Is god knowable? Does god even exist?
This is actually a very tough question.
But not for the reasons you think.
Recall that the agnostics posit that the existence of god is unknown or unknowable, and we fundamentally cannot find reasons to believe or disbelieve it exists.
This is the position I held for a long time. Until I was introduced to the world of mysticism and magic, of metaphysics and matrix glitches.
And curiously, after thoroughly(?) immersing myself in such world, I am still arguably an agnostic.
Here's why.
<The knowing>
This is the basic principle of everything: whatever you believe is true is true.
The concept of "gnosis" is supposed to be the same as "knowledge", but in the modern world "knowledge" is often misunderstood to be "justified true belief". In "gnosis", belief is implicitly true (see principle above), so while the inclusion of "true" in the definition of "knowledge" is misguided, it is not wrong. The issue is "justification". There is a fundamental tension between justification (which requires other people to also take part in the belief, or at least the components that comprises the belief) and truth. And of course if we pit "justification" against "truth", truth must win.
This is basic common sense in the world of mysticism. For example, when we intuit something yet unknown to society at large, we often cannot explain *why* we know it to be so. The knowledge does not come from rational reasoning, but rather a calm and confident knowing. This may sound crazy to those who have never relied on their intuitive senses, but this is absolutely real (to us).
Intuitive knowledge is solid, but subtle. It can easily be masked by emotions such as fear (greed is a form of fear). The fear of lack, so pervasive in our society, takes away people's innate ability to intuit. You cannot form intuitive knowledge if you *badly want* something to be true, because the only reason you *badly* want it is that deep down you know it is not true. Even the usual kind of “wanting” falls foul of this issue, but time and perseverance can very often bridge this relatively minor gap.
Intuitive knowledge happens when you know something is already true, without a doubt, right here, right now. So of course, it can be difficult to imagine it being some other way.
This is how magic and miracles are done. But even greater miracles work to form our world, this world we are living in, and it leaves not a single trace. Because such great truths must have been always eternally true, and we cannot imagine otherwise.
<The freedom>
A choice is made at the moment a person knows what they will do. Before a choice is made, the person does not know.
This "ignorance" is of the most wonderful kind. Because the gift of free will is the gift of not (fully) knowing.
Here lies the tension between gnosis and agnosis.
We know. Because we have relied on our intuitions and they are often correct.
Yet we fundamentally do not know. Our free will allows us to change our minds. We can change our minds about anything. About absolutely everything. Do not think the domain of "our decisions" is limited to the brain or the body. Note that the mechanism for choice is to know something that was previously unknown. It is not inherently a physical process. Because knowing is not a physical process (see above).
<The I am>
Because everything you believe is true is true, god is in the believing, which is the knowing. Yet we do not fully know, because we can always change our minds.
Is this agnosticism? Or is this some form of gnosis?
Do we know god?
I think it must be both.
