PRINCIPLES OF REVOLUTIONARY LUMINISM
By Dale R. Gowin
www.luminist.org



This essay was written in 1996 while the author was incarcerated in a prison in New York State. It was revised in January 1998, and further revisions were made in June 1998. It includes a summary of some of the concepts contained in the Proposal for the Formation of the Church of Gnostic Luminism.



The goals of Revolutionary Luminism are the total liberation of the human race, individually and collectively, and a worldwide expansion of human consciousness into higher, more inclusive states from which the realities of our present historical and evolutionary situation can be accurately perceived and properly addressed.

Revolutionary Luminism seeks to enable the self-actualization of every member of the human race, and seeks to implement a worldwide society that will insure full liberty, autonomy, and security for every woman and man on Earth - not a "world government": rather a worldwide grassroots free-market anarchocommunist commonwealth based on voluntary cooperation, individual liberty and personal responsibility - "all for (every) one and (every) one for all".

This vision has been the goal of all true revolutionary movements in history, though it has never been realized due to the unripeness of human evolution and the counter-revolutionary strategies of a privileged elite addicted to tyrannical power and personal profit.

The vision of a worldwide libertarian commonwealth has also been the secret goal of an underground tradition which has existed within and outside of the Freemasonic Fraternities of the world - a tradition which traces its history through the Theosophists and Rosicrucians, the Illuminati and the Knights Templar, the Gnostics and the Essenes, Hermeticists and Pythagoreans, and on back into the mists of pre-history.

We are now entering an era in which these strands are twining together and this elusive dream of liberty is becoming both a real possibility and a real necessity - at the least a necessity for the preservation of civilization, and ultimately a prerequisite for human survival on Earth.

The forces which oppose our goal are also uniting, and are in fact in virtually complete control of Earth at this moment. Their motivation is to squeeze Earth like a grape and quench their lust for short-range profits on Her final agonies. As Jim Keith writes: "If you haven't gotten the idea that this world is run by a criminal elite lacking the slightest concern for the welfare of mankind, then you haven't been paying attention."

This opposition is led by a dark cabal of ultra-rich elitists who are plotting the establishment of a totalitarian world government, a "new world order" in which the institutional violence and coercion of State Authority will be cemented into permanence. The top 3% of Earth's population who own or control 97% of our substance seek to realize their 6,000-year-old objective of world domination. They plan to use their technologies of mass brainwashing and mind control, genocide, genetic manipulation, and ecocide to totally enslave or eliminate entire cultures, classes, and races of humanity. They plan to establish an omnipotent, monolithic, hierarchical, insectoid technocracy which will crush human liberty into extinction beneath its jack-boots.

We will not allow them to achieve their twisted apocalyptic dream. A signal has gone forth through the synapses of all sentient life, an alarm bell to wake the sleeping masses. We must rouse ourselves from our somnambulistic trance, shake off the chains of State and Corporate conditioning and indoctrination, and take our places in the spontaneously arising Legions of Light, Life, Love, and Liberty that are unfurling their banners throughout the world.

The entrenched late-20th-century power structures of Earth comprise the ultimate and absolute enemy of human liberty, equality and fraternity; of biodiversity and ecological health; of truth, justice, and love; of the survival of life on Earth.

Revolutionary Luminism is a flaming sword that can slay this world-consuming Leviathan.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

The term Luminism (also spelled "Illuminism") refers to the experience of "enlightenment" - the expansion of human consciousness into states which allow direct personal experience of reality (gnosis).

This expanded consciousness provides access to new perspectives from which the apparent contradictions between science and religion disappear, as well as those between the spiritual and the political.

For convenience, the essential revelations made available by the gnostic experience can be summarized under four basic philosophical headings:

(1) Ontology, or, "What is real?"

(2) Epistemology, or, "How do you know?" (Both grammatical senses of this question are implied; i.e., "What is the source and nature of your knowledge?" and "How does knowing happen?")

(3) Ethics, or, "What is the right (good, virtuous, beneficial) way for us to live and act as humans on Earth?" and

(4) Political theory, or, "How should human society on Earth be organized?"

