October 7, 2025 • 18 mins
Explore the concept of "gnosis" as a direct, mystical experience of the divine within oneself, distinguishing it from intellectual dogma. Gardiner, whose work is praised for its clarity and depth, challenges conventional historical and religious narratives, particularly regarding the literal existence of Solomon's Temple, instead positing it as a symbolic representation of inner enlightenment. The text extensively connects serpent symbolism, ancient myths, and various spiritual traditions (including Gnosticism, Sufism, and alchemy) to the idea of an innate human potential for illumination, often referred to as the "Shining Ones" or "Kundalini" energy. It also examines concepts of internal balance—will, strength, and knowledge—as crucial for achieving this enlightened state, while suggesting that established religions have often suppressed these truths for control. The included timeline and dictionary entries further reinforce the author's interdisciplinary approach to uncovering hidden wisdom across cultures and throughout history.
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You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
https://linktr.ee/book_shelter
Get the Book now from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Gnosis-Secrets-Solomons-Temple-Revealed/dp/1564149099?&linkCode=ll1&tag=cvthunderx-20&linkId=53ad196e77adb7348bbdcee3b136f10e&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome deep divers. Today we're diving into something really intriguing.
It's more than just a book reviews. It's about a
personal quest, an ancient puzzle.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And a pretty radical idea right about history, about ourselves exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We're looking at Philip Gardner's Nosis, The Secret of Solomon's
Temple Revealed, and honestly, his central claim about Solomon's Temple
it's well, it's quite something.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
It really is. Gardner basically asks us to look past
the obvious. He says, Nosis, this ancient idea isn't just
about booksmarts. It's a feeling, a direct mystical connection to
something powerful inside us.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Right, and he suggests our most sacred stories, even buildings,
they all point inward towards this hidden.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Pass, a pass to enlightenment. Yeah, but he argues it's
been deliberately hidden, kept from us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So that's our journey today. We're going to follow Gardner's
own story, you know, how he went from being a
skeptic to the huge revelations, and see how.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
These ancient ideas might actually connect to us right here,
right now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Absolutely, it definitely challenges what you think you know, So
buckle up. Okay, So let's start with the man himself,
Philip Gardner. Before all this, he wasn't digging into ancient mysteries.
He was actually in marketing.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, quite the shift. He talks about, getting pretty disillusioned
with it all. He saw the commercial world using these
subtle and ongoing propaganda machines.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Propaganda how so well.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
He felt they played on our basic animal instincts, you know,
using temptation on one hand, threats on the.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Other, creating cycles of wanting things then feeling let down exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
He felt we'd lost something important, something the ancients knew,
this idea of finding balance.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Ah okay, So that feeling of imbalance, that's what kicked
things off, It.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seems so that dissatisfaction pushed him. He started digging into history, religion,
even occult stuff, looking for hidden clues in art, in
old texts.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And he started finding things.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He did, he calls them remarkable secrets from our ancestors.
He started seeing this thread, this connection between ancient wisdom
and even like modern science.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And then things got weirder, all right? About an invitation,
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
A very unexpected turn. He gets invited to this old
gentleman's club, not the Masons. He makes that clear, but
you know, very traditional, very old school.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
How did that even happen?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It followed a meeting with an elderly member there. This
old guy shows Gardner a book from the nineteen thirties,
and this book apparently predicted the major outcomes of World
War two eerially accurate. Whoa, seriously, that's the story, and
the old gentleman told him these huge world events weren't random.
They were part of a much bigger plan, a plan
(02:37):
for what to set up an international body, basically the
United Nations.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, that's a lot to take in. So Gardner joins
this society.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, here's another twist. He felt he was sort of
prescribed membership, like it was set out for him and
the old man's will after he passed almost destined.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Huh, pre dustined investigator kind of.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And once inside, he starts noticing subtle changes in their
old tech symbols. He felt he was uncovering layer after
layer of hidden messages.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So he wasn't just reading, he was traveling too.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah. He took his research global, went to ancient sites,
dusty libraries, and kept seeing confirmations of what he was
piecing together, which.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
All led him to like what was the big breakthrough.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He calls it a startling realization basically that there truly
is a higher consciousness and that this state is obtainable
to all, not just for gurus or saints, but.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
For everyone, and that made him angry.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Outraged is the word he uses. That these deep and
real elements of our own existence were hidden by, as
he puts it, the manipulators of the world, because he
concludes the release of our own mind gives us a
freedom from controlling influences. Inner freedom threatens external control.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Basically, hmmm, okay, so if we're going to follow this,
how should we approach it? It sounds like it requires a
different mindset.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Absolutely. Gardner gives direct advice forget what you believe, ignore
all that you are told, and come to this book
with a fresh and open mind.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Easier said than done, maybe.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Maybe, but he stresses this knowledge is so deeply rooted
that it can easily be missed. You have to be
willing to look differently.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Okay, an open mind. It is because he claims these
truths are fundamental right, underlying everything from alchemy to Sufhism.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, he connects it all, Alchemy, Taoism, Nosta Christianity, mystical Suphism.
