Egyptian-Hebrew stream·Corpus Hermeticum·Goodness Exists Only in God

Source context

Theme

exclusive location of goodness in the divine — God as the sole ontological ground of the Good

Soul-faculty

Consciousness Soul

Steiner

not engaged in the GA corpus

Cross-tradition

• Platonic philosophy (Republic, Timaeus)Cross-tradition congruence: Plato's Form of the Good (τὸ ἀγαθόν) stands as the supreme principle beyond being, structurally parallel to the Hermetic teaching that goodness has its sole ontological seat in God and cannot inhere in the material world.
• Vedanta (Advaita)Cross-tradition congruence: Shankara's identification of Brahman as sat-chit-ananda — Being-Consciousness-Bliss — positions absolute goodness as inseparable from the one non-dual principle, paralleling the Hermetic claim that goodness exists nowhere except in God.
• Neoplatonism (Plotinus, Enneads I.7)Cross-tradition congruence: Plotinus holds that the One is identical with the Good and that all subsequent emanations participate in goodness only derivatively, a structural parallel to Corpus Hermeticum VI's assertion that the material world is deficient in goodness.

Goodness Exists Only in God

"Goodness, O Asclepius, exists in nothing but God alone; or rather, God Himself is always the Good.

If this is so, then He must be an essence or substance devoid of all motion and generation; yet nothing is void or empty of Him.

This essence has within Himself a stable and firm operation, lacking nothing, most full, and giving abundantly. One thing is the beginning of all things, for it gives all things. And when I speak of the Good, I mean that which is altogether and always Good.

This is present to none but God alone; for He wants nothing that He should desire to have, nor can anything be taken from Him—the loss of which might grieve Him—for sorrow is a part of evil.

Nothing is stronger than He, that He should be opposed by it; nor anything equal to Him, that He should love it; nothing unknown to make Him angry; nothing wiser to make Him envious.

Since none of these are in His essence, what remains but only the Good? For just as in His essence there is none of the evils, so in none of the other things shall the Good be found.

In all other things, all those other qualities exist—in the small as well as the great, in particulars as in this living creature, the greatest and mightiest of all.

All things that are made or generated are full of passion, generation itself being a passion.

And where passion is, there is not the Good; where the Good is, there is no passion. Where itis day, it is not night; and where it is night, it is not day.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Good to exist in what is generated, but only in that which is not generated or made.

Yet, as the participation of all things is bound in matter, so is that of the Good. In this way, the world is good in that it makes all things, and in the act of making or doing, it is Good— but in all other aspects, it is not good.

For the world is susceptible to suffering and change, and it is the maker of things that are passible.

In humans, the Good is defined in comparison. to what is evil; for what is not very evil is here considered good, and what we call Good. is merely the least portion or degree of evil.

It is impossible, therefore, for the Good to be here pure from evil; for here, the Good becomes evil, and growing evil, it does not remain Good; and not remaining Good, it becomes evil.

Therefore, only in God is the Good—or rather, God is the Good.

Therefore, O Asclepius, there is nothing among men but the name of Good; the thing itself is not, for it is impossible. For a material body does not receive or comprehend it, being on every side encompassed and constrained by evil, labors, griefs, desires, wrath, deceits, and foolish opinions.

And in what is worst of all, Asclepius, every one of these aforementioned things is here believed to be the greatest good—especially that supreme mischief: the pleasures of the belly, the leader of all evils. Error here is the absence of the Good.

I give thanks to God that, concerning the knowledge of Good, He put this assurance in my mind: that it is impossible for it to exist in the world.

For the world is the fullness of evil; but God is the fullness of Good—or Good of God.

The highest forms of all apparent beauty are in essence more pure, more sincere, and perhaps they are also the essence of beauty itself.

‘We must be bold to say, Asclepius, that the essence of God—if He has an essence—is that which is fair or beautiful; but no Good is comprehended in this world.

For all things subject to the eye are idols and shadows; but those things that are not subject to the eye are everlasting—especially the essence of the Fair and the Good.

And as the eye cannot see God, neither can it see the Fair and the Good.

For these are parts of God that partake of the nature of the whole—proper and familiar to Him alone, inseparable, most lovely—of which either God is enamored, or they are enamored. of God.

If you can understand God, you will understand the Fair and the Good, which are most shining and enlightening, and most enlightened by God.

