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The body should be the slave of the soul, not its master.
Only like can truly know like, so to know God we must become like God. To do this, Hermes advises us to imagine ourselves in all places at all times; to embrace all opposites; to know we are immortal; to see ourselves as still in the womb and yet already dead. By expanding our consciousness in this way, we can merge with the Mind of God.
Those that bathe themselves in Mind find True Knowledge and become complete. Yet, they are not pleasing to the mass of men. They are thought mad and laughed at. They are hated and despised, and may even be put to death.
Rebirth is the Knowledge of our own immortality. To escape the suffering inherent in our human predicament, we must be reborn in spirit. The spiritual path that we must walk is the same one trodden by our ancestors. It is a hard road to follow whilst incarnate in a physical body, because we must struggle to master ourselves.
An enlightened being no longer believes he is a body. The body belongs to Nature, not to him, and so its fate is of no importance. He is One with everything. He sees Goodness everywhere. He is bathed in divine Light. He has become All-Mind.
For a man with vision, all things are good, even if other people see them as evil. His knowledge of God gives him the ability to see Goodness at work even when he is mistreated by others. Those who are reborn are already living in the kingdom of heaven.
No one can be saved, until he is born again. If you want to be reborn, purify yourself of the irrational torments of matter. The first of these is ignorance. The second is grief. Third is lack of self-control. Fourth is desire. Fifth is injustice. Sixth is greed. Seventh is deceit. Eighth is envy. Ninth is treachery. Tenth is anger. Eleventh is rashness. Twelfth is malice.
