13. (1) Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like.”
(2) Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a just messenger.”
(3) Matthew said to him, “You are like a very wise philosopher.”
(4) Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.”
(5) Jesus said, “I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring, which I have measured out.”
(6) And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. (7) When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?”
(8) Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the things, which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and consume you.”
(1–5) Simon Peter gives here the answer that was labeled as the correct one in the canonical gospels: Jesus is a Messiah (“a just messenger” in Greek translation). Matthew considers him a rabbi (“a wise philosopher”). However, these answers provide merely a partial understanding of who Jesus really is. Only Thomas gives an appropriate answer: He can’t say who Jesus is, thus recognizing that Jesus is an incarnation of the ineffable God himself. God is everything and everyone, all and nothing at the same time. Our language is not adequate to describe Him. Those who experienced God firsthand, acquiring gnosis and awakening, were not Jesus’ servants anymore, but his friends.
(6–8) Stoning was a traditional Jewish punishment for blasphemy. What were the three blasphemous things that Jesus said to Thomas? What would upset the other apostles so much that they would try to stone one of their own? Likely these words were new concepts beyond the teachings that the disciples already understood. We can only speculate, but perhaps he said something like: “Thomas, YOU are the one and only, all-powerful God himself. You don’t realize that you are still asleep, and this world is just a dream. All the people around you are just dream characters; you are playing all the parts in your dream.” Even today many people would find these statements preposterous, if not blasphemous. Premature, untimely divulging of holy mysteries to those who are unprepared for them can be very destructive, like all-consuming fire. Clearly the other disciples were not ready for the secret knowledge at that time. Or perhaps even less inflammatory things, such as three things listed in the first part of Saying 14, would have been enough to shock his less advanced yet pious Jewish disciples.
This saying seems to stand in tension with Saying 12, where James seems to be the most important of Jesus’ disciples. The most likely explanation is that James was entrusted with stewardship of the worldly church, while other apostles, such as Thomas, achieved higher levels of initiation. Mystics in general do not have very high regard either for the institutions of this world or for positions of power, such as those occupied by the bishops and other leaders of the church. Acquisition of such worldly power with associated duties and distractions made it more difficult to awaken. Jesus stressed repeatedly the need to strive for the Kingdom of Heaven first and to reach salvation before worrying about saving others. Those who focused on building the church and spreading the faith before awakening themselves were likely to distort his message. That’s why Jesus said, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7: 5).
14. (1) Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will bring forth sin for yourselves; (2) and if you pray, you will be condemned; (3) and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. (4) When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. (5) For what enters your mouth will not defile you, but that which comes out of your mouth will defile you.”
(1) Jesus’ disciples were very persistent in some of their questions. Perhaps they were not satisfied with the answer Jesus gave them in Saying 6? That answer skirted their question altogether, so here they are trying again, and as a result they get an answer that must have been confusing and upsetting—an answer that appears to go against everything they have been taught. Can fasting, praying, or giving alms indeed be sinful or harmful to one’s spirit? Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are three forms of piety mentioned on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6: 1–18). In truth, these activities are neutral and harmless by themselves. What matters is our intention and reasons for doing these things. If they are a part of our spiritual path, they help us to awaken faster. If we are doing them to show off, we are losing the goal from our sight and getting our reward from other people admiring us for our presumed, but fake, superficial righteousness. Whatever we do, we need to do it keeping in mind that the most important thing is to find the Kingdom of Heaven and to awaken. Thus, the question should have been: “What shall we do to awaken?” And the answer would have been different for each of the apostles. In all cases one should remain flexible and respond with love to every situation.
How can fasting bring forth sin? If we fast to make us appear more religious and pious than our neighbors; if fasting makes us feel proud, virtuous, and better than others, then it drives us away from God. If we fast, pray, and give alms, but at the same time abuse our wife and children, we are very confused about what really matters to God.
(2) When we pray, we tend to ask God for things we want. God already provides what we need, so it is more appropriate to pray as an expression of thanks, instead of complaining in prayer about other people or asking for things that may slow us down on the spiritual path. God knows better than us what is truly needed, and everything that happens to us has the potential to bring us closer to awakening. We have a choice in how we react to each challenge—either with love or with anger or fear.