The concepts summarized below are not presented as dogma to be believed; rather they are discoveries made by empirically verifiable research, which can be experimentally demonstrated and proven in the laboratory of the human mind and heart.

I. Ontology:
Consciousness in itself is the First Cause, the Prime Mover, the Supreme Being. Consciousness in itself comprises the totality of "ultimate reality". Consciousness is prior to, not a product of, material forms. Consciousness in itself permeates all of time and space, yet it is not limited to the dimensions of time and space; it may be referred to technically as "eternal" and "infinite". Consciousness in itself is formless, yet it permeates and manifests all forms.

Consciousness is a basic force of the universe, like gravity and the nuclear forces that bind atoms together. The human brain does not generate consciousness as an "epiphenomenon", like a generator produces electricity; rather, the brain is analogous to a radio receiver that picks up the "broadcast" of consciousness.

Consciousness is in itself the ultimate identity or "true self" of every person and every living being. The human "ego" or apparent self is an artificial construct comprised of various levels of exterior identifications. These levels include the mind (memories, habits of thought, mannerisms, personality); the body (appearance, gender); one's physical accoutrements (clothing, car, house, property, etc.); and one's "social self" (family, genealogy, tribe, nation, class, race, etc.). The "true self" - the part of one's self that is ultimately real - is prior to all of these and dependent on none of them.

Your own innermost Self (whoever you are) is a pure expression of universal Consciousness, embodying and enlivening the various levels of exterior being that comprise your apparent self. As such, the True Self has no beginning and no end, was not created and cannot be destroyed (in conformation with the laws of conservation of matter and energy). What we call "death" is the change that occurs when one's essential Self separates from the various levels of exterior identification that it has been attached to during a specific sojourn in time and space. The True Self, your own most real essence, cannot die.

When the True Self separates from its outermost (physical) levels of identification, yet retains connection with various intermediate (mental, emotional) levels, it may retain connection to the physical world and return to physical life in a new body (i.e. reincarnate). This return occurs in obedience to a force of attraction caused by one's deeds, words, and thoughts during a lifetime, which cause vibratory reactions (every action has an equal and opposite reaction). This force of attraction is called "karma" in Sanskrit and is a fundamental law of the universe.

II. Epistemology:
Consciousness knows the truth about itself and about all things. Every human being can access this knowledge by "going within" or focusing one's attention on the subjective nature of one's consciousness rather than one's exterior identifications.

This inward focusing of the attention can lead to the experience of Illumination, or spontaneous intuitive apprehension of reality. Knowledge obtained in this manner is accompanied by a subjective sense of certainty and authenticity. With experience and training, this sense of certainty can be tuned and refined into an instrument of exacting accuracy and precision. It may indeed become one of the standard tools of 21st century science.

The Illumination experience can be nurtured and developed by numerous methods that have been developed during many millennia of underground Luminist experimentation and research. Among these methods are yoga, meditation, religious practices, shamanism, the martial arts, ceremonial Magick, Qabalah, sensory deprivation, modern technologies like biofeedback and "brain machines", and - most importantly for our own era - controlled use of entheogenic (psychedelic) herbs and chemicals.

These tools and techniques can facilitate access to altered states of consciousness of many sorts. One classic reference to these altered states was written by the seminal psychologist and philosopher William James in his Varieties of Religious Experience: "Sour normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus, and at a touch they are there in all their completeness, definite types of mentality which probably somewhere have their field of application and adaptation. No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded."

Results obtained from the Illumination experience can be checked and verified by the syncretic/eclectic method of objective analysis. "Syncretic" implies awareness of and open-mindedness toward all available sources of knowledge; and "eclectic" implies the selective use of only those elements of each which prove to be valid after exacting scrutiny and careful evaluation. When information deriving from gnostic experiences is supported by a "preponderance of evidence" from multiple sources, it may be tentatively accepted as valid. When one's personal revelations harmonize with the "golden thread" of valid truth found by syncretic/eclectic research in the myriads of religious, philosophical, and scientific traditions of Earth, then the results may be accepted as reliable and sound.

