The Gospel of Thomas with commentaries by K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and more in simple language.
It is a great joy for me in the daily study of the holy scriptures and apocrypha to recognize my inner core, essence and mission and soul plan and to give nourishment to my heart and soul, in growth, inner richness and orientation. This gift of the heart and inner joy no one can take away from me.
Contents
The Gospel of Thomas with commentaries by K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and more in simple language 1
Background 2
What is the 'Anti-Christ'? 46
Millions of angels are just waiting for man to ask them for help 129
Thoughts on meditation and the mind 141
Islamic banking without interest, is it possible? 147
Successful implementation of this attitude of Jesus in Wörgl according to the ideas of Silvio Gesell 147
Armageddon and Dispensationalism 174
Cosmic Consciousness 178
Summary of the most important statements 180
Analysis of the commentary on the Gospel of Thomas in Wikipedia 180
Audio version, sources and links 182
Incarnation and reincarnation 182
How can I get more certainty what my soul plan is? 189
Thought loop, despair anger, rage, powerlessness situations, how do I get out of it? 190
How do I find answers to my questions? 191
Note
The pictures of the Swiss artist couple H.G. Leiendecker may seem a bit kitschy to some, but they draw the inner light and the character and mission of Jesus in beautiful colors. I thank Mr. Leiendecker for making these pictures available to me for this purpose, as long as it is not commercial.
Background
The Apocrypha include the Gospel of Thomas among the Nag Hammadi writings (1945-1947),
the Gospel of Peter (rediscovered in 1886),
the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, excavated from 1897 on, only a small part has been published so far,
the Egerton Papyrus (1935).
Here we will deal with the great Gospel of Thomas.
There are sayings of Jesus, about the disciple Thomas (sure we do not know), but they were not included in the official canon. However, this is not so popular in the church, because it somewhat questions the claim to power. That is why this book was hidden at that time and banned on pain of death. It was not until 1945 that someone found it again. But still the church does not like it at all. That is why the books are extremely expensive, very conspicuous! The author calls himself K. O. Schmidt, maybe he is a little afraid to mention his first names? All the strict believers have their problems with this, because here the life of Jesus is very much in the center and not the death on the cross. Besides, it is always reminded that the glory of God is also in us. But certainly also outside, e.g. in nature. But the book does not exclude a personal relationship with Jesus!
To me they show again in a completely different side of Jesus and my love, fascination and appreciation increases. Because actually Jesus has brought us much more! The awareness that deep within us is a space where we are independent of the outside world. Where there is deep love, aliveness and joy. Perhaps meditation is a good way to open this up? After all, Jesus also withdrew and prayed again and again.
All this is a great challenge for strict Christians and therefore one must deal with it somewhat diplomatically. I now have another book on interpretation by K. O. Schmidt, which I like better. Because I think you need something an interpretation.
From the Gospel of Thomas according to K.O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and other commentaries, abridged, simple language.
The great promise
Words of Life (Introduction)
These are the secret words spoken by Jesus, the Living One, and written down by Didymos Thomas.
The Gospel of Thomas begins with these words, which are introductory and point to the core of inner Christianity, leading to life.
In the apocryphal "Acts of Thomas", Thomas is called the twin brother of Jesus, which is perhaps meant in a figurative sense. It is perhaps meant to say that Thomas, along with John, is among those most deeply introduced and initiated by Jesus into his teachings. Of this I am convinced. Here I sense the original!
In the Gospel of John (16:12), Jesus says that he still has much to say to the disciples, but that they are not yet able to grasp it. Later he revealed parts of the hidden wisdom of God to Thomas and thus gave them the necessary spiritual aids, for their own higher development and self-perfection see verse 13. "To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. To the others it happens through parables", Jesus said. The meaning is revealed to those who are not yet awakened according to the degree of their spiritual maturity and responsiveness.
Jesus communicated the interpretation of meaning in the inner circle to the disciples who were already open to it. That is, he led them to the hearing of the word in their inner being. In this inner circle of the initiated disciples the words reproduced in the gospel of Thomas were recorded. With their explanations I would like to begin now.
