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Log in1st Commentary of the Gospel of Thomas-Part one
THE GNOSTIC WAY :: RELIGIONS / 'BELIEF SYSTEMS' / HISTORIC SPIRITUAL MASTERS :: GNOSTICISM / GNOSIS ~ GENUINE & FALSE
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1st Commentary of the Gospel of Thomas-Part one
by Manichaean Seek on Sat May 10, 2008 7:11 am
Shalama and blessings,
I have complied my commentary today and am asking for members views on its contents. Please feel free to make any comments: wherever it be a misrepresentation, a misunderstanding or a genuine confusion on my part.
So your views? Do you agree or disagree?
Kind regards and warmest affection
Andre
---
1st Commentary of the Gospel of Thomas
References from the Gospel of Thomas and comments on the sayings
09/05/08
All scriptural references are from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels Annotated Scholars Version (PoleBridge Press, 1992, 1994) unless said otherwise.
A chosen selected references are contained herein, to a number of seven. There is no particular order. This commentary has been compiled over time. The scriptural references (sayings) chosen for this commentary: 108th, 29th, 24th, 70th, 28th, 2nd, and 3rd.
Reference One:
108th Saying of Jesus:
“Jesus said, “whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me, I myself shall become like that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him”
‘drinks from my mouth will become like me’ - Yeshua measured out water from the bubbling stream and then gives this water from his own mouth to the Gnostic. Wherever and whenever we seek to learn form his teachings, we drink from his stream, his knowledge, his spirituality and his liberating gnosis.
‘shall become that person’ - Yeshua is a great Gnostic teacher who as gifted with a pure stream of gnosis, given that he drinks from the bubbling stream and he is the bubbling stream. By drinking from his mouth where the water pours out we become as he is, we become like Yeshua, the great Gnostic teacher. Then we start to measure our water from our bubbling stream to others, receiving the gnosis, as we have the gnosis from the Gnostic teacher.
Working on point 2, Yeshua will become by the Gnostics drinking of the water from his bubbling stream like the Gnostic who has drunk the water. I understand that ‘become like me’ and ‘become that person’ should be seen as alluding to the equality between the great Gnostic teacher and the Gnostic who has the scripture. By this, then there is really no different between the Gnostic and Yeshua, apart from one; the Gnostic was the second to drink from a stream and worthy is the one offered the drink of water.
‘drinks from my mouth’ and ‘the hidden things will be revealed to him’ - Yeshua by his wisdom imparts to us the gnosis through his ‘mouth’. It is by the drinking of the water from the stream that we intake the gnosis of the Teacher. The water can be either; the gnosis which the Gnostic is worthy of or it can be a way in which secrets and hidden truths and revealed. His teachings are his water and his teachings are the stream. The teaching assists us as we wait for hidden things to be revealed to us.
Reference Two:
29th Saying of Jesus:
“Jesus said, “If the flesh came into being because of spirit, then it is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty”
‘Spirit came into being because of the body’ - Should we say that the body came before the spirit or should we say that the spirit came before the body? What is difference between the spirit and the body? Does it seem plausible that the spirit existed before it was cast into the body? Could we assert that the spirit had existence before making its home of the body? Is the body the storehouse of the spirit and how long will the spirit remain in the body?
Become as passer-by after you have found the bubbling stream to drink from. If the spirit is to be liberated from the body then we ought to be self-disciplined and have self-knowledge aiding us spiritually to master and gain control of our bodily abode. The great Gnostic teacher paves the way; we do not pave the way ourselves.
‘I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty’ - We are held in awe at the body, it is the poverty that our spirit dwells in. By ‘great wealth’ the spirit should be understood as a ‘treasure’, as a ‘pearl’ and as a spark of ‘light’. Why would such a ransom be contained wholly in the flesh? What does the abode do the treasure?: it takes its shine, it dulls it and covers it with dust.
Overcome the poverty of the self we must; not only should we feel the obligation to remove the dust but se should also be inspired by the waters of the bubbling stream; emulating the brightness of the great Gnostic teacher, Yeshua. Discover our own potential by the power of the example of Yeshua; engulfing all within us that is harmful to us by the strength and determination of our pearls. Know yourself and be known, know your pearl and keep it. Be victorious, as the Life is.
Reference Three:
From the 24th Saying of Jesus:
“….There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark”
‘light within a person of light’ - Who is a person of light? What is the light of the person of light? Is the light within us the treasure? How do we when as persons of light cause the world to be filled with much light? Try not to think of the light as the light you see with your eyes but the ‘Light’ the power behind the teachings of the great Gnostic teacher. What is it we do which determines the measure of light? Is it our thoughts, our deeds, our works or is it our gnosis within us?
‘it shines on the whole world’ - Who is the person who is the lamp? Does the light within us as persons of light shine upon the world? Do we all have inner lamps? These ‘lamps’, our treasures shine with greater brightness once we seek and accept the gnosis of the great Gnostic teacher. When we realise who we really are the teachings are easier to understand so we will not ‘taste death’, nor will we taste our own destruction because the gnosis will liberate us.
We will be awakened, we will stand up and be worthy because we, as person of light are seekers of a truth beyond faith, not that we consider ourselves important given that we have come to know ourselves. We must not forget: whom is the teacher, and who is the instructor? Who has decreed this so? Yeshua is the teacher and had give us the opportunity by the way of the writings in the stream, to reach out to him in his brilliance and be moved by him.
‘If it does not shine, it is dark’ - I have come to see this as referring to the failure in the quest to accomplish gnosis. If we do not know ourselves and if we do not know of the light within and if we do not know of our potential then we cannot shine. Although the spark within us has a glow we cannot shine until we stumble wholly on the path. As we walk along the path, the measure of the light within us increases. Therefore we must walk on the path with the knowledge of ourselves and with the knowledge of the writings passed down to us. Be aware of what we are doing and we to we are going.
