PRACTICE AND THEORY

Those who were not yet enlightened were given what was called the lower knowledge pertaining to the various practices that serve to pave the way for the dawn of enlightenment. These practices included meditation techniques, ritualistic performances, dietary regimens, and codes of behavior, all of which were designed to purify the soul so that it would become a fit receptacle for the onset of spiritual wisdom.

Those who were already enlightened were given what was called the higher knowledge, which, instead of being related to any practice, was purely theoretical in nature. It pertained to the structures and dynamics of consciousness over a vast spectrum of space-time scales, and had to do with both how these structures and dynamics are related to the overall organization of the physical universe and the ultimate goal of enlightenment: to obtain full immortality in the bosom of the infinite.

In effect, the higher knowledge was designed to provide a road map for those enlightened souls who were on the path of immortality. The unenlightened, however, did not need this type of knowledge because they were merely on the preliminary stages of the path and had not yet begun the real journey. As a result, the higher knowledge was kept secret and reserved for the elite classes of enlightened sages. It may have been encoded in sacred texts and diagrams, alluded to in popular myths, and even mapped out on the sacred lands—but it was not made explicit to the unenlightened public.

In addition to these two types of knowledge, there was a third, intermediate type, which pertained to the actual mechanics of enlightenment: how the soul escapes from the bondage of ignorance and becomes free eternally.