Gnostic Strangers in a Strange Land -- Allogenes -- Music By Deep Purple: "Perfect Strangers"
"The Gnostics had the term "Alogenes," which meant "stranger" or "foreigner."
-- Elaine Pagels
Most people are like the "Philistine" Kierkegaard speaks of, who "tranquilizes himself with the trivial," but the Gnostic cannot pursue such a course. The exile may indeed find himself in a dark land, but his very awareness of the darkness can also reveal a Light on the Path to freedom. So also, awareness of our alienness and recognition of our place of exile for what it is are the first great steps on the path of return. We begin to rise as soon as we realize that we have fallen".
-- Stephan A. Hoeller, "Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing
"There was within me a stillness of silence, and I heard the Blessedness whereby I knew my real self.....And I turned to myself and saw the Light that surrounded me and the Good that was in me, I became divine."
-- Allogenes, "The Stranger" or "Foreigner" -- a passage from the book of Allogenes in, Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt
-- Elaine Pagels
Most people are like the "Philistine" Kierkegaard speaks of, who "tranquilizes himself with the trivial," but the Gnostic cannot pursue such a course. The exile may indeed find himself in a dark land, but his very awareness of the darkness can also reveal a Light on the Path to freedom. So also, awareness of our alienness and recognition of our place of exile for what it is are the first great steps on the path of return. We begin to rise as soon as we realize that we have fallen".
-- Stephan A. Hoeller, "Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing
"There was within me a stillness of silence, and I heard the Blessedness whereby I knew my real self.....And I turned to myself and saw the Light that surrounded me and the Good that was in me, I became divine."
-- Allogenes, "The Stranger" or "Foreigner" -- a passage from the book of Allogenes in, Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt
Lyrics - "Perfect Strangers", By Deep Purple
Can you remember remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past
I am returning the echo of a point in time
Distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers
I know I must remain inside this silent well of sorrow
A strand of silver hanging through the sky
Touching more than you see
The voice of ages in your mind
Is aching with the dead of the night
Precious life (your tears are lost in
Falling rain)
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers
YouTube Music Video -- Deep Purple: "Perfect Strangers":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEVkcd3tBDY
Can you remember remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past
I am returning the echo of a point in time
Distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers
I know I must remain inside this silent well of sorrow
A strand of silver hanging through the sky
Touching more than you see
The voice of ages in your mind
Is aching with the dead of the night
Precious life (your tears are lost in
Falling rain)
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect strangers
YouTube Music Video -- Deep Purple: "Perfect Strangers":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEVkcd3tBDY