He sees them not as separate religions or philosophies, but
as different dialects speaking the same core truth.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
All right, let's start unpacking some of those core truths.
Then he begins with a symbol that well, it makes
a lot of people uncomfortable, the serpent.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Right and straight away, he challenges mainstream history. He says,
flat out, our present orthodox history is basically incorrect.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Revised by those in power.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
He thinks, that's his argument to fit their narrative. Yeah,
and the serpent, he claims, is a key to unlocking
what was lost or hidden?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So how is the serpent seen originally?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
According to him, it was everywhere Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian
cult think of the Naga worship in India. It wasn't
seen as evil. It was consistently linked to wisdom, often ultimate.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Wisdom, wisdom, but also venom. He mentions that too, doesn't
he He does.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He talks about the physical elixir of life in its venom.
He believes ancient people understood its medicinal properties, how it
could extend life, improve health more than just myth.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, interesting, and he connects this serpent idea to the
Holy Grail too, Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Not as a cup, more like a symbol holy mixing
bowl used in rituals. He also strongly links the serpent
image to Kundalini.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Energy, that coiled energy at the base of the spine.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Exactly the ida in Pingala, those energy channels going up
the spine. He sees that whole system as the path
to true wisdom, symbolized by the rising serpent.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But the serpent does have a dual nature, right, good
and evil connotations.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Absolutely, and he uses that duality. Think about a snake
shedding its skin. It's a potent metaphor, he says, for
killing off our old self, the egocentric self, and thereby
releasing the.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Real us, like spiritual rebirth.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Precisely you see it with Moses and the Brazen Serpent
bringing healing. But then you also have stories like Saint
Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Which Gardner interprets as one belief system taking over.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Kind of yeah, maybe Christianity's suppressing older perhaps serpent venerating traditions.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It's complex, okay, So serpent as wisdom transformation. Then he
introduces his concept of the Shining Ones what's that about.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
This is a really core part of his theory. He
describes them as a secret religious brotherhood, super ancient, like
over five thousand BC ancient.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Wow. And they did what.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
He claims, they influenced pretty much everything, religions, monuments, governments,
and crucially, they guarded the secrets of enlightenment, this internal process,
keeping it from the general population.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Guarded knowledge why.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Maybe they felt humanity wasn't ready, or maybe it was
about maintaining power. Gardner doesn't explicitly state their motive, just
that they held it close.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And how do we see evidence of these shining ones?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
He points to the symbolism of shining itself. Anything described
as white, bright, or shining in myths or architecture, he argues,
points to this way.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Of truth, like the Pyramids exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
The Great Pyramid was originally covered in white limestone polished
topped with gold. It was called the Light or Bora
budour in Java, painted brilliant white, meant to shine like
a celestial city.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So the shining is symbolic of enlightenment, that's the idea.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Even legends of a great white brotherhood on mountains in
North America fit this pattern for him.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
This wisdom seems very layered. He also talks about numbers, right,
especially seven.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, the number seven pops up everywhere. Seven chakras, seven
heavens in the Koran and Bible, even in Shamanic traditions.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Seven deadly sins, seven virtues.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Right. It represents a kind of balancing act, doesn't it,
transcending those base desires to reach a higher state.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Okay, that makes sense symbolically. But then he connects it
to atoms.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
This is where it gets really interesting. He puts forward
this compelling idea that the ancients somehow knew that these
seven levels are mirrored in the structure of matter itself,
like the seven energy levels or orbits around in atom's nucleus.
He even suggests the mind can interact with matter at
this sub atomic level through escaped and charged electrons. It's
(08:20):
quite a leap.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
A leap, indeed, And within these atoms and in space,
there's mostly nothing the void, right, the.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Vorid or nothingness. But for Gardner, this emptiness isn't empty.
