Night Caravan

Natural Spirituality

2012-01-14T05:24:00.000-08:00

One of the things that really spoke to me about the Gospel of Thomas was that Jesus in this gospel seems a proponent of a natural spirituality. In the GoT, Jesus does not seem overly impressed with what religion had become. Instead he proposes a very natural mysticism, not a list of rituals, or practices that one must do to achieve realization. He does not teach an escaping of the world but an aware engaging of it.

One of my weaknesses is to feel insecure without the walls of a religion around me. I want rules, strict dogmas, define beliefs, rituals etc. To simply rest in God who is found within and without is too easy. Yet when I read the mystics of other religions, I see them push the boundaries of their religions -often times even facing some persecution because of it. Yet they still pushed - Rumi, Hildegard, Eckhart, Emerson, Thoreau and so many others pushed and struggled and made spirituality their own while remaining authentic.

I think something is going on like this in today's world. While I think one can find many wonderful things within a faith tradition, I think one must be in and not of it. When one adopts the label and begins to carry the banner of the religion, one can lose focus of what it is all about. What do you think? Are we on the renaissance of the seeds of natural spirituality coming forth? Has it been there all along?

Deity: Then and Now

2011-12-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

I admit I am fascinated by the mythos of the Secret Gospel of John. In it, you start out with the Divine Presence... who seems to me to be utterly fluid, the impersonal presence of the Divine. From this Divine One springs Barbelo and a whole host of Aeons. These Aeons can be looked at various ways. They are gods or aspects of the Divine Monad. The One burst into the Many and the great adventure of Modern Gnosticism is to make that journey of the many back into the One.

It is here that I can "grok" what many modern Neo-Pagans are saying. I see the Masculine-Feminine side of the divine found in Wicca. I see the many found in other belief systems. I see the spirit of life in all things in animism and the presence of the impersonal Divine of the Pantheists.

Being Gnostic has opened so many doors for me. I can see a million faces of the Divine - God and Goddess, Father, Mother, Lover, Sister, Brother, Impersonal, Personal, Perfect, Imperfect, Wild, Chaotic, Peace all of these.

Could there be anything better?

Question Seven: What is the Thomasine's Defining Characteristic?

2011-12-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

Question: What is the defining characteristic of the Thomasine tradition's approach to the cultivation of Gnosis?

Within the Gospel of Thomas two things pop up again and again as their signposts to gnosis. The first is: "Know yourself." The second is: "Know/Remember where you came from."

Really, these two things are one thing. We are challenged to know that we are sons and daughters of God. We are called to remember our Original Innocence in the proverbial Garden. The message of the Gospel of Thomas is not original sin, it is not that we are damned. It is that we were made in the image and likeness of God. So all of us are sons and daughters of God. Every last one of us. Some have just forgotten who they are. Therefore our lives should reflect this, through authenticity, protecting our brothers and sisters, and living a real life.. an awake life.

Gospel of Thomas Movie

2011-12-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

One God Over All

2011-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

The Gospel of Thomas does not enshrine Jesus as the only way to God. Rather for the the Thomasine Christian, Jesus is their way to God. For me, as I come to meditate on Jesus and his words I see God through him, as a mirror reflected back at me. Thus God speaks to us through Jesus but that is not the only way God speaks. There could be numerous images of God throughout the world, many lights, many messengers reflecting the one Light of God. I believe that when a person responds to the light they have been given, respond to the truth they understand, then that truth is God as Truth.

The Gospel of Thomas is not a book for theological masturbation and self pleasuring. Rather it is a book to be meditated on. It is a book challenging one to know (gnosis) who they are, where they are from and where they are going.

An Authentic Faith

2011-12-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

There is a saying in the Gospel of Thomas that says when you know yourself you will be known. For me as a Thomasine Christian and really reflecting on things the past few months have really made this saying hit home for me. This faith journey requires authenticity. It is not one for pious platitudes or the fake smile I used to glue on in my stricter fundamentalist days. It requires an unflinching look at oneself, and wow what a mixed bag that can be! In sitting in silent contemplation in the Divine presence, it is as if God were holding a mirror back on me. I see my mind jumping like a monkey from thought branch to thought branch. Then I observe a pattern in my mind's wanderings. Like a broken record, it replays past events and shapes and guides my thoughts and feelings like a dog on a leash. It is only through seeing these that I can even address these things.. events in the past that still cause a limp in my journey. Some of these can be let go, others are a part of my woundedness that leaves me broken open before God. In seeing myself a little clearer, I find I am better able to know and be known by God.

Question Six: What is Scripture

2011-12-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

Question: What is scripture and how is it to be used?

This continues on the questions my bishop gave me some time back to answer from a Thomasine perspective.
It seems to me that for a Thomasine, The Gospel of Thomas is primary. Every other scripture would be looked at in light of the foundation of the Gospel of Thomas. So the other Gospels, the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, the Nag Hammadi scriptures and other later Thomasine writings can be valuable and helpful but the foundation remains The Gospel of Thomas.

Jesus as Sacred Teacher

2011-12-09T04:38:00.000-08:00

Time

2011-12-08T19:40:00.001-08:00

I have recently returned from an online time out as you may have noticed. There are quite a few reasons as to why this is, one being simply being with my family. My step-father's cancer has returned and things are not looking good. (Prayers welcomed!!!!) Also in my work, I have really been blessed and challenge in my work with inner city kids. They have so many needs, and I see how little of me there is to go around in simply being there for them. It is heart breaking. This realization has really hit home the past couple of weeks. While I consider Jesus my guru and teacher, these kids are also my guru and teachers. It is they who simply by being them, reveal my own weaknesses and faults. It is also through them that I receive the grace of the Lord.

Question Five: What is the Community?

2011-12-08T18:06:00.001-08:00

In the Gospel of Thomas there are hints of community but a lot of emphasis is given to the solitary in the GoT. In fact, I would argue that a lot more emphasis is placed on the solitary than in the community. However that said, I do believe there existed some type of community. I think there may be clues that can lead us to infer within the text.

Looking at the initial community it was set up with the teacher, Jesus and his students. This is set up similar to what one sees in Buddhism, Sufism, and Hinduism. You also see this in Hasidic Judaism. We know that Jesus was a Jew and his initial apostles were Jewish. However what we do not know for sure is if this community celebrated any of the Jewish festivals or ways. Jesus himself spoke against circumcision which he no longer saw as useful. However we do here a vague reference about "Keeping the Sabbath as a Sabbath". It is given in reference from fasting from the world, which is done at Sabbath as it is a day of rest from buying, selling, and even tasks such as plowing fields etc.

I picture the initial followers meeting in homes and hillsides to sit with Jesus. I can envision them celebrating a Sabbath agape meal a Eucharist without all the doctrinal additions. They would meet-eat and drink, taking care of one another and listen to the teachers words.

After Jesus' death, did they continue this? Perhaps. Even in the Gospel of Thomas, one finds that he recognizes leadership within this fledgling community, in mentioning James as the leader. Perhaps this community was lead by one who achieved understanding/gnosis/enlightenment through Jesus words. Thus Thomas was able to teach his words.

So really, as far as the Thomasine community goes, all we really have is speculation and inferences, but little to nothing is really given about their meetings, or how they operated.

Question Four: What Role Do Mediators Play? (Angels etc.)

2011-08-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

In the Gospel of Thomas, it is very clear that a person can know God and who they are in God apart from any mediators. Jesus comes from God to teach any who would have his guidance. He is a teacher who came from God and can show the way back to union with God. As for angels, spirits, etc... it is left open. A person may or may not believe in them.

Question Three: What is Man?

2011-08-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Humanity is best described as the children of God. Humanity bears the spirit of God within them. Humankind is called to know God and to know themselves as Gods children. Other metaphors are used as well, that of beloved entering into the bridal chamber. Being children or lovers of God are metaphors for this call to union with God.

Question Two: What is Gnosis?

2011-08-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

Gnosis in a Thomasine context is twofold. It is knowing yourself as a child of God and knowing God. This knowing is not so much as faith as a revelation or epiphany that you come from God and are called to union with God.

Question One Continued...

2011-08-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

As I continue to reflect on the question of "What is God to a Thomasine?" I find myself seeking to clarify my earlier statements. I think for a Thomasine, the way we see God is through Jesus. I would also clarify that when I use terms like Trinity, I am not necessarily meaning the orthodox definition of Trinity. God is seen as Father and Mother. But Jesus seems to have come from God. Was he created or emmanated at some point in history? It very well could be. It is as if the Son, the "Cosmic Christ" existed in the heart of God as a "part" of God and took flesh or embodied in the person of Jesus. I know not all Thomasines see Jesus as God, yet I think to be faithful to the scripture, one would have see Jesus as a huge part of the Thomasine faith. I have come to be convinced both through the scriptures and my own UPG (unverified personal gnosis) that Jesus is in some way divine.

Question One: What is God?

2011-08-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ah starting with the lightweight stuff! Sheesh!

I will remind my readers that I will be giving most credence to The Gospel of Thomas and the Odes of Solomon, but also some to The Acts of Thomas, The Book of Thomas the Contender, and The Hymn of the Pearl. I am convinced that the Thomasine Christian faith thrived and developed within Syria, and that this Syrian Christianity can provide some clues on the theology and practices of the Thomasines.

God is defined in the Gospel of Thomas as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit our Mother, in a type of Trinity.
The Father also called the living Father is mentioned numerous times in the Gospel of Thomas.
Some would argue that Jesus is not considered divine in the Gospel of Thomas, but after what I would say years of wrestling with the text, and even wishing it were not in there, I am convinced that the Gospel of Thomas does portray Jesus as Divine.

Some of the reasons I believe this is how Jesus is approached and questioned and even how he is referred to the living Jesus just as the Father is referred to as the living Father. His disciples ask him to define how to live, to give them a definitive answer to Torah so to speak. They ask him about the end times. Jesus tells them of the beginning, and what heaven is like, giving them what no one else could ever give them. He scolds his disciples that they don't know WHO he is from what he says to them. (Saying 43) Jesus puts himself between the Father and the Holy Spirit in his discourse on blasphemy (Saying 44) In saying 50, he tells his disciples to say they are from the light...they are not the light but rather its children. But then Jesus declares that he, himself, is the light and even declares a panentheistic vision of himself. (Saying 77) Jesus also declares that it is he who has come from what is whole. (Saying 61) My conclusion is that Jesus like in the other gospels is presented as somehow divine. That he comes from God and speaks as God. That in some way to see Jesus is to see the face of God...to hear his words is to hear the words of God. He is not just a prophet, but rather that of God who came down to us. In Saying 28, he even proclaims this: "I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent." I am convinced that the Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas is divine and that he invites all humanity, any who would wake up to be as he is.. to achieve union with divinity..a twin of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is referenced in only a few sayings. The saying I mentioned above concerning blasphemy is one. The other two of note imply the Holy Spirit as feminine, which makes sense. In the Hebrew scriptures you come across Ruah, the Spirit which is feminine, as well as the Shekinah and Sabbath Bride both feminine terms for the Spirit of God. In Saying 101 Jesus says his mother gave birth but his true mother gave him life. In that same saying he also speaks of hating father and mother as he does and loving father and mother as he does...implying a second set of parents..his heavenly father and mother.

In the Odes of Solomon, you find the same message of The Gospel of Thomas, a divine Son being praised with the Father, and the calling to know him. In one of the Odes, one worships the Son so as to become the son. It is also in the Odes of Solomon where you hear of God's love, and even God spoken of as a mother, who offers wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Within the Odes you find a type of mystical relationship with God exalted. We see a God who is not utterly aloof from humanity but is involved with those who will open to God.

In the later texts, you find a more fully developed theology of the divine Jesus.

In the Book of Thomas the Contender you find references to Jesus preparing to ascend. He is referenced as Lord and having all knowledge of the afterlife and where folks will go after death.

In the Hymn of the Pearl, you have the Mother, the Father, and Son (the protagonist's brother) reaching out to the one who forgot his divine heritage.

In Acts of Thomas, the text portrays Christ as the redeemer who is independent and beyond creation. He is able to liberate souls from the world's darkness.

