Page 17 - Gnosis volume 2
P. 17
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We are right in the midst of this relatively short period — of a century — perhaps. It
started with the first conference at the Hague and the Russo-Japanese War, followed by
the first Russian Revolution and the first World War. That was the collapse of the old
political and social balance of powers on our planet and, running parallel to it, was the
staggering headway made in the technical field.
It is, however, impossible to measure the exact duration of this period. For it is said:
Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the Angels of Heaven, not the Son, but
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my Father only . With this reserve, one can state that the transitional period will, most
probably, not outlast the end of this century. For, all the signs that were indicated as
necessary conditions for the End, are cropping up before our very eyes.
This period calls for great preparations for the crossing over into the approaching
third Cycle, that of the Holy Ghost. The task is partially accomplished already, as regards
the exterior conditions of organic life on the Earth as a whole, and especially, those
conditions which affect the material life of human beings.
In this realm, however, we are obviously approaching a limit in this sense, that the
progress of means tends to destroy established ways of life, which nevertheless
remain unchanged or, more often, lag behind with a dangerous delay [extract from
Amis, Gnosis II, p. xxx-xxxi, see also, French original version, Gnôsis II, p. 17].
Technical progress is liberating man rapidly from the bondage of toil imposed on him
since his Fall, when he was condemned to eat bread in the sweat of his
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Matt., XXIV, 36; Mark, XIII, 32.