It's significant. How so what's in the void potentially everything?
He connects it to concepts like a universal mind or
the Acashic record, like a cosmic library of all information
or even zero point energy.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
From physics, and we can access this, he suggests.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
We can, particularly in that state between waking and sleeping,
the hypnagogic state. He even brings in quantum entanglement.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Where particles seem linked instantly, no matter the distance.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Exactly like there's still part of one thing superposition. So
he asks, if we become aware of that quantum level,
could we tap into that interconnected knowledge? Could we know
what other parts of the whole are doing?
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Mind bending stuff? So how does this relate to our
everyday experience? He talks about outer and inner reality.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, it's a crucial distinction. Outer reality is our everyday persona,
the personality. It's shaped by society, ego, desires and often
leads to suffering, he argues.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And inner reality that's.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
The individual, the real self or being. That's where the
shining enlightenment happens deep inside.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
People have tried accessing this in a reality for ages,
haven't they? With meditation substances.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Absolutely, He mentions experimentation, peyote, psilocybin, mushrooms, the mysterious soma,
but also non substance methods like deep meditation, prayer, the
whirling dervishes all aimed at achieving altered states of awareness.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
And these altered states often lead to similar experiences.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Remarkably similar across cultures and times. A feeling of transcendence
of time and space, a sense of oneness with everything.
It seems to be a universal human phenomenon.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He mentions Gopi Krishna's Kundalini experiences too, right, the intense heat, yes.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
As an example of the power involved, but also the
need for balance. Krishna felt this intense burning needing the
balancing water or feminine aspect to handle the fiery male energy.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Balance is key, So boiling it down this enlightenment experience.
Where does it come from?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Gardner suggests two possibilities. Yeah, Either it's hardwired into us,
part of our basic human genetic makeup. Or it's a
connection through the quantum brain to a quantum state.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And that wavy line, the snake symbol.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He sees it as the physical representation of this underlying energy,
this quantum connection, a universal image for the fundamental energy
of existence.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Okay, wow, So with that foundation, let's see how he
applies it to say, the Bible, he reads genesis very differently.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Totally differently, he argues against a literal reading. For him,
Genesis is an allegorical and gnostic truth. It's a map
of the inner world.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So Eden isn't a place.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Not a physical garden. No, it's an interstate of being.
And the famous trees life and knowledge. He sees them
as the human spine.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
The spine.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, yeah, he says, the whole Kundalini concept suddenly appears
to be growing right there, and the river splitting into
four cardinal directions. Yes, but the center the source. So
the fifth element, the fifth element, is the true self.
We are the fifth elements, the point where it all
comes together inside.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Okay, that's a shift. But what about the serpent in
Genesis three, the tempter?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
This is probably his most radical reinterpretation. He flips it completely.
The serpent isn't the villain. It's the one who brings
good fortune and is the creator God, Creator God. He
equates the serpent with the Kudolini energy, the life force
or prana, even calls it the holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
So when the serpent tells Eve, you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Gardner reads that as an encouragement not to sin, but
to realize your own true potential to release the God
within to achieve nos.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So Adam and Eve aren't just people. Their inner energies.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Symbolic serpents of energy within man that must unite. Their
union brings forth the true son of Man, the inner Christ,
the enlightened state. He even connects figures like Mary Magdalen
to the necessary feminine aspect, the matronate uniting with the
Christ within.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It's an internal alchemy. Then does he see parallels elsewhere?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Buddhism Absolutely Buddha giving up worldly things, finding enlightenment under
the bow tree, which Gardner equates with the world tree
or tree of knowledge. It fits perfectly.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And the story of Buddha and the Naga the Snake.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yes, Buddha faces this dangerous Naga but ends up peaceful
with a coiled snake in his bowl. For Gardner, that's
mastering the inner fire serpent with wisdom, the bowl perhaps
representing the grail or balance.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
What about the Koran? Does he find similar symbolism there?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
He does. He interprets the story of the Seven Sleepers
in Surrey eighteen, not literally, but as a metaphor for
the soul's journey through ages, similar to the Quindalini towards enlightenment,
opening new ways of seeing.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
The universe, and Muhamman's night journey.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
He sees that mystical journey the Israel and Mirage as
a classic shamanic journey, likely occurring in that hypnagogic state,
that threshold consciousness we talked about.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Okay, connecting all these threads, serpent energy, inner tree is
mystical journeys. This all leads him to his biggest claim
about Solomon's Temple.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, after laying all this groundwork, he drops the bombshell
the temple itself was purely symbolic, that it did not
exist as a physical structure wait.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Never existed, or just that the meaning is symbolic.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
He leans heavily toward it being primarily, perhaps entirely symbolic,
a blueprint for our own spiritual growth.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
That's huge. So the Knight's templar digging under the temple
mount for nine years, what did they find if not relics?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
According to Gardner, they found nosis. The truth of Solomon's
Temple is that the templars discovered something the templars found themselves.
