ON LOVE; PART CDLXXX
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
The Gospel of Thomas
These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.
(102) Jesus says: “Woe to them, the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in a cattle trough, for it neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat.“
(103) Jesus says: “Blessed is the person who knows at which point (of the house) the robbers are going to enter, so that [he] may arise to gather together his [domain] and gird his loins before they enter.“
(104) They said to [Jesus]: “Come, let us pray and fast today!” Jesus said: “What sin is it that I have committed, or wherein have I been overcome? But when the bridegroom comes out of the wedding chamber, then let (us) fast and pray.“
(105) Jesus says: “Whoever will come to know father and mother, he will be called son of a whore.“
(106) Jesus says: “When you make the two into one, you will become sons of man. And when you say ‘Mountain, move away,’ it will move away.“
(107) Jesus says: “The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them went astray, the largest. He left the ninety-nine, (and) he sought the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep: ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’“
(108) Jesus says: “Whoever will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself will become he, and what is hidden will be revealed to him.“
As we change our Quote of the Day to another idea and topic, we should take a brief look as the Affirmation of the Disciple which has served in that role for several days. In using this affirmation we should be able to understand the intent which IS to make these realities as part of our everyday thinking and our everyday understanding of our nature. Here again, as we had in the previous Quote of the Day, the Mantram of Unification, we have the same dynamics: Love, service and healing. Here however the motivation IS more upon the idea of service and, when we can see that this service is offered in Love and that this service IS one of healing, we can Truly understand this affirmation.
Many of the ideas in this affirmation are the actual realizations of discipleship that reach beyond those that we generally discuss from our Christian perspective and the teaching of the Master. These are nonetheless valid ideas and it IS these things that the disciple IS. In many spiritual disciplines the idea of the disciple is not seen as we do see it, many accord the idea of discipleship to the one who is learning the ways of his master or his religion or philosophy. When we consider the idea of discipleship as the Master teaches however, we should understand the deeper role of this title; in Jesus teaching we learn that to be His disciple one must have that single minded attitude of keeping His words, not as an objective as that is our role as the aspirant, but in reality. He also tells us that we must keep ourselves on that spiritual level where emotion and thought about the self and those close to oneself in the world takes its proper place which IS behind one’s devotion to the True ideals of discipleship. Simply put, this High Calling of discipleship as the Master teaches it requires that this pursuit come first in ALL regards and His many words on this reality are quite clear. The dilution of this idea in common parlance is but the natural habit of the man in the world who sees himself as more than he actually is and this emotional and mental affirming of one’s own status is driven by the illusion and the glamour in which we live.
Our Affirmation of the Disciple does consider the reality of this High Calling as there is nothing in this that can be seen contrary to the Master’s words and at the same time it IS an affirmation that can be used by the man whose objective IS True discipleship as he daily tells himself of the qualities that he must develop and that he must express. The first stanza is of course but a statement of spiritual fact; ALL men ARE this in essence and it IS the realization of these Truths that we seek. The second stanza is our focus upon service and this can be seen in a twofold way where speaking as the Soul we are focusing these ideas upon the reality of our own expression and at the same time we are affirming our responsibility in service to our brothers in the world; we give strength and we give Light in both. Finally comes our ultimate reality as disciples; that we come to KNOW the Truth of our own reality, that we are Souls expressing Life through form in the world and while we tread this way the ways of men we are ever conscious of the God Within and the Light, the Love and the Power than flows through our existence in the world in ever increasing degree until we can Truly say that we know the ways of God. Here, in this prayer we affirm these things so that we can make them our True expression in the world.
Affirmation of the Disciple
I am a point of light within a greater Light.
I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine.
I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focussed within the fiery Will of God.
And thus I stand
I am a way by which men may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way.
And thus I stand.
And standing thus, revolve
And tread this way the ways of men,
And know the ways of God.
And thus I stand.