For that beauty is beyond comparison, and that Good is inimitable, just as God Himself.

As you understand God, so understand the Fair and the Good, for these cannot be communicated to any other living creatures because they are inseparable from God.

If you seek concerning God, you also seek the Fair, for there is one way that leads to the same thing—that is, piety with knowledge.

Therefore, those who are ignorant and do not follow the path of piety dare to call man Fair and Good, never seeing—even in a dream— what Good truly is. Enfolded and wrapped in all evil, and believing that evil is the Good, they use it insatiably and are afraid to be deprived of it. Therefore, they strive by all possible means not only to have it but also to increase it.

Such, O Asclepius, are the Good and Fair things of men, which we can neither love nor hate— for this is the hardest thing of all: that we need them and cannot live without them."

The Seventh Book. His Secret Mount Of Regeneration, and the Profession of Silence. To His Son Tat.

Sermon in the Tat: In your previous teachings, Father, when discussing divinity, you spoke in riddles and didn't clearly reveal yourself. You said that no one can be saved before undergoing regeneration.

When I humbly asked you, as we ascended the mountain after your discourse, I expressed a deep desire to learn about this concept of regeneration. Among all the things you've taught, this is the only one I'm ignorant of. You told me you'd share it with me when I distanced myself from worldly distractions. So I prepared myself and cleared my understanding from the deceptions of the world.

Now, please fulfill what is lacking in me. As you promised, instruct me about regeneration, whether openly or privately. For I do not know, O Trismegistus, from what substance, womb, or seed a person is reborn in this way.

Hermes: My son, this wisdom is to be grasped in silence; the seed is the true Good.

Tat: Who sows this seed, Father? I'm utterly ignorant and uncertain.

Hermes: The will of God, my son.

Tat: And what kind of person is born through this process? In this matter, my understanding fails me completely.

Hermes: The Son of God will be different. God created the universe, which consists of all powers in everything.

Tat: You're speaking in riddles, Father, and not plainly to your son.

Hermes: Son, matters like this aren't taught directly; they're brought to remembrance by God when He wills.

Tat: You're speaking of things that seem strained, far-fetched, and impossible, Father.

Therefore, I must openly question them.

Hermes: Will you estrange yourself, son, from. your father's nature?

Tat: Don't be angry with me, Father. Forgive me; I am your true son. Please explain the manner of regeneration.

Hermes: What can I say, my son? I can only tell you this: I perceive within myself a genuine vision granted by God's mercy. I've transcended my former self into an immortal body and am no longer what I was before; I've been reborn in Mind.

This experience isn't something taught or seen in the physical world, which is why I've set aside my previous form and separated from it. I can still perceive and measure it, yet I am now detached from it.

You see me with your eyes, my son, but no matter how intently you look upon me with your bodily sight, you cannot truly see or understand what I am now.

Tat: You've driven me into great confusion and distraction, Father, for I no longer see myself clearly.

Hermes: I wish, my son, that you too could step outside yourself, like those who dream in their sleep.

Tat: Then tell me this: Who is the author and maker of regeneration?

Hermes: The Child of God, a person brought forth by the will of God.

Tat: Now, Father, you've left me speechless, and all my previous thoughts have abandoned me. I see the vastness and form of all things here below and recognize only falsehood in them.

Since this mortal form changes daily, increasing and decreasing over time as part of this falsehood, what then is true, O Trismegistus?

Hermes: That which is undisturbed and unbounded; not colored, not shaped, not altered; that which is pure, radiant, and comprehensible only to itself—unchanging and immaterial.

Tat: Now I'm truly bewildered, Father. When I thought you'd made me wise, you've instead dulled all my senses with these ideas.

Hermes: Yet it is as I say, my son. If someone focuses only on what rises like fire, descends like earth, flows like water, or moves like air, how can they understand what is neither hard nor soft, tangible nor visible? It's understood only through its power and operation. But I pray to the Mind, which alone can comprehend the divine generation within God.

Tat: Then I'm utterly incapable of grasping it, Father.

Hermes: God forbid, my son. Instead, draw Him to you—seek to know Him—and He will come. Be willing, and it shall happen. Quiet your bodily senses, purging yourself from the irrational and base torments of matter.

Tat: Do I have tormentors within myself, Father?

Hermes: Yes, not just a few, but many and fearsome ones.

Tat: I don't recognize them, Father.