They uncover the inner meaning, the path to self realization.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So the temple's features are all symbols of this inner path,
Like the twin pillars.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Exactly Jack, Schin and Boaz. He interprets them as unity
and wholeness, He who establishes and he provides the whole strength.
They represent the balanced vital force of creativity.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And Astra, the goddess figure sometimes associated with the temple.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
She represents the goddess within, the element of wisdom within us,
often shown as a serpent entwined pull. Linking back to
that core symbolism.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
What about hiram Abiff, the master builder in Masonic lore.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
His name can mean exalted head or even exalted snake,
so he symbolizes the pinnacle of wisdom, the height of
the Kundalini.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Even Solomon and Sheba not real.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
People in this interpretation, they're symbolic. Their union represents the
balancing of inner aspects, Solomon's fiery, powerful side with Sheba's
peaceful wy side. Their son Menelek is the resulting true self.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
It's a complete internal drama and numbers. Again, he mentioned
the number.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Nine, Yes, nine is crucial, symbolizing deletion, perfection, heavenly power,
or higher human consciousness. Think nine templar founders seventy two,
which is eight x nine chapters in their rule.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Even the layout of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He points to the Messianic Axis, a specific line through
Jerusalem measuring eight hundred and sixty four cubits and eight
plus six plus four equals eighteen and one plus eight
equals nine its like numerical code hidden in plain.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Sight, and freemasonry itself supports the symbolic view.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
He quotes sources like the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry calling the
temple the most significant symbol, representing the spiritualizing of the temple,
and Albert Pike saying to the master Mason, the Temple
of Solomon is truly the symbol of human life.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So this isn't just Gardner's unique idea. It's echoed in
these esoteric traditions, some sisely.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
He cites figures like Elephus Levi talking about the caducious
serpents representing light in equilibrium, the divinity of man and paracelsus.
By knowing ourself, we can know the universe. It's the
same message again and again.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Okay, So if the temple is an inner blue par
how do we build it? Gardner offers three secrets.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yes, three core principles for illumination, but he warns you
need all three working together. Not one of these words
taken in isolation will make the individual a fully realized person. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Balance Again, what's the first one?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Will? Not just wanting something, but determination by choice crucially
our choice, not in other's. And will requires purpose no
purpose in life. Eradicates our desire and reduces the will.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Makes sense. What's number two?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Strength? He defines us as a force of energy, but
again in balance, it's not brute force. He says. True
faith will empower the individual and give him internal strength
to act on their will.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Inner strength powered by faith or purpose. And the third.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Knowledge or nosis specifically, but it's knowledge in union with
will and strength. Just knowing stuff isn't enough. Having all
the knowledge in the world will not give us the
will or the strength to apply it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So will gives direction. Strength provides the power, and knowledge
guides the application.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
That's a good way to put it. When these three
are understood, balanced and integrated, that's when the true self emerges.
He calls them the three aspects of wisdom and links
them to Sophia, the goddess of wisdom, who resides in
the Temple of Man.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And this brings us back to the templars.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yes, his conclusion loops back beautifully. The truth of Solomon's
Temple is that the templars discovered something. The temples found themselves,
that inner potential, that nosis was the real treasure.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
What a journey we've really gone from well marketing, disillusionment
all the way to the symbolic heart of Solomon's Temple.
It's quite the narrative Gardener lays out.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It truly is following his path from those first questions
about manipulation and balance, through the secret societies, the serpent wisdom,
the shining ones, right up to reinterpreting scripture and the
temple itself. It's a compelling story.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And the core message running through it all seems to
be about finding that inner balance, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Absolutely? He keeps returning to it at every level of
our lives. What we must always begin with is balance.
It's about shedding the ego, the unnecessary desires, the suffering.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
They cause, so our minds can truly shine, as he
puts it, exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
To gain that nosis, that direct knowing of our connection
to ourselves, to each other, and well to the universe. Itself.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So for you listening, the real question isn't just is
Gardener Wright, It's maybe more about engaging with these ideas.
