ON LOVE; PART CDLV
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.
(82) Jesus says: “The person who is near me is near the fire. And the person who is far from me is far from the kingdom.“
(83) Jesus says: “The images are visible to humanity, but the light within them is hidden in the image. {} The light of the Father will reveal itself, but his image is hidden by his light.”
(84) Jesus says: “When you see your likeness you are full of joy. But when you see your likenesses that came into existence before you – they neither die nor become manifest – how much will you bear?“
(85) Jesus says: “Adam came from a great power and a great wealth. But he did not become worthy of you. For if he had been worthy, (then) [he would] not [have tasted] death.“
(86) Jesus says: “[Foxes have] their holes and birds have their nest. But the son of man has no place to lay his head down (and) to rest.“
(87) Jesus says: “Wretched is the body that depends on a body. And wretched is the soul that depends on these two.“
(88) Jesus says: “The messengers and the prophets are coming to you, and they will give you what belongs to you. And you, in turn, give to them what you have in your hands (and) say to yourselves: ‘When will they come (and) take what belongs to them?’”
In the last essay we looked at the ideas presented by Thomas’ Gospel for the eighty fourth saying from the Master and here we noted that it is unlikely that this idea of JOY would be the fullness of the average man who sees his own likeness as a reflection or by whatever other means. In our view the idea here is that the Master is speaking to His disciples, which idea is more certain from the words of some of the earlier sayings, and which we see in the way that this saying is framed. That these are ideas that are not covered in parables but are covered in the obscurity of the saying itself at it deals with ideas that the average man would NOT readily understand and this idea of average stretches to the religious Jew and their leaders as well. These religious are bound up in their own doctrines and traditions; this IS what they KNOW, and while there may be among them some who can see that deeper understanding, these are likely those who would be following the Master. Of course we have no way of KNOWING that these ideas are True but from our perspective and understanding of the Master’s words in the accepted gospels and their reception by the religious Jews of that day we can definitely see this as a reality.
Seeing these words then as spoken by the Master’s to His disciples and followers we can better understand the ideas that He is setting forth and we can relate these as well to our own vision and understanding of our spiritual pursuits. As the disciple, the aspirant and the one who strives to be such, we can understand the JOY that we ourselves are filled with when we look as ourselves and see the disciple, the aspirant and the one who strives. And, we can liken this to the Master’s words regarding similar JOY as He tells us:
- “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Matthew 15:4-7).
- “Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Matthew 15:8-10).
While it may seem that these sayings are unrelated to this theme of JOY that we have in this saying from Thomas, we should understand that these are real Life examples that are offered by the Master and that they are about people as well as the Kingdom of God. In the True understanding then of the Kingdom that IS within along with the understanding that these are parabolic sayings, we should be able to see the same point that we find in Thomas; here we remember that there is a comparison of the carnal JOY of finding the sheep or the piece of silver with the JOY that one will find in the Kingdom of God. If we can see the idea here that the Soul, expressing to some degree his Love and Power through the form, IS the Presence in the Kingdom who Truly ‘feels’ that JOY, along with the angels and those others who have achieved, then we can see as well this idea from Thomas that it is the Soul, the ‘new man’ who has overcome the old ways as Paul framed this and who ‘feels’ this same JOY when he sees himself and what he has done in his own quest to become accounted worthy of the Kingdom as a man in the world.
And the rest of this saying can become clear in this understanding of the first part as we read that this IS NOT the end, that there ARE ever greater realizations that a man in the world who IS expressing that Love and Power WILL come to KNOW. And the Master’s caution here, if that word can be used in this context, is that this next reality that a man sees, that he IS the unmanifest and the eternal Spirit and Soul and not the man in this world, that this realization will be difficult to bear from the perspective of the man in form in the world. And this IS a Truth even for us as we write these words; we are yet in the world and we see ourselves as men and, while we may KNOW that we are Souls, we DO NOT really KNOW the reality of that idea, a reality that this saying may be trying to prepare us for. The Apostle John gives us a taste of this as well as He says, speaking to disciples and aspirants: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2). Can we see the reality and the Truth here in this eighty fourth saying?
As this Truth of the Soul working through the flesh is alluded to in much of the New Testament but never specifically expressed, we should not expect to see any more straightforward ideas coming from this Gospel of Thomas. However many do and this IS likely because that they DO NOT see the Truths that are perhaps covered by better worldly language in the New Testament but which are painted in a more direct and therefore more obscure way by Thomas. In the accepted New Testament many sayings and phrases can be seen in a carnal way that is made to make sense while much of the same in Thomas CAN NOT be seen in this same Light. The last few sayings from Thomas are good examples of this as we see them revealing much the same ideas that we find in the accepted texts and which we ourselves see as Truth based upon our own reading of the Master’s words and those of His apostles. Perhaps this has ever been the intent and perhaps this is why these words from Thomas were locked away by the early church as they laid open greater opportunity to see the spiritual value which was likely against the doctrines being created by the Church Fathers. These ideas from Thomas however have been discovered again and perhaps in this time we can use them to help us ALL to better understand the accepted gospels and writings of the apostles which have NOT yet been Truly seen for their deeper spiritual value.
