The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) · 78 of 530
The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusk
In concluding his exposition of the Vision , Hermes wrote: "The sleep of the body is the sober watchfulness of the Mind and the shutting of my eyes reveals the true Light.
My silence is filled with budding life and hope, and is full of good.
My words are the blossoms of fruit of the tree of my soul.
For this is the faithful account of what I received from my true Mind, that is Poimandres, the Great Dragon, the Lord of the Word, through whom I became inspired by God with the Truth.
Since that day my Mind has been ever with me and in my own soul it hath given birth to the Word: the Word is Reason, and Reason hath redeemed me.
For which cause, with all my soul and all my strength, I give praise and blessing unto God the Father, the Life and the Light, and the Eternal Good.
"Holy is God, the Father of all things, the One who is before the First Beginning.
"Holy is God, whose will is performed and accomplished by His own Powers which He hath given birth to out of Himself.
"Holy is God, who has determined that He shall be known, and who is known by His own to whom He reveals Himself.
"Holy art Thou, who by Thy Word (Reason) hast established all things.
"Holy art Thou, of whom all Nature is the image.
"Holy art Thou, whom the inferior nature has not formed.
"Holy art Thou, who art stronger than all powers.
"Holy art Thou, who art greater than all excellency.
"Holy art Thou, who art better than all praise.
"Accept these reasonable sacrifices from a pure soul and a heart stretched out unto Thee.
"O Thou Unspeakable, Unutterable, to be praised with silence!
"I beseech Thee to look mercifully upon me, that I may not err from the knowledge of Thee and that I may enlighten those that are in ignorance, my brothers and Thy sons.
"Therefore I believe Thee and bear witness unto Thee, and depart in peace and in trustfulness into Thy Light and Life.
"Blessed art Thou, O Father!
The man Thou hast fashioned would be sanctified with Thee as Thou hast given him power to sanctify others with Thy Word and Thy Truth." The Vision of Hermes , like nearly all of the Hermetic writings, is an allegorical exposition of great philosophic and mystic truths, and its hidden meaning may be comprehended only by those who have been "raised" into the presence of the True Mind.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The text explicitly addresses God as 'Unspeakable, Unutterable' and praises Him with silence.
Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.
The passage states that the Mind has given birth to the Word in the soul, identifying Reason as a generative force within.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The text emphasizes the 'faithful account' of receiving Truth from the True Mind and the necessity of being 'raised' into the presence of that Mind for comprehension.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The practice of shutting eyes and maintaining silence is presented as a method for accessing divine knowledge.