I have complied my commentary today and am asking for members views on its contents. Please feel free to make any comments: wherever it be a misrepresentation, a misunderstanding or a genuine confusion on my part.
So your views? Do you agree or disagree?
Kind regards and warmest affection
Andre
---
1st Commentary of the Gospel of Thomas
References from the Gospel of Thomas and comments on the sayings
09/05/08
All scriptural references are from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels Annotated Scholars Version (PoleBridge Press, 1992, 1994) unless said otherwise.
A chosen selected references are contained herein, to a number of seven. There is no particular order. This commentary has been compiled over time. The scriptural references (sayings) chosen for this commentary: 108th, 29th, 24th, 70th, 28th, 2nd, and 3rd.
Reference One:
108th Saying of Jesus:
“Jesus said, “whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me, I myself shall become like that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him”
‘drinks from my mouth will become like me’ - Yeshua measured out water from the bubbling stream and then gives this water from his own mouth to the Gnostic. Wherever and whenever we seek to learn form his teachings, we drink from his stream, his knowledge, his spirituality and his liberating gnosis.
‘shall become that person’ - Yeshua is a great Gnostic teacher who as gifted with a pure stream of gnosis, given that he drinks from the bubbling stream and he is the bubbling stream. By drinking from his mouth where the water pours out we become as he is, we become like Yeshua, the great Gnostic teacher. Then we start to measure our water from our bubbling stream to others, receiving the gnosis, as we have the gnosis from the Gnostic teacher.
Working on point 2, Yeshua will become by the Gnostics drinking of the water from his bubbling stream like the Gnostic who has drunk the water. I understand that ‘become like me’ and ‘become that person’ should be seen as alluding to the equality between the great Gnostic teacher and the Gnostic who has the scripture. By this, then there is really no different between the Gnostic and Yeshua, apart from one; the Gnostic was the second to drink from a stream and worthy is the one offered the drink of water.
‘drinks from my mouth’ and ‘the hidden things will be revealed to him’ - Yeshua by his wisdom imparts to us the gnosis through his ‘mouth’. It is by the drinking of the water from the stream that we intake the gnosis of the Teacher. The water can be either; the gnosis which the Gnostic is worthy of or it can be a way in which secrets and hidden truths and revealed. His teachings are his water and his teachings are the stream. The teaching assists us as we wait for hidden things to be revealed to us.
Reference Two:
29th Saying of Jesus:
“Jesus said, “If the flesh came into being because of spirit, then it is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty”
‘Spirit came into being because of the body’ - Should we say that the body came before the spirit or should we say that the spirit came before the body? What is difference between the spirit and the body? Does it seem plausible that the spirit existed before it was cast into the body? Could we assert that the spirit had existence before making its home of the body? Is the body the storehouse of the spirit and how long will the spirit remain in the body?
Become as passer-by after you have found the bubbling stream to drink from. If the spirit is to be liberated from the body then we ought to be self-disciplined and have self-knowledge aiding us spiritually to master and gain control of our bodily abode. The great Gnostic teacher paves the way; we do not pave the way ourselves.
‘I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty’ - We are held in awe at the body, it is the poverty that our spirit dwells in. By ‘great wealth’ the spirit should be understood as a ‘treasure’, as a ‘pearl’ and as a spark of ‘light’. Why would such a ransom be contained wholly in the flesh? What does the abode do the treasure?: it takes its shine, it dulls it and covers it with dust.
Overcome the poverty of the self we must; not only should we feel the obligation to remove the dust but se should also be inspired by the waters of the bubbling stream; emulating the brightness of the great Gnostic teacher, Yeshua. Discover our own potential by the power of the example of Yeshua; engulfing all within us that is harmful to us by the strength and determination of our pearls. Know yourself and be known, know your pearl and keep it. Be victorious, as the Life is.
Reference Three:
From the 24th Saying of Jesus:
“….There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark”
‘light within a person of light’ - Who is a person of light? What is the light of the person of light? Is the light within us the treasure? How do we when as persons of light cause the world to be filled with much light? Try not to think of the light as the light you see with your eyes but the ‘Light’ the power behind the teachings of the great Gnostic teacher. What is it we do which determines the measure of light? Is it our thoughts, our deeds, our works or is it our gnosis within us?
‘it shines on the whole world’ - Who is the person who is the lamp? Does the light within us as persons of light shine upon the world? Do we all have inner lamps? These ‘lamps’, our treasures shine with greater brightness once we seek and accept the gnosis of the great Gnostic teacher. When we realise who we really are the teachings are easier to understand so we will not ‘taste death’, nor will we taste our own destruction because the gnosis will liberate us.
We will be awakened, we will stand up and be worthy because we, as person of light are seekers of a truth beyond faith, not that we consider ourselves important given that we have come to know ourselves. We must not forget: whom is the teacher, and who is the instructor? Who has decreed this so? Yeshua is the teacher and had give us the opportunity by the way of the writings in the stream, to reach out to him in his brilliance and be moved by him.
‘If it does not shine, it is dark’ - I have come to see this as referring to the failure in the quest to accomplish gnosis. If we do not know ourselves and if we do not know of the light within and if we do not know of our potential then we cannot shine. Although the spark within us has a glow we cannot shine until we stumble wholly on the path. As we walk along the path, the measure of the light within us increases. Therefore we must walk on the path with the knowledge of ourselves and with the knowledge of the writings passed down to us. Be aware of what we are doing and we to we are going.