What does building your inner temple mean?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, he leaves us with that thought, doesn't he Once
mankind has built its six billion temples, then maybe there
will be hope for the world. It puts the responsibility
squarely on each of us.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So what's one small step you could take today? Maybe
just reflecting on that balance of will, strength and knowledge
in your own life.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
It's definitely something to think about. How might seeing the
temple within change how you navigate your day, your interactions,
your own inner world. It's a deep dive with potentially
profound implications.
Welcome deep divers. Today we're diving into something really intriguing.
It's more than just a book reviews. It's about a
personal quest, an ancient puzzle.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And a pretty radical idea right about history, about ourselves exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We're looking at Philip Gardner's Nosis, The Secret of Solomon's
Temple Revealed, and honestly, his central claim about Solomon's Temple
it's well, it's quite something.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
It really is. Gardner basically asks us to look past
the obvious. He says, Nosis, this ancient idea isn't just
about booksmarts. It's a feeling, a direct mystical connection to
something powerful inside us.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Right, and he suggests our most sacred stories, even buildings,
they all point inward towards this hidden.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Pass, a pass to enlightenment. Yeah, but he argues it's
been deliberately hidden, kept from us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So that's our journey today. We're going to follow Gardner's
own story, you know, how he went from being a
skeptic to the huge revelations, and see how.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
These ancient ideas might actually connect to us right here,
right now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Absolutely, it definitely challenges what you think you know, So
buckle up. Okay, So let's start with the man himself,
Philip Gardner. Before all this, he wasn't digging into ancient mysteries.
He was actually in marketing.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, quite the shift. He talks about, getting pretty disillusioned
with it all. He saw the commercial world using these
subtle and ongoing propaganda machines.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Propaganda how so well.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
He felt they played on our basic animal instincts, you know,
using temptation on one hand, threats on the.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Other, creating cycles of wanting things then feeling let down exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
He felt we'd lost something important, something the ancients knew,
this idea of finding balance.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Ah okay, So that feeling of imbalance, that's what kicked
things off, It.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seems so that dissatisfaction pushed him. He started digging into history, religion,
even occult stuff, looking for hidden clues in art, in
old texts.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And he started finding things.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He did, he calls them remarkable secrets from our ancestors.
He started seeing this thread, this connection between ancient wisdom
and even like modern science.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And then things got weirder, all right? About an invitation,
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
A very unexpected turn. He gets invited to this old
gentleman's club, not the Masons. He makes that clear, but
you know, very traditional, very old school.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
How did that even happen?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It followed a meeting with an elderly member there. This
old guy shows Gardner a book from the nineteen thirties,
and this book apparently predicted the major outcomes of World
War two eerially accurate. Whoa, seriously, that's the story, and
the old gentleman told him these huge world events weren't random.
They were part of a much bigger plan, a plan
(02:37):
for what to set up an international body, basically the
United Nations.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, that's a lot to take in. So Gardner joins
this society.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, here's another twist. He felt he was sort of
prescribed membership, like it was set out for him and
the old man's will after he passed almost destined.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Huh, pre dustined investigator kind of.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And once inside, he starts noticing subtle changes in their
old tech symbols. He felt he was uncovering layer after
layer of hidden messages.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So he wasn't just reading, he was traveling too.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah. He took his research global, went to ancient sites,
dusty libraries, and kept seeing confirmations of what he was
piecing together, which.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
All led him to like what was the big breakthrough.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He calls it a startling realization basically that there truly
is a higher consciousness and that this state is obtainable
to all, not just for gurus or saints, but.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
For everyone, and that made him angry.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Outraged is the word he uses. That these deep and
real elements of our own existence were hidden by, as
he puts it, the manipulators of the world, because he
concludes the release of our own mind gives us a
freedom from controlling influences. Inner freedom threatens external control.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Basically, hmmm, okay, so if we're going to follow this,
how should we approach it? It sounds like it requires a
different mindset.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Absolutely. Gardner gives direct advice forget what you believe, ignore
all that you are told, and come to this book
with a fresh and open mind.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Easier said than done, maybe.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Maybe, but he stresses this knowledge is so deeply rooted
that it can easily be missed. You have to be
willing to look differently.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Okay, an open mind. It is because he claims these
truths are fundamental right, underlying everything from alchemy to Sufhism.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, he connects it all, Alchemy, Taoism, Nosta Christianity, mystical Suphism.
