{"id":8645,"date":"2013-12-23T18:30:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T23:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=8645"},"modified":"2013-12-23T19:19:48","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T00:19:48","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-895","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/23\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-895\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 895"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0CDLXXXIV<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

GoodWill\u00a0IS Love in Action<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

The Gospel of Thomas<\/span><\/h2>\n

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas<\/em>\u00a0wrote\u00a0them down.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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(109) Jesus says:\u00a0“The kingdom is like a person who has a hidden treasure in his field, (of which) he knows nothing.\u00a0And [after] he had died, he left it to his [son]. (But) the son did not know (about it either).\u00a0He took over that field (and) sold [it].\u00a0And the one who had bought it came, and while he was ploughing [he found] the treasure.\u00a0He began to lend money at interest to whom he wished.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(110) Jesus says:\u00a0“The one who has found the world (and) has become wealthy should renounce the world.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(111) Jesus says:\u00a0“The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth.\u00a0And whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”\u00a0Does not Jesus say: “Whoever has found himself, of him the world is not worthy<\/em>“?<\/span><\/p>\n

(112) Jesus says:\u00a0“Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul.\u00a0Woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(113)\u00a0His disciples said to him: “The kingdom \u2013 on what day will it come?”\u00a0“It will not come by watching (and waiting for) it.\u00a0They will not say: \u2018Look, here!\u2019 or \u2018Look, there!\u2019\u00a0Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(114)\u00a0Simon Peter said to them: “Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.”\u00a0Jesus said: “Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male,\u00a0so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you.”\u00a0(But I say to you): “Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.<\/em>”\u00a014<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As we approach Christmas 2013, a date that was arbitrarily selected to represent the Birth of Jesus the Christ more than 2000 years ago, we find ourselves in the midst of the most commercialized and likely least Truly Christian times of the year. While it is True that Charity giving ticks up at Christmastime, it is also True that many more charities are soliciting and this can be easily seen in the red bucket of the Salvation Army, the annual Toys for Tots campaign and the many appeals via mail and advertising and, we should not forget that in America there is the year end to consider from a tax perspective. This giving IS of course good as there ARE many who are less fortunate and in need and it is in the spirit of the holiday; what is bad is that this IS what this celebration of the Birth of the Christ Child has become….a holiday. There IS much ado about religious freedoms this time of year and this from the perspective of one who views these things in the daily news in America; being for or against these freedoms has become almost a hobby for some who find their opportunity to make a statement when they see some Truly Christian thing on public display or vice versa. Too much however is made of this by those who seem to want to keep the controversies alive as we see competing religious ideas arguing about place in a presumably ‘free’ society as well as those who claim that they are offended by the sight of some religious symbol and demand its removal. Here again we have a very NOT Christian display of emotion and anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

And there is much in the news about the ‘war’ on Christmas as it is reflected in the ways taken by some to NOT offend others and those who try to create an air of equality in the symbolism; and there is as well much on the theme of ‘put Christ back in Christmas’ as an opposing view of the secular theme of Happy Holidays. There is much oddity here in these actions and reactions and perhaps the most odd is likely the reality that it IS the Christian himself who has taken the Christ out of Christmas and who has helped to promulgate and continue the excessive commercialism that has made this celebration of the Birth of the Christ into a annual event of giving gifts to family, friends and loved ones as the masses succumb to the onslaught of advertising that induces them to buy more and bigger and the intended receiver expecting the same. Here today people spend money that they do not have in order to be seen as the good giver in their own minds and to those who receive, except perhaps in the eye of the child who still believes in Santa Claus and who likely wonders why he has received so much….have I been that good? We are reminded here of the words from a Kinky Friedman song from several years ago; words that ring True from his song called ‘They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore’; \u00a0where Kinky says: “it was santa claus that killed jesus christ<\/strong><\/em>“.<\/span> And while his intent is not as we use this here, we can we see how the Spirit that should be in this celebration, the Spirit of Christ, \u00a0is gone in the\u00a0commercialism\u00a0and in the self serving interests of those who portend that there is this ‘war’.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ does need to be at the center of Christmas but this will not happen until there is a sea change in the hearts<\/strong><\/em> and minds of the people who see Christmas as it is seen today. When men can approach this day with the Love that the Master came among us \u00a0to bring\u00a0and to teach us to have for our brother, our neighbor and the stranger; when the churches that operate under the banner of His Name can teach the Truth and speak against the rampant commercialism and when those who keep alive this ‘war’ on Christmas begin to see the fruitlessness this controversial approach in the words of Jesus, then can we have a chance to\u00a0‘put Christ back in Christmas’. Until then this a personal theme for the aspirant and the one who strives<\/em> toward spiritual reality, a time for each to decide his involvement in this nearly totally secular time of year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Returning now to the Gospel of Thomas where we are discussing the one hundred eleventh saying, we repeat here again those sayings that we ended with in the last essay, sayings that are in our view in the same tone as is this one that we are discussing; these, along with our current saying, are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • (111) \u00a0Said-JS99 this: “The-heavens will-be-rolled-up, and the-earth,\u00a0in-your(pl)-presence ( ); > and he-who-lives out of-he-who-lives, he-will-look not on-death; > because JS100\u00a0-speaks of-it this- whoever-falls upon-it himself, the-world be-worthy of-him not<\/em>” (Interlinear Version, original).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • (56) \u00a0 Jesus says:\u00a0“Whoever has come to know the world has found a corpse.\u00a0And whoever has found (this) corpse, of him the world is not worthy.<\/em>“<\/span><\/li>\n
  • (58) \u00a0 Jesus says:\u00a0“Blessed is the person who has struggled. He has found life.<\/em>“<\/span><\/li>\n
  • (80) \u00a0 Jesus says:\u00a0“Whoever has come to know the world has found the (dead) body. But whoever has found the (dead) body, of him the world is not worthy.<\/em>“<\/span><\/li>\n
  • (110) Jesus says:\u00a0“The one who has found the world (and) has become wealthy should renounce the world.<\/em>“<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Our view here is of course on the second part of this saying which is posed differently by some of the translators but which comes to us clearly in the Interlinear as well as Patterson and Robinson above. Here, as we discussed yesterday, we must understand the difference between the self and himself<\/em> as this is used in these ideas; in the word himself<\/em> we should see the reality of the True man and in this word self we should see the lower man, the form and the personality in the world. Here again we are captive to the availability of words as they relate to ideas and while ALL may not agree with our separation here, this IS how we are using these words to express our view of these scriptural ideas. While this comparison of self to himself<\/em> is not apparent here in the versions that we have above, we do see this in word presented in another translation as Layton says: “the world is not worthy of a person who has found the self?<\/em>“. That he may mean in self\u00a0the same as we see in the word himself<\/em>\u00a0we do not know but \u00a0this IS an important separation to understand from a spiritual perspective; it IS important to KNOW to what we are referring.<\/span><\/p>\n

