/lit/ - Literature

>get extremely hyped to read a book
>read it, genuinely enjoy it
>5 minutes later browse my phone
I remember as a teenager reading well past midnight because I was so enthralled. But now it just seems my attention span is fucked after not reading for a decade. Does it get better with time? Do I need to learn some "focus techniques"? I want to read more after realizing
>holy shit i watch mindless youtube videos gpr 3 hpurs a day and scroll through 4chan 4 hours a day, what a fucking waste

>>20481582
Do you honestly expect me to read all this shit? Are you really this delusional? Lmao

Trannies btfo

>>19275441
This desu. But Christians claiming exclusivity is the reason nihilism and atheism have spread through Europe and America. Nihilism could not arise in more religiously diverse regions like India (Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam) or China (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Folk beliefs). You could never have a Spinoza or Nietszche appear in those places for that very reason.

>>18852083
>only really good if you already believe in christianity
That's unfortunate, I've had my mind opened to the religious worldview recently, but my trouble with many of them is how contingent they are. I understand now the existence of God and the soul, what the virtues are and how to cultivate them, etc. I do not understand how it is that one Nazarene sage has a monopoly on such truths and practices. I have a hard time that one could write a continuation of Aristotle's metaphysics or de anima that necessarily leads to "through Christ alone".

>>18796730
>>18796803
>>18796831
>>18797734
Hylic cope

Why are the gnostics so based? Could it be they're onto something?

>>17731503
No. It's a misrepresentation by the Demiurge, Yaldaboath. Read the Apocryphon of John and Hypostasis of the Archons.

www.gnosis.org

>Neoplatonism/esoteric native European Tradition is gone
>its remnants in Christianity are dead, at least in Catholicism
>Orthodoxy has a weird relationship with it via Pseudo-Dionysius and shit like Jesus saving Plato from Hell (WHICH HE DESERVED CUZ HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT YHWH!!!) but then has an opening prayer(?) cursing the "hellenes" constantly
>Advaita Vedanta which has almost the exact same mirror to Plotinus' conception (proving perennial Tradition in its universality) is situated in a completely alien and strange culture, Hinduism also seems to be decaying with modernity
>Islam has Sufism but they are the elite minority who are nowadays becoming victims of Salafist 70 IQ takfiri attacks and lay exoteric Muslims think they're secretly kafir

Where do I go, Tradbros..

I know you know that you are, but how do you know for sure that you know what you are?

>>16653197
Fuck off with your distractions Archon. We are on to you.

>>16573521
You are obviously a hylic, but the fact that you can acknowledge your defect means that you might be one of the very few hylics that are capable of ascending.
Archons are desperately trying to redirect your brain towards one of their consciousness traps( the smartphone), you need to fight that urge with every ounce of spiritual strength you have, the soul that you are slwoly developing depends on it. Hylics don't reincarnate, you have one shot, make it count and may Sophia guide your way. I believe in you.

>>16501773
Sorry to inform you anon

I am new to Gnosticism. Can someone give examples of each of these three groups?

What is the best book to introduce me to Gnosticism? I know nothing about it but see the term tossed around a little bit.

Why do Gnostics like Plato if Plato made it very clear the Demiurge is an emanation of the One/God and thereby inherently Good? What's with this odd parallel relationship of Gnostic and Platonist? Even Plotinus had Valentinian Gnostics bobbling about around him, to the degree he had to write a tractate denouncing their blasphemies. Accept the Demiurge into your hearts, Gnostic frens.

>>14382867
In Valentinian Gnostic Theology, there are three kinds of people in the world.

Hylics, Psychics and Pneumatiucs.

Valentinus taught that Hylics are not technically real humans, they are purely materialists and only run off their base functions

Psychics are the next level up, they are the people who follow "Exoteric" religion. they have some knowledge (Gnosis) of the immaterial world but still fall for the illusion/maya. They can be saved from Yaldabaoth given the right environment.

Pneumatics are the people who are either fully awakened or are a Neophyte currently undergoing initiation. They are fully capable of achieving Gnosis and can escape the Samsara

>>14269500
Two main Valentinian texts I know of are; The Tripartite Tractate and the Gospel of Philip.
But there are many others in the Nag Hammadi scriptures too (I dont have 'The Gnostic Bible' you are referring to, so im not sure exactly whats in it, I know some Nag Hammadi texts are there. The Gnostics also used many of the regular "Canonical" texts of the bible as well though, Especially the Gospel of John, and the Wisdom literature of Solomon (Proverbs + The 'Apocryphal' wisdom texts, likem the Psalms of Solomon and the Wisdom of Solomon). They also really liked the Gospel of Thomas

It should be easier to understand Gnosticism if you have a background in Platonism and Neoplatonism.
Plato was the one who came up with the idea of the Demiurge, and believed that the Demiurge built this world based on his ideal world of forms. A fair few early Christians recognised Jesus was a messenger from this ideal world, and a way for the Soul (Divine Spark) to remember its divine origin, after it had become attached to the material world.

Of course they claimed that Jesus did have secret conversations and taught hidden knowledge to those people who were worthy of knowing it (and I genuinely believe he did, there is lots of indication in the canonical Gospels that he spoke to people in the open in parables, but had hidden teachings for his disciples)

(Matthew 13:10-11)
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

>>14237010
HYLIC
Y
L
I
C

What are some books that can help me decide between Christianity and Gnosticism?

>>14219876
Seething Hylic

>>13594104