III. Ethics
All living beings, as has been said above, are expressions of the same universal essence (which may be referred to as Consciousness, Life, Spirit, God, or the Self, according to personal preference). The recognition that other beings share one's own essential Self forms the basis of all truly valid ethical principles. The ideal referred to as "the Golden Rule" in Christianity reflects this central realization. In practical terms, it might be expressed in the words, "Pain hurts (and pleasure pleases) the other as much as it does me." Thus compassion and empathy are valid guides to ethical correctness in all situations.

To exterior appearance, living beings seem to be separate, but the eyes of Illumination reveal that the Many are fundamentally inseparable from the One. Therefore, ultimately, anything which benefits another also benefits oneself, and "an injury to one is an injury to all". The principle of mutual aid follows from this realization. Actions which benefit others as well as oneself are ethically sound, and aid to some degree in the upliftment of the collectivity of which the individual is a part; and actions which benefit oneself at the expense or to the detriment of others are ethically wrong in that they detract to some degree from the wellbeing of the whole.

The accuracy of the information that flows between individuals in society is an essential element of the healthful functioning of the totality, in the same way that the flow of neuroelectrical data through the human nervous system and the synapses of the brain is integral to the healthful functioning of the body and the cells which compose it. Therefore truthfulness is an essential ethical principle of the highest importance. Truthfulness may be defined as an honest attempt to embody and bear witness to the truth to the best of one's ability, and to refrain from deliberately deceiving or misleading others. On a personal level, truthfulness eliminates the accumulation of subconscious "baggage", lingering thoughts and feelings that are repressed from conscious awareness. This "baggage" impedes the consciousness expansion necessary for Illumination and insulates the individual from participation in the telepathic or transpersonal psychic experiences which provide meaning and enrichment to our lives and aid in the acceleration of human social evolution into more humane and intelligent forms.

Harmlessness, ahimsa in Sanskrit, is the attempt to live in such a way as to inflict the absolute minimum necessary harm to other living beings, rooted in the realization that they are not truly "other" but co-participants with us in an organic totality. One immediate application of this principle is vegetarianism, the choice to refrain from eating the flesh of animals or using products whose production involves the death or suffering of animals. On a purely physical level, there is strong evidence that humans are not genetically designed to digest animal flesh, but that the human teeth and digestive system was engineered by evolution to process seeds, nuts, grains, fruits and herbs. Anthropological evidence indicates that our early human ancestors were not hunters, but scavengers who harvested bone-marrow from the leavings of carnivores during shortages of plant proteins. Actual flesh eating probably originated from the extreme environmental pressures of the Pleistocene ice age. Continuation of this practice in times of abundance is detrimental to human health. On a spiritual level, vegetarianism aids in the development of empathy, compassion, and the realization of the unity of all life.

Another essential principle is pacifism, the choice to refrain from deliberately harming or injuring other humans. Aside from the minimum force necessary to protect the life and liberty of self and loved ones, it is wrong to participate in the infliction of harm on others, either personally or by participation in social institutions formed to inflict wholesale harm. Conscientious application of this principle requires us to refrain from supporting such institutions in any way, even by taxation, and to do everything within our power to aid in their reduction and elimination.

Similarly, anarchism, considered as an ethical principle, is the choice to refrain from any form of coercion, and refusal to participate in any social institutions that practice it (i.e. government, which actually is a form of organized crime wearing a thin veneer of pretended legitimacy). By extension, this principle requires us to aid the deconstruction and dissolution of such institutions, and their replacement with institutions based on voluntary cooperation and mutual aid, in every possible way.

The principle of biostewardship is the responsibility we share as humans to care for and preserve the ecological health and safety of the natural world of which we are apart, and the biodiversity of our environment. We must actively oppose any institution, "public" or "private", which needlessly endangers or harms the flora and fauna of Earth.

IV. Political Theory:
Every human being is a citizen of the Universe, prior to citizenship in any lesser jurisdiction such as nation or race. Proof of citizenship is the fact of existence; your membership card is your belly button. Universal citizenship confers certain inherent and inalienable rights, including, as Thomas Jefferson phrased it, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

Every person who is alive on Earth is a co-heir of Earth, entitled by right of inheritance to a fair and equal share of the resources drawn from the planet by society. Thus, no person can legitimately be deprived of access to the necessities of life, including food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education. A clear indicator of the degree of justice in a society is the extent to which it insures these rights to every citizen. Any society that denies the essential prerequisites of survival to any person is unjust, an outlaw state; and it is the moral duty of all honest Earth-dwellers to work tirelessly toward the abolition of such states, and their replacement with alternative social institutions based on voluntary cooperation and mutual aid.

The just society will recognize the Royal Sovereignty of the Individual. Within the sphere of private actions which do not infringe upon the liberty and autonomy of others, the freedom of the individual is absolute. Any coercive interference with the freedom of individual action, if such action does no harm to others, is tyranny, and may justly be resisted by any means necessary.

The authority with which the collective decisions of a just society will be enforced will be legitimate only if it has the full, informed, voluntary consent and agreement of every person affected by it. "Authority" imposed without consent is tyranny, and may justly be resisted by any means necessary.

A worldwide social system based on these Revolutionary Luminist principles is destined to come into being on Earth; its pattern is programmed into the DNA code of the human species. The ancient prayer, "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven", expresses a foreshadowing of this future society. However, our achievement of this genetic destiny is threatened by the dark powers that rule the planet in these last days of the Old Millenium - forces intoxicated by the evil and averse dream of world domination, armed with geocidal megadeath machines, blindly pursuing the illusory loot of profit and power at the expense of all else. A choice must be made between these two destinies, and those who are now alive on Earth must make this choice.

The worldwide voluntary/cooperative society of the future can be prefigured by the social-organic metaphor. The goods and services required for survival and happiness will be provided to every individual by society in the same way that the bloodstream nourishes each cell of our bodies. A technological communication and information system will connect every member of society just as the nervous system connects the cells and organs of our bodies. In a healthy organic system, every discrete unit is autonomous and self-regulating; each cell follows its own built-in instructions (i.e. its own "will").

The economy of the future world society will not require money as a medium of exchange; it will be a gift economy. Goods and services will be provided as free gifts to whoever needs them, and the work of production will be performed voluntarily, as each worker chooses. The motivation for production will be the natural human desire to provide superior enjoyments for self and others. The increased efficiency afforded by a voluntary/cooperative economy, coupled with the technologies of cybernetic automation, will provide virtually limitless abundance and leisure for everyone.

Bringing this future society into being will require an act of revolution on an unprecedented scale. It is the nature of coercive authority to resist relinquishing its grip on its victims at all costs. The 6,000-year-old conspiracy of darkness that rules the Earth today and threatens us all with, in George Orwell's words, "a boot stamping on a human face forever", is so entrenched and all-pervasive that it can only be deposed by a spontaneous, simultaneous worldwide uprising of the people. Bringing this revolution about is the only activity that is truly worthwhile; it provides the only hope for a future of liberty, security and peace, for an end to the suffering, tyranny, and ecocide that characterizes 20th century Earth society. We have had the First and Second World Wars; now we must have the First World Revolution.

But "revolution" does not necessarily imply "violence". Such tactics as work stoppages, boycotts, tax refusal, and organization of cooperatives and collectives, have the potential to bring the planetary death machine down, if enough people participate.

The Revolutionary Luminist strategy for creating the necessary worldwide social revolution involves making the miracle of Illumination available to as many Earthdwellers as possible. As minds and hearts around the world are opened to the light of revelation, the innate intuitive recognition of the necessity of change will be unavoidable for more and more women and men every day. A clear consensus of "the way it ought to be" will begin to emerge as a "critical mass" of humanity becomes awakened.



a great site crammed with ideas by dale gowin & other luminist authors:
www.luminism.org