Hermes: One torment is Ignorance; another is Sorrow; a third, Excess; a fourth, Lust; a fifth, Injustice; a sixth, Greed; a seventh, Deceit; an eighth, Envy; a ninth, Fraud; atenth, Anger; an eleventh, Recklessness; a twelfth, Malice.

They are twelve in number, and beneath them are many more. Through the prison of the body, they force the inner person to suffer acutely.

They don't depart easily or quickly from someone who has received God's mercy. This is both the method and reason for regeneration.

For the rest, my son, remain silent and praise God quietly. By doing so, God's mercy will not cease or be withheld from us.

Therefore, rejoice, my son, now that you're purified by God's powers and have gained knowledge of the Truth.

With the revelation of God coming to us, all Ignorance is cast out.

The knowledge of Joy has come, and when it arrives, Sorrow flees from those who can embrace it.

I call upon Joy, the power of Temperance, whose virtue is most sweet. Let's wholeheartedly welcome her, my son, for see how her arrival dispels Excess.

Now I name the fourth virtue, Self-Control, which overcomes Lust. This, my son, is the stable and firm foundation of Justice.

Observe how effortlessly she has chased away Injustice. We are justified, my son, when Injustice is gone.

The sixth virtue entering us is Generosity, opposing Greed.

And when Greed departs, I invoke Truth; and with her arrival, Error and Deceit vanish.

See, my son, how Goodness is fulfilled with Truth's presence. Through this, Envy departs from us, for Truth is accompanied by Goodness, along with Life and Light.

No longer does any torment of Darkness remain; defeated, they all flee suddenly and tumultuously.

You've understood, my son, the manner of regeneration. With the arrival of these ten virtues, the intellectual rebirth is completed, driving away the twelve torments, as we've observed in the regeneration process itself.

Whoever, through God's mercy, attains this divine rebirth, behind all bodily sensations, recognizes themselves as leaves composed of divine elements, and rejoices, made stable and unchanging by God.

Tat: Father, I perceive and understand— not through my physical eyes but through intellectual insight powered by these virtues. I'm in Heaven, on Earth, in the Water, in the Air; I'm in living creatures, in plants, in the womb—everywhere.

Yet please tell me one more thing: How are the twelve torments of Darkness driven away by the ten virtues? How does this happen, Trismegistus?

Hermes: This physical body, my son, corresponds to the zodiacal circle, consisting of twelve parts embodying a single idea. All of formed Nature allows various combinations that can deceive humanity.

Even though these torments differ among themselves, they unite in action (for example, Recklessness is inseparable from Anger), and they are undefined. Therefore, it's reasonable that they depart when driven away by the ten virtues—that is, by the perfected soul.

For the number ten, my son, is the source of souls. There, Life and Light unite, where Unity is born of the Spirit.

Thus, logically, Unity contains the number ten, and the number ten embodies Unity.

Tat: Father, I now perceive the Universe and myself within the Mind.

Hermes: This is regeneration, my son—that we should no longer focus our thoughts on this three-dimensional body, according to the discourse we've just explained, so we may not defame the Universe.

Tat: Tell me, Father, will this body composed of powers ever face dissolution?

Hermes: Choose your words carefully, my son, and don't speak impossibilities; otherwise, you might err, and your mind's eye could become clouded.

The physical body of Nature is far from the essential rebirth; it is subject to dissolution, but the reborn self is not. The former is mortal, the latter immortal. Don't you know that you're born a god and the son of the One, just as lam?

Tat: How I wish, Father, to hear that hymn of praise you mentioned—the one you heard from the virtues when I was in the eighth sphere.

Hermes: As Poimandres declared to the eighth sphere, "You do well, O son, to desire the dissolution of the physical body, for you are purified."

Poimandres, the Mind of absolute power and authority, has shared no more with me than what's written, knowing that I can understand all things on my own and perceive what I will. He commanded me to do what is good; therefore, all the virtues within me sing.

Tat: I'd like to hear you, Father, and understand these things.

Hermes: Be still, my son, and listen to this harmonious blessing and thanksgiving —the hymn of regeneration—which I hadn't intended to share so openly, but only with you at the very end.

Therefore, it's not taught openly but kept hidden in silence.

So now, my son, stand in the open air, worship while facing the north wind at sunset, and to the south when the sun rises. And now, remain silent, my son.

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