Practise and Self-observation! It takes a while to crack this one, as this is a fundamental part of Gnosis. The key is proving it to yourself. If you set yourself an objective of sitting still for 5 minutes and using your conscious will to say - "In the next five minutes I intend to empty my mind of all thoughts and keep that state for 5 minutes" (only!) You have made a commitment and a statement of intention - consciously, so that's a conscious act. Now try to carry out your intention. Any thoughts, feelings, and twitches, itches, moving position and fidgeting is NOT what you intended, so WHO or WHAT is using your body and mind at that moment? Answer - EGO. Why is it, in this practise, you started to fret about something you had not thought about all day, fancied a chocolate biscuit, wondered whether a bill had been paid, whether someone loved you or not, why does your boss treat you like Dirt? Etc... Don't you think the timing of all these egoic reactions is rather suspicious? No not really, because they go on all the time, which is why you don't notice them! This can be a really shocking moment and is just one of the "penny dropping moments" that students encounter when they start the Path to Gnosis!

As an organisation, we offer Spiritual development, using the Gnosis taught by Samael Aun Weor. We cannot claim to know everything about the ancient Gnosticism taught by the Early Christians, but we can clearly state that the Gnosis that they searched for is the same Gnosis we teach, since this knowledge was and is universal and timeless. In our lectures, we may use references from their teachings and books to illustrate aspects of Gnosis, so it is perfectly legitimate to say that any of Samael Aun Weors teaching that allows a person to obtain GNOSIS, is Gnostic. It is also important to remember that a lot of history gets written by the "Victors", so much of the negative literature (ancient bad press!) about the Gnostics, was written by the establishment of that time, and anything that threatened the establishment was deemed "heretical" and mis-quoted and twisted deliberately. We teach what Gnosis IS, WAS and WILL ALWAYS BE, whether it appears to fit historical definitions or not! Primarily, we teach how to obtain Gnosis personally, which as a by-product, does allow us to decode how the Gnostic gospels can relate to our spiritual development.

Once again mis-information and fear (by-products of an ego centred society) cloud the issues! EVERBODY goes to the Astral planes EVERYNIGHT. The Astral body leaves the physical body as a natural process to allow the vital body to recharge the physical body. During this time the Astral body goes to the Astral planes to receive teachings or information about the workings of their psychology. IF the person has done a successful Astral projection practise, they will have a lucid dream, where everything is very sharp and clear, they can control it to a certain degree and most importantly they know they are in the dream world. This level of awareness and control can be learnt, but needs patience and a lot of practise. However some people may be naturally gifted and acheived this in past lives. If we are "awake" during the day (i.e., in the moment and not identified with our egos) we are more likely to successfully Astral project at night.

The Ego is the biggest barrier to spiritual development at EVERY LEVEL, because it cuts us off from connecting with our Internal Being (Guru or Master). This Inner Master is infinitely more powerful than our egos, when it comes to protecting our long term health, happiness and wellbeing, because it already HAS the Gnosis. By connecting with our Inner Being in times of tension and emotional provocation (everyday life situations), we learn how to think, feel and act correctly in those split second moments. So in those situations, the connection with the Being would be the stimulus for a person who suffers from the ego of anger, not to get identified with an argument in a pub and end up with a glass in the face! There are infinite examples related to the other negative aspects we could give, that could answer this question!