In conclusion, I believe that God is triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit/Mother. I believe God loves humanity, who share the spark of divinity. He longs for all to awaken to their calling to be sons and daughters of God. God came as the Son to invite humanity back to God. Jesus is not presented as a sacrifice, though his crucifixion and some form of resurrection is seen to have happened (could be a spiritual resurrection and not flesh) Jesus is seen as the savior and teacher. He is presented as Lord and presenter of the way to God. We are called to be the Son and be incorporated within the very life of the Trinity. It seems the Incarnation is valued much more than his death or resurrection. The Holy Spirit is the feminine face of God. She feeds us from her breasts, offering life. She is portrayed as Holy Wisdom, though without any myth of the fall. The Triune God is loving and bemoans humanity's loss. In these scriptures, it would be safe to say that Jesus is not seen as the only way. If anyone opens to God, God will meet that person where they are. For Thomasines, Jesus is seen as our way, not the way for all.

The Questions

2011-08-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

My bishop has asked these questions within our schools of thought/traditions within our church. He asked me to consider these questions from a Thomasine Perspective..trying to answer what the tradition would say, and not my own personal take.

So I will utilize the Thomasine/Syrian Writings: The Gospel of Thomas as a primary and earliest texts, but also The Acts of Thomas, The Book of Thomas the Contender, Odes of Solomon and The Hymn of the Pearl.

Here are the questions I will be going over and reflecting on before I write up something official for him. I invite you the reader to join in the dialogue as I write on these. I only as that you be respectful. :)

What is God?
What is Gnosis?
What is Man?
What role do mediators play (angels, etc.)?
What is the Community?
What is Scripture? How is scripture to be used?
What is the defining characteristic of the traditions approach to the cultivation of Gnosis?
What is worship?
What role is does liturgy play in worship and the cultivation of Gnosis?
What are the ethics of the tradition?
How does the tradition answer the problem of suffering?
What is death? How does the tradition approach the issue of death and dying?

The Incarnational Christian

2011-08-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

I read over at Tony Jones' blog Theoblogy, of his choosing to prefer to refer to himself as an Incarnational Christian, emphasizing the Incarnation as the most important work of God. He joins many of the Christian mystics throughout history and those of the Orthodox Church. As a Thomasine Christian, I applaud him. While there are probably many things we disagree on there is this that as Christians we CAN agree on. God, the light, came to humanity, to seek and save us. In the Gospel of Thomas we hear from the words of Jesus, ""I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained." (Saying 77) Jesus is God come to us in flesh. Somehow, someway God is in Jesus teaching us, calling us home. His words and way become our ladder to God. We become Christ having entered into Christ. In the Hymn of the Pearl you see the Father, Mother, and Son calling us home. In the Gospel of Thomas we see one come from the light, willing to guide any who will wake up from their drunkenness long enough to return to God. While our incarnational theology may not be as complex or defined as some Christians choose to do, ours is a simple message. And it really does fit with the image painted in the book of Philippians in the Bible - this self-emptying of God. We are called into the bridal chamber with the Beloved. We are called to union!

The Thomasine message is not an exclusionary one. There are no claims to be the only way. No human sacrifice teaching to appease an angry God. No talk of damnation and fire for those who cannot believe. In fact, the invitation is simply to taste and see. To return to God who we speak of as our Father and our Mother! But that is not to say that God cannot reach people's hearts and minds any way God chooses. If a Jewish person opens to the Divine Presence through the Torah, or a Sufi Muslim through whirling opens their heart to God...God will awaken within that person and crown them with God's own Spirit.

For so long I ran. I ran from Jesus. I did not want to allot him any real value in the Thomasine path. A valued teacher yes, but speaking and living and even being the life and voice of God to me? I still had prejudice against Jesus. I could not truly open to the idea of Trinity (however it may be defined), I could not open to the idea of Jesus as coming from God without sin, without having ever fallen asleep (metaphorically speaking). I could not see Jesus as savior apart from the images of a human sacrifice that repulsed me. Yet the Gnostic scriptures DO speak of Jesus as savior. They do speak of Jesus as Divine and a teacher, guide, and friend. We are invited to be Jesus so to speak. We are invited to union with Jesus as he is simply a face of God.

Grace

2011-08-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Do modern Gnostics believe in grace? I think they do. I do. For me the whole process of gnosis is grace from start to finish. Just to realize there is more to life than meets the eye is a grace. To open up to the revelation that I am a son of God is a grace. To live as a child of God is a grace. Jesus, our older brother is sent of God...emanating from the very heart of God to seek us out. So many of us are asleep, drunk or blind, but for those with ears to hear he invites us back. Remember where you came from. Remember.
That is grace.
True.
Eternal
Persistent Grace.
And this calling as a son returning to his Father, his Mother is also offered another metaphor...of entering the bridal chamber with one's beloved. We are called.
Called.
To Union
To Life
To Awaken
Now.
Grace.
Nothing But.
Grace.

Gnosticism Wordle

2011-08-12T19:53:00.001-07:00

A Wordle I made.

2011-08-07T17:21:00.001-07:00

Prayer

2011-08-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

It took me years to be okay with Jesus. I went through so many stages. Complete rejection, anger and revulsion at anything Christian. Then through the Gospel of Thomas and other Gnostic writings, coming to know another Jesus. And finally (or perhaps, lately)coming full circle. I am okay with Jesus. I can sing the old gospel hymns, but I see Jesus bigger than many of the churches have made him. He is a face of the Cosmic God. Not the only face. Not the only name I call this divine being by, but a name I am totally comfortable with and at ease with...culturally it is what I was raised with. I say that because Jesus prayed. Jesus was totally comfortable with God. There was a time when I felt in a totally loving relationship with God..and somewhere it has become a mental exercise or emptiness meditation. And yet something inside of me wants it. I want prayer to escape my lips before every action I do. I am a southerner...God is ingrained in our culture. God and Jesus play a big part with Gnosticism especially the Thomasine and Valentinian branches. I have found that God is alive. God is loving, loving, and loving some more..the way a lover woos her beloved. This is the heart of what Gnostic Christianity is to me. The union or better yet, reunion of lover and beloved.

Meditation and Other Spiritual Practices

2011-07-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Interestingly enough in the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus does not set down a list of religious practices for his students to follow. Instead he challenges them with the notion to be authentic. If you do religious practices while wishing you did not have to.. he lets you off the hook. "Do not do what you hate. Do not lie" he says. Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas is not one who supports nor neglects religion. He seems to support what is skillful in remembering your true nature, and to disdain that which demeans the person. How beautiful this teaching is. How hard for someone who comes from a religion of works to deal with!

Thomasine Vedanta -Jesus as Guru and Liberator

2011-07-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

It goes without saying that the Gospel of Thomas presents Jesus in a way than is presented in modern Christianity. For me this took a couple of years to finally realize that the Gospel of Thomas is not Christian..not any modern sense, nor really in any form throughout most of "Christian" history. The Gospel of Thomas (GoT) is a text of the sayings of Jesus. But the Jesus it presents is a wisdom teacher...more in line with Eastern Masters as found in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. I believe the GoT can best be applied and lived today with an understanding of Vedanta.

Vedanta is derived from the teachings in the Upanishads. In the Upanishads you find the core teachings of the guru or the teacher of the way of liberation, the soul, God, and meditation. These teachings are also found in the Gospel of Thomas.

For a practitioner of the Thomasine Vedanta, the Guru is Jesus or Issa as proponents of the belief that Jesus was in India during part of his life. I like to use Issa to help those with baggage from traditional Christianity not have as many hang ups. Issa or Jesus becomes the Master to guide the student to liberation. The Guru becomes a window wherewith one may see God. And if the student achieves liberation and awakens...he is seen as the equal of the teacher, even if the student does not act as if they are equals. You see this in the Gospel of Thomas. In the GoT saying 13, you find this scene:

Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like." Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out." And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" 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 burn you up."

Jesus tells Thomas..I am not your master. You find in saying 108: Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him."

Jesus, like enlightened masters in the east, is teaching a way of liberation. In a later Thomasine book you see hints at what liberation is from:
"Watch and pray that you may not be born in the flesh, but that you may leave the bitter bondage of this life." (Book of Thomas the Contender 9:5)

and find a similar hint in the Gospel of Thomas:
"When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will bear!" (Gospel of Thomas, 84)

and you see it developed and explained even further in another Gnostic text:
"This soul needs to follow another soul in whom the Spirit of life dwells, because she is saved through the Spirit. Then she will never be thrust into flesh again." (Secret Book of John 14:20)

The liberation Jesus is offering is liberation from something and to something. We are liberated from the bondage of rebirth...constantly being thrust back into this body. But liberation is not simply to run from the idea of rebirth. Liberation is the realization that we are children of God. There is that of God within us. We are children of royalty so to speak..and yet we live in squalor..not us alone but all the cosmos. We are called to be transformed...to achieve the realization that we are light and are one with all other lights, seeking to return to the Source of Light. Again I find this teaching in harmony with the teaching of Vedanta, and its teachings of atman and Brahman.

In the Gospel of Thomas you also find something that is later developed in other Thomasine and other Gnostic writings. That God is both masculine and feminine. In saying 101 he speaks of his mother giving him birth, but his True Mother giving him life.

It is things like this and so much more that convinces me that the Gospel of Thomas is a Vedantic text and that Jesus was a teacher of Vedanta. His teachings are best found in the Gospel of Thomas. With this teaching, I have found great joy and peace. In my next entry, I will talk about the ways of one who follows Thomasine Vedanta.

The Thomasine Approach to Religion

2011-06-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

I was meditating on the Saying 3 in the Gospel of Thomas which says:
Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, 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 (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

The message of the Gospel of Thomas is one of personal validation. Each person must realize it or know (gnosis) it for themselves. We cannot only rely on the words of others including the words of Jesus. Words and teachings of those who have awakened are a road we travel on. They are a finger pointing us to the moon. But knowing the words of the teaching, knowing their beauty, contemplating their meaning are practices on the path...but they are not the destination. When working through all 114 sayings and blogging my thoughts and meditations on those sayings, I was blessed to receive many personal insights along the way. When I was finished, something happened. It was like my mind had been a Rubic's Cube that had suddenly been solved. Everything fell into place and I received a personal gnosis on what it all meant. I "got" it! I saw where the finger was pointing. I thought this was it. I had seen it. But what I found is that I had to bring this this understanding back with me...and apply it to life. To my interactions with that tough co-worker. To the person who is hateful, deceitful, or even kind. I had to bring it back to life. I had to begin again. The Buddhists talk of the "Beginner's Mind", and I am sure Jesus is teaching the same thing. In fact, I am more convinced than ever that the Thomasine path is more in line with Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism than many modern approaches to Christianity. What I found, I had to find within myself. Finding it within myself, I now have to realize it all around me.

Another Model For Leadership

2011-05-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I pointed out the problem with leadership in how it has been utilized in many faith traditions and my own experience with some of the best and the worst of leaders in various traditions. Yet, I will not disparage the need for spiritual leadership, I just think that it needs a radical transformation. The model I would like to hold up is that of the soul friend-anamchara. I hear this and think of the sayings in the Book of Proverbs in the Bible.. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" and "As iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another."
A spiritual friend is not one who lords over you. They are not there to dictate every aspect of your life. But they are there to challenge you, to help you face your own ego and faults and work to overcome them. In fact, this can often work both ways. You can do the same for them. A model like this just seems so much more healthy than one that speaks from the top down from a leader who has no relational capacity with you, who may not be able to even understand where you are coming from nor your circumstances. They have no investment in you except to keep you invested in them and what they proclaim as the truth. In this day and age where religious leaders are accused of being fraudulent, embezzlers, sexual predators and such, perhaps it is time for people of any religion to speak out and say that these people do not speak for you, that there are other ways to grow into a holier life.

