In Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson (Penguin Arkana, pages 726-742), Gurdjieff explains the significance of the sacred process of "Almznoshinoo" in relation to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In short, Gurdjieff derides the traditional explanation of the bodily (physical) resurrection of Jesus Christ as an example of human wisearcing, fantasy and credulity, leading to all sorts of logical doubts as to the validity of Christianity. However, he does affirm that the preparation undertaken in "The Lord's Supper" and post-mortem communication between the disciples and Jesus Christ did, indeed, take place as part of the sacred process of "Almznoshinoo".
What is Almznoshinoo? Gurdjieff writes in "Beelzebub Tales to His Grandson" (page 726):
“...That process is called the sacred Almznoshinoo by means of which three-centered beings who have themselves already had time to coat and to bring their own body Kesdjan up to completed functioning and to a definite degree of Reason, intentionally produce the coating or, as it is otherwise said, the ‘materialization’ of the body Kesdjan of any being already entirely destroyed, to such a density that this body acquires again for a certain time the possibility of manifesting in certain of its functions proper to its former planetary body..."
This "materialization" of the body Kesdjan (middle part of the Soul) of an individual, that allows certain functions of their former physical body (lower part of the Soul) to manifest temporarily through the process of Almznoshinoo, also alludes to those mysterious statements in the Gospel accounts of Christ's appearances post-mortem.
For example, while Christ's physical resurrection appears to be affirmed to his disciples, particularly Thomas (John 20: 24-31), it was clearly more than physical because of Christ's strange manifestations, such as, when Jesus suddenly "appeared" in the midst of the disciples (John 20:19, Mark 16:14) or "vanished" in front of them (Luke 24:13-31), and finally "ascended" to Heaven (Luke 24:51-53, Mark 16:19).
Gurdjieff's take on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ appears to flip everything on its head. Rather than the traditional view that portrays the resurrection as an ordinary, physical phenomenon, Gurdjieff provides a picture that the corresponding and induced materialisation of Christ's "Soul", by the disciples through the sacred process of Almznoshinoo, manifested, to a degree, "like" a physical body.
In this sense, is it any wonder that the interpretation of this phenomenon by witnesses, as recorded in the Gospels, was described in physical terms? The more mystical, and yet material appearances of Christ's Soul, would have been almost incomprehensible.
For modern people, acceptance of the traditional or Gurdjieffian view of Christ's resurrection is a hard pill to swallow for both require a trust, a belief, that there is more to this world than meets the eye and the testimony of those who lived long ago. However, the key difference between the two is that Gurdjieff's perspective opens itself to potential verification for those who understand, very practically, the sacred process of Almznoshinoo. For the traditional view, acceptance is purely an article of faith.
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