In the last essay we discussed the ideas set forth in the one hundred seventh saying which offers to us the same message as the parallel sayings from the synoptic gospels but does so in an uniquely different way. We should remember here that ALL of these parallel ideas are Truly parallel only in the theme of the lost sheep as each is a different presentation. The reality is found in the finding; here in Thomas’ Gospel the lost sheep is found by the shepherd who is represented as the Kingdom of God while in Luke and in Matthew the dynamics are different. In one the finding is by Repentance which IS of course True of ALL and in the other the idea is in the constant search for those who have become lost and the idea that it IS His Will that none should perish. The reality is ever the same; that men in this world do become lost and this is from our perspective lost in the illusion and the glamour of Life in the world, lost in the carnal self. In Matthew’s version of this we find the idea of the little ones, the little children, as the center point and here we see the reality that the little child is that one as he IS before his realization of self, before the end of his innocent and trusting nature where he sees ALL with the single eye; before he loses that state of being of which the Master says “in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). It is in this idea that we should try to see that this angel, this Soul of the child and the man he will become, is yet engrossed with the ways of God while awaiting that time when the little body of the child can develop that personality and that ability through which the Soul, can express his Life and his consciousness as he IS “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). While this may be hard to envision from the perspective of the man in the world, it is nonetheless the way of things; the little one does lose that innocence and becomes the self in the form of the child and takes on the fullness of the consciousness that is afforded by the Soul; and he does so in this world of vanity, this world of illusion and glamour.
In the fullness of the Master’s words in this regard of the little ones and the lost sheep we should try to see this same idea as it is couched in His parabolic words. He instructs that none should “despise not one of these little ones” and in this word rendered as despise we should try to see the idea that one should do nothing against one such as these innocent little children whose reliance is totally upon their caretakers. Here the Master next says that He has “come to save that which was lost” and in this is the basic idea that there will be those who are lost which, according to the ideas from the Apostle Paul above, we can see as that most ALL will be lost in this vanity; separated from God and from the flock. Here the Master tells us that part about the one lost sheep of the hundred and this IS but an example of the desire and the intent to find those that are lost and the idea here is that repentance that puts the lost one back upon the Path to being “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. In the end we should read that it “it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish“; this does not say that none will be lost but rather that it IS His Will that ALL will be ‘found’ ALL will be delivered. Here we find the reality of the words of the apostle in the depiction of Life offered in this parabolic saying by the Master and while ALL may not see this because of their own doctrinal ideas, we do see this in ALL the ideas of the lost sheep and the Joy in heaven when each one IS found. And it IS this same idea that is offered by Thomas in his version of the Master’s teaching on the lost sheep. Here we have the Kingdom as the shepherd and it IS from the Kingdom that the sheep IS lost; lost in the world of carnal living, this same world of vanity, of illusion and glamour; there IS no difference here. Thomas paints this then that it IS the Kingdom that searches diligently for the greatest of the sheep that went missing and it IS in this idea of greatest that we must take the perspective that this shepherd IS the Kingdom and understand that there IS NO greatest in that context. We should try to see here the Master’s conveying of the idea that ALL that leave and are lost ARE the greatest, that ALL are the most important, and this from the perspective that those that remain in the Kingdom ARE safe and secure and the importance is placed upon bringing the lost ones home. In the end, where we find joy and rejoicing in the synoptics at the finding of the lost, we find Love expressed here for the one who has found His way home and in this there really is no difference.
Our next saying, the one hundred eighth, is one that is outwardly cryptic but in reading this we can see the similar ideas to those expressed by the Master in the Gospel of John where Jesus presents the idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. There are some variations in the way that this is presented by the translators that can alter one’s understanding of the intent of these words. We post our normal translations:
- Jesus said: “He who drinks from my mouth will become like me, and I will become like him, and the hidden things will be revealed to him” (Blatz).
- Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I, too, will become that person, and to that person the obscure things will be shown forth” (Layton).
- Jesus says: “He who drinks from my mouth will become like me. As for me, I will become what he is, and what is hidden will be revealed to him” (Doresse).
- Jesus said, “He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him” (Lambdin).
- Jesus says: “Whoever will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself will become he, and what is hidden will be revealed to him” (Patterson and Robinson).
- Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him” (Patterson and Meyer).
- Said-JS96 this: “Whoever-drinks out of-my-mouth, he-will-come-to-be in-my-way; > I also(I), I-will-come-to-be as-he is,>and those-hidden will-appear to-him” (Interlinear Version; original).
- The revised version of the interlinear is the same except that it rendered as “those who/which are hidden”.
While the Interlinear shows us that one will come to be as He is and that also the reverse, that He will come to be as the one, the translators’ approach view this in a more worldly way as some seem to say that the Master will come to be as the man. While their intent may be the same as the Interlinear, the approach is different as they are allowing for the body and the personality to be the man. The expression here is better understood as that in partaking of Him by the idea of drinking from His mouth will cause that change that makes the partaker as He IS and this of course from a spiritual perspective where we have the one who partakes expressing Life as does the Master. The next phrase IS not an additional effect but the same effect viewed from the perspective of the Soul expressing as does the Master in the world. Here the expression of the man IS the Christ Within which can be seen as He coming to be as the expression of the man. We can best see this in this idea from John’s Gospel: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). There is but scant commentary on this saying which we present:
- Marvin Meyer writes: “Compare saying 13; John 4:13-14; 7:37-39; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Sirach 24:21, on drinking of Wisdom. In Odes of Solomon 30:1, 5, it is said that living water flows from the lips of the Lord.” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 107).
