For I am the one who alone exists,
and I have no one who will judge me.
For many are the pleasant forms of sin which exist,
and incontinences,
and disgraceful passions,
and fleeting pleasures,
which men embrace until they become sober
and go up to their resting place.
And they will find me there,
and they will live there,
and they will not die again.
I now add these sentences for reflection:
“God is the truth and it is up to us to discover it.”
Juan de Muller
“God is the Master and amender of all.”
Fray Luis de Granada
“He who does not humble himself and exalt himself at the same time before the idea of God is not good.”
Isabella the Catholic
“Everything that shows me God inside me strengthens me. Everything that shows me Him outside of myself weakens me.”
Emerson
“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
Voltaire
GLADIUS DEI.
─‘The sword of God’─.
Kwen Khan Khu