Verse 1
And Jesus said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these words will not taste death."
Or He who understands what these words mean will not taste death.
The truth is not in the words, but in the vibration they create. And, of course, in the fact that we also try to live what we have understood. To look for ever new ways that bring us into a living connection with the inner reality to which they point. The path of knowledge is one that must be walked.
The Word wants to point us to "God's spark" that shines in us, or Sophia, the living wisdom in our hearts. To connect with her is gnosis, the knowledge of ourselves, the connection with our spiritual essence. The Self can be recognized in the depths of a pure heart. Whoever recognizes it becomes immortal.
Whoever lets the words of Jesus come alive in him, however, and recognizes their hidden meaning, attains the certainty of eternal life. He will become clairaudient for the inner word, clairvoyant for the inner light and conscious of his inner guidance. He will find Christ in himself and thus, like Christ, triumph over death and be certain of the immortality of his divine self. United with Christ, he is removed from the madness and suffering of the world.
Thomas, who really wanted to know, could speak like this, because Christ once appeared after His resurrection only because of him (Joh. 20,24 f.). He could therefore confirm what the other evangelists (Mark. 9, 1; Matth. 16, 28) also said, namely that some of those who are standing here will not taste death. Until they see the kingdom of God coming in full power, which will not descend from heaven to earth with great splendor sometime in the future, but is within, waiting for everyone to become aware of its presence.
The meaning of the word of Christ has dawned on those who have awakened to it: They have found Christ and with him the kingdom of God in themselves and are sure of their immortality. They have awakened to the higher reality of the world in their hearts and to the certainty of eternal life.
The same truth is repeated by John (8:52): "If anyone keeps my word, he will not taste death forever," because if the inner word is his support, he has awakened to real, eternal life beyond the transient mere existence. After this introductory promise, the next saying immediately points to the essential: the turning of the seeker of truth inward. I am looking forward!
Verse 2
Jesus said, "Seek and do not stop seeking until you find. When you find, you will be confused. When you are confused, you will wonder and rule over the universe.
Jesus cannot just lead us to our inner light. If it were otherwise, no one would have to search, because people would all have been enlightened long ago. No one is able to live our life for us. Self-knowledge is not simply given. Of course, no one except ourselves can set out on the path. Everything has its price, this is also true for knowledge. We have to want it and direct ourselves towards it, strive for it at every moment, that is, mobilize our will and make a decision. Searching is a way of life, and sometimes it can be stony. The WAY has its difficulties. Whoever wants the pearl must go into the depths, must make an effort and dive for it. If we stay on the path, do not slacken and do not give up the search, Jesus says, we will find our inner light.
The silent man, who wants immortality, beholds the inner self with closed eyes. Not in paradise, mind you, in an afterlife, not later and not elsewhere, but here and now, still in this life, we can find the pearl. Liberated beings we can be in our bodies.
The experience of this being from which everything that is comes and into which everything will dissolve and flow back again, this ocean of bliss overwhelms and confuses everyone who experiences it. The unity of being, consciousness and bliss, can only be expressed in images and symbols, in metaphors and poetry, for beyond the senses lies the Great One, teaches Master Lao-tzu - "invisible, inaudible, intangible." Grasping the intangible, the Great One - God or the Source from which the diversity of the universe flows - lifts us above the limitations of existence in space and time. Being free. Kingdom of Heaven. Being detached.
He who is freed from the clutches of an ego world that has become too narrow becomes master in that house that is his inner being and no longer remains the slave of the ego. The world in the mirror of his mind will no longer dominate him. Rather, it is he himself who will rule everything.
The promise given in the Gospel of Matthew (7:7), "Seek and ye shall find, is given a deepening in verse 2 of the Gospel of Thomas, "He that seeketh shall not rest until he findeth. But when he has found, he will marvel; marveling he will attain the kingdom, and having attained it, he will find rest"
In the midst of the restlessness, haste, and lack of support of outer life, we can experience that in the innermost is rest: the peace of God. Restlessness and confusion belong to the outside and spring from the fear of life, while at the center of the circling "wheel of world events" there is immobility and all-sufficiency.
