Justin Norris

Justin's Biography

A writer, teacher, and scholar, Justin Norris was born in Canada and has spent most of his adult life in Toronto. From a young age, he was fascinated by comparative religion and archetypal myth, but these impulses were also combined with a deep skepticism about the reality of a spiritual side of life. It was at the young age of eighteen - dissatisfied by this uneasy combination of beliefs - that he began actively searching for a direct experience of the spiritual. This search entered a new phase in 2002, when a flyer advertising workshops in Astral Travel led Justin and a group of friends to a Gnosticweb course. There they learnt tools for self-discovery and spiritual investigation, which proved to be life-altering. Having studied diligently, he began instructing others in 2003.

Prior to discovering Gnosis, Justin was not naturally prone to spiritual experience, but he has gained an understanding of spirituality through years of patient daily study and practice. His perspective as a teacher is fresh, fun, alive, and compassionate, and he has developed a special ability to reach out to students by grounding spiritual concepts in common, everyday experience. With clarity, insight, and conviction, his teaching stimulates creative participation and profound inspiration for many.

Since becoming a teacher, Justin has been involved in a wide variety of activities and contributed in a number of roles. He has had direct contact with hundreds of students around the world through his coordination of the Gnostic Centre in Toronto, his years of online teaching, and his participation in running international retreats. He has frequently authored articles and other content for the internet and helped edit the Gnostic teachings for publication. Justin has also drawn on his experience in the accounting industry to assist with Gnosticweb's financial administration.

In 2007, Justin - together with his wife, Jasmin - relocated to Vancouver to establish a Gnostic Centre on the west coast of Canada. They aim to create a harmonious community of individuals dedicated to the spiritual work and to experiencing the reality of gnosis in daily life.

Some words from Justin

I think there are many reasons why people seek out the spiritual. When I was younger, I felt a simple and natural tendency towards mysticism, but this faded with time. Spirituality ceased to make sense for the life I was living - it had no reality for me, and other things seemed more important.

But like many people, I came back to spirituality because of my unhappiness with how life was going. Although things were good on the outside, negative thoughts and emotions seemed to take on a life of their own - my inner world was something I couldn't control. Nothing could solve this fundamental problem. I kept being confronted with my own misery, with seemingly no way out.

I remember when I decided I really wanted to change. It was one of my worst and yet best days, because I can see something truly new was started then. Nothing happened overnight, but I gradually learned new things, developed a greater interest in spirituality, and finally came across some techniques that really worked. I experienced some things that amazed me and changed my life.

Spirituality isn't always easy, and life still gives plenty of hard knocks. But even when it seems dark, there are always these moments of clarity or insight that appear - simple perceptions, experiences that hit you deep down, a feeling of reality. These experiences illuminate the bigger purpose and need for spiritual growth and keep me motivated to work towards it.

Those moments also encourage me to help others in the same way. Gnosis brings something potentially so powerful and marvellous to life, and it's an incredible thing to teach others about it. You can't change anyone, but you can give people tools to change themselves, and to see this happen is an indescribable experience.