(3) Giving alms may be appropriate and caring in certain circumstances. Let’s say the money will help someone to survive and feed their children. But what happens if you give money to someone who is going to spend it on alcohol and will go home to beat his/her spouse and children while drunk? Or to someone who is too lazy to work, and if he gets enough money from panhandling, he will never look for another job? “Didache,” a 2nd century Christian manual, teaches us to “let the money sweat in your hand, before you give alms.” In other words, be thoughtful and careful about who you give your money to; don’t throw it around indiscriminately, since it may hurt people as often as it helps. Another aspect of almsgiving is how it makes us feel about ourselves. If we end up being more proud and arrogant as a result of giving money to the poor (e.g., “I am such a righteous person since I help the poor”) or if we look down at the people we help financially, we actually harm ourselves.
(4) Elsewhere, Jesus teaches that one should avoid eating meat. Yet he recognizes that certain situations may call for us to be flexible. In this case it would be better to eat what we are served by our hosts instead of offending them by refusing their hospitality. When people put the best food they have on the table, one should thank them and appreciate their intent instead of rejecting their loving offering. We should always choose the bigger good and repay hospitality with gifts of love, such as healing the sick.
The sick are not only those who are physically sick, but also those who are ignorant to our true nature and who behave in insane, unloving ways that hurt both them and others around them. Instruction to “eat what they will set before you” may extend by analogy to the way we react to the surrounding reality. We need to accept what is, since everything that happens in our lives is meant to help us awaken.
(5) Islamic tradition preserved an interesting saying attributed to Jesus. Some people asked him how they can get to Heaven. Jesus told them: “Don’t speak.” When they protested that this is impossible, he said, “Then say only good things.” We hurt more people every day with uncaring words than with anything else we do. Careless words often hurt more than physical blows. Therefore, the message here is to be thoughtful—think before you act or say anything. Always c
hose what is most loving, to the best of your knowledge.
15. Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your face and worship him. That one is your Father.”
Another way to read this recommendation is that we should not worship anyone who is born of a woman. People who demand worship or service, whether they are emperors, presidents, or bishops, don’t deserve to be worshipped like God. We are all equal. Only God is not born of a woman, and only He deserves to be worshipped. Yet God is inside each of us. Thomas Morton said that “if we knew who we really are, we would fall onto our faces and worship each other.” So how do we reconcile this paradox? It is not our ego and arrogance that deserves that worship, but what is divine in us—love, kindness, caring, and compassion. Thus, people who are truly one with God—just like Jesus was—do not ask to be worshipped. Instead, they serve others. Those who are possessed by the ego demand that we worship and serve them. Jesus made it clear that this applies to him as well. That’s why he said that he “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20: 28).
16. (1) Jesus said, “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the earth. (2) But they do not know that I have come to cast dissension upon the earth: fire, sword, war. (3) For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. (4) And they will stand alone.”
(1–3) History shows clearly that mystical teachings emphasizing love, equality, and tolerance have been very threatening to people wielding power, whether autocratic parents in families, authoritarian governments, or churches. Mystics have been branded by orthodox religions as heretics, and persecuted and murdered for millennia. Nations that subscribe to mystical traditions (e.g., Tibet prior to invasion and brutal occupation by China) and that are peaceful and prosperous are a tempting target for others who don’t subscribe to noble teachings.
On an individual level the message of change required from each of us has never been readily accepted. It is easier to demand that others change first. To awaken, we have to shed all prior beliefs and customs that chain us and prevent us from being truly loving and caring. Once we start questioning and rejecting beliefs and customs that we inherited from our parents, from our religion, and from our culture, we are likely to encounter resistance, rejection, and condemnation from our own families. Only after we purify ourselves can we see others’ faults clearly. Love demands that once we awaken ourselves, we should help others on the path to awakening, confronting any behaviors that are unloving.
(4) Ultimately, each of us has to stand up all by himself/herself and defend what we believe in. It is a very lonely place to be in. And yet our courage to stand up to established customs and rules is necessary for salvation.
Another interpretation speaks to the fact that love may require us to do things that are considered sinful by traditional religions. Let’s take as an example the commandment “Do not kill.” It sounds very simple and doesn’t seem to leave any doubts on how we should or shouldn’t behave. Yet in certain situations killing another person may be the most loving and appropriate response. Imagine this scenario: Robbers broke into your house in the middle of the night. You are a husband, your beloved wife was just raped or killed in front of you, and now your children are threatened at a gunpoint. You were brutally beaten and tied, but by some miracle the rope with which you were tied became loose. If you managed to grab a knife or another weapon, would you hesitate to kill the assailant in order to save your children? Would it be a sin to defend your family from murderers, even if it meant that the assailant will be killed in the process? Certainly not! Love requires us to be flexible and to act in ways that are most appropriate to each situation at hand. No rules or commandments are absolute or should ever be followed blindly and without thinking.
17. Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”
God inside each one of us is what no eye has ever seen, no ear has heard, and no hand has touched. The universe that God created is so awesome and amazing that we are totally blown away when we are offered even a glimpse of its immensity and eternal beauty. Our imagination is sometimes limited—and the world that God created is full of astounding surprises beyond our wildest dreams awaiting our discovery. The whole universe is the inheritance of the children of God. Paul quotes similar, saying, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2: 9).
18. (1) The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” (2) Jesus said, “Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? (3) For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death.”
(1) From our point of view neither the past nor the future are real, since the past exists only in our memory and future in our imagination. Only the present moment is real. Everything happens in that immeasurably short instant that we call NOW. Thus, paradoxically, both the beginning and the end happen in the present. God is not limited by time, and so from His perspective there is only an eternal NOW, which encompasses our present as well as the past and the future. Unfortunately, our minds tend to inhabit either the past or the future, so that we are rarely fully present in the NOW—the only time that really exists. We cannot enter the gate leading to the eternal NOW if our mind is scattered and preoccupied with what is not real. That is the reason why Eckart Tolle (in Power of Now) and other spiritual authors over the centuries repeatedly stressed the importance of being present in the moment.
(2–3) So where was our beginning and where will our end be? The Kingdom of Heaven is where we all began and that’s where we will return in the end. To discover the beginning, one has to learn to cultivate the inner stillness—we can enter the narrow gate leading to Heaven only when we accomplish that feat. Meditation is one of the oldest and most reliable spiritual technologies that allow us to train our mind and reach the stillness within. Anyone who starts meditating realizes quickly that we don’t have any control whatsoever over our thoughts. They come and go all by themselves. All we can do is to watch them appear and disappear into nothingness. The same principle applies to our emotions. People who learn to live totally in the present and who are patient enough to train their minds eventually find within themselves the gateway leading to eternity.
19. (1) Jesus said, “Blessed is he who was before he came into being. (2) If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. (3) For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. (4) Whoever knows them will not taste death.”
(1–2) Compare this saying with the Gospel of Philip 64: 10–12: “Fortunate is the one who exists before coming into being. For one who exists has been and will be.” We all are blessed, since we all existed before the beginning of the universe—though most of us don’t remember it. It is our most important task in this life to experience directly who we really are. It is a blessing when we regain the memory of our true identity. Jesus promises his disciples that they will awaken just like him, if they follow his teachings and persist through difficulties and challenges that they encounter on the spiritual path. When that happens, they will be able to mold reality in any way they wish—even stones can serve them.
(3) In Genesis 2: 9 we are told of two trees in Paradise—the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What are the other trees? Some speculate that five trees in the Garden of Eden are symbols of the most important gifts bestowed upon us by God. Therefore, the other three include the tree of immortality, the tree of true knowledge (gnosis), and finally the tree of comprehension. They do not change and their leaves do not fall, since there is no time passage in Paradise.
The tree of li
fe may be a symbol of a long, healthy life. Whoever partakes from that tree can live in a current body indefinitely, without getting old or sick. The fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is responsible for the human species becoming a sentient, intelligent species, with the ability to discern between what is good and what is evil. It is also a symbol of our temporary separation from God, since in God all opposites are unified. Once we were able to discern between the good and the evil, we learned to perceive the other polar opposites: dark and light, cold and hot, masculine and feminine, and so on. This situation is also alluded to in the last part of Saying 11: “On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
(4) The fruit from the tree of immortality becomes available to those who awaken and overcome death. They preserve their current identity forever and become immortal, but their identity is also that of a Christ. Eating the fruit from the tree of gnosis provides one with a firsthand experience of the Divine within. It is very likely that this “fruit” was a psychedelic plant such as soma, a sacred mushroom mentioned in Ancient Vedic religious texts and used in ancient India. Some people speculate (based on the fragments of the secret gospel of Mark preserved in the Mar Saba letter) that Jesus used soma, which he brought with him upon returning from India, to help to awaken his disciples. Or perhaps he had access to something similar to the entheogenic[3] brew known as “kykeon” and used in Eleusian mysteries in ancient Greece. Some of his remarks suggest familiarity with psychoactive properties of certain plants (see the Parable of the Tares in the gospel of Matthew and Saying 57 in the Gospel of Thomas). The last gift from the tree of comprehension allows us to understand the mystical teachings and apply them in our daily lives.
Secrets of God Page 8