This being said we now get to another rather obscure saying from Thomas’ Gospel, the eighty fifth. Here we can find the depth of our own discussions regarding the origins of man in the world from a rather simple and straightforward saying that likely can only be understood with a prior understanding of the reality of Life as Soul Life and not as the Life of the form and the personality in the world. While the translations of this are much the same there are significant differences which we should resolve in order to best understand the Master’s message. Our normal translations are:
- “Adam came into being out of a great power and a great wealth, and he was not worthy of you; for if he had been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] of death” (Blatz).
- Jesus said, “It is from a great power and a great wealth that Adam came into being: and he did not become worthy of you (plur.). For, had he been worthy [he would] not [have tasted] death” (Layton).
- “Adam was produced by a great power and a great wealth; but he did not receive (?) [. . .] worthy (?) of you, for he was not worthy [to (?)] be preserved from [being subject (?)] to death” (Doresse).
- Jesus said, “Adam came into being from a great power and a great wealth, but he did not become worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have experienced] death” (Lambdin).
- Jesus says: “Adam came from a great power and a great wealth. But he did not become worthy of you. For if he had been worthy, (then) [he would] not [have tasted] death” (Patterson and Robinson).
- Jesus said, “Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death” (Patterson and Meyer).
- *Said-JS77 this: “Has-Adam come-into-being out of-a-great power and-a-great rich-ness, and did-not-he-come-to-be ()worthy of-you(pl), >(for) had-they! deserving (—) (been), he-would-have-tasted not (t h e)Death” (Interlinear Version).
Two things of note here before we look at the available commentary. First the words Jesus said or says DO appear to be included in the Coptic text but they are ignored by two of our translators above. Second, the entire tenor of this saying from the interlinear can be seen in a much different light than can the various translations; there is the idea that this can be a question of sorts in the Interlinear and the ideas behind the word richness as this is always rendered in the Interlinear and the idea behind wealth as it is generally rendered by the translators ARE NOT necessarily the same. While richness can include wealth, wealth DOES NOT include all things that can pertain to being rich. The available commentary includes:
- Marvin Meyer writes: “On ‘great power’ compare Acts 8:9-10, which refers to Simon the Magician, who was said to be ‘the power of God that is called great.’ The Nag Hammadi tractate Concept of Our Great Power also discusses the ‘great power,’ the Secret Book of John alleges that Yaldabaoth took ‘great power’ from his mother, Wisdom, and magical texts likewise employ the phrase ‘great power’ to refer to a supernatural force. In the tractate On the Creation of the World 148, Philo uses the same Greek word for ‘power’ (dynamis) that is used in the Coptic text of Gospel of Thomas saying 85 when he suggests that ‘there was probably a surpassing power about that first human.'” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, pp. 100-101).
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “Doresse (pages 192-93) treats his equivalent of Sayings 83 and 84 together, but it would be better to treat 83, 84, and 85 as a unit. We begin with Saying 85. We know that Adam originated from a great power and great wealth because he was a copy of the ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ of god; he was both male and female (Genesis 1:26-27). He was not worthy of Gnostic believers, however, for he sinned – by increasing and multiplying, by being divided into male and female when Eve was taken from his rib. (Eve must return to Adam, as in Saying 112 [114].) Apparently (Saying 84), men in general can see the ‘likeness,’ which they still retain. Not all can see the ‘images,’ for to see the image is to see Christ, which means to see the kingdom and, indeed, the inner man. This true image neither dies nor is openly manifest. At this time the image cannot be seen openly or perfectly; it is fully seen only after death (1 Corinthians 13:12, quoted by Doresse). Saying 83 explains why the image cannot be fully seen now. The image contains light (see Saying 51), but this light is overshadowed by th eimage of the light of the Father (cf., 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). Later, however, ‘If he is manifest we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2). If this is what these sayings mean, Thomas has expressed it rather obscurely, using image terminology perhaps like that of the Naassenes (Hippolytus, Ref., 5, 8, 10).” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 181-182).
- Funk and Hoover write: “In developing the significance of Jesus, early Christians often used the mythic figure of Adam as a point of comparison. One finds this especially in Paul (Rom 5:12-14; 1 Cor 15:21-22, 42-50): in contrast to Adam, whose sin led to death, stands Jesus, whose obedience leads to life. The fate of Adam, according to Thom 85:2, was death; the fate of those who find the meaning of Jesus’ words will be not to taste death, according to Thomas 1. The phrase ‘not taste death’ is a favorite of Thomas (Thom 1; 18:3; 19:4; 111:2), although it was also known to the Gospel of John (8:51-52).” (The Five Gospels, p. 518).
