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Gnosis: Study and Commentaries on the Esoteric Tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy
Volume III of Boris Mouravieff’s Gnosis contains ancient keys to a tradition of Christian esotericism that was necessarily hermetized 1800 years ago and has since remained unpublished, surviving to the present only in unwritten form. For students who have read the first two volumes of this work, this final text will provide exact data making it possible to solve many of the practical problems attendant on spiritual practice under the pressures of everyday life in modern times. It also contains comments on certain related ideas seen from a viewpoint so foreign to our present era that it hints at a very different frame of mind from the everyday… so different that some people find it hard to accept, although it unravels many of the knotty points of theology and philosophy as well as certain key problems of our day. "Great esoteric works do not argue with you… instead they leave an imprint on your being that is no less indelible for its subtlety; once you encounter them, you will never see things the same way again. To this list I’d have to add Gnosis..." - Richard Smoley, Editor, reviewing in Gnosis magazine.
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Boris Mouravieff
19 books12 followersBoris Mouravieff, known for his historical works and more so for his esoteric Christian teachings, was born at the Cronstadt naval base in Russia on 8 March 1890. He was the second of three sons of the admiral of the fleet, count Piotr Petrovitch Mouravieff, who was the last Secretary of State of the imperial war Marine.
Graduated in 1910 as officer of the Superior School of the Russian imperial Marine, Boris Mouravieff climbed the rungs, particularly while serving from 1909 to 1912 aboard the battleship "Auroara". During the first World War he served in the naval forces of the Black Sea. In 1916 -1917, as vessel lieutenant, he commanded the rapid torpedo launching patrol flotilla, of which he was the author.
Upon the abdication of the Tsar in March 1917, he was promoted to frigate captain at the age of 27, before becoming assigned cabinet head to minister Alexander Kerensky in the first provisional government, directed by prince Lvov. Thereafter he was assigned, as joint head of State staff for the Black Sea fleet, by Kerensky who had become the head of the Russian government until his ousting by Lenin's Bolshevists during the October 1917 Revolution.
On the morrow of the peace of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 he quit the armed forces. He then remained in Crimea consecrating his time to archaeological works as well as to his own esoteric and historical researches.
Since his youth, Boris Mouravieff found interest in the esoteric tradition of Oriental Orthodoxy. This interest found its first guidance through some indications left by his grand uncle Andrei Mouravieff (died in 1874), who was the founder of a hermitage at Saint Paul, one of the great Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos. Andrei had undertaken researches in Egypt, Armenia, Kurdistan and even in Persia, retrieving traces of this tradition and manuscripts from the first centuries of our era.
By the end of 1920, Boris Mouravieff left Russia for Constantinople then for Bulgaria where he remained until1924.
In Constantinople, 1920-21, Boris Mouravieff attended the public conferences given by Piotr Demianovitch Ouspensky. It was there that the latter put Boris Mouravieff in contact with Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, with whom several contacts were to take place thereafter in Fontainebleau and Paris. For many years Boris Mouravieff and P. D. Ouspensky, bound by a friendship that was founded on the similarities of their topics of research, were to delve deeper in their respective works and consequently to discuss them, particularly from the aspect of the dangers associated with the fragmentariness of the latter's works. Such discussions took place at the occasion of their meetings in Paris and London; the last of which took place in 1937 near London.
In 1924 Boris Mouravieff travelled to France as a refugee and settled in Bordeaux, where in 1935 he met larissa Bassof, born in 1901 in Uzbekistan. Larissa, a ballerina, had a child from a first marriage, Boris Vsevolod Volkoff, born in France in 1928. In 1936 Boris Mouravieff married Larissa and all three settled in Paris that same year.
Since 1921 Boris Mouravieff pursued researches related to the political and diplomatic history of Russia, in particular regarding Peter the Great, which were to lead to the publication of several books (see bibliography). Until 1941, he worked as a consulting engineer for several petroleum companies, whilst consecrating free time to his historical researches, as well as to the esoteric tradition of oriental orthodoxy.
On June 11th 1940, Boris Mouravieff left Paris for the South of France, where his employer was located, and in 1943 he moved to a French town close to Switzerland. Having refused to collaborate with the Germans, he was arrested in 1944 by the Gestapo, held in custody, then released under surveillance. It was thereafter, on 9 March 1944, that members of the French resistance arranged for him and his family to esca
Graduated in 1910 as officer of the Superior School of the Russian imperial Marine, Boris Mouravieff climbed the rungs, particularly while serving from 1909 to 1912 aboard the battleship "Auroara". During the first World War he served in the naval forces of the Black Sea. In 1916 -1917, as vessel lieutenant, he commanded the rapid torpedo launching patrol flotilla, of which he was the author.
