Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing

We don't have to look to the East for spiritual inspiration; there's an ancient and authentic mystical tradition right here at home. Gnosticism developed alongside Judeo-Christianity over two thousand years ago, but with an important difference: It emphasizes, not faith, but direct perception of God--Gnosticism being derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Given the controversial premise that one can know God directly, the history of Gnosticism is an unfolding drama of passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. Dr. Hoeller traces this fascinating story throughout time and shows how Gnosticism has inspired such great thinkers as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung. Dr. Stephan Hoeller is a world authority on the subject who knows its practice from the inside. His comprehensive introduction refutes the common notion that Gnosticism as a coherent set of beliefs does not exist. To the contrary, Hoeller reveals that Gnosticism is the indigenous mystical tradition of the West. Beyond history, he also makes us aware that Gnosticism is still much alive today worldwide with an important message for the twenty-first century.

220 pages

About the author: Stephan Hoeller was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1931 into a family of Austro-Hungarian nobility. Exiled from his native country as the result of the communist rule subsequent to World War II, he studied in various academic institutions in Austria, Belgium, and Italy. In 1952 he immigrated to the United States and has resided in Southern California ever since. In the early 1970's he became first associate professor and later head of the Department of Comparative Religions at the College of Oriental Studies in Los Angeles, a position he held for fifteen years. He also taught special courses at the Institute for the Study of Religion (East and West) at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is author of five books, all published by Quest Books: The Royal Road; The Gnostic Jung and Seven Sermons to the Dead; Jung and the Lost Gospels; Freedom: Alchemy for a Voluntary Society, and Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing. He has been a frequent contributor to Gnosis Magazine in which he wrote a popular column entitled "Alternative Realities." He has also written for Quest Magazine and for professional journals. Dr. Hoeller has lectured in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, and the United States. Since 1972 he has lectured on a weekly basis at the Philosophical Research Society and teaches at the recently founded Philosophical Research Society University Project. He has been director of studies at the Gnostic Society in Los Angeles since 1963, as well as a bishop of the Ecclesia Gnostica, a church of Gnostic descent. He was ordained to the Gnostic priesthood in 1958 and to the episcopate in 1967. For over twenty years, Dr. Hoeller has been sharing his wisdom in weekly talks recorded at the Los Angeles Gnostic Society. His subjects range over the entire scope of Western inner traditions, emphasizing Jungian psychology and gnosis, the ancient premise that we can experience direct knowledge of transcendent reality. These talks have been recorded onto cassette tapes and made available to the general public for purchase.