He sees them not as separate religions or philosophies, but
as different dialects speaking the same core truth.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
All right, let's start unpacking some of those core truths.
Then he begins with a symbol that well, it makes
a lot of people uncomfortable, the serpent.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Right and straight away, he challenges mainstream history. He says,
flat out, our present orthodox history is basically incorrect.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Revised by those in power.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
He thinks, that's his argument to fit their narrative. Yeah,
and the serpent, he claims, is a key to unlocking
what was lost or hidden?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So how is the serpent seen originally?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
According to him, it was everywhere Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian
cult think of the Naga worship in India. It wasn't
seen as evil. It was consistently linked to wisdom, often ultimate.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Wisdom, wisdom, but also venom. He mentions that too, doesn't
he He does.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He talks about the physical elixir of life in its venom.
He believes ancient people understood its medicinal properties, how it
could extend life, improve health more than just myth.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, interesting, and he connects this serpent idea to the
Holy Grail too, Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Not as a cup, more like a symbol holy mixing
bowl used in rituals. He also strongly links the serpent
image to Kundalini.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Energy, that coiled energy at the base of the spine.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Exactly the ida in Pingala, those energy channels going up
the spine. He sees that whole system as the path
to true wisdom, symbolized by the rising serpent.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But the serpent does have a dual nature, right, good
and evil connotations.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Absolutely, and he uses that duality. Think about a snake
shedding its skin. It's a potent metaphor, he says, for
killing off our old self, the egocentric self, and thereby
releasing the.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Real us, like spiritual rebirth.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Precisely you see it with Moses and the Brazen Serpent
bringing healing. But then you also have stories like Saint
Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Which Gardner interprets as one belief system taking over.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Kind of yeah, maybe Christianity's suppressing older perhaps serpent venerating traditions.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It's complex, okay, So serpent as wisdom transformation. Then he
introduces his concept of the Shining Ones what's that about.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
This is a really core part of his theory. He
describes them as a secret religious brotherhood, super ancient, like
over five thousand BC ancient.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Wow. And they did what.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
He claims, they influenced pretty much everything, religions, monuments, governments,
and crucially, they guarded the secrets of enlightenment, this internal process,
keeping it from the general population.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Guarded knowledge why.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Maybe they felt humanity wasn't ready, or maybe it was
about maintaining power. Gardner doesn't explicitly state their motive, just
that they held it close.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And how do we see evidence of these shining ones?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
He points to the symbolism of shining itself. Anything described
as white, bright, or shining in myths or architecture, he argues,
points to this way.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Of truth, like the Pyramids exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
The Great Pyramid was originally covered in white limestone polished
topped with gold. It was called the Light or Bora
budour in Java, painted brilliant white, meant to shine like
a celestial city.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So the shining is symbolic of enlightenment, that's the idea.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Even legends of a great white brotherhood on mountains in
North America fit this pattern for him.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
This wisdom seems very layered. He also talks about numbers, right,
especially seven.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, the number seven pops up everywhere. Seven chakras, seven
heavens in the Koran and Bible, even in Shamanic traditions.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Seven deadly sins, seven virtues.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Right. It represents a kind of balancing act, doesn't it,
transcending those base desires to reach a higher state.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Okay, that makes sense symbolically. But then he connects it
to atoms.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
This is where it gets really interesting. He puts forward
this compelling idea that the ancients somehow knew that these
seven levels are mirrored in the structure of matter itself,
like the seven energy levels or orbits around in atom's nucleus.
He even suggests the mind can interact with matter at
this sub atomic level through escaped and charged electrons. It's
(08:20):
quite a leap.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
A leap, indeed, And within these atoms and in space,
there's mostly nothing the void, right, the.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Vorid or nothingness. But for Gardner, this emptiness isn't empty.
It's significant. How so what's in the void potentially everything?
He connects it to concepts like a universal mind or
the Acashic record, like a cosmic library of all information
or even zero point energy.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
From physics, and we can access this, he suggests.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
We can, particularly in that state between waking and sleeping,
the hypnagogic state. He even brings in quantum entanglement.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Where particles seem linked instantly, no matter the distance.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Exactly like there's still part of one thing superposition. So
he asks, if we become aware of that quantum level,
could we tap into that interconnected knowledge? Could we know
what other parts of the whole are doing?