Blessed are all who are driven by the restlessness of the heart to continue with the search, which is ultimately a self-search, until the saving island of peace, the place of silence, is found in the storm and swell of the sea of life. And it can be found. He who wonders will attain the kingdom; and he who reigns therein will rest. The soul, because it is open to the wonder of life and turned toward the essential, passes through the gate of wonder out of darkness into light, awakens to the light of truth, recognizes in that light the inner home, the kingdom of God, attains serenity in the consciousness of its security, and gradually becomes the image and the bearer of the rest of the Eternal, whom it knows within itself. Whoever thus seeks and holds on to the essential in everything and dives down to the ultimate, the divine ground, is on the right path to the light. Who thereby rejects what is not God, finds God in everything. At the same time, the seeker of God realizes that he was in truth a seeker of God. That with every step he took towards Him, God came two steps towards him. Until the man awakened in God and the God who became man are no longer two, but one.
But it is necessary to be vigilant and trustful. There is a confusion that leads to death, and there is a confusion that leads to life. The awakened one also knows hours and days of nights and God-distance. But his trust does not let him stagnate fearfully frozen, but courageously go on through the nights again to the light, to the amazement and to the devotion. And further to the breakthrough into the wide-awake awareness of the greater reality that opens up before him. There is first the confusion that leads to life, to life from the spirit and into the security in God.
All in all, Christ extends the statement already made by Plato that all love of wisdom and search for truth begin with wonder at the being of things. And over the marveling admiration and awe opposite the miracles of the creation, to the realization leads. At the beginning of all finding, there is bewilderment and amazement of the wonders of life outside and of life within. From wonderment arises elevation to the spiritual realm. The recognition of the kingdom that has been prepared for the children of God since the beginning of the world (Matthew 25:34). The cosmic consciousness and dominion, which is greater than all possessions on earth and all earthly power. And this divine kingdom is what the next verse is about.
Verse 3
In you is paradise and the glory of God
Jesus said, "If your leaders tell you, "Look, the kingdom is in heaven," the birds will be there before you. If they tell you, "It is in the sea," the fish will be there before you. Rather, the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you.
If you recognize yourselves, you will be recognized, and you will understand that you are the children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, you live in poverty, and you are poverty.
Jesus does not mince words. Do not trust your leaders, he says, who want you to believe that the inner light is elsewhere than in your heart-mind. Trust only in yourselves. Look into your own depths. There you can hear the voice of your inner teacher. Malkutha, the Kingdom is nowhere and nowhere, only in the here and now, the only time that exists. Eternity is another word for it. Moses "Near is the word in your mouth and in your heart." (Deut. 30:14).
Helen Schucman "Eternity is a time, and its only dimension is 'always.'" The Kingdom of Heaven is a state of consciousness. Our life path and spiritual practice can lead us to it. This is what all mystics keep saying.
Total inner freedom undermines the claim to power of rulers, even more so when religion and politics enter into an unwholesome union, which is still the case in many places today. Dignitaries, priests and churches place themselves between the people and the highest: "Stick to us," they teach, "and do what we tell you. Confess to us what you think in secret. Give us 'tithes' ! Then, when you have died, you will enter the kingdom of heaven."
Leaders feed their power by making people afraid. "If you do not keep to us, you will suffer torments of hell." Jesus: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are closing the kingdom of heaven to people. For you yourselves do not enter, and those who want to enter you do not let in." (Mt 23: 13)
Where we do not realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is an internal state, we live separated from the wholeness of being, separated from life, from love and from God.
Jesus called God, a word that is usually translated as Father but is also called Mother or All-Unity or Father-Mother Cosmos - the fullness from which life comes. Without an inner connection to it, we experience lack, Jesus says.
When I recognize myself, then I am recognized: The highest and I meet each other. God dwells in me. And he also dwells outside of me. He is everywhere, flowing through everything and everyone. You all have the Teacher within you. He is always guiding you, speaking to you. But unfortunately you do not take the time to listