Uploaded on Sep 2, 2009
Introduction to New Testament (RLST 152)
We have known of the existence of the Gospel of Thomas from ancient writers, but it was only after the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices that the actual text became available. The Gospel of Thomas is basically a collection of sayings, or logia, that sometimes seem similar, perhaps more primitive than sayings found in the canonical Gospels. Sometimes, however, the sayings seem better explained as reflecting a "Gnostic" understanding of the world. This involves a rejection of the material world and a desire for gnosis, a secret knowledge, in order to escape the world and return to the divine being.
00:00 - Chapter 1. The Nag Hammadi Codices and Thomasine Literature
10:35 - Chapter 2. The Sayings of the Gospel of Thomas
28:15 - Chapter 3. Proto-orthodoxy and "Gnosticism"
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2009.
-------------------------------- Here is one interpretation
Logion 1:
He said, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death”.
Interpretation:
People hover between life and death, being aware of, but experiencing neither in its fullness. They find themselves between the light of Heaven, and the darkness of ignorance. They are not sure of what they are, (a spiritual or a physical being). They are not sure who they are, (a child of God, or a child of the world). They are not sure where they came from, (the spiritual realm or the material realm). Because of this, each of them experiences a mind that is divided, and they are torn. In this state suffering is inevitable. First they go one way and do wrong to others, and then they go the other way, and they are then tormented by what they have done.
A person may go one of two ways, either towards Love and Truth where life is found, or towards complete ignorance of these things, which is the death spoken of. Those who search and find the true meanings of the secret sayings, will not experience spiritual death, which results in the complete loss of their true identity as a spiritual being. To be spiritually dead, also incurs the complete loss of empathy for all living things, which means that Love cannot be experienced, and that Truth cannot be known. This leads a person to believe that life has no meaning other than to serve one’s own selfish needs.
To find the interpretation of the secret teachings, a person must first have a measure of Love, a realization of Truth, and a measure of the realization that they are not a physical being.
Those who are able to understand the sayings, and believe with sincerity, will come to know themselves, and will come to be known as the sons of God.
See John1:3 ‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God’.
It is not enough to simply read the interpretations, one must see and understand the Truth in them, and recognize it in the heart.
Also see in John 8:51: ‘Believe me when I tell you that if anybody accepts my words, he will never see death at all’.
Logion 2:
Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All”.
Interpretation of: ‘Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds’.
To seek is to search for. In the context of this logion, the search relates to coming to know yourself and the true nature of what the Self is. So the questions to which answers must be sought, relate solely to the Self, such as, ‘I am?’ or, ‘what am I?’ or, ‘to what am I referring to when I use the word ‘I’?’ What is the nature of this thing that I am, this ‘I’ that looks out into the world, but remains separate from it?
To come to know yourself, you must first realize what you are not, then you will be left with the Self.
To search is to question. To continue searching is to question beyond one’s own beliefs, and the beliefs of others. That which we desire to be true is not always true, and so a person must look beyond what they personally desire to be true.
The Truth is that which cannot fall and it has no fear of questioning. The Truth is unchangeable and eternal. Knowledge of the material realm is knowledge of that which is without life and is outside of the Self. The knowledge that is profitable to the Self, is knowledge of the Self, and that is why it was said that you must come to know yourself. It is the nature of one’s own being that is eventually found by those who keep searching.
Interpretation of: ‘When he finds, he will become troubled’.
When you realize that you are not of the world (not a physical being), then you will realize that you are separated from it, and alone in a place that can be seen as a fortress or a prison (the mind). It is then that you will become troubled as you realize that there is no escape from your domain/mind.
Interpretation of: ‘When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished’.
When you realize that you are not of the world (not a physical being) and that you are not in the world, and you realize that you need nothing of the world to sustain your existence. When you also realize that there is nothing that is of the world or materiality that can penetrate into your mind/domain, and cause damage to the Self, then you will become astonished, fearless and empowered as your own master, an untouchable, uncontrollable, free willed spiritual being.
Interpretation of: ‘And he will rule over the All’.
‘The All’ refers to all of reality, both spiritual and material. It is the substance that all things (forms) are made from and are within. It is an infinite field of indestructible, eternal energy.
The material and spiritual realms, including the Father, Heaven, the Self, and the mind are all a part of ‘the All’. Each and every form of reality are components of ‘the All’. In this respect we are all one, and individuality is only found in the uniqueness of the form that each component of ‘the All’ takes, and in the awareness, desire and will of each soul.
It is the sentient (living, conscious, aware) Self, that has come to know itself as a spiritual being, which then rules over ‘the All’. Until that Self-realization is achieved, the Self finds itself clinging to and enslaved by a world, whose ways it feels compelled to conform to. Because of this, (even though the Self has free will) it finds its desires and will, easily manipulated by others. In this situation, the Self is not free, not its own master, but rather it is the servant of materiality and those who serve it. The Self that has come to know itself, has no masters and as a free-willed, sentient being, it rules over All that is not sentient.
The Truth will set you free.