- Gerd Ludemann writes of 108:1, “This is a commentary on 13.5.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 642) For the other two verses, Ludemann connects them to the prologue.
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “Jesus is the source of the water of life, as in Saying 12 (cf., John 4:14 and 7:37; Revelation 22:17); the person who drinks from his mouth becomes one with him, as in various Gnostic writings (Irenaeus, Adv. haer., 1, 13, 3; Pistis Sophia, chpter 96; Gospel of Eve in Epiphanius, Pan., 26, 3, 1: ‘I am you and you are I’).” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 193).
The ideas presented in these commentaries link this saying from Thomas Gospel to the ideas on drinking from John’s Gospel and these are likely valid analogies but there is a deeper idea here in the singularity of expression as the man comes to be as the Christ and then expresses that Christ to the world; it IS in this singular expression that revelation comes. In our view the reality here is this saying is largely the same as the reality that we mention above regarding the Master’s most obscure words as recorded by the Apostle John:
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:51-57).
There is of course no other way to understand these words than that they reflect the idea of partaking in the very Nature of the Master and that this idea of eating and drinking are but His parabolic way of saying this Truth. Some doctrine takes this to the idea of the crucifixion where He gave His body and Blood as payment for the sins of the world but this IS NOT the reality of His message here as He tells these Jews, disciples among them, that the should do this NOW and not that He will sacrifice Himself later. Other doctrine takes this to the Master’s words in the Last Supper as explanation of this but this also IS NOT the immediate message to these men nor to us. The message IS that we should partake in the Nature of the Son of man as it IS in this that we have Life in us, the realization of the True spiritual Life of the Christ Within. It IS in partaking of His Nature that that we understand this idea of bread from heaven and it IS in this that one can realize eternal Life and here in the end of this saying we find these realities in His words that “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him“. It IS this same idea that comes through in these words from Thomas’ Gospel; to be as He IS and to express this as He Himself does IS the key that unlocks ALL that IS hidden.
The final set of sayings from the Gospel of Thomas will complete our work on this; these are:
(109) Jesus says: “The kingdom is like a person who has a hidden treasure in his field, (of which) he knows nothing. And [after] he had died, he left it to his [son]. (But) the son did not know (about it either). He took over that field (and) sold [it]. And the one who had bought it came, and while he was ploughing [he found] the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whom he wished.“
(110) Jesus says: “The one who has found the world (and) has become wealthy should renounce the world.“
(111) Jesus says: “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth. And whoever is living from the living one will not see death.” Does not Jesus say: “Whoever has found himself, of him the world is not worthy“?
(112) Jesus says: “Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul. Woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.“
(113) His disciples said to him: “The kingdom – on what day will it come?” “It will not come by watching (and waiting for) it. They will not say: ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.“
(114) Simon Peter said to them: “Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said: “Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you.” (But I say to you): “Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.“
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
This is the Prayer of Saint Francis which we repeat again from a previous post as our Quote of the Day. If we were all to accept these ideas as guiding Lights in our lives, we would be expressing the Love and the Faith that the Master teaches. It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912*. Regardless of the True authorship, the sentiments revealed in this prayer are genuine and are in keeping the intent of the teachings of the Master and His apostles. We should note here that the dying is not necessarily the death of the body but the death of the carnal man in the world when one is born again. In this context we read this about Saint Francis: Francis was the son of a wealthy foreign cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life**. Here is the antithesis of the rich young man of the gospels. While he may not have authored this prayer, many do attribute it to him and in reading about his Life one can easily see these ideas in his heart.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
This is a prayer that is Truly in line with the teachings of the Master and the ideals encapsulated in this should be those that govern our lives and our prayer should be that ALL can see Life in this same way. We should try to see the reality of these words in the verses above regarding feeding and visiting the least of His and our brethren; in these words is a deeper meaning, as clearer expression of Love and, we should look at the Master’s words above as an expression of Love and not merely in the terms that He presents as this is the intent of the entirety of His teachings.
Additional background information on Saint Francis of Assisi can be found in a rather lengthy article in the Catholic Encyclopedia; a link to this is provided below.†
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 14 The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
- † Link to New Advent http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
- * Wikipedia contributors. “Prayer of Saint Francis.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
- **Wikipedia contributors. “Francis of Assisi.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