Two Religions in Every Religion

2011-05-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

God is so much bigger than we think. So many people know God in this world, and yet something has gone terribly wrong. I think many religious leaders have resorted to a type of tribalism and have usurped these religions trading compassion, mercy, and tolerance for submission to the leader or the leader's interpretation of the religion. I have seen the beauty of several religions as a member, but I have also suffered at the hands of leaders within a couple of these religions. Having spent my teenage and much of my college years as a fundamentalist Christian, I believed wholeheartedly. But I suffered at the leader's hands suffering a humiliation by being excommunicated and shunned by them for who God made me. I fled to Roman Catholicism, having come to know several liberal, compassionate priests who cared for the poor, who taught me to find God in holy silence. I over the course of years became a monk, but did not last long having my first exposure to the other kind of Catholicism. The type I encountered demanded submission and conformity. Questioning things was discouraged. When I left the monastery, I left Christianity, angry and confused. Years later I encountered the Bhagavad Gita and its message of many different ways of seeing or serving God. Hinduism provided me with a vision of a God who has many different faces and is able to be known in so many different ways. I still hold this to be true. My mistake was in following a guru who was not healthy- including sleeping with his devotees. And so, I returned home a different person, wounded yet healed, but still bearing the scars. I see God as beyond description and yet able to be seen as having 10,000 faces - masculine, feminine and even as non-human descriptions. I find the message of the Gospel of Thomas to be a universal message...we are all sons and daughters of God. There are many messengers yet each person must discover that truth themselves in their own way in their own understanding and expression of it. There are two religions in every religion...I have found in each one so much beauty, compassion, and holy mystery. Sadly I have also found those demanding blind obedience, preying on fear and manipulation.

Children of a Lesser God

2011-05-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

The message of the Gospel of Thomas is this: We are children of the living God. This God is a God who is bigger than any religion. Sadly so many want to follow a lesser God, a God that does not act like a Father or Mother but rather like a spiteful dictator. The message is so clearly portrayed in The Hymn of the Pearl, where the calling is to those who have forgotten who their Father/Mother is..to remember their birthright. What is your God like?

The God I Believe In

2011-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

I once believed in a god, who had rules for living that did not always coincide with common sense. A god who bound you with guilt and who promised freedom by spending a lifetime bend over begging on your hands and knees. Rejecting science for a holy book, was part of his teaching. But somehow through all that garbage the real God was there, gently guiding me. Over time and years and years of healing and restoration, I have come to know this God. This God can be found in any and no religion. This God is living and alive. She has a million faces and every one of His faces has a million expressions. He comes to me in the winds that I feel on my face outside my house. She is there in the loving gaze of my puppy. It moves and is revealed in the laughter of the kids I work with.. God is there in my partner, my boss and co-workers and the love of my mother and father. This God lives in me! This is liberation for me. God is not a religion. My God is too big for any one religion. My God can come in any face or way. This God, I love talking to. This God I love knowing. This God is freedom.

Gardening

2011-04-02T08:09:00.001-07:00

Planted some catnip, cilantro, and mint yesterday. The rosemary and lavender transplants are doing great. I am only a beginner gardener but I am really loving it. It brings a sense of interior peace and silence while doing it. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to do this.

Who Do?

2011-04-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

For the past four or so years, I have been taking a Hoodoo Rootwork Course. I am nearing the end of it, and finally at a point where I am doing some of these workings on a regular basis. Slowly feeling more confident in my workings, and I am noticing that this stuff feels like a part of me. I was nervous even posting about it on the blog, as I have kept it largely Thomasine and little else. But this too is part of my path. I made a mojo bag last week. I took a traditional Hoodoo bath today. (Been tasting salt on my lips all day) I have my own personal theology in this as Hoodoo has a type of Christianity background... I have just adapted my own Thomasine Christianity in it.

George Watsky- 'Drunk Text Message to God'

2011-03-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

God our Mother...and Father

2011-03-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

One of the things that is beautiful and fascinating to me in the Gospel of Thomas is the idea that God is Mother and Father. Our first relationship is with our mother in her womb. She knows us and has known us at our earliest stages. She birthed us. Our Mother and Father are our first primary relationships. They know often know us better or as well as we know ourselves. We share their nature. This is the message of the Gospel of Thomas. We are children of the Father and Mother. We share their Divine Nature. In fact, this divine nature, this divine spark can be seen within us. This is the kingdom. It can be seen in nature, in other people. Like St. Francis and Rumi realized... all things are our relations. We are brothers and sisters with all things. We are lost in a dream longing to wake up.

Renewal

2011-03-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

Having concluded my commentary on my ship's rudder "The Gospel of Thomas", I have enjoyed time spent in nature, time spent with family, and time spent doing simple gardening. It has also allowed me some peace in that I did not feel the need to try to do anything. It was that natural way that the Taoists speak of. I have let arise naturally the the questions, "So what does it mean to be a child of God? What does one do? How does one live?" over and over like waves coming in, receding and then coming in again. It is here while I think there are some universal answers, I believe there are some that are individual as well. Great stuff. Enjoying a crisp cool morning, cloudy skies. We had been having near 80 degree weather already so this is a nice respite from the growing warmth.

Supermoon

2011-03-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

I went out and sat in the yard a while taking in the super-moon. This full moon was beautiful and cast a lovely light bluish shadow it seemed. I love full moons. I brought out a few objects for meditation and healing and allowed them to soak in her beautiful essence. I offered a libation to her and prayed for family and friends during this time. I renewed my own consecration to this path of direct revelation....a message I almost missed and yet was there time and again in the mystical text of the Gospel of Thomas. No wonder it did not make it in the orthodox Bible. God conceived as Mother and Father with all of us as their children. The message of the Gospel of Thomas is the path of direct revelation... no book (including the Gospel of Thomas itself) and no religion can give it to you. It is that direct gnosis that must be experienced for oneself. Does that mean books and religion are useless? By no means, they can be helps for getting you there and reminding oneself of this gnosis of what it means to be Divine and a child of the Divine. While I am a Thomasine, I am so much more than that as well. Just Thomasine seems so limiting! We are are all Children of God, taking the nature of the Divine. So in this beautiful Edenic realization I am enjoying some time of spiritual exploration.

Morning Blessings

2011-03-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I went out onto the front lawn. The grass was covered in a beautiful white frost. Our weather is having a hard time deciding this year if it wants to be warm or cool. I walked onto the grass and pressed my toes and bare feet into the grass enjoying the tingling cold on my feet. Closing my eyes I imagined sending roots deep into the earth. Drawing life from the earth on the in-breath, I allowed it to fill me. Breathing out I sent any stagnant energy out through the crown of my head imagining a willow tree that the stale energy flowed up out and down into the earth to be restored once again. Blessing the earth and the beautiful morning sun, I went back inside.

Saying 114 The Last Saying

2011-03-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven." Gospel of Thomas 114

This is the final saying in the Gospel of Thomas. I have written my meager thoughts and contemplations on all 114 versus on this blog. Over that time my understanding of these sayings have deepened and the message of these sayings are sinking in.

In this saying, Jesus speaks that the spirit is androgynous and to be whole we must reunite as the primordial Adam uniting with our divine twin or spark. Peter says she is not male...so she cannot be one of us... Jesus responds, "You don't want her because she is not male? Then fine... I will make her male" He confronts prejudice with the realization that in spirit all opposites merge and unite like the yin-yang in Taoism. All things are in God, including us. So saying this belongs but this does not is error.

Having finished my thoughts on the Gospel of Thomas does not mean I am through with the book, however the book itself has revealed that it is only a finger pointing at the moon. The Gospel of Thomas is not my religion. My religion if you will is the path of direct revelation. Realizing that I am a child of Divinity..a child of the Mother/Father and attaining spiritual knowledge/gnosis for myself, and living it in service to others is what my life is about..not any book. The Gospel of Thomas is great, and has opened its mysteries to me, and I am sure will open many more...but it is a means to an end..not an end.

The Blanket of Divinity

2011-03-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" "It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it." Gospel of Thomas 113

The message of Jesus is not to hope for end times or some rapture. It is not about escaping the earth. It is about living. It is about realizing that we are sacred and divine and indeed the sacred spark is in everything. The challenge is to live a sacred life with eyes open to see that holy spark. It cannot be perceived by the unenlightened mind but only by those who are awake.

Damn Flesh and Soul!

2011-03-08T15:43:00.001-08:00

Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh." Gospel of Thomas 112

The flesh and the soul are two different things. The flesh is temporal, ever changing, and will eventually cease to be. The soul is eternal, constant, and will never die. The flesh cannot depend on the soul for life. It is what it is. It does what it should do. The soul cannot be fulfilled by the flesh. The flesh is a tool...it does whatever the higher or lower natures order it to. (Depending on which one you listen to)

Eat a Roll Up!

2011-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"? Gospel of Thomas 111

This saying is interesting...it starts with a saying of Jesus and then progresses to someone seeking to provide a commentary on this saying with another saying of Jesus. Again this saying speaks of mastery. Those who have found life through these teachings of the living one will master heaven and earth. The spiritually enlightened person is able to see through the personal crap of our lives and live with an equilibrium of mind and heart in their approach to life. This is true mastery. Life then becomes a servant to the wise one, rather than the person merely reacting to things happening to them.

Discover the World! Now Renounce It!

2011-03-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Let one who has discovered the world, and has become wealthy, renounce the world." Gospel of Thomas 110

This is an interesting saying. When you have discovered the world and become wealthy. Does this mean when you have more than enough... when you can live comfortably without the world, do that. Step out of it. Not everyone has this luxury however. It is very easy to read into this a negative view of the world, but it speaks of a mastery of the world then laying down that power.

Who Put That In My Backyard?

2011-03-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And when he died he left it to his son. The son did not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, discovered the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished." Gospel of Thomas 109

The treasure is within each one of us. The treasure is within and without us. It is the spirit of the divine. How many of us have given away this insight lost in materialism, egotism and other temptations. When you ground in this truth of who you are, you are able then to give out of your own depths to others. I believe this also speaks to our application in the real world these spiritual qualities, such as peace, integrity etc.

Drinking from My Mouth!

2011-03-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." Gospel of Thomas 108

Jesus teachings are the teachings of direct revelation. However he is not content that he is awakened and can sit back. He offers to those who want to follow his way, exactly what he experienced. He does not want to be their lord and god sitting over them, rather he calls those who would choose his way to become him. He becomes the image of the divine twin...the mirror. He becomes the higher or angelic self that we can become. This path advocated by the Gospel of Thomas is not a religion is a spirituality...a path of direct revelation. I give thanks to God for this!

Lowest Possible Standard

2011-03-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The Kingdom is like a shepherd who owned a hundred sheep. The largest of them, wandered away. The shepherd left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'" Gospel of Thomas 107

Somehow spirituality has been reduced to the lowest possible standard in popular culture. However there is a thread in every possible religion that those who reap the benefits of the spiritual life are the ones who are willing to put themselves into it. Saints like Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rumi, Ramakrishna achieved what they did by strong dedication. However looking closely at this saying, it speaks not of the person doing the hard work of spiritual life...but that the kingdom seeking one. It seeks the one who wandered away, and is described as the largest. The kingdom... the fullness of realization is there for the mature..those who are spiritually ready and ripe to receive it. The kingdom is not for those who are not ready or those who do not want it. We are not called to evangelize every person whether they want it or not...but rather to offer our spiritual insights to those who seek it. The message of divine insight is not based on the lowest possible standard but rather is offered for those who are mature enough to receive it.

Son and Daughter of Adam

2011-03-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become sons and daughters of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move." Gospel of Thomas 106

The Adam spoken of here is the undivided Adam. Jesus does not point to us to become sons of Adam or sons of Moses. Rather he calls us to be children of the undivided Adam. We are children of God... Jesus calls us to original innocence.. to the spiritual self. We are divine. We are sinless children of God. So live it. Just as God is Love and we are children of God, so to are we children of Love. How do you know it? You live it! It is that challenging and that simple.

Child of a Whore!

2011-02-28T15:31:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore." Gospel of Thomas 105

This is one of the most blatant sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that reveals we are not talking about an orthodox gospel. God here is revealed as both a father and a mother. God could just as easily be called Goddess. She is our Mother. She birthed us and guides us. God in a sense is akin to the Taoist Yin-Yang. One whole yet masculine and feminine. God is the composite of all opposites. One need look no further than Thunder: Perfect Mind for more opposites. God has made the male and female one in God's self. To know that...to worship God as Mother or even Goddess is frowned upon in many faith traditions. And yet we have the tradition of God as Shekinah, Sophia/Wisdom, the Sabbath Bride, and the Holy Spirit...all feminine images of God. I believe Jesus is calling for a more holistic spirituality...where God is found everywhere and within everything.

True Spirituality

2011-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Some people said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray and fast today." Jesus replied, "What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let people fast and pray." Gospel of Thomas 104

This brings to mind another couple of sayings in the Gospel of Thomas, Sayings 6 and 14:

His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed." Saying 6

"Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits." Saying 14

However I do not believe Jesus was against prayer, as he prays in saying 74. So what is happening here in these sayings. I think we get a clue when we read the commentary of similar things in the mainstream gospels. There you see Jesus condemning prayer, fasting, and giving charity to be seen by others. In other words, Jesus condemns putting on a religious show ie the spirit of hypocrisy. In Saying 104, I think he builds on this teaching. It seems Jesus shuns the idea of religious obligations and rituals as not a necessary element of being a spiritual person. The essence of spirituality has to be heartfelt and true. If one practices or stays with a religion out of a sense of religious obligation or fear of the wrath of God, then that person is a liar and a hypocrite. Spirituality should be as a bride and groom on their wedding night. Yes there will be times of sorrow and loneliness but like spouses who have grown together over time know, you can still feel an intimacy and depth... and it is not out of a sense of obligation nor to put on a show. One need only to look at the Sufi poets to see how their relationship with God is like a very lively marriage. This to me is the essence of true spirituality.

Knock the Rebels Out!

2011-02-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who know where the rebels are going to attack. They head them off, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive." Gospel of Thomas 103

A central message of the Gospel of Thomas is to know yourself. Part of this means to know your weaknesses, as well as your strengths. Here Jesus challenges his students to be aware of ones weaknesses and head them off beforehand. What is our weakness? What trips us up from living a divine life? It is here that a good soul friend can help serve as an accountability partner, challenging you to live better than you already are. A wise person seeks to prepare some way that they may live a sacred life.

Religion is a Mixed Blessing

2011-02-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Woe to the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor lets the cattle eat." Gospel of Thomas 102

This is one of the sayings of Jesus that sounds very similar to Jesus condemnations of the Pharisees in the canonical gospels, and yet it is not in those gospels. The Pharisees were a sect of Jews who sought to make every moment holy in their lives. They sought to live the Torah and live as a holy people..making Judaism not just a religion of the temple but personal also. This is a good thing. So what is Jesus so bent out of shape about? Within this movement there was also a scrupulosity that bordered on the absurd. Where the commandment, "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk" came more and more questions till we get that one cannot eat any meat and dairy together, and it must be several hours between eating them...even today a kosher kitchen has two refrigerators to keep the meat and dairy separate. The pharisees could argue all day on a minor point often twisting and turning the torahs commandments into something totally different. They take the Torah, and make it impossible for the average man or woman to be able to interpret without the intermediary influence of the rabbis. Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas challenges this notion. People can come to God apart from religion. Religion is not bad, but can hinder if it keeps people from coming to the Father as children of God. We see that happening today. We see women, gay people, and others kept from having a full place at the table..without a voice in many churches. Gay people are kicked out of their homes, ridiculed, kicked out of their churches based on the law rather than a living relationship with God. Jesus did not seek to form another religion. He wanted people to have free access to God. Jesus came as the son of God to help us know ourselves as sons and daughters of God. He is our elder brother showing us the way. This, I believe is the message of the Gospel of Thomas.

Comparing and Contrasting the Thomasine with Judaism/Islam/Christianity

2011-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

Looking at the three major monotheistic religions, I cannot help but notice certain commone elements between them and Thomasine beliefs. I also notice some stark differences as well. The Thomasine faith is based on the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus of course came from Jewish faith. The belief of Jesus became belief in Jesus and Christianity developed along with doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus, the trinity, the sacrificial death and resurrection.   Islam came and sought to reform it and bring it back to its original monotheism. In this post I hope to look at the three faiths and compare and contrast them in a personal way with my chosen path as a Thomasine.

There are many, many wonderful things about Judaism. One thing that Judaism and I have in common is that we are both strict monotheists.  The belief in one God not many gods and not a trinity of persons is a hallmark of Jewish (and Islamic) faith. I actually enjoy attending Jewish services. Currently I am reading three different Jewish books, two non-fiction theology books and one fiction. I appreciated and still appreciate the humor and compassion when reading rabbi's stories and how they stretch the understanding of the Hebrew scriptures. However it is that very scripture that troubles me. The stories of genocide as the Hebrew people were entering the promised land are very troublesome. Also the views of women and towards gay people in the scripture are troubling as well. When I read the scriptures that promote the death penalty toward rebellious sons, for working on the Sabbath, and other strange things, I find that I cannot honor the Torah as anything sacred to me. Some of these archaic views towards women and gltb folk are still held by the Orthodox and some Conservative Jews.  Also while I understand that a person may convert to Judaism, there is still a lot of prejudice against converts that somehow they are not authentically Jewish, not to mention that several Jewish denominations do not recognize the others conversions. There is a culture and a history within Judaism that it seems one must adopt to fully be "in the tribe" that from what I read many folks undergo great struggle to or are never fully able to integrate with the Jewish people, even less so if one is married to a gentile or unmarried without a family. This type of tribalism while not official in some segments is still there. So as a Thomasine, I share their love for parts of their scripture. I share their first two chapters of Genesis.   I share their strong belief in one God, and the value of good deeds and good living. I have been particularly impressed with the reform movement, as they have moved away from a literalistic interpretation of the Tanakh and the Talmud. They have opened the doors wide for women, for gltb folks, and even engaged in dialogue about mixed marriages between a Jew and Gentile. I think they have done much of what Jesus was trying to do in that he wanted all people to know that they are children of God and not resort to the tribalism of we are the only chosen people. I know many reform temples are working hard to integrate Gentiles and welcome converts in their synagogues.

I feel a certain affinity for Islam as I do for Judaism. Islam emphasizes a personal relationship with the one undivided God. They, like Thomasines, believe Jesus is a messenger of God. Prayer is both communal and personal/private.  They too believe that each person is responsible for reading and interpreting the scriptures for themselves. Just as imams are respected and chosen from the most educated, spiritual, and wise from among the community, I support a similar role for those who are the most educated, spiritual, and wise from among he Thomasine community. I call these people hakhams... wise or learned ones. Where traditional Islam and Thomainses part ways is in the majority views on woman, gltb folk, and the certain penalties found for certain sins in Islam. I can relate to so much within Islam. I enjoy middle eastern music and their nasheeds. My heart is utterly in love with Rumi, Hafiz and other Sufis. My personal prayers look very similar to a Muslims prayers with bowing and kneeling, and I would feel comfortable praying with them. I agree with Islam that Jesus is a messenger of God but not God himself. And yet there is still a strong sexism and homophobia within mainstream Islam that would keep me from joining this beautiful faith.
Now I have to admit - I have a love hate relationship with Christianity. I was raised culturally Christian. I had a Christian conversion as a teen. Having been involved in evangelical and later more mainline Christianity, I have seen, experienced, and been a part of the good, bad, and ugly within Christendom. Obviously a Thomasine and an orthodox Christian, have a love and respect for Jesus in common. Some of the words of our respective scriptures are the same.  Mainstream Christianity, like Islam, emphasizes a personal relationship with God. I at times can appreciate how it tries to be relevant to this culture I live in. However, I do not believe in the New Testament. The Gospel of Thomas, does not mention a virgin birth, tons of miracles, demons or a devil, hell, a sacrificial death and resurrection. While there are mainstream Christians who integrate the Gospel of Thomas into their Christian faith, almost seeing it as a mystical text, I cannot reciprocate. I had been attending an Episcopal Church for a while. The priest was perfectly fine with my considering myself a Thomasine and a Gnostic. However I had to play such mental gymnastics trying to reinterpret the creeds, the trinitarian language, the references to the sacrifice, body and blood...that I was exhausted by the time I left the service every time. I finally had to step away. With it, came the realization that I am not a Christian by any orthodox or mainstream Christian standard.
I am a Thomasine. Sadly any Thomasine rituals, traditions and such are pretty much gone. Yet I see parts of these three faiths I mentioned above in the Thomasine faith. I keep the Sabbath as a time of rest, as in Judaism. I personally can relate to the emphasis on knowing God and the scriptures personally, and pray in ways that would seem similar to them. I seek our communities to be akin to a mosque... a place of prayer, charity and led by leaders who are recognized for their wisdom and knowledge, as well as their compassion. I look on Jesus as a messenger and prophet. I look to Genesis in the Torah as the beginning of our faith..the time of the undivided Adam. I am inspired by the Psalms and some of the writings of the prophets, as well as the Sufi saints. I see the beauty in these three faiths and the Thomasine relationship with them..yet we are our own faith. With the Christians, I consider myself a follower of Jesus with him being a central part of my faith tradition. At least for me..the Thomasine faith is unique, and is something that has revolutionized my life.

My Birth Mother

2011-02-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Whoever doesn't hate father and his mother as I do can't become my disciple. And whoever does not love his father and his mother as I do can't become a disciple to me. For my mother physical birth, but my true mother gave me life." Gospel of Thomas 101

Following the way of Jesus is not the easiest path. Like so many choices we make, this path can alienate one from ones biological family. But when one's biological family, when ones race, heritage, nationality, or even religion come before the path, then the person must learn to not cling. Attachments are the greatest impediment to a deeply spiritual life. I am attached to my spouse....but really I cling to tightly to my image of my idea of who my spouse should be (one who cleans when I want them to, takes me out to eat when I want it) is not really my spouse but a delusion of my mind. It is selfishness within me my clinging to an illusion of who I want them to be. The same can be said of family...we can grow so attached to our expectations of them and their expectations of us or even perceptions of their expectations (whether real or some delusion since childhood) that we are unable to move beyond this. Though Jesus uses harsh words here. He does not say that they are an immature disciple or something like that.. he says they cannot be my disciple..it simply is not possible at that time.

But then he goes on from cutting the apron strings that strangle us, he tells us about the Ru'ah HaKodesh.. the Holy Spirit, the Shekinah... She is our real mother...She is the feminine face of God who birthed our spirits.. our sparks from Her Holy Fire. It is the desires and familiarity with this Mother that Jesus recommends. Only when we come into right relationship with God can we learn who we are as children of God, healing our personal neurosis....Only from knowing ourselves as living children of God can we learn to love and see others as children of God as well.

Just Give It To Them!

2011-02-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

Showing Jesus a gold coin, they said to him, "The emperor of Rome's people demand taxes from us."
Jesus said to them, "Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give to God what belongs to God, and give to me what is mine." Gospel of Thomas 100

There are things demanded by society. I don't think Jesus totally advocated dropping out of society and becoming a hermit in the desert. I think we have certain social obligations. We give the empire what is expected. But higher than that is what we offer God. For many people we offer God our prayer, rituals, and actions. Jesus too, as the messenger of God demands that those who become his students do what he says. Jesus speaks like a rabbi who could declare things permitted and forbidden. He also resembles a Zen master or Guru expecting respect from those who became his students. To take a teacher and neglect his teachings is playing religious games. We have certain obligations to family and state, to our religion and to our teacher who speaks in our heart. How hard it is to juggle and to integrate the three!

Deed More Than Creed

2011-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

Jesus' disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." Jesus said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. It is those ones who are the ones who will enter the kingdom of my Father." Gospel of Thomas 99

What strikes me about this saying is that it is not those who believe the right things who are Jesus mother and brothers... it is those who do the will of God. The Gospel of Thomas does not not teach the doctrine embraced by many Protestant Christians... "faith alone" rather it is a religion of deed more than creed. We are children of God and should act like it. So the question, I challenge you to think about... is how are you to live it?

Jesus and the Art of War

2011-02-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a someone who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and shoved it through the wall to see if his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one." Gospel of Thomas 98

This is one of the more shocking sayings of the Gospel of Thomas. I actually think it is meant to be. It is meant to jar the reader to really contemplate what is being talked about. I believe that this is the perfect explanation of the spiritual life. We must struggle and count the cost of what it means to live as a child of God. The primary message of the Gospel of Thomas is to realize that we are sons and daughters of God. But with the title comes the responsibility to live a holy life..in many ways a lonely life. Our lives are given to the world but are called to be separate from it. We must consider what this looks like. What does it mean to protect your neighbor like the pupil of your eye. What does it mean to escape the brainwashing of the world, with is directions how to look, how to judge by appearance, to buy and sell to be one of the haves and not the have nots? What does it mean that we may not fit in with the mainstream religion? To truly take an authentic step into the light, we must consider what it means. This is the message of Jesus. Are we ready?

About Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas

2011-02-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

I also went through the Gospel of Thomas to look at how Jesus saw himself and how he spoke about himself. This is what I found:

I have cast fire on the world and am guarding it until it blazes. Saying 10

(To Thomas) I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended. Saying 13

Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. Saying 16

I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart Saying 17

I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. Saying 28

Where there are three they are without God. And where there is only one, I say, I am with him. Greek

Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him. Saying 30

Lift the stone and there you will find me. Saying 77b

Split the wood and I am there. Saying 77b

No prophet is welcome on his home turf. Saying 31

Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me. Saying 38

You don't understand who I am from what I say to you. Saying 43

If you blaspheme Jesus, you will be forgiven. Saying 44

You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead. Saying 52

Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me. Saying 55

I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father. Saying 61

I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries. Saying 62

He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?" Saying 72

I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Saying 77

You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment. Saying 91

Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him. Saying 108

So trying to put together a coherent understanding of who Jesus is based on these sayings as well as Saying 15 (If you see one NOT born of woman, fall of your faces and worship. That one is your Father) this is how I perceive Jesus.

Jesus is a prophet of God. He was sent from God. The Gospel of Thomas mentions his mother, so it can be understood that he is not to be worshipped as God. So that reveals the question - exactly who or what was he? He at some point himself realized who he was in God. He allowed his light to merge with the Light of God. As a messenger of God, he served as an initiator into the mysteries of God...an elder brother and guide to aid us in also bringing our sparks back into the Light of God. He is revealed as the visible icon of the Gnostic man...the divine Adamas before the split and the fall. We are called to be the same thing, and when that happens we are twins of Jesus no longer his student, but a fellow icon. What he offers is a spiritual mystery or insight...his words to us are life and from God. He has merged his being with God that he like other mystics in the world religions, he identifies with the Divine...yet still prays to him..helping us realize that he is still a man and one sent from God, but a reunited spark sent to help us home.

About God in the Gospel of Thomas

2011-02-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

I went through the Gospel of Thomas trying to find every time God was mentioned and described to see if a certain understanding of God may be present. Here are the basic gists and where they are found.

God's kingdom is within and without us. Saying 3a
We are God's children. Saying 3b
God's kingdom must be entered. Saying 22
God forgives (thus implying sin or error). Saying 44
God is light, and we all came from that light. Saying 50 a,b
The Father can dwell in us. Saying 50c
The Father invites all people. Saying 64
God sent Jesus who was full of the light. Saying 61, 64, 65
To be near Jesus is to be near the Father. Saying 82
Jesus while full of the Father's light is not the Father Saying 100
God is Father as well as Mother. Saying 101, 105
God is not a human (ie not born of woman) Saying 15

God is uncreated. God is light. From this light we were made, as sparks from a flame. This spark is God within us. God is Spirit and yet relates to us as a Father and a Mother, yet God is not a human. God sent Jesus with his message. God invites us all to know his kingdom which is hidden in all things. God will forgive all error except rejecting the Spirit present in us and hidden in all things. God invites us as sparks to return to his fire...to bring the lights back into the Source of Light.

This tells me that God is One. God is not three in one but is one. God is personal. He relates to us as well as sending messengers. He invites us to union with Him. God is forgiving, and desires the best for us, his children.

Prayer

2011-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Oh God, Allahu as Jesus called you!

I come to you now as your child.

I stand before you as your child.

I bow before you as your son.

I kneel before you as only a spark before your infinite light!

My Father!

Forgive me my errors that I may know you.

Your Spirit in me is my Mother.

Help me know myself as your child.

I love you my God.

Guide me to Truth.

Guide me to You.

I love you.

The Broken Jar

2011-02-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The kingdom of our Father is like a woman who was carrying a clay jar full of meal. While she was walking along a long road, the handle broke off of the jar and the meal spilled behind her all along the road. She didn't know that the handle broke; she did not know there was a problem. When she arrived at home, she set down the jar and found out that it was empty."
Gospel of Thomas 97

It takes me about 20 minutes to get to work. I have worked at the same wonderful job for several years. My family lives in a very small town. My mom thinks twenty minutes to get to work is a lifetime. It does not seem very long to me. Part of the reason is that more often than not I fall into a type of mindlessness while driving. I think something similar has happened to the woman in this story. She is walking home with this jar. She was oblivious the handle broke off and the meal was spilling out. The spark and the life of God is found in us. We are able to live a life of wisdom and goodness due to this spark. However, this spark must be kindled and attention must be kept focused on this spirit, which is the Holy Spirit our Mother. If all a person does is read the passages in the GoT and does not live these words. If that conscious, living, loving knowledge of God is not tended to regularly, we will be among those who lose. We wind up spiritually empty. This saying, in my current understanding is a warning to remain mindful, to remain awake.

Blog Talk Radio

2011-02-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

I have attempted to do a couple of online radio shows via Blog Talk Radio. If you look to the right you can see my first two attempts to figure this out. Enjoy. :)

Paddy Cake, Paddy Cake Baker's Man

2011-02-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a woman who took a little leaven, hid it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears, listen up!" Gospel of Thomas 96

The Kingdom of God is hidden in every one of us. It is hidden in all creation. This light that is in us is the light of the Father. It is the Holy Spirit, the Shekinah our Mother. Those who open to this living presence in us will be transformed. Those who realize the life changing truth.. who know it with their whole being... that we ARE sons and daughters of God will find liberation. We take after the nature of our Father/Mother. This also means that all humanity is our brothers and sisters. Our life is intimately connected with their life. This oneness with God and each other challenges us to be our brother and sister's keeper. What a blessing and a challenge!

Just Do It

2011-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "When you have money, don't lend it out with interest. Instead give it away to someone who cannot pay you back." Gospel of Thomas 95

Here Jesus gives a direction for moral living to those who follow him. We are to give to someone who cannot pay us back. When we loan money to someone, it gives us a sense of power over them. Jesus is calling us to let go of that need for power over and rather give because it is right, and not out of any sense of power or even a sense of charity. It is not about us. We do it because it is the right thing.

Now Go Live It

2011-02-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The one who searches will find, and the one who knocks at the door will have it opened for them." Gospel of Thomas 94

This Logion of Thomas brings to mind the second saying in the Gospel of Thomas:
"The one who seeks should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be troubled. When they are troubled, they will be in awe, and will reign over all. After reigning they will rest."

The realizations of the spiritual do not usually just fall in the lap of the unwary and even less in the unwilling. Rather they are found through searching. A longing... a desire to know God or to know who we are, where we came from and what is our purpose in this life leads to seeking. Those who seek and do not lose heart will find. The Thomasine message is simple. You are a child of God, now go and live it. In that saying is contained the whole message of the Gospel of Thomas. And yet it will take a lifetime to fully realize the power of being a son of God. It will take grace upon grace to live it.

My Thomasine Beliefs

2011-02-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

1. There is one God beyond description. In the Gospel of Thomas the Holy Spirit is seen as the feminine/motherly face of God who is also seen as a Father. However I maintain a strict belief in the oneness of God.
2. Jesus was a spiritual leader and Jewish reformer. He sought to teach of a time when we all lived as children of God, no longer divided as male and female, Jew and Gentile akin to the first creation story in Genesis. I believe he was a man who experienced gnosis of God, and was sent to share this message calling us all to know ourselves as children of God.
3. My scripture is the Gospel of Thomas. Other scriptures -the Jewish Bible, the New Testament, and Nag Hammadi scriptures are secondary only seen through the lens of the GoT.
4. The primary message of Jesus is to know God, know ourselves as children of God, and all the cosmos bearing the light of God.
5. Religious acts if done without a loving heart or to be seen by others are a sin.
6. Because all people are seen as sons and daughters of God, they should be loved and protected. This means to pursue social justice and equality for all people.
7. The only holiday mentioned in our scripture is the Sabbath, which is a day of rest. This references back to the creation story. Again the emphasis of any religious action is the internal attitude rather than outward ritual.

The Thomasines, the Noachides and the Jew

2011-01-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hi there, I hope everyone had a good Sabbath yesterday. I have started a simple keeping of Sabbath simply as a day of rest and relaxation. I have an enviable job working with the less fortunate and those in need throughout the week. The Sabbath for me has become a time of resting and recharging my batteries so to speak. Yeshua (Jesus) speaks of keeping the Sabbath as a sabbath in the Gospel of Thomas. For some this may be a traditional Jewish Sabbath, and other Thomasines interpret this to a time and or place of rest. For me at this time I keep it simple though I have thought of incorporating a simple Sabbath celebration on Friday night to mark the time.
Building on what I wrote about yesterday, I think Jesus established a new type of Judaism. Whether he meant to or not, I do not know. It may not even be appropriate to call it a Judaism yet I think elements of it are there while others are discarded. Perhaps he was the worlds first Reform Jew! (hee hee) But out of respect for my Jewish brothers and sisters, I will call this movement by the term Thomasine, which was a community of Jews and Gentiles who followed the mystic rabbi called Yeshua (translated as Joshua/Jesus). This community was first made up of talmidim, disciples or students of the rabbi. This group, tradition says, was made up of a motley sort of folks. Zealots, prostitutes, tax-collectors, fishermen and the like. It seems he rejected none. Men and women, Jews and gentiles seemed to come to him and to respect him. Many followed him and became his students. This rabbi seemed to re-interpret the Torah often in radical ways. He reached out to those who were on the outskirts..the rejected, the lowly and such. It seemed that he did not think highly of circumcision as there were plenty who were circumcised who did not live holy lives. So even these righteous Gentiles (Noahides) were invited in what he said and did. In fact, much of the ritual aspects of Judaism, he pointed out could be done without the heart. And without the heart, it would be better to not do it.
I think the earliest community of Thomasines were made up of men and women, Jews and Gentiles. I think some kept the law. I think some kept parts of it. I think some did not. They saw themselves as one people, going back to the undivided first human in Genesis..made in the image and likeness of God. The law or even parts of it could be helpful, but not required of all. Over time I think more and more Gentiles joined, and with the destruction of the temple, the Jewish aspects were lessened. Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas speaks to a Jewish and Noahide community who would know the Torah to some degree...and yet his words are as a messenger re-uniting them not under Torah or even Noah but under undivided Adam. Children of Humanity as Children of God. The first law is to live authentic lives, to know ourselves, to avoid hypocrisy, and to love and protect others like the pupil of our eye. It is this law taught by Jesus according to the Gospel of Thomas.

Another Theory on Thomasine Origins

2011-01-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry to bore any readers going on with this. I just find this speculation fun and fascinating. :)
In the Gospel of Thomas... there is a constant reference to Genesis -specifically the first chapter and first two verses of the 2nd chapter, commonly called the first creation story. There are references to the Sabbath, circumcision, as well as other Jewish groups. I think Jesus was a Jew. However I think he was a reformer and a mystic. He taught a way that included Gentiles, shunned the need for circumcision and rejected the law rather pointing to a more universal time...the time of creation where the man and woman and all all nature were created by God as very good. There is in Jesus teaching a view that the Jews are the chosen ones. Instead, Jesus welcomes all humanity back to the beginning where there was God..then the light...from the light came all creation, and humanity made in God's image. Then the Sabbath which was simply a time of rest. So Jesus calls us to remember to know this once again. To go backwards to the beginning of time...rather than to look for end times. I see Jesus and his followers as Jews but not a group that would identify as Pharisees or any other of the groups, but rather a middle way that shunned certain teachings and traditions of Judaism. The Thomasines who followed him were not a traditional Jewish community nor part of the proto-orthodox Christian nor fully Gnostic but rather a proto-Gnostic. They walk in that middle place. They had Jewish members and came from Judaism, and yet opened up to Gentiles without requiring circumcision. They celebrated a type of Sabbath but did not look back to Moses or Abraham as their founder, but rather Adam and Eve or even God themselves as the founder of their religion. Anyway, this is some fun ideas I have been playing with.