Upon the abdication of the Tsar in March 1917, he was promoted to frigate captain at the age of 27, before becoming assigned cabinet head to minister Alexander Kerensky in the first provisional government, directed by prince Lvov. Thereafter he was assigned, as joint head of State staff for the Black Sea fleet, by Kerensky who had become the head of the Russian government until his ousting by Lenin's Bolshevists during the October 1917 Revolution.
On the morrow of the peace of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 he quit the armed forces. He then remained in Crimea consecrating his time to archaeological works as well as to his own esoteric and historical researches.
Since his youth, Boris Mouravieff found interest in the esoteric tradition of Oriental Orthodoxy. This interest found its first guidance through some indications left by his grand uncle Andrei Mouravieff (died in 1874), who was the founder of a hermitage at Saint Paul, one of the great Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos. Andrei had undertaken researches in Egypt, Armenia, Kurdistan and even in Persia, retrieving traces of this tradition and manuscripts from the first centuries of our era.
By the end of 1920, Boris Mouravieff left Russia for Constantinople then for Bulgaria where he remained until1924.
In Constantinople, 1920-21, Boris Mouravieff attended the public conferences given by Piotr Demianovitch Ouspensky. It was there that the latter put Boris Mouravieff in contact with Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, with whom several contacts were to take place thereafter in Fontainebleau and Paris. For many years Boris Mouravieff and P. D. Ouspensky, bound by a friendship that was founded on the similarities of their topics of research, were to delve deeper in their respective works and consequently to discuss them, particularly from the aspect of the dangers associated with the fragmentariness of the latter's works. Such discussions took place at the occasion of their meetings in Paris and London; the last of which took place in 1937 near London.
In 1924 Boris Mouravieff travelled to France as a refugee and settled in Bordeaux, where in 1935 he met larissa Bassof, born in 1901 in Uzbekistan. Larissa, a ballerina, had a child from a first marriage, Boris Vsevolod Volkoff, born in France in 1928. In 1936 Boris Mouravieff married Larissa and all three settled in Paris that same year.
Since 1921 Boris Mouravieff pursued researches related to the political and diplomatic history of Russia, in particular regarding Peter the Great, which were to lead to the publication of several books (see bibliography). Until 1941, he worked as a consulting engineer for several petroleum companies, whilst consecrating free time to his historical researches, as well as to the esoteric tradition of oriental orthodoxy.
On June 11th 1940, Boris Mouravieff left Paris for the South of France, where his employer was located, and in 1943 he moved to a French town close to Switzerland. Having refused to collaborate with the Germans, he was arrested in 1944 by the Gestapo, held in custody, then released under surveillance. It was thereafter, on 9 March 1944, that members of the French resistance arranged for him and his family to esca
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 31, 2014
I seem to be writing this disturbingly often lately: "This book was amazing, don't read it!" Never more so than today.
Reviews of Mouravieff's books often point out how they are a mixture of deep timeless wisdom and madness. It seems to me that the "madness" part is in each case that which the reader has not experienced himself. I also have found in this book revelations that I until then thought I was alone to have, usually more clearly than I had seen them myself. If those are madness, then, they are madness discovered independently at different times and places. And, like every other reader I have seen, there are parts of the book that make no sense at all to me. But I am not sure they are the same parts that made no sense to the others.
Certainly this book has the capacity to induce insanity, pure life-destroying psychosis, in fragile souls. I have no doubt about that. It views the world and the mind from a place so far outside the consensus reality that it will be hard, if at all possible, to see things the same way again.
But by the same token, because of the unusual perspective, some things become visible that used to be hidden. I have learned a number of very important things from this book, but there is no one I would dare recommend it to, and in the final reckoning I can still not say whether it has helped me or hurt me. But interesting, it certainly was. More than almost anything I have read. When I put it aside again and again, it was not for being boring, but for being dangerous.
Reviews of Mouravieff's books often point out how they are a mixture of deep timeless wisdom and madness. It seems to me that the "madness" part is in each case that which the reader has not experienced himself. I also have found in this book revelations that I until then thought I was alone to have, usually more clearly than I had seen them myself. If those are madness, then, they are madness discovered independently at different times and places. And, like every other reader I have seen, there are parts of the book that make no sense at all to me. But I am not sure they are the same parts that made no sense to the others.
Certainly this book has the capacity to induce insanity, pure life-destroying psychosis, in fragile souls. I have no doubt about that. It views the world and the mind from a place so far outside the consensus reality that it will be hard, if at all possible, to see things the same way again.
But by the same token, because of the unusual perspective, some things become visible that used to be hidden. I have learned a number of very important things from this book, but there is no one I would dare recommend it to, and in the final reckoning I can still not say whether it has helped me or hurt me. But interesting, it certainly was. More than almost anything I have read. When I put it aside again and again, it was not for being boring, but for being dangerous.
