from the Corpus Hermeticum VII (Alan Jacobs Translation)

CORPUS HERMETICUM VII

Dear fellows, where are you rushing to like drunkards, tipsy and staggering on the rich wine of reason, forgetful of God?

You cannot stomach it; already you're about to vomit!

Halt! Sober up!

Elevate yourself by mental power. Maybe not all of you can do that, but some of you can!

For the degeneration that flows from forgetfulness is drowning the earth, infecting soul and body, veiling the soul like a cloak and stopping you from abiding in the heart.

So don't be swept away by this mad flood!

Find the way into your heart. Look for a good teacher to show you the path to the gates of rememberance. Where there's a Light, radiant and bright, free from darkness.

Where nobody is drunk, but keeps their mental eye on that Great Being who wills to be known in their heart.

That Great Being cannot be seen or heard, or spoken or thought about, only by a higher subtle intellect that transcends normal matters of the mind.

But first strip off the soiled cloak you wear,
the foul mantle of forgetfulness,
the base of wickedness,
the link with evil, the black pit,
the spiritual death,
the walking corpse,
the moving coffin,
the domestic rogue who
feeds on guile, which he relishes,
and conspires to cause your downfall.

Such is the habit; the filthy coat you've put on, that is your foe! It suffocates you and drags you down to it's cruel self, into the gutter.

Otherwise, through aspiration and seeing the beauty of Truth and the Good that dwells in you, you will come to despise this vile enemy who plots to destroy you.

It ruins the mind and pollutes the senses by muddying them with gross materialism, filling them with disgusting lust for inane pleasure, to prevent you from understanding what you should understand!

And, what is worse, it will stop you from seeing forever what you should really see!