The Greek word gnosis means "knowledge." The higher meaning of gnosis is knowledge of facts acquired from personal experience. Gnosis is genuine knowledge of the truth. To understand truth, one must experience it. The greatest human beings in every field - philosophy, science, art, and religion - did not imitate, memorize, or remain limited by popular ideas; instead, they sought gnosis: to know the facts for themselves, and in finding the facts they changed the world for the better. Unfortunately, such people are rare. The problems afflicting individuals and society today have a simple root cause: we have not yet learned how to think. Instead, people today are taught to memorize and imitate. Schools, teachers, and parents today emphasize what we should think, rather than teaching how to think, question, and analyse, so we can recognize the facts, deal with them intelligently, and experience the truth for ourselves. When our consciousness is liberated from the conditioning and restrictions imposed upon it by imitation, bad habits, defects, vices, and mistaken beliefs, then we can see and experience the truth for ourselves. In this way, we no longer need to believe anything or follow anyone, but are free to express our fundamental nature and realize our full potential. This book guides us towards that experience, that gnosis. We need the union of superior logic and tremendous love, heart and mind balanced by conscious awareness of facts. This psychological equilibrium empowers us to alter the painful conditions that we suffer within. Therefore, we need a gnostic education: an education based on personal experience of the truth.