A Pig Wearing Pearls

2011-01-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Don't offer what is sacred to the dogs, lest they cast it upon the dunghill. Don't toss pearls to swine, lest they turn into [mud]." Gospel of Thomas 93

The Thomasine path is not one of strong evangelizing. It is not one of altar calls or laying tracts instead of tips for waitresses. Rather the practice of knowing who you are, a child of the God beyond all comprehension is the point of our path. Of course with this is the protecting of our brothers and sisters of humanity who are trampled under the feet of larger society. In fact, all people are children of God. However not all people are going to respond to the Thomasine message. And as far as the Gospel of Thomas goes...that is fine. There is no mention of a hell for those who do not awaken. In fact, in one of the sayings in the GoT, the mature fish are taken up and those not mature are allowed to go back to the sea. To me this implies a type of reincarnation of some type, with a promise that none shall be lost. So rather than force our teachings on people unwilling or unable to respond to it, we are allowed to simply love them without any ulterior motive of trying to convert them. In my life, being a Thomasine, I do not hide it...but only share with those who ask...just like I might expect a pantheist, Jew, or Buddhist to share if I ask about their path.

Why Are You Standing Outside? Come On In!

2011-01-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "If you seek, you will find. In the past, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them." Gospel of Thomas 92

I remember my shock when seeing a mom with a baby in her arms and she was sharing a soda with the baby. Not to be too harsh, but baby need so much nutrition when they are very small, and things such as diabetes is so rampant, I wonder why she would give her baby a soda pop. But it is the same for many of us on the spiritual path. We enter the path with tons of questions, wants, and needs. But often the answers are not immediately forthcoming. It takes years and years of spiritual practice to garner the insights and spiritual maturity that come with following a spiritual tradition. Today in our era of instant gratification and McReligion shopping, people just are not willing to wait that long. They jump from religion to religion digging so many shallow wells, none going very deep except in their deluded minds. In this saying in the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus comments that his students had so many questions they could not handle the answers to at the beginning. Then after following him for several years, Jesus feels they would understand the deeper things of God, but they no longer care...they are not seeking them. They are content with the foundation of the house and not the house itself. I pray that each day that passes, God has mercy on me and helps me to remain open and always asking questions.

The Radical Dr. King

2011-01-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

The Thomasines - People of the Middle Way

2011-01-15T11:41:00.001-08:00

I am still plowing on through Thomasine texts and scholarly writings, really trying to get a feel for the ancient community of Thomasines and where they stood in relation to the other early Christian communities.

I am really convinced the Thomasines stand in a unique position between the Ebionites and Pauline Christians. You have the Ebionites, who were Jews and Jewish converts who kept the law but saw Jesus as either teacher or a messiah figure. You have the Pauline Christians who were mostly gentiles who rejected the law and incorporated some of the pagan and philosophical elements into the Jesus story. You also have the Sethian types who engaged the Jewish scriptures (especially genesis) and Greek philosophy but turn the stories on their head through a radical midrash.

The Thomasines, in my opinion, were proto-gnostic Jewish-Christian mystics. They turned primarily to the first creation story in Genesis...going back to the beginning. In fact this first chapter of Genesis seems essential to understanding the Gospel of Thomas (Steven Davies makes this same point). They were almost a middle ground between the Ebionites and the Pauline/Johannine and Gnostic groups. They kept the Sabbath but rejected circumcision. Fasting was not fasting from food, but rather received a more mystical interpretation...fasting from the world's ways. Any rituals in this community were encouraged to be done only in the spirit of going back to the beginning of the first creation.

I believe this community celebrated the Sabbath, but that they interpreted it mystically as linking us to the first Sabbath in Genesis 1...thus Thomasines saw it too as a day of rest...a day remembering and restoration of all things-of recognition of our being in the image of God. Everything represented going back to that beginning. Jesus was the unique messenger of God, sent by God, speaking often with the voice of God as the prophets did. He gave the message that the first creation never vanished..it has always existed hidden under the second creation story-the spiritual hidden under the material. Divinity is here and now. We are the sons and daughters of God, created in his image and likeness.

My personal opinion is that they really walked between that middle point between Ebionite Judaism (which tried to keep all the law) and Pauline and Gnostic Christianity. My gut feeling is they kept the practice of immersion (mikvah) through the GoT 's recognition of John the Baptist, however like all things, they interpreted it mystically as a type of cleansing and recognition and turning back to the realization that we are children of God able to see the first creation clearly now. I think that the Sabbath meal included bread and wine but was much more akin to how the Didache and Jews saw it...and may have been more of an agape feast with no mention of Jesus death, body and blood and such like later celebrations of the Eucharist.

It was, in my opinion, as if the Thomasines formed a new type of Judaism... One not based on the law but based on the first few chapters of Genesis. They did not reject out of hand the law or the Tanakh/Hebrew scriptures..but rather sought to go to Gods first dealings with humanity and the cosmos which was prior to the law. So reinterpreting some of the Jewish rituals, while rejecting others they embodied a new type of Thomasine Judaism with Jesus as its messenger, they believed.

Living a Thomasine Life

2011-01-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

I do not know if I will ever post this for public consumption. It really is not meant for the casual reader but rather serves as a type of spiritual reflection of mine...a type of taking inventory of my beliefs and practices as a Thomasine. In the past I have written of different types of Thomasines-the monachos and the ecclesial. The monachos are those who read the Gospel of Thomas as a guide only for individuals, perhaps believing even there was no presbyters or ministers in the Thomasine community, but rather only individual Thomasines. The ecclesial Thomasines hold that there was some type of organization and leadership in the Thomasine community. There may have been rituals and ministers. They often seek that in some form today, perhaps in study groups, Christian churches, or the like. I have also looked at the Trinitiarian and Oneness Thomasines..those that hold a divine Jesus and those that hold to a purely human Jesus.

Looking at categories, I find that I am in the middle on both of these. I do think that the original Thomasines had a local community or ecclesia which met to study, share, and such. I think that if they celebrated the Eucharist it would resemble how it is described in the Didache which does not speak of body and blood with the crucifixion. Even more so looking at the Gospel of Thomas saying 27 about the keeping of the Sabbath rest, I think the Thomasines may have celebrated a type of Sabbath...perhaps the Sabbath bread and wine being a type of eucharist that could be celebrated alone or in community. So alone or in community.... I lean toward being an eccleisal Thomasine to be honest, though I see that one must practice alone as well! I love community. What I would not do to have a local community to study with, to debate, pray, and worship with!

I also fall somewhere in the middle with the Trinitiarian and Oneness ideas within the Gospel of Thomas. I believe that God is one. In that way I am a strict monotheist. This Good God can be seen as masculine (the Father) and feminine (the Holy Spirit/Sophia) but really God is beyond these..these terms help us relate to God in personal ways. Almost as if God is like the Taoist symbol of yin/yang....God being the whole with the father and mother being faces of the one God. At the point of their touching proceeds the man Jesus. Jesus was a man. He came from the light and identified with the Light in a unique way. He was sent from God as a messenger, liberator, wisdom teacher, sage, and savior. It was his words and life that embodied the message from God. I believe that this is the way to God. In a way Jesus is the living example God gave us. If we want gnosis then Jesus provided the way...become his twin. Know God and self as he knows God and self. Thomas did this. So while rejecting the traditional understanding of the Trinity, I also see Jesus as having a unique calling. So while being a Oneness/Unitarian/Strict Monotheist, I can affirm the uniqueness of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas and in the Thomasines' life.

The Gospel of Thomas turns rituals and such on their head. Circumcision is seen as useless, as does other ritual acts such as fasting..yet as one continually reads the Gospel of Thomas you see that Jesus is not rejecting all rituals and such. He is rejecting ones that do not guide one to that living knowledge of God. Being circumcised (or in more current practice baptized) as a baby is not useful as if you needed that you would be born with that done. How does it help a baby's spiritual life when they are not even conscious of the inner meaning of such acts? In my understanding, any ritual to be considered truly spiritual, must be done, not out of obligation or religious requirement but rather towards the mystical revelation knowledge of God, self and the kingdom of God hidden in this temporal world.

One ritual act is mentioned - the Sabbath. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not keep the Sabbath as a sabbath, you will never see the Father." Gospel of Thomas 27 I have become convinced that the Thomasine community of old celebrated a type of Sabbath. Their fasts were not with bread and water but rather from the ways of the world. One way of doing this was through the practice of the Sabbath. On the sabbath, you rest. It is one day when you allow the world to rest. On any other day you buy and sell, you use the world. On the sabbath, you return to the beginning when God rested on the seventh day. Now don't get me wrong, I do not think Jesus is commanding one to celebrate the sabbath, but rather offering an outline of things like ritual and liturgy....that any "religious" act must be done solely for the purpose of knowing God. While I have chosen to keep the Sabbath, and I believe the Thomasines did the same... I do not see it as a commandment but rather a guideline to be sure on spiritual practices.

Originally I thought the Gospel of Thomas way was very easy..that everyone got it without the least bit of effort on their part. I am not convinced this is so. I think this path is an intense path, that requires a lot of work. In my opinion this is the same work of the Hindu and Buddhist meditators, the passionate Hasidic Jews or any person trying to do the spiritual work of centering God in one's life and allowing everything else flow from that. I do not see the Thomasine religion as the only way. It is my way to be sure. But I see that no matter what religion you choose, that only the most dedicated will achieve what I call gnosis, but others may call divine union, moksha, liberation, or enlightenment. It is not enough to simply read and go on your way. It is not enough to float from religion to religion never staying put and establishing roots. It is not enough to argue and debate theology. It takes a lot of work and a living revelation of God that you may know the Kingdom of God here and now.

Belief Vs. Experience

2011-01-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

Some people said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you." Jesus said to them, "You observe the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to be mindful of the present moment." Gospel of Thomas 91

When I first began to meditate upon this passage, I had a hard time understanding what the contrast between the peoples words and Jesus response was. Then as I held it in my mind and heart it began to reveal itself to me like a tiny seed sprouting up. The people are wanting him to tell them who he is. They want to rely on another's word for it. They want belief or what is commonly called "faith alone". Believe this and this and you will be saved. However Jesus refutes this. He challenges them to know him...to experience his life and words in a living and transformative way, and thus to truly be here now. Jesus has revealed himself as a son of God and challenges us to do the same. To have a relationship with the Divine as a son would his father or a daughter her mother. The Thomasine way is not easy. We cannot rely on another's words. Even the Gospel of Thomas speaks of having to discover or experience the sayings in it to find life. We have to experience their truth for ourselves.

Ride You Like a Cowboy! Where Is My Saddle?

2011-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Come unto me, for the yoke I give you is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves." Gospel of Thomas 90

This is one of those sayings that is so close to the mainstream gospels. Jesus invites us to follow his way. The rabbi is inviting any who are willing to follow and obey him. In doing so, he will show and live the way to gnosis and the living revelation of union with our God. Ours is not a faith only religion. One cannot simply believe and that is enough. The work of gnosis is a tough thing. It is a lifelong process whereby we shed all that is temporal and merge with the Timeless. Jesus is offering that for any who choose to follow him.

Hey Wash This Cup Too!

2011-01-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don't you understand that the one who made the outside is also the one who made the inside?" Gospel of Thomas 89

With New Years here and January underway, I am reminded of when I worked at a gym while in college. They would count on a flood of memberships in January, knowing that many of them signing up in zeal would not keep coming by February or March. These memberships were not cheap. How many of us go to extremes to look attractive. People dye their hair, pay big money for weaves or tummy tucks. We care so much and will pay to extremes for the outside that will grow old, get sick and die. It is simply the way of things for the flesh. However how little real work we will put in to clean the inside of us. To overcome things such as rage, the need to be right, to be judgmental , or simple sloth or gluttony. That it is easier for me to read a piece of good fiction than to spend a few moments in scripture or even offering a prayer to God. God made our bodies. But God also made our souls and spirits. What a challenge to make it a daily habit to nurture those as well.

Hey! Give it Back!

2011-01-06T04:34:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'" Gospel of Thomas 88

A teacher in a school does what he or she does as an investment. They plant seedlings of knowledge, life skills and such with a hope that their students will learn the information and internalize it, that they may grow up to be educated functioning members of society. It can be a heartbreak for a teacher to find out a student has dropped out, gotten pregnant before leaving high school, or spends their life working in a fast food restaurant. So it is with the messengers of God. There are those who have a word for us. God can speak through any person, circumstance or through nature. To be a messenger or prophet is to be one who speaks this word from God to another. We too are called to be open to share the truths we have learned. Not in a way akin to many evangelicals and fundamentalists, but in a more open way. More of a personal sharing rather than with any desire to convert the individual. The Thomasine path is not about acquiring converts but allowing people to know themselves and the kingdom of God they find within and without. But this saying challenges us to go deeper...when we have been given the message- when we have been given truth...what do we do with it? Do we internalize it and allow it to change ourselves into the sacred twin...bringing the body and soul in line with the spirit? Or like those students mentioned...do we hear it but do not allow it to take root within us. What will the messengers of God find when they come? I only hope they will be pleased. And what a wake up call to keep doing the work!

Wearing Your Depends?

2011-01-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "How despondent is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two." Gospel of Thomas 87

It is here that the Gospel of Thomas points out the basic outline of a human. A person is made of a body, a soul, and the spirit. The body is temporal. It has desires and needs and is never truly satisfied. It can get sick and die. The soul is the mind and emotions. This too is temporal. One can change their mind or feel something different from day to day. However what is left out but implied in this saying is to depend on the spirit. This spirit within us is what descended from God. The light we all came from....as spark from the living flame of God. To depend on the body or even another person's body for enlightenment/gnosis is a farce. Living with my wonderful spouse these 13 years makes me incredibly thankful but also much more aware that we will grow old. Some day one of us will pass away, leaving the other alone. So I honor the present moment with them, knowing that is a gift on loan. The soul can also be unquenchable. I can read and study theology and world religions till I am old and grey and still not have a living revelation knowledge of God and self. My "knowledge" is incomplete if one does not know God and self...this type of knowing is similar to Adam "knowing" Eve. It is a union, a living completeness. This can only be had through the Spirit within us. It is bringing our body and soul, as much as possible in line with the spirit that we can live a life worth living...a life of joy and compassion. How often I forget that! How often do I stray from that living fountain!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-24T15:08:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has a Happy Yule/Christmas! The Gospel of Thomas says that there is light within the person of light. Let your light shine like the star of Bethlehem in the old old story. That this world may be a better place.

Winter Solstice

2010-12-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is the night of the Winter Solstice and a Lunar Eclipse. The last time this has happened was 456 years ago.

Over the past few months I have grown in my appreciation of the solstices and equinoxes. They seem almost to be natural holidays. My friend Shilo have talked of ways to bring a celebration of these days into our lives. (Hi Shilo!)

The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. Winter is a time of introspection for me as is. Perhaps being cooped up in the house more leads to that. Knowing the year is wrapping up, I reflect on it. Have I grown? Was I a good person? Have I made the world a better place?

So the winter solstice reminds me of the times of darkness in my life. It reminds me of the times in my life where I have experienced intense suffering. It carries a promise. The promise is that even when suffering feels endless or I see my same faults creep up again and again, that it will pass. Everything changes. The light of gnosis and grace will shine in those places too...and that sometimes one must wait.

Yippee!

2010-12-17T04:49:00.001-08:00

Today marks the end of my work year. I will go back to work in January. I hope to make the most of the time by working on those jobs I have neglected at other times. Also catch up on a bit of reading.

Winter

2010-12-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Along with Fall, Winter just utterly and completely inspires me and leaves me in awe. I can step out and touch a tree and fill the Spirit in all things living in and as the tree. I can feel it in the coldness on my cheeks from the winds. Winter for me is a hallowed time. Next Tuesday is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Take a moment to thank the universe for the dark times but also for getting through them often transformed. Pray for those still going through them. Make this season sacred.

Katy Perry-Firework and the Gospel of Thomas

2010-12-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

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"When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the Father of LIFE. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." Gospel of Thomas 3

Advent

2010-11-29T14:54:00.001-08:00

The first Sunday of Advent was yesterday. I love Advent. It is one of those times that is often neglected, but can be truly beautiful and powerful. It is a time of waiting, a time of watching. To sit and do nothing else but look at/wait on the Lord. Where can I see God? The Gospel of Thomas says the light is within all people and all things. For me that means I see God in the children, the trees, my family and loved ones...and if I look closely and do not neglect to look...I can see God in the sick, the sorrowful, and the hurting. God can come in any form, and Advent reminds me to be aware and to serve God in whatever disguise God takes.

Thomasine Order of the Way

2010-11-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 19, 2010, Sister Shilo and I took final vows within the Thomasine Order of the Way aka the Thomasine Friars(link to the side of this blog). These vows were witnessed by Bishop Mansell Gilmore. These final vows have brought together the exploring of what it means to be a Thomasine in a vital lifestyle. I am so thankful for this. This is the culmination of my own private vows that more and more sought expression in community.How I am living out these vows is in ministry in my own local church. Server, Lector, Acolyte, Contemplative Prayer Group leader. But yet this is not enough...I also serve in offering free tutoring to kids in poverty, run a community garden in a low income neighborhood, and try to live like a twin of Jesus (failing often). Pray for me that I may fulfill my vows daily.

I Need A Hole To Crawl In

2010-11-26T06:20:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "The foxes have their dens and the birds have their nests, but people have no place to lay down and rest." Gospel of Thomas 86

In the mainstream Gospels, this saying is about Jesus and that he was homeless. But the Gospel of Thomas traces this saying not about Jesus so much as about us. Humanity has nowhere to rest. Our rest is not in this world. Our rest can only be found in the divine, in the spiritual. A life without the spiritual is one clinging to attachments and not to anything eternal.

Adam....Where is Your Leaf?

2010-11-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Adam came from immense power and wealth, but he wasn't worthy of you. If he was worthy, he wouldn't have tasted death." Gospel of Thomas 85

Adam came from God, and yet he chose to fall into ignorance. The death is the blindness of the soul to that of the spirit. He forgot where he came from, and who he was. The practice of this way is not easy. It is much easier to fall into ignorance again and again. What a challenge to keep this fire going day and night. Only those who pursue this gnosis will taste of it. One need not convert to my religion or any particular religion to know this gnosis. However one must do the work and be met by grace that changes everything about you. The fruit of this is compassion.

Looking in God's Mirror

2010-11-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are thrilled. But when you see the image of you that came into being before you were born and that does not die nor become visible, how much you will have to deal with!" Gospel of Thomas 84

Jesus here speaks of an us that existed before we were born. This Self does not die either. I believe Jesus is speaking about the Self (capital S) also known as the Spirit. This is not to be confused with the soul -which is made up of the mind, will, and emotions. The mind, will, and emotions are transient. They change and develop. They will pass away. But there is something beyond that. The challenge of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas is to use the soul...to align the soul with the spirit. Use your mind, will and emotions to direct itself to the Spirit of Life within. This is our true self...our true image. And when we see that...when we truly see that light within we will be forever changed. Nothing will ever be the same again. In seeing that light we will merge with the Beloved...or better yet, realize our union with the Beloved. We enter the bridal chamber.
This Self is not something that can be found in passing visions (though they may provide only the smallest glimpses) but visions and spiritual epiphanies are like signposts...but if we stop there we will never progress further through the labyrinth to the center of the Self. The Self cannot be found in belief or agreeing to certain theological precepts..again these may be signposts...fingers pointing at the moon..but not the moon itself. To find the Self requires hard work and dare I say it? Discipline. Those who do not maintain the discipline or do the work required in the Gospel of Thomas are only dilly dallying with religious games. Their roots are not deep. They do not make time for meditation, and mindfulness which are essential on this path. However the investment of discipline is well worth the rewards. It may leave us utterly speechless, utterly changed...but I think we will be able to rest after this shift.

Hiding

2010-11-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

I see you Beloved...
hiding in the laughter of a child.
in the prick of a thorn on the skin
in the stranger walking by on the street.
Do not hide yourself any longer.
I know you are there...
Though I only glimpse your light...
Even this is enough
Though having tasted
I want more.
Do not hide.

I Found God in that Rock Over Yonder!

2010-11-11T04:03:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Images are able to be seen by people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light." Gospel of Thomas 83

The world we see hides the light of God. Some argue that this light is trapped in matter...others say it fills matter. In my opinion, that is just theological bickering, such as how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. I simply don't care. I tend to be an optimist and thus lean toward a more panentheistic stance, but if it is the latter it will not shatter my beliefs or theological systems. But rather it is interesting what is said here. God's light is within the images of things. The flowers, the birds, the pleasant things, the unpleasant things. We can see that light. In fact, I think we are challenged to see that light. We will not see the fullness of God for that would be too much to comprehend or bear but we can see that light. Take time today to honor the light in those you meet and come across. Mentally honor the light of God in each person.

Flaming Jesus!

2010-11-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Anyone who is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom." Gospel of Thomas 82

Here Jesus speaks very much akin to a type of Guru or Eastern Teacher. Once one takes Jesus (or Isa as he is called in the east) as ones teacher...one seeks to become like that teacher. Thus that is why you have verses in the New Testament about counting the cost first...you even have such sayings in the Gospel of Thomas. If you choose to become a disciple or student of Jesus, you agree to wear his yoke. His way is not a totally do it yourself way... This is no different from Buddha, Krishna, or even the traditional role of a rabbi in Judaism (see this link for some great info: Covered in the Dust of Your Rabbi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DswAPdgfRMs )

To come near the teacher is to come near to God...to come near to the fire. I believe this is why Jesus has us become his twin. Jesus the messenger of God, the awakened one wants to guide any who would follow him into this same awakening. He does not teach a way of "do what I say, but not what I do" but rather a do as I do...in other words, "This is the way I awakened..allow me to show you that way" Those who deviate from the instructions of their spiritual teacher after being accepted by him often show an amount of pride and self absorption or if nothing else a bit of flakiness. To take a teacher is to emulate them....to become them. For Thomasines we see this as a way of following Jesus, allowing his words to be life...to become Jesus, to be his twin.

Power Over/Internal Power

2010-11-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has power renounce that power." Gospel of Thomas 81

It is hard to fathom that my meditation on the saying of Jesus is on the downward slope. 81 sayings and only 33 to go. And through these meditations, I am aware of an interior deepening within me. The GoT has become a life spring to my spirit, even as I go back and meditate on a passage, every time it deepens. This saying deals with power and wealth...and yet I believe the power and wealth that a disciple of Jesus should seek is not that of this world. It is not a power over others. Rather it is a type of internal strength...and power within. One who has become wealthy in this power...through meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual practices..they will reign as they have learned to truly see things as they are. Those who has learned to reign through the ways of the world, they are called to humility and even a renouncing of the power over. I don't think however that all managers or such should quit their job, but to use that internal power within to lead. One could learn a lot from leadership from the likes of Jesus and Buddha.

This Sack of Meat

2010-11-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has found a corpse, and whoever has found this corpse, of that one the world is not worthy." Gospel of Thomas 80

This saying is problematic for many people. Many people assume that Jesus is speaking of the physical world. I don't accept this as he says in another saying that split a piece of wood or lift a rock and Jesus is there. I think that the world is filled with the light of God. So how do I interpret this? I believe that Jesus is speaking the systems of the world. The systems that oppress, neglect, and hold power over others. Jesus is calling his students out of these systems. He shows a new way of living...of power within rather than power over. Of a kingdom of lovers, rather than lords and masters.

Breast Feeding and Other Matters of Spirit

2010-11-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

A woman in the crowd said to Jesus, "How blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you." Jesus replied, "Blessed instead are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Blessed are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.'" Gospel of Thomas 79

In this saying, Jesus puts down any specialness about himself or his mother. Instead, he suggests that those who hear God are the ones who are blessed. How do we hear God? How do we have ears to hear that still small voice? I believe the best way to know yourself and to hear God is through meditation and contemplation. It is only in silence that the voice of God can be heard. It is only in meditation that we learn to observe the mind and lay aside distraction after distraction like peeling away layers of an onion. When we have done the work then over time we come to know ourselves and God for we are sons and daughters of God..We came from the light and share the nature of the light. We are sparks from the Holy Fire of God. When we achieve such a realization we are free from the flesh.

Wisdom Teacher, Guru, Dharma Teacher

2010-10-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

A strange shift in my consciousness has occurred in my meditation on the Gospel of Thomas. I am now better able to appreciate Jesus. I am able to see him as wisdom teacher, a guru, or dharma master. Like the Buddha, he attained realization of who he was, where he came from and what the nature of reality is. We don't know when exactly when it happened, however stories grew around it...was it at his birth? Was he born awakened? Perhaps at age 12 or 13? His immersion in the sacred river Jordan? His time in the wilderness? We really do not know, and yet we know he awakened. His dharma or teaching is similar to that of the gurus of India or the Buddha and his students. Yet it is distinctly his. He takes students/disciples and seeks to teach them the way to awaken to this knowledge (gnosis). Many of them are slow at realizing. Like the Buddha he rejects some of the ways of his birth religion. He is no longer bound by it. He has transcended it...he will use what is helpful and reject what is not. He ignores the purity laws of his people...which served as its own caste system. He went to the rejected, the immoral, the sick and unclean. He loved them. Those who held to the traditions were not happy. He taught against corrupt systems that denigrated people, whether those systems were religious or political. It was this that led to his crucifixion. It was this act, where his final teaching was displayed. He loved and served the truth to the point of death. He was utterly free and not limited by the body but lived beyond it. His students some while he was alive and some not until his death achieved that realization and set out to live it and teach it. Each of his disciples had experienced this differently and lived and taught it differently. The stream that I live is the Thomas stream. I realize that the Gospel of Thomas while containing words of the living teacher, may also contain words of later students in this stream of teaching. I honor and live by this teaching, seeking this same awakening and becoming a twin to this teacher we call Jesus.

Meditation

2010-10-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well I survived my first week of increasing the intensiveness of my spiritual practice. I have started getting up at 5am, perform a simple puja and sit in meditation for 30 minutes. After that I do spiritual reading. Then after I get home from work, I sit for another 30 minutes. Then one more set of puja and meditating for 30 minutes before bed. My mind is the most focused at 5am. My sleepiest time seems to be the afternoon meditation.

I know it takes 21-22 days to form a habit. Two more weeks to go!

The Same Message

2010-10-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

He who has known that all beings have become one with his own self, and she that has seen the oneness of existence, what sorrow and what delusion can overwhelm such a one? Isa Upanishad

When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." Gospel of Thomas 2

Vedanta and the Gospel of Thomas

2010-10-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

I am convinced that the Gospel of Thomas is a wisdom text. More and more as I meditate on the words of the text, I see how Jesus speaks in the role of a an enlightened man. He challenges his disciples to know themselves and through knowing themselves they come to know God who is within them and all things. For Jesus the guru, the kingdom is not in some heaven out there but rather is found within. I spent three years with a guru, and recognize the teachings really are the same. Jesus may very well have had contact with those from the east. He could have traveled there with his family as a child. Whatever the case, I am firmly convinced that Jesus spoke as a spiritual master for the liberation of those who followed his teaching. He came from God, and called us as an elder brother to help us know the life and saving knowledge of God he himself knew.

Thomasine Universalism

2010-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the modern Thomasine path is that it is truly universalist. It does not try to set up a religion but allows the individual to follow the religion of his or her choice (or not to be religious as well). The primary message is that we came from the light. We are all sons and daughters of God. In knowing ourselves, we will begin to know God. This worlds systems are corrupt and dehumanizing, so protect your brother or sister like the pupil of your eye. Belief in the divinity of Jesus or any of the stories told about him (his miracles, virgin birth, sacrifice etc.) are not required and yet allowed if one so believes in these things. So by all means there could be Jewish Thomasines, Quaker Thomasines, Muslim Thomasines, Neo-Pagan Thomasines, Christian Thomasines... The Gospel of Thomas, in my humble opinion is a truly universalist text!

My Personal Conclusion

2010-10-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

I had really been wrestling with something that will be of little interest to those of you who are not Thomasines. In many ways it is a completely minor matter and not at all central to the message of the Gospel of Thomas, but has been something that haunted me. The matter is the issue of who is Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas. Is he just a man? a prophet or messenger of God? Is he Divine? Like a sticker that gets under the skin it has brought my attention back to it again and again. My personal bias is that I WANTED to be a Oneness Thomasine. I believed and still do that believe in One God allows for some common ground with other faiths that also affirm one God. However I would come across sayings that made Jesus sound divine. They would speak of his pre-existence, himself as the light, and with an authority that almost seemed divine. At other times he speaks as a human, reminding them there will be a time when he is not going to be around, that he too is surrendered to the Father, that we can be exactly like him. So what is my conclusion? Is Jesus Divine? Is he Human? The answer is yes. Please allow me to explain. Jesus existed in God in the beginning...and so did we. Like a clay jar dropped to the floor the light which was one and was in God was broken. We were that light - the sons and daughters of God. We came into this world and into these bodies, forgetting who we were and where we came from.
From my reading of the Gospel of Thomas I believe we all existed in the light as the light before our physical birth. We came from the light and stood in the flesh. We forgot who we were, sons and daughters of the light, of God. Jesus remembered who he was and where he came from. He knew his union of his interior light with the light of God, just as we are all called to do. He lived as an elder brother to share what he had learned and experienced. His life became a lesson, his words and the integrity with which he lived. Thus the reason he speaks with authority is because he has experienced it. He awakened to union with God. This is, in my opinion, what happens with the saints of all religions. They become the elder brothers and sisters to those around them. As a disciple of Jesus, I follow his words and way. He reveals were we all came from (including him) and who we are (sons and daughters of God in the same way he is). So in that way I remain a strict monotheist rejecting the trinity. I believe in One God from whom we all emanated. I believe in Jesus, our elder brother and son of God, who upon his awakening was sent as a prophet/messenger to any who would hear to help us awaken as he did. Like the Buddha teaching his students but ultimately the experience of awakening is individual and cannot be done by someone else for you. So when the Gospel of Thomas speaks of blaspheming the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit, It means you can reject the images we hold of a father god in heaven as words and descriptions are not what God is..God is beyond that. We can reject the messenger, our elder brother Jesus and still be awakened. He is only a messenger. Awakening is separate from that. However the Holy Spirit is the light inside us, that seeks to reunite with the light of God. If you reject that...then there is problems. You may describe it in different ways (I am only speaking in metaphors for God and light) but to out and out reject the whole thing is problematic. So a Thomasine can be a Christian if by that you mean one who follows Christ. We may even honor Jesus as our divine elder brother (akin to another Thomasine text The Hymn of the Pearl) but he is not the Father. I believe Jesus lived with such integrity that he loved the outcast seeing who they really were. I believe he rejected the claims of power made by the religions and politics of his times, and like those who stand for the outcast, he died for it. Yet like all those who awaken, he is alive in God as are all those who awaken.

Oneness/Trinitarian Thomasines

2010-10-15T04:51:00.001-07:00

I wanted to post here a couple more types of Thomasines. However they could fall within either the monachos or the ecclesial spectrum. Keep in mind that regardless of these differences in the descriptions I use (monachos/ecclesial/oneness/trinitarian) that they are one family. The differences do not keep them from wonderful discussions and recognizing each others as brothers and sisters in the faith. In fact, by the end of this post, I think you will see the differences are very minor and minuscule indeed.

Oneness Thomasines are strict monotheists. They believe in one God in the way their Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters do. God is not divided into a trinity but is simply one God. This God could be called Father or Mother but in reality these are just terms of affection. They believe Jesus was a man, perhaps a messenger, perhaps a prophet but still a man who awakened...much like the Buddha. They follow Jesus as their spiritual teacher and seek to live by his words in the Gospel of Thomas but their devotion and love go to God alone. They interpret verses that at first glance to portray Jesus as divine in light of the pinnacle of the Gospel of Thomas where Thomas is considered Jesus equal and teacher, and by Jesus' own words makes Jesus no longer his teacher, as he has realized the truth himself.

Trinitarian Thomasines view Jesus as somehow divine. I should clarify that they may or may not hold the full view of the trinity that orthodox Christians often hold. They may believe that God sent the Logos or the Logos/Sophia to fill Jesus at his birth/baptism, or even in a manner akin to the incarnation as found in Luke or Matthew. In whatever way they interpret a type of divinity to Jesus, they may have no problem praying to him or seeing God in him. They could often view Jesus akin to a divine guru or avatar as found in Hinduism.

Though these are differences, the similarities between the two groups should never be a point of contention. They both honor and hold the Gospel of Thomas close to their hearts in love and devotion. They both honor Jesus as an enlightened teacher whether divine or not. They both love the Father. They both strive to do good works. They both seek to become a twin of Jesus.

Hey Buddy, Got a Dime?

2010-10-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "Why did you come out to the countryside? Did you think you would see a reed shaken by the wind? Perhaps to see a person dressed in soft clothes, like the rulers and the ones in authority? They are dressed in soft clothes, and yet they cannot understand truth." Gospel of Thomas 78

This saying is very similar to the one said in the mainstream gospels though in them Jesus was talking about John the Baptist. However in this gospel it is implied that Jesus may have been speaking about himself. In this saying Jesus is reminding us that the wrapper does not tell us the deliciousness of the candy. There are folks with shiny suits, nice cars and beautiful looks who will make you feel like a million bucks and perfectly validated who are poison to the soul. There are those who are the rejects of the world that may have realized the truth and if we are not careful, may ignore in favor of the bright shiny lights.

Hey! That Rock is My Dad!

2010-10-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "I am the light that is above all things. I am the all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." Gospel of Thomas 77

This saying became famous due it being quoted repeatedly in the movie Stigmata. There are two possible interpretations on this (and probably many more but I only know these two). For some ecclesia Thomasines they would point to this as part of their understanding of a high Christology. They would see Jesus speaking as divine. I personally would argue more from the monachos (Oneness) Thomasines. Jesus is speaking from his recognition of union with God. We are all sparks of God. We came from God, and are his children. However we share the nature of our Father. And thus are called back to merge back into the All which is God. Jesus was one person who realized this. Thomas was too, thus was Jesus twin. We all too are called to the same thing. This recognizes that all people of any or no faith can realize this and that they are sons and daughters of God just as we are. Here Jesus speaks as a saint and mystic who sees that of God in himself and himself in all things. This is a state of many mystics and saints in all the world religions...Christianity, Sufism, Hinduism... That we would be able to even realize the spark and fan it in to this flame is a beautiful undertaking. My prayer is that each and every one of us would do that.

Buy Your Stuff Here!

2010-10-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a store owner who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was wise; he sold his merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So you also, seek God's treasure that does not fail, that endures, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys." Gospel of Thomas 76

There is a spark of God in you and me. In fact, that is one of the things I love about being a Thomasine. There is no separation between me an other people. I can honor and see that same Holy Spirit within us all. However Jesus, our elder brother on this journey, reminds us that this pearl is hidden and must be uncovered. This is done by contemplation, knowing yourself and loving your brother or sister like the pupil of your eye. These three are not really separate things at all. In contemplation and meditation we sit with God....basking in the light of our loving Father. From this light we are better able to know ourselves, as the light shines in the shadowy places we are not accustomed to search. As we know ourselves, we allow that loving light to change us into a person who can see God in everyone and everything...thus making us able to serve God by serving others. By loving and protecting our brother or sister like our own eye. This work is done by us and yet can only be accomplished by the gentle grace of the Beloved. Are you willing to let everything else go to seek that pearl of great price? In giving it all up, you find the things that truly matter.