Secrets of God

by Slawek Wojtowicz

  This lesson should be placed in the historical context. In ancient Israel, women were treated as a property of their husbands. Only men were able to initiate a divorce, and just like in the modern Muslim world, even a minor excuse was sufficient to send a woman away. The blame for divorce and disgrace was always placed squarely on the woman, since it was her duty to keep her husband happy in all respects. Therefore, a divorced woman in that society was often seen as defective and undesirable, given that she was unwilling or unable to please her husband. Such women were often stigmatized and economically disadvantaged, requiring the protection of the society at large. Even though these protections had been codified in the Jewish religious law, in practice a divorced woman became a pariah, while there were no consequences whatsoever for the husband. Getting rid of an annoying, nagging wife deprived her husband of an opportunity to listen to her and to become more loving towards her. Thus, divorce decreased his chances for spiritual growth and awakening.

  Divorce per se is not sinful—it is entirely appropriate when one partner is unable or unwilling to change and, as in the example above, continues to abuse his or her significant other or their children. It is the right thing to move out of an unhealthy relationship when we cannot tolerate suffering any longer. That applies to all relationships in our life. It is our duty to work on our side of the relationship, but the other party has to be willing to change and grow as well if a mutual bond is to grow and prosper. It is good to be giving, but if we find out after years of one-sided giving that our partner is only willing to take, it may be time to reconsider our options—in the spirit of love and caring towards yourself, your partner, and your children.

  49. (1) Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the Kingdom. (2) For you have come from it, and you will return there again.”

  Each of us is all alone, since in reality there is only one of us playing all the parts. Each of us is also chosen, since each of us is the only and beloved child of the Most High. All of us will eventually discover these truths—both of them point the way back to the Kingdom of Heaven.

  We do experience either loneliness or solitude in many points of our lives. Sometimes it is felt as a wonderful thing, when we are happy to be on our own; but sometimes we perceive it as something awful and very painful. We are happy to be all alone when we are connected to our source—for example, when we float blissfully inside our mother’s womb, perfectly whole and totally inseparable from her. After we are born, we experience separation from our mother, and we keep searching for the lost paradise we experienced inside the maternal womb. As infants we are truly happy when we melt into our mother’s body, enveloped in her arms, with her warm breasts right next to our face—we are in heaven again and do not need anything or anyone else.

  In Western culture many women opt not to breast-feed their infants, thus increasing the pain of separation for their children and depriving them of a transitional stage in their development that would ease their adjustment to a separate, independent life in our world. As these children grow older, they keep searching unsuccessfully for the wholeness they felt before they were born. They think they have recovered it when they meet “the right person.” They fall in love only to discover eventually that that “perfect person” is not so perfect after all. He or she cannot meet all of their needs and provide them with the bliss comparable to that experienced in the womb. Finally, when they are about to die, they realize that they can’t take anyone else to the other side; they face the mystery of death utterly alone.

  The goal of our lives here is to discover who we really are and to claim our rightful inheritance. A recent Spanish movie called Pan’s Labyrinth is a beautiful story illustrating this point. Like the Gnostic story of the pearl from the Acts of Thomas, it tells us that in our daily lives we need to act in accordance with our real nature: Deep inside we are kind, caring, loving, thoughtful, and courageous. The reward is certain if we remain faithful to our true self. However, one has to remember that we shouldn’t behave in reckless ways. It is not a good idea to strive to become a martyr; we can only awaken while we are alive.

  50. (1) Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where did you come from?’ say to them, ‘We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image.’ (2) If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’ say, ‘We are its children and we are the elect of the living Father.’ (3) If they ask you, ‘What is the sign of your Father in you?’ say to them, ‘It is movement and repose.’”

  (1) The eternal light of God is our common Source, the place from which we came and to which we return. The light became manifest though the Creation—thus, we all are the manifestation of the light. That light is a self-manifesting creative force. As such, it created itself underneath the fabric of our space-time—even though God himself always existed and will exist outside of time and space.

  (2) We are all the beloved children of the one and only living God, just like Jesus was. He was not any different from you and me. He was born in humble conditions, as an illegitimate son of a teenage mother. He grew up in difficult home conditions and most likely ran away from home in his early teenage years. The untold story of his difficult childhood is currently being reconstructed and some clues can be found in books such as Jesus Dynasty and Unknown Life of Jesus. If Jesus was indeed a normal human, like you and me, and if he discovered his inherent divinity later in life, we can do the same.