Also in Logion 77; ‘Jesus said, ‘Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there’. He was referring to ‘the All’ that he came from and was a part of.
Comment: What greater gifts can a man give another, that he teach him Truth, set him free, Love him as a brother, and if necessary, suffer and give up his physical body for these things?
Logion 3:
Jesus said, “If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty”.
Interpretation of: ‘If those who lead you’.
This is a reference to other religious teachers.
Interpretation of: 'See, the kingdom is in the sky’, then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you.
Simply put, the Kingdom is not a material place. Neither is it a material thing, and is not a part of the material realm. Such teachings emanate from the minds of the spiritually blind and dead, and it is why those teachers were referred to as ‘the blind leading the blind’. What such religious teachers taught was, and is, a religion based on materiality, which included a physical god, who inhabited a material place. If the Kingdom were in the sky or the sea, then no religious teachings would be needed to reach it and the gates to the Kingdom would be wide open for even the most evil of persons to reach and enter.
Interpretation of: Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.
Simply put, your mind is the Kingdom, or rather a part of it, as are other people’s minds.
The mind is the spiritual Self’s personal domain, the place that the Self inhabits and rules over. Each spiritual being, including God, has their own personal domain (mind), and so the Kingdom is inside of you, and outside of you. When you close your eyes and look inside your mind, it is your Kingdom that you see. It is a little piece of the Father’s Kingdom that was given to you, and without which it would not be possible to experience consciousness or life, for the Self without a mind can experience nothing.
Interpretation of: ‘When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father’.
When you come to fully realize your true nature as a spiritual being (Self-realisation), then you will become known in the Kingdom of the Father, and you will realize that it is you who is a son of the living Father, and your mind will have become prepared as a bridal chamber. If your faith in Love is sufficient, then full communion with the Father will occur and your new mind will have become a shared part of the Father’s Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is the home that you left. It is Heaven that was your Mother, and it is the little piece of Heaven that was given to you that is referred to as your wife. That is why it was said, ‘a man shall leave his mother and cleave to his wife’.
Interpretation of: ‘But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty’.
If you will not come to know yourself, then you dwell in a place of ignorance, in a Kingdom/mind that has no lasting treasures of Love and Truth. For if the Self is not known, then how can there be unbreakable faith in such things? It is the state of the mind that determines the state of the Self. If there is poverty in the mind, then there is poverty in the Self, and what is in the Self is a part of the Self. Therefore if you dwell in a place of poverty, you become that poverty.
Logion 4:
Jesus said, “The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same”.
Interpretation of: ‘The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live’.
‘The man’ always represents the spiritual Self, the ‘I,’ in I am.
‘The man old in days’ refers to the spiritual Self, which pre-existed its new mind and physical body.
‘The seven day old child’ refers to the spiritual Self, on its seventh day of its new life journey. At this point in time, the spiritual Self has no problem realising that it is the life, and because of this, it lives, for there is no ignorance of itself in its mind. It was said in Matthew 18:3: ‘Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’.
Interpretation of: ‘For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same’.
There is the soul (the Self and mind) and there is the physical body. The soul existed before the physical body and so was first.
When the Self forgets its true nature as a spiritual being, it comes to believe that it is the physical body, and thereby Self-realization is lost. It is then that the two become one, because the Self sees no difference between itself, and the physical body.
Note: The Self, the mind and the body are three separate and distinct things. The first two are of the spiritual, and the third is of the world.
Logion 5:
Jesus said, “Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest”.
Interpretation:
That which is in your sight, is sight itself, the observer that is you. If you recognize this, your ‘Self’ will become plain to you. In Truth you cannot hide from yourself, you can only choose to ignore the true nature, of what you refer to, when you use the word ‘I’. It is as if the Self hides from itself, in plain view of itself. That which is most obvious, usually receives the least amount of attention, and through ignorance comes forgetfulness. It is the Self that is taken for granted, as its relevance is ignored. There is a difference between knowing, and realizing the importance of what it is that you know.
A person may say ‘I know I am a spiritual being’, but when the full realization of what they profess to know is revealed to them, it is like an earthquake that has shaken the soul, and caused a paradigm shift in consciousness, a rebirth .
The Self is incredibly obvious, but people are led to only focus on, and recognize things that are outside of the Self, that is the mind, and the material things of the world.
That which is hidden from you is your Self, and the only way to find your Self, is to ignore the world and its endless cry for your attention.
Logion 6:
His disciples questioned him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, “Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered”.
Interpretation of: ‘Do not tell lies’.
If you tell lies you may deceive others, but you cannot hide the lies from yourself, and then knowing that you have lied, you will have put on the garments of self-condemnation and shame. It is better to die in Truth than live in the denial of it.
Interpretation of: ‘And do not do what you hate’.
You must do what is in your heart. To do otherwise is to do what you hate, and to make yourself a deceiver. There is no profit for the soul in doing things that are absent of sincerity. If you do what you hate, then you will become the servant of what you hate, and what you hate will become your master.
Interpretation of: ‘For all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered’.
