So that's what happened to religion...

James Ray:

All esoteric traditions have known that the single focus of "The Great Work" is to unite and commune with the Holy Guardian Angel or Higher Self. This union is the definition of true gnosis; and was almost entirely eradicated by the traditional religious institutions in their effort to control the minds and pocketbooks of the population.

What was once a drive and commitment to commune with your own personal GodSource became a shallow, intellectual exercise in "faith" and "following the rules." There are a many individuals who can talk a lot about GodSpirit, but very few who have a direct personal experience of the Creative Source.

Make your goal gnosis -- you cannot think your way there -- you cannot listen and study your way there -- you cannot have faith. At the level of Higher Self or Higher Conscious Mind, you and you alone must personally experience this power. A teacher can point you in the right direction but beware of anyone or any system that encourages you to "believe" or "have faith" versus helps you experience for yourself. The "church" of the future will be a learning laboratory of experiment and direct experiential learning of GodSpirit -- only then will gnosis be achieved.