  (3) The movement and the repose are two complementary aspects of God. The repose is the eternal stillness, harmony, and everlasting peace of the unchanging, invisible realm of the Spirit. When we visit that realm we experience unbounded joy, unconditional love, and ecstasy. The movement is our own world where nothing remains the same—everything changes constantly in the never-ending dance of creation. The Spirit needs our world, since stillness and movement are opposite yet complementary aspects of the Whole.

  51. (1) His disciples said to him, “When will the resurrection of the dead take place, and when the new world will come?” (2) He said to them, “What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.”

  Jesus tells his disciples over and over that the Kingdom of Heaven has been here all along—available to anyone who is ready to awaken from the dream of suffering and death. When we are disconnected from God, we are dead inside, even though we may appear alive on the surface. When we finally return home, just like the prodigal son we are greeted by our Father with joy: “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15: 24). We are resurrected when we return to our Father. The new world is revealed to each person when he or she fully awakens to the eternal life in God. This new world is not in another reality or another dimension, but right here and right now on Earth.

  52. (1) His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke of you.” (2) He said to them, “You have disregarded the living one and have spoken only of the dead.”

  Jesus points out again that his disciples will be better off paying attention to the present moment instead of the past. The prophecies and past teachings are irrelevant when you are in the presence of the living God, who is speaking to you through the Christ. This lesson is relevant even today. Jesus told us that Christ is present in all of us. If that indeed is the case (and it is!), then God speaks to us every day through other people. We should pay more attention to those around us to discern messages from God instead of leafing through thousands-of-years-old books that were changed and edited so many times that they hardly bear any resemblance to the original message. Modern spiritual writings such as the Conversation with God series, Power of Now or A Course in Miracles are more recent and still unadulterated, and thus more valuable sources of knowledge about God than the ancient “holy books” used by mainstream religions.

  53. (1) His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision beneficial or not?” (2) He said to them, �
��If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. (3) Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has proved useful in every respect.”

  Jesus’ disciples focus again on the external things, which are completely irrelevant for spiritual growth and tend to lead people away from the narrow path leading to salvation. Circumcision in Judaism was meant as a sign that a boy belongs to God. It is just a meaningless symbol if the circumcised man does not follow God’s teachings in his life. A person circumcised in spirit lives the message of love and thus truly belongs to God. Jesus is trying to convey to his disciples the urgency of working on awakening. It is important to “circumcise” our minds, to heal and restore them to original sanity, rejecting everything that is not compatible with God’s love. We need to strive to become like Christ—perfectly loving, kind, and caring—whether we are circumcised in body or not. There is no time to lose. It may take several years or even decades to heal the rift each of us has created between ourselves and God. We have a limited time to awaken, and if we don’t do it in our lifetime, we have to start over again when we are reincarnated. The circumcision in spirit, which cuts away and rejects distractions thrown at us by the world, is beneficial to speed up awakening and to use our time most efficiently (i.e., keeping in mind our goal constantly and applying the principles taught by Jesus in every second of our waking hours, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and dismantling our ego, which forms the barrier that keeps us apart from God). One of the lost sacraments of early Christianity was the sacrament of Redemption. This sacrament involved rejection of worldly pursuits, abandoning the chase after money, power, sex, fame, and other distractions. This sacrament was a symbolic spiritual circumcision. See also Saying 63.

  54. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

  Lack of financial resources is a blessing in disguise. Our priorities are seen in a different light when we have to struggle for survival. Being poor often means more misery, and suffering is the fire that burns our ego, uncovering God within. Poor people may also have more opportunities to look within, since they don’t have resources for external entertainment and thus have fewer distractions than more affluent people. Our shared anguish, helplessness, and misery become more obvious when we experience the world from the vantage point of the underprivileged. Once we experience the agony of having to worry about how to feed our children and how to pay for the roof over their heads, we acquire deep empathy and compassion for others.

  Synoptic gospels have an interesting variation of this saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5: 3). I was always puzzled about the meaning of that saying, and couldn’t find a satisfactory explanation. I think that the most reasonable explanation is that the original wording was distorted in the process of copying: Either the original text matched the above saying, as captured in the Gospel of Thomas (and also in Luke 6: 20), or the blessing was originally extended to those rich in Spirit and an anonymous scribe chose to “correct” the word “rich” to “poor,” not really understanding what it means to be rich in Spirit. Perhaps this eager scribe was influenced by the subsequent phrase in the gospel of Luke: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” (Luke 6: 24).

  55. (1) Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple of mine. (2) And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross as I do will not be worthy of me.”