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Mind bending stuff? So how does this relate to our
everyday experience? He talks about outer and inner reality.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, it's a crucial distinction. Outer reality is our everyday persona,
the personality. It's shaped by society, ego, desires and often
leads to suffering, he argues.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And inner reality that's.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
The individual, the real self or being. That's where the
shining enlightenment happens deep inside.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
People have tried accessing this in a reality for ages,
haven't they? With meditation substances.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Absolutely, He mentions experimentation, peyote, psilocybin, mushrooms, the mysterious soma,
but also non substance methods like deep meditation, prayer, the
whirling dervishes all aimed at achieving altered states of awareness.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
And these altered states often lead to similar experiences.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Remarkably similar across cultures and times. A feeling of transcendence
of time and space, a sense of oneness with everything.
It seems to be a universal human phenomenon.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He mentions Gopi Krishna's Kundalini experiences too, right, the intense heat, yes.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
As an example of the power involved, but also the
need for balance. Krishna felt this intense burning needing the
balancing water or feminine aspect to handle the fiery male energy.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Balance is key, So boiling it down this enlightenment experience.
Where does it come from?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Gardner suggests two possibilities. Yeah, Either it's hardwired into us,
part of our basic human genetic makeup. Or it's a
connection through the quantum brain to a quantum state.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And that wavy line, the snake symbol.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He sees it as the physical representation of this underlying energy,
this quantum connection, a universal image for the fundamental energy
of existence.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Okay, wow, So with that foundation, let's see how he
applies it to say, the Bible, he reads genesis very differently.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Totally differently, he argues against a literal reading. For him,
Genesis is an allegorical and gnostic truth. It's a map
of the inner world.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So Eden isn't a place.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Not a physical garden. No, it's an interstate of being.
And the famous trees life and knowledge. He sees them
as the human spine.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
The spine.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, yeah, he says, the whole Kundalini concept suddenly appears
to be growing right there, and the river splitting into
four cardinal directions. Yes, but the center the source. So
the fifth element, the fifth element, is the true self.
We are the fifth elements, the point where it all
comes together inside.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Okay, that's a shift. But what about the serpent in
Genesis three, the tempter?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
This is probably his most radical reinterpretation. He flips it completely.
The serpent isn't the villain. It's the one who brings
good fortune and is the creator God, Creator God. He
equates the serpent with the Kudolini energy, the life force
or prana, even calls it the holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
So when the serpent tells Eve, you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Gardner reads that as an encouragement not to sin, but
to realize your own true potential to release the God
within to achieve nos.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So Adam and Eve aren't just people. Their inner energies.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Symbolic serpents of energy within man that must unite. Their
union brings forth the true son of Man, the inner Christ,
the enlightened state. He even connects figures like Mary Magdalen
to the necessary feminine aspect, the matronate uniting with the
Christ within.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It's an internal alchemy. Then does he see parallels elsewhere?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Buddhism Absolutely Buddha giving up worldly things, finding enlightenment under
the bow tree, which Gardner equates with the world tree
or tree of knowledge. It fits perfectly.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And the story of Buddha and the Naga the Snake.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yes, Buddha faces this dangerous Naga but ends up peaceful
with a coiled snake in his bowl. For Gardner, that's
mastering the inner fire serpent with wisdom, the bowl perhaps
representing the grail or balance.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
What about the Koran? Does he find similar symbolism there?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
He does. He interprets the story of the Seven Sleepers
in Surrey eighteen, not literally, but as a metaphor for
the soul's journey through ages, similar to the Quindalini towards enlightenment,
opening new ways of seeing.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
The universe, and Muhamman's night journey.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
He sees that mystical journey the Israel and Mirage as
a classic shamanic journey, likely occurring in that hypnagogic state,
that threshold consciousness we talked about.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Okay, connecting all these threads, serpent energy, inner tree is
mystical journeys. This all leads him to his biggest claim
about Solomon's Temple.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, after laying all this groundwork, he drops the bombshell
the temple itself was purely symbolic, that it did not
exist as a physical structure wait.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Never existed, or just that the meaning is symbolic.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
He leans heavily toward it being primarily, perhaps entirely symbolic,
a blueprint for our own spiritual growth.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
That's huge. So the Knight's templar digging under the temple
mount for nine years, what did they find if not relics?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
According to Gardner, they found nosis. The truth of Solomon's
Temple is that the templars discovered something the templars found themselves.