    We have above several different ideas and here we can lump together the idea finding the world,<\/em> its wealth<\/em>, the corpse<\/em> and the dead body<\/em> as ALL being the same thing but we must remember that in the way that some of this is written is parabolic and at times confusing. It is the secondary idea that is of moment, the\u00a0idea of finding the corpse<\/em> or the dead body<\/em> is to realize that this IS the nature of the world; this is the nature of the struggle<\/em> of the fifty eighth saying. We should also see here the reality that to come to this realization<\/strong><\/em> IS akin to finding oneself, to finding himself, and it is uniformly stated above that it is of this man that the world IS NOT worthy or, as others have rendered,that this man IS superior to the world. Here in these words we find that great separation between the carnal and the spiritual; the carnal are the things of the world and in finding these we can see the idea of finding death, spiritual death of course, and this IS as we presented in the words of the Apostles Paul and James in relation to the previous saying. Repeating just this one here again: “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace<\/em>” (Romans 8:6)\u00a0should allow us to better understand the whole of this reality from the spiritual perspective and to understand why so many do not recognize<\/strong><\/em> this as they believe that these ideas somehow disparage Life. The difficulty here IS of course our inability to see the very illusion<\/strong> in which we live and with which we are ourselves encumbered.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here we are reminded of the Buddha’s words that show us this Truth in poetic form; we read:<\/span><\/p>\n

    “Do not live in the world,\u00a0in distraction and false dreams.\u00a0Outside the dharma.\u00a0Arise and watch.\u00a0Follow the way joyfully\u00a0through this world and beyond.\u00a0Follow the way of virtue.\u00a0Follow the way joyfully\u00a0through this world and on beyond!\u00a0For consider the world -a bubble, a mirage.\u00a0See the world as it is,\u00a0and death shall overlook you.\u00a0Come, consider the world,\u00a0a painted chariot for kings,\u00a0a trap for fools.\u00a0But he who sees goes free.\u00a0As the moon slips from behind a cloud And shines,\u00a0so the master comes out from behind his ignorance\u00a0And shines.\u00a0The world is in darkness.\u00a0How few have eyes to see!\u00a0How few the birds\u00a0who escape the net and fly to heaven!\u00a0Swans rise and fly toward the sun.\u00a0What magic!\u00a0So do the pure conquer the armies of illusion\u00a0and rise and fly<\/em>” (Dhammapada; on The World).<\/span><\/p>\n

    This IS our reality, that we live in this illusion<\/strong> and that we must break free<\/strong><\/em> from it in order to see clearly, and a great part of this breaking free<\/em> <\/strong>is found in our own realization<\/strong><\/em> that this illusion<\/strong> IS real or, better, that there really IS an illusion.<\/strong>\u00a0From the perspective of the Master’s words here in Thomas we should see that finding the Truth that the world IS a corpse,<\/em> that it IS a dead body<\/em>, is this same breaking free;<\/em><\/strong> and finding also the Truth that\u00a0having the world and its pleasures is sin and death from a spiritual perspective as testified to by the apostles IS the same….it IS breaking free<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    We have then two parts to this saying from Thomas’ Gospel; the one is the statement of fact; that for the True disciple the “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth<\/em>” and in this metaphor we should try to see how the disciple becomes the master, standing above ALL. And it IS in this same state of discipleship that we can see that the “he who lives<\/em>“, the Soul expressing through form in the world, came from the “living one<\/em>” the Soul in the Kingdom God and has brought with him the realization<\/strong><\/em> of the Truth of eternal Life. This IS what we as aspirants work toward, this IS our goal and our objective in Life. Finally we have what we assume are Thomas’ own words that tell us the reason for these realizations….that the man in the world has found himself, his True self in the Soul, the Christ Within.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Our next saying, the one hundred twelfth, is one of the more obscure sayings in the entirety of Thomas’ Gospel. It can be seen as somewhat related to other sayings that may help us to better understand this one. Again we have some differences in translation that may alter one’s view of this saying and we report our normal group as:<\/span><\/p>\n