>>10727503Idk about gnosis, will look into.
But there are a lot of great practices to get closer to god in our lifetime. It's the monk ways.
You can incorporate some monks practices in your life, but it's very dangerous without spiritual guidance from a spiritual father, a lot of monks loose themselfs.
The closer you get to god, the harder the enemy strikes you.
Patience and humility are the best virtues, and never forgetting that you can't get closer to god by your own strength. You have the will to submit to him, but he is the one who will get you closer to him, not you.
Some monks say that when you pray to god, you don't pray yourself, you let god pray within yourself, by resisting passions the devil prensents you and making room for god.
But again, patience and humility, if by your arogance you want to rush to god, the devil will trick you and decieve you.
Even monks that went really far sometimes fall, the battle never ends and you'll never have "make it" in this life.
If you're french speacking belgian you can order orthodox books in french by monks on the "monastère de la transfiguration" website. I recommend sophrony since I've read some of his books.
Visiting orthodox monasteries and talking to monks may also help you along the way.