  Hating our parents and siblings means rejecting everything they have taught us that is not compatible with the message of love. It means setting aside the programming that they have subjected us to. In many instances they have instilled into us their destructive habits and beliefs, which enslave us and prevent us from being truly loving and present. Jesus consistently taught his disciples that “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9: 23 and Matthew 16: 24). Freeing ourselves from the programming implanted into our minds by our parents and society (“denying ourselves”) is a very painful process, akin to taking up the cross every single day, but it is a necessary step on the road to salvation. See also Saying 101, which expands on this concept.

  56. (1) Jesus said, “Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, (2) and whoever has found this corpse, of him the world is not worthy.”

  This world is an illusion ruled by the ego, and thus from that perspective it is devoid of life. The Gospel of Philip (99) explains: “What we call the world is not real world; but if we could see it with the eyes of the Being who infuses it, we would see it as incorruptible and immortal. The fall consists in aiming away from the object of desire. What we call the world has always been transient.” One who understands the world knows that what we truly value (that is, love) isn’t somewhere out there in the world, but can be only found within. The Life and Love that we have to look for is hidden inside each of us. The worldly things lose their value and appeal for anyone who discovers that this world is not real, that it is impermanent, and that everything here is bound to fall apart and disappear eventually. Our bodies age and die, our civilizations rise and crumble, and even our sun will eventually cool off or blow up.

  There is nothing permanent here worth striving for, especially if we remember our true immortal nature and the impermanence of everything in this world. Those who chose to focus on gaining worldly power end up dying and losing their current self along with the riches they have accumulated. Jesus said that, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9: 24). The Gospel of Philip 93 concurs: “This world is an eater of life. Because of this, none of those who are nourished on the truth will die.” In Matthew 6: 19–21, Jesus teaches us, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” The only treasure that is worth seeking is Love of God, and it is very close—right inside of each of us, ready to be shared with everyone around us.

  On the other hand, The Gospel of Philip 97–98 warns us against going to the extremes. We should also remember that God permeates the Creation: “Some wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by despising the world; they left it, and were not Christians. There are some who go into the water, and when they emerge, they recognize the Presence in everything. This is why there is nothing to be despised; a king in rags is still a king. Those who mock him will not enter into his kingdom.” We have to remember that each of our fellow human beings contains the Christ within, even if His true, transcendent beauty is covered by the rags of the ego. Deeper understanding of our reality brings realization that our world is actually perfect, since it is designed to wake each of us up. Nothing here happens by accident—everything is meaningful and purposeful. See also Saying 80.

  57. (1) Jesus said, “The Kingdom of the Father is like a man who had good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed darnel among the good seed. (2) The man did not allow them to pull up the weeds; he said to them, ‘I am afraid that you will go intending to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.’ (3) For on the day of the harvest the darnel will be plainly visible, and they will be pulled up and burned.”

  Bearded darnel (Lolium temulentum), also known as cockle or tare, is a grass that bears a close resemblance to wheat—until the ear appears (see fig. A, B, C). The similarity between these two plants when they are immature is so striking that in some regions darnel is referred to as “false wheat.” The seeds of darnel are edible, but it is not advisable to eat them, since they are highly susceptible to ergot infection. Ergot is the common name of a fungus in the genus Claviceps that is parasitic on many grains and grasses. The fungus forms a sclerotium in winter, which is usually referred to as ‘ergot.’ The ergot sclerotium harbors high concentrations (up to 2% of dry mass) o
f the alkaloid ergotamine, a complex molecule which contains ergoline, a backbone of the psychedelic drug LSD. When small doses of ergot are eaten along with wheat or other grains, it causes hallucinations, but it can cause severe damage to the nervous system in larger quantities. Temulentus in Latin means “drunken” or “tipsy.” “Darnel” comes from the French word “darne,” meaning stupefied.

  A. Young wheat or darnel plant. B. Mature wheat (Triticum spp) C. Mature darnel (Lolium temulentum)

  What is the meaning of this parable? One interpretation can be found in Matthew 13: 37–43: “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just like weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

  Many tend to read this explanation as an apocalyptic admonition that God will eliminate the sinful at the end of days. Yet careful reading implies that even the sinners will become righteous and will shine like the sun after passing through the purifying fire. At the end we will all be saved. Solzhenitsyn wrote that “if only there were (purely) evil people out there insidiously committing evil deeds, and it was only necessary to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, and who among us is willing to destroy a piece of their own heart?”