In the Kingdom of Heaven the mind is an open book. This Gospel of the Kingdom has not been given to condemn those who have sinned, but rather it is given to prepare those who know they have sinned, and wish to turn from sin, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is for these sinners that Christ came. Those who sin and do not realize that they have sinned, (the spiritually blind and dead), remain in their innocence, for they know not what they do.
Logion 7:
Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man”.
Interpretation:
A person may have two self-identities/two egos; one as a spiritual being, and the other as a physical being. The two self-identities cause the mind to be divided, which results in a struggle between the two, until one is consumed and the other becomes the master, resulting in an undivided mind. Either one of these self-identities may eventually have complete domination.
‘The lion’ represents the self-image of being a physical body.
‘The man’ represents the true image of being a spiritual being.
Blessed is the Self who knows his true identity as a spiritual being, and consumes the false identity of being a physical being.
Cursed is the Self who believes that he is no more than a physical being, and consumes his true identity as a spiritual being.
Logion 8:
And he said, “The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear”.
Interpretation of: ‘The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea’.
‘The man’ who ‘is like a wise fisherman’, is a reference to both Jesus and his disciples. See in Matthew 4:19: ‘And he said unto them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’.
The casting of ‘the net’ refers to attracting people with the Christ teachings.
‘The sea’ refers to the collective minds of possible converts.
The ‘small fish’ represents the souls that were attracted, but were not spiritually aware enough to receive Christ’s teachings. Such people are left until they grow spiritually.
‘The large fish’ refers to the person whose soul was spiritually aware enough, and therefore worthy to receive Christ’s teachings. See Logion 62: ‘It is to those who are worthy of my mysteries that I tell my mysteries’.
The wise teacher has no problem choosing worthy students.
Interpretation of: ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear’.
Let those who are capable of understanding the secret meanings of what I say, hear what I’m really saying. In other words, what was said was for those who understood the secret meanings.
Logion 9:
Jesus said, “Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure”.
Note: Before we consider the meaning of Logion 9, we must first take into consideration, its related scripture interpretation in the New Testament.
See in Mark 4:13-20: ‘Then he continued, “Do you really not understand this parable? Then how are you going to understand all the other parables? The man who sows, sows the message. As for those who are by the roadside where the message is sown, as soon as they hear it Satan comes at once and takes away what has been sown in their minds. Similarly, the seed sown among the rocks represents those who hear the message without hesitation and accept it joyfully. But they have no real roots and do not last - when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they give up their faith at once. Then there are the seeds which were sown among thorn-bushes. These are the people who hear the message, but the worries of this world and the false glamour of riches and all sorts of other ambitions creep in and choke the life out of what they have heard, and it produces no crop in their lives. As for the seed sown on good soil, this means the men who hear the message and accept it and do produce a crop - thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as they received”.
The meaning is spelt out quite well in the Gospel of Mark, but there are still a few things that need explaining to fully understand what has been written.
Interpretation of: ‘Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them’.
The sower is the one who is teaching the message of Christ. The handful of seeds represents the teachings. The scattering of the seeds represents giving some of the teachings to the people.
Note: The first thing to notice is that both the Logion and its related scripture, take into consideration four different types of people, and their reactions when they receive the teachings.
Interpretation of: ‘Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up’.
Some teachings were listened to by onlookers , who were referred to as ‘birds’, because they thought they were already free, and had all that they needed. They rejected the teachings immediately, because these people were those who were referred to as; the spiritually blind and dead.
Interpretation of: ‘Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears’.
These are the people who accepted the teachings, because the teachings sounded good, and made them feel good and respected by others, but when their faith in the Love and Truth within the teachings was tested, they rejected the teachings, because the teachings had not taken root in their minds, and therefore also were not in their hearts.
Interpretation of: ‘And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed and worms ate them’.
The explanation in Mark 4 is very good and so the only thing that needs clarifying is the reference to ‘worms’. The worms represent the subconscious reasoning’s that consume conscious reasoning’s.
Interpretation of: ‘And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure’.
The good soil of course is the fertile mind of the spiritually aware soul, also referred to as, ‘the large fish’.
The good fruit is of course the Love and Truth that has grown from the seeds (teachings) that were planted in the mind.
The seeds grow into vines and produce fruit that contains even more seeds. This is how Love and Truth is spread.
See also in John 15:1: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman’.
Logion 10:
Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes”.
Interpretation:
Christ delivered the Truth, which caused a fire of discontentment in the minds of those who heard it; a fire that would destroy the lies in men’s minds, and awaken them spiritually; a fire that would cause discontentment with the world and its ways. He was guarding that fire until it blazed, and people began to call out for Truth.
See logion 28.
See also in Matthew 10:34 ‘Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword,’ (Truth).
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Christ delivered the Truth, which caused a fire of discontentment in the minds of those who heard it; a fire that would destroy the lies in men’s minds, and awaken them spiritually; a fire that would cause discontentment with the world and its ways. He was guarding that fire until it blazed, and people began to call out for Truth.
See logion 28.
See also in Matthew 10:34 ‘Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword,’ (Truth).
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