Sacred Cattle in India
In India, where Hinduism is a major religion, cattle are sacred. They are used to supply milk, but never slaughtered for meat. Many westerners find this so illogical that the term "sacred cow" has come to be equated with any illogical belief that can't easily be changed or something considered immune from criticism. Treating a cow as sacred makes almost as much sense as us buying a leather jacket for a dog then taking him to "Salon de Chiens" for a massage and pedicure 
Like many odd beliefs, this one started out as reasonable. The ancient people of India would sacrifice oxen and bulls to the gods and eat the meat, but not milk cows. Later Jainism, a total vegetarian religion, is believed to have influenced the Hindus to adapt some of their teachings. It may have even served a practical purpose by preventing hungry people from killing cows that were better serve them alive by providing milk and butter. Later, the cows were ofter given to priests as gifts. This caused the killing of the cows to be equated with killing a priest.
In ancient Egypt, the mother goddess Hathor was sometimes depicted as a cow with a sun disk between her horns. Apparently though, this did not prevent the Egyptians from eating beef. Hathor was a symbol of the milky way so became symbolized by milk cows. Perhaps the ancient people of India picked up the idea of sacred cows form Egypt.
Today this belief is causing problems for both the people and the cattle of India. While many people in India are starving or malnourished, many of the cows are starving also due to a huge overpopulation of cattle.
Personally, I agree with the Hindus. Cows are sacred. So are cats, dogs, chickens, and turnips. All life is sacred because all life comes from God. Unfortunately, we have descended so low in materialism that we cannot exist without eating other life forms. And it really doesn't matter if it's animal or plant. Killing any life form dooms the killer to die which is why our physical bodies can never be immortal (sorry science guys). Only the spirit and soul can be immortal.
Like many odd beliefs, this one started out as reasonable. The ancient people of India would sacrifice oxen and bulls to the gods and eat the meat, but not milk cows. Later Jainism, a total vegetarian religion, is believed to have influenced the Hindus to adapt some of their teachings. It may have even served a practical purpose by preventing hungry people from killing cows that were better serve them alive by providing milk and butter. Later, the cows were ofter given to priests as gifts. This caused the killing of the cows to be equated with killing a priest.
In ancient Egypt, the mother goddess Hathor was sometimes depicted as a cow with a sun disk between her horns. Apparently though, this did not prevent the Egyptians from eating beef. Hathor was a symbol of the milky way so became symbolized by milk cows. Perhaps the ancient people of India picked up the idea of sacred cows form Egypt.
Today this belief is causing problems for both the people and the cattle of India. While many people in India are starving or malnourished, many of the cows are starving also due to a huge overpopulation of cattle.
Personally, I agree with the Hindus. Cows are sacred. So are cats, dogs, chickens, and turnips. All life is sacred because all life comes from God. Unfortunately, we have descended so low in materialism that we cannot exist without eating other life forms. And it really doesn't matter if it's animal or plant. Killing any life form dooms the killer to die which is why our physical bodies can never be immortal (sorry science guys). Only the spirit and soul can be immortal.
I don't understand you're statement that killing any life form, including plants and animals, dooms the killer to die, which is why our physical bodies can never be immortal. I am having trouble understanding the correlation between the two. I thought that most Christians believe that our bodies are not immortal and when we die we leave our physical bodies to decentigrate back into the earth and our spirit or soul continues on. I believe we are all here to learn specific life lessons. And when we die, I believe we will be judged by the kind of person we were, and what we did to help this planet and it's inhabitants to survive. As far as killing animals and plants, I have tried to take on the belief of the American Indian-that all life forms are sacred and that God put all of these life forms on this earth for a purpose-to help us live and survive. Whenever they killed an animal for food that they needed to survive, they prayed over it and apologized to it for having to kill it. They also prayed and thanked God for all the plants and vegetables they had,because they believed God gave them exactly what they needed to survive. I no longer eat beef, lamb, pork, lobster, crab, or turkey. So the only thing left is chicken,fish and vegetables. So if we should not kill any life form; what should we eat to survive?
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You can't avoid eating which is why the physical body cannot survive. Most Christians belive that, but some believe it is possible for the body to survive. More significantly, in recent years some scientists have been claiming that their efforts to increase life expectancy will result in people living forever in a physical body. Only the soul and spirit can survive because the soul and spirit are nourished by God's Light and do not cause death to any living thing.
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I still do not understand what you mean when you say that killing any life form dooms the killer to die. We all know that the body needs food to survive. And most people believe that the body dies and the spirit lives on. I don't know if you have read about the American Indian beliefs on how they feel about our lives on this planet. I have, and I agree with their philosophy of life and try to live my life according to their beliefs. They believe that we are all here to grow spiritually, and that God has given us everything we need to survive including plants and animals. And that we should only use what we need to survive. They believe that God created us exactly the way He wanted us to be, which includes our need for sustenance. And, so, He created our nourishment in plants and animals and fish. Why would He have created us with these needs and then create all the plants and animals if He did not want us to us them? I believe that everything on this planet was created by God for a reason. What purpose would a squash have to grow if not to be eaten,or why would an apple grow if not to be enjoyed by us,or a grape, or an orange, or a peach? Did God put them here to grow and rot on the vine, or did He put them here to be nourishment for us? We did not choose this life, God chose it for us. And He gave us everything we need to survive. And I believe He wants us to use our time on this planet to grow spiritually, and I believe we will be judged by how wisely we used what we have been given. As Albert Einstein said "The reason we are all here is to help this planet and it's inhabitants to survive and advance in any way we can". And that means so many things, like donating to a charity, or saving a homeless animal, going green whenever you can, buying from local farmers, donating clothes and unused items to Catholic Charities. There are so many things we can do to help this planet survive. It is not about us as a single person and how much material wealth we can accumulate, it is about us as a whole and what we do with our lives, including how we treat others, and the compassion we have for others. A quote from Albert Schweitzer,"Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace".
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While I agree that we should help each other to grow spiritually and to survive while we are here, the fundamental difference between Gnostics and other Christians (as well as many other faiths) is that Gnostics don't believe that God created the material universe. We believe it was created by the fallen angels, known to Gnostics as the Demierge. As such, it is not a true creation of God and doesn't follow his rules, which is why we need to be "saved", to return to our spiritual beginning, to return to paradise. God created our souls and spirits which are immortal. The Demiurge created our physical bodies which must kill and eat other life forms to survive. God understands that need, but understanding is not approval. The law still applies. The material body can never become immortal because it has to kill to survive.
Native Americans believe in only killing what they need to survive, and that is a good philosophy to have when you must exist in the material world, but if you were able to talk to the leaders and medicine men of the more spiritually advanced tribes, they very much agree with the Gnostic view. I know that because some of them have visited us in Reno.
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OK, now I have many questions. So, evidentily,the Gnostics do not believe in the Holy Bible, which says that God created the Earth and Sun and all the planets. And the Bible says that He created all life forms on this earth, including Man. So do Gnostics regard The Holy Bible as false teachings? The Bible says that God created Man. So if the Demierge are never mentioned in Biblical teachings, where do these teachings come from?
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You have quite a list of questions here that can't be answered in a few words. I'll try to give brief answers if I can.
Did God create man?
Yes, as a spiritual being billions of years ago.
Do Gnostics believe in the Holy Bible?
That a difficult question to answer so I will reword it two ways to make it easier.
Do Gnostics believe that the Bible is a 100% infallible recording of the complete word of God?
No, I'll add details shortly.
Do Gnostic believe that the Bible contains truthful spiritual teachings and accurate history of those times?
Yes, we do. I wouldn't quote from the Bible in my Sunday scripture post if we didn't.
The Bible was written over a long period of time by a number of individuals. What was accepted into the Bible by the Council of Micea makes up only twenty or twenty-five percent of the scripture that was actually written. Virtually all of the Gnostic scripture such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary was rejected. In addition, changes were made to the rest at the demands of the Roman Emperor. Also, much gets lost when translating from the original Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek. Scholars who are experts at language, but know little about spiritual truths tend to do very literal translations which may result in additional inaccuracies being added.
As a simple example, some statements made by the ancient prophets have no meaning in term of words. It was the sounds made by saying those words rather than the words themselves that were important. So when they are translated, the sound is different and the spiritual meaning gets lost.
I don't want to write a dissertation on the subject, so if you really want to dig into this area, you might want to read the books of Brad D. Ehrman such as "Lost Scripture" and the books by historian Charles Guignebert.
The Demiurge is never mentioned in the Bible so where do those teaching come from?
The early Gnostic scripture as mentioned above, the writings of the Essenes of Israel and older writings as well as oral traditions kept within spiritual schools and never published. You can find the Demiurge in the Bible if you know what to look for, even if that name is not used. In much of the old testament writings, God is described as warlike, easy to anger and jealous. In the new testament, Jesus tells us God is loving, forgiving and tolerant. So are we talking about a God who is bipolar? Gnostics don't think so. We think we are talking about two separate beings here. What could God be jealous of anyway? The only answer that makes any sense is the real God, the one Jesus talked about. And Jesus would not have come here to correct the old teachings if they were accurate.
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