June 12, 2023
It is impossible to try to tell in a straightforward way, so here are some notable highlights:
-we need a bicameral United Nations that creates a global federation under a single world government.
-Alexander the Great and Peter the Great were esotericists that were reshaping the world according to esoteric principles.
-the enneagram is based on taking all of the divisors of 360, the seventh being 36, the seventh means Life (all have different esoteric meanings, how or why is not elaborated), adding together 1/7+2/7…6/7 gives you 3, with 7/7 being one, so it is equal to 3+1=4. 3 means Love from the feminine principle and 1 means Love from the Absolute I (or God). 1/7=the lines of the enneagram, with an equilateral triangle added inside. This represents the creation of Adam by God on the seventh day, with the breath of life added (the triangle). This additional triangle of the breath of life completes the figure, without which Adam could not have lived and the figure is incomplete.
-the same method can be done with 13, which means “Fall, Decomposition, Death”. The same math gives you 6+1=7, where 6 means rebirth and renewal. The mapping of 1/13 gives a figure that touches all points and does not need the triangle added, representing the breath of God. This shows the creation of pre-Adamic humans on the sixth day. Using these figures as mandalas in meditation is the sole means of gaining deep understanding of their meaning.
-Adamic and pre-adamic humanity are similar but different. Adam and Eve were never meant to procreate, given the evidence from the math above. Instead they would be the ubermensch that would lift up pre-adamic man. With the fall of Adam and Eve, the two races intermingled and it is not possible to tell them apart. Pre-adamic humans are incapable of perfecting themselves, but are physically and aesthetically blessed. In the coming Era of the Holy Spirit, the Adamic humans that have worked on themselves will lead the world and bring about the possibility of pre-Adamic humanity to evolve. This inflection point will come about when world populations increase to the point where all Adamic souls have reincarnated and are living on earth.
-the best and fastest way to achieve esoteric evolution is through a man and woman in love with their polar opposite type, abstaining from sex, and transmuting that energy into higher matter. It is incredibly difficult to recognize your polar being even if you’ve met them.
-if the Adamic elect of evolved men do not take control of the world, humanity will die in a deluge of fire. Just as John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus and did not perform any miracles, these Adamic men are forerunners to the Era of the Holy Spirit and should not expect any miraculous support.
-we need a bicameral United Nations that creates a global federation under a single world government.
-Alexander the Great and Peter the Great were esotericists that were reshaping the world according to esoteric principles.
-the enneagram is based on taking all of the divisors of 360, the seventh being 36, the seventh means Life (all have different esoteric meanings, how or why is not elaborated), adding together 1/7+2/7…6/7 gives you 3, with 7/7 being one, so it is equal to 3+1=4. 3 means Love from the feminine principle and 1 means Love from the Absolute I (or God). 1/7=the lines of the enneagram, with an equilateral triangle added inside. This represents the creation of Adam by God on the seventh day, with the breath of life added (the triangle). This additional triangle of the breath of life completes the figure, without which Adam could not have lived and the figure is incomplete.
-the same method can be done with 13, which means “Fall, Decomposition, Death”. The same math gives you 6+1=7, where 6 means rebirth and renewal. The mapping of 1/13 gives a figure that touches all points and does not need the triangle added, representing the breath of God. This shows the creation of pre-Adamic humans on the sixth day. Using these figures as mandalas in meditation is the sole means of gaining deep understanding of their meaning.
-Adamic and pre-adamic humanity are similar but different. Adam and Eve were never meant to procreate, given the evidence from the math above. Instead they would be the ubermensch that would lift up pre-adamic man. With the fall of Adam and Eve, the two races intermingled and it is not possible to tell them apart. Pre-adamic humans are incapable of perfecting themselves, but are physically and aesthetically blessed. In the coming Era of the Holy Spirit, the Adamic humans that have worked on themselves will lead the world and bring about the possibility of pre-Adamic humanity to evolve. This inflection point will come about when world populations increase to the point where all Adamic souls have reincarnated and are living on earth.
-the best and fastest way to achieve esoteric evolution is through a man and woman in love with their polar opposite type, abstaining from sex, and transmuting that energy into higher matter. It is incredibly difficult to recognize your polar being even if you’ve met them.
-if the Adamic elect of evolved men do not take control of the world, humanity will die in a deluge of fire. Just as John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus and did not perform any miracles, these Adamic men are forerunners to the Era of the Holy Spirit and should not expect any miraculous support.
August 19, 2015
A book not for everyone, goes very deep in Ouspensky's and Gurdjieff's work and generaly in the Fourth Way!!!
Good to give some brain food to the searcher as all books do but till there!!!
Good to give some brain food to the searcher as all books do but till there!!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews