✶Gnosis
← Contents
Theme
40 / 51

Listen

Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. 2 · 40 of 51

Part V

IX

1.[V. M.] But, O Asclepius, I see that thou with swift desire of mind art in a hurry to be told how man can have a love and worship of the Heaven, or of the things that are therein. Hear, then, Asclepius!

The love of God and Heaven, together with all them that are therein, is one perpetual act of worship.

No other thing ensouled, of Gods or animals, can do this thing, save man alone. ’Tis in the admiration, adoration, [and] the praise of men, and [in their] acts of worship, that Heaven and Heaven’s hosts find their delight.

2.Nor is it without cause the Muses’ choir hath been sent down by Highest Deity unto the host of men; in order that, forsooth, the terrene world should not seem too uncultured, had it lacked the charm of measures, but rather that with songs and praise of men accompanied with music, He might be lauded,—He who alone is all, or is the Sire of all; and so not even on the earths, should there have been an absence of the sweetness of the harmony of heavenly praise.

3.Some, then, though they be very few, endowed with the Pure Mind, have been entrusted with the sacred charge of contemplating Heaven.

Whereas those men who, from the two-fold blending of their nature, have not as yet withdrawn their inner reason from their body’s mass, these are appointed for the study of the elements, and [all] that is below them.

4.Thus man’s an animal; yet not indeed less potent in that he’s partly mortal, but rather doth he seem to be all the more fit and efficacious for reaching Certain Reason, since he has had mortality bestowed on him as well.

For it is plain he could not have sustained the strain of both, unless he had been formed out of both natures, so that he could possess the powers of cultivating Earthly things and loving Heaven.

X

1.The Reason of a thesis such as this, O [my] Asclepius, I would that thou should’st grasp, not only with the keen attention of thy soul, but also with its living power [as well].

For ’tis a Reason that most men cannot believe; the Perfect and the True are to be grasped by the more holy minds. Hence, then, will I begin.

Footnotes

323:1 Una est obsequiorum frequentatio. Cf. Ex. i. 3.

323:2 Cf. C. H., xvi. 11: “The duty of mankind is to give worship.”

324:1 Musicatis; or perhaps “Muse-inspired”; a word which, like so many others, occurs only in the Latin of this treatise.

324:2 In terris, pl.

324:3 Cf. vii. 1 and 2 above.

324:4 The reading is “interiorem intelligentiam mole corporis resederunt,” of which I can make nothing; resederunt is evidently an error.

324:5 There is here a “double” in the text, which the editor has not removed.

325:1 Vivacitate. Cf. C. H., x. (xi.) 17; and xix. 1 below.

325:2 Cf. C. H., ix. (x.) 10.

Asked of Guide

Why does Hermes say only humans can worship Heaven and delight the heavenly hosts?

Hermes says humans alone can offer continuous worship because they combine immortal intellect with mortal body, enabling both contemplation of Heaven and engagement with earth; worship is “one perpetual act” that gives Heaven delight. He explains that a few with the Pure Mind are appointed to contemplate celestial things while others study the elements, so human duality makes possible both roles.

Hermes adds that the Muses were given to humanity so terrestrial life would possess the “sweetness of the harmony of heavenly praise,” tying artistic praise to divine service. This chapter echoes Corpus Hermeticum passages (e.g., C. H. xvi.11) which likewise state mankind’s duty is to give worship and praise.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.