They uncover the inner meaning, the path to self realization.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So the temple's features are all symbols of this inner path,
Like the twin pillars.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Exactly Jack, Schin and Boaz. He interprets them as unity
and wholeness, He who establishes and he provides the whole strength.
They represent the balanced vital force of creativity.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And Astra, the goddess figure sometimes associated with the temple.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
She represents the goddess within, the element of wisdom within us,
often shown as a serpent entwined pull. Linking back to
that core symbolism.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
What about hiram Abiff, the master builder in Masonic lore.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
His name can mean exalted head or even exalted snake,
so he symbolizes the pinnacle of wisdom, the height of
the Kundalini.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Even Solomon and Sheba not real.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
People in this interpretation, they're symbolic. Their union represents the
balancing of inner aspects, Solomon's fiery, powerful side with Sheba's
peaceful wy side. Their son Menelek is the resulting true self.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
It's a complete internal drama and numbers. Again, he mentioned
the number.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Nine, Yes, nine is crucial, symbolizing deletion, perfection, heavenly power,
or higher human consciousness. Think nine templar founders seventy two,
which is eight x nine chapters in their rule.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Even the layout of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He points to the Messianic Axis, a specific line through
Jerusalem measuring eight hundred and sixty four cubits and eight
plus six plus four equals eighteen and one plus eight
equals nine its like numerical code hidden in plain.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Sight, and freemasonry itself supports the symbolic view.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
He quotes sources like the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry calling the
temple the most significant symbol, representing the spiritualizing of the temple,
and Albert Pike saying to the master Mason, the Temple
of Solomon is truly the symbol of human life.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So this isn't just Gardner's unique idea. It's echoed in
these esoteric traditions, some sisely.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
He cites figures like Elephus Levi talking about the caducious
serpents representing light in equilibrium, the divinity of man and paracelsus.
By knowing ourself, we can know the universe. It's the
same message again and again.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Okay, So if the temple is an inner blue par
how do we build it? Gardner offers three secrets.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yes, three core principles for illumination, but he warns you
need all three working together. Not one of these words
taken in isolation will make the individual a fully realized person. Right.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Balance Again, what's the first one?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Will? Not just wanting something, but determination by choice crucially
our choice, not in other's. And will requires purpose no
purpose in life. Eradicates our desire and reduces the will.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Makes sense. What's number two?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Strength? He defines us as a force of energy, but
again in balance, it's not brute force. He says. True
faith will empower the individual and give him internal strength
to act on their will.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Inner strength powered by faith or purpose. And the third.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Knowledge or nosis specifically, but it's knowledge in union with
will and strength. Just knowing stuff isn't enough. Having all
the knowledge in the world will not give us the
will or the strength to apply it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So will gives direction. Strength provides the power, and knowledge
guides the application.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
That's a good way to put it. When these three
are understood, balanced and integrated, that's when the true self emerges.
He calls them the three aspects of wisdom and links
them to Sophia, the goddess of wisdom, who resides in
the Temple of Man.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
And this brings us back to the templars.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yes, his conclusion loops back beautifully. The truth of Solomon's
Temple is that the templars discovered something. The temples found themselves,
that inner potential, that nosis was the real treasure.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
What a journey we've really gone from well marketing, disillusionment
all the way to the symbolic heart of Solomon's Temple.
It's quite the narrative Gardener lays out.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It truly is following his path from those first questions
about manipulation and balance, through the secret societies, the serpent wisdom,
the shining ones, right up to reinterpreting scripture and the
temple itself. It's a compelling story.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And the core message running through it all seems to
be about finding that inner balance, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Absolutely? He keeps returning to it at every level of
our lives. What we must always begin with is balance.
It's about shedding the ego, the unnecessary desires, the suffering.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
They cause, so our minds can truly shine, as he
puts it, exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
To gain that nosis, that direct knowing of our connection
to ourselves, to each other, and well to the universe. Itself.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So for you listening, the real question isn't just is
Gardener Wright, It's maybe more about engaging with these ideas.
What does building your inner temple mean?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, he leaves us with that thought, doesn't he Once
mankind has built its six billion temples, then maybe there
will be hope for the world. It puts the responsibility
squarely on each of us.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So what's one small step you could take today? Maybe
just reflecting on that balance of will, strength and knowledge
in your own life.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
It's definitely something to think about. How might seeing the
temple within change how you navigate your day, your interactions,
your own inner world. It's a deep dive with potentially
profound implications.
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