- Stevan Davies writes: “Death occurs to Adam, not to the image of God (Gos. Thom. 85; Gen 3:19). The compiler of the Gospel of Thomas understands the first chapters of Genesis in their plain sense, that there are two creations of primordial humanity: the image of God brought forth in Gen 1:1-2:4, Adam created in Gen 2:5-3:24. For the first, the image of God, there is neither law nor sin, nothing that would require prayer or fasting or giving of alms (Gos. Thom. 14, 104). The image of God has dominion over the perfect kingdom of God, living through the light of creation (Gen 1:3-4) in a condition of rest and immortality.” (http://www.misericordia.edu/users/davies/thomas/jblprot.htm).
Perhaps it is in the relative obscurity of some of these sayings from Thomas that causes the commentary upon them to be Truly commentary rather than comparisons and pronouncements of their authenticity or lack thereof. We do have here again real commentary although it appears to us that Mr. Meyer has misread this saying as we see that this Power IS the Power of God from which the man Adam has come forth. We should remember here that in the Hebrew this word rendered as the name Adam really refers to mankind and not to the individual in most places where it is used in the very obscure Truths that ARE found in the Book of Genesis. We should remember as well that in our view the first creation of man in Genesis IS NOT a physical form that is both male and female and this concept in and of itself makes NO sense when seen in the realm of the physical animal body; here Grant and Freedman are confused and this perhaps by their own doctrinal bent as we can see in their idea of sin. They also seem to be commenting more here on the eighty fourth saying than this one and some of their conclusions on that are similar to ours except they fail to see the reality of the concurrent spiritual man as they choose to allocate this realization to that time after death. Funk and Hoover see the idea of tasting death as noted several times in Thomas and as shown in John but they offer no understanding of it save that those who ‘find the meaning of Jesus’ words will be not to taste death‘; they seem to not see the same reality that we see regarding the ideas of sin and death which are clearly shown by the Apostle Paul. We do not see the point that Mr. Davies is trying to make in his comment above as while he cites that there are two creations, he sees them both as in this Earth as men with no other explanation of how or why. Two things we get from Paul as regards these comments:
- Speaking first of the man in the world Paul tells us: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written , The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:44-47). We should try to see the ideas of first and second here as that Paul is speaking as a man to men who likely have not yet realized their True likeness as we note in the prior saying from Thomas. We see here in Adam a living Soul, a man upon the Earth and if we can see these ideas of first and last as that they need not be temporal but indicative of some other form of measure as we see with so many words from scripture, we can likely see the Truth; that Adam IS a “quickening spirit” and that Adam IS “a living soul” and in our view it IS the “quickening spirit” that makes of Adam “a living soul“.
- “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). We are not concerned here with the idea of “by one man sin entered into the world“, we will broach this further as we discuss the Master’s saying here from Thomas. Our point in this saying is the relationship between death and sin which the apostle here neatly calls for us “death by sin“. This sin IS the focus of the man upon the self and the self in the world and this death IS the loss of the Truths that are found in the focus of the man upon the things of God. Paul tells us this same thing colored by his own unique style of writing and the way of thought in his times; he says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
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.
Today we repeat the Mantram of Unification as our Quote of the Day and we should note the very Christian ideals that are embraced by these words; not the doctrinal Christian ideals but rather the ideals annunciated in the words of the Master and of His apostles. This idea of ONENESS IS a component part of the Love that the Master teaches as He tells us that we should Love ALL and this ideal is repeated by His apostles who clarify it and expand upon it in their pronouncement that we should NOT show respect to persons that we should not prefer one above another, and this of course includes groups of persons who may differ from us in color, in nationality, in religion….in any way. We are told this by the apostles who tells us that God DOES NOT show such favor to individuals nor to groups as we read that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) which IS here offered in the context that ALL are treated equally. There are several instances of this saying interweaved with the idea that we should Love our brother, our neighbor and one another as these ideas are framed and, with this stated concept of this respect, we should be able to glimpse what we have been preaching here in this blog and which is the Truer nature of this Love. We should understand that in our zeal to be among His disciples that we must pay keen attention to the totality of the Master’s words which tell us that we should “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and it is in this reality that we should understand this idea of respect, that if this is the Way of God that it should be the way of man as well. And, if this were not clear enough, the straightforward words of the Apostle James helps us saying “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).
This IS the greater Truth of this Mantram of Unification; that we understand the reality of our ONENESS, our essential Unity, that we Love as the Master teaches, that we allow the Inner man, the Soul, to be the controlling force in our lives; that we come to see the Truth, that we break down the walls of illusion and glamour and eliminate ALL things that separate us from the Truth and from each other. And that we Love and encourage that Universal Love which is our essential destiny by our own example and in ALL that we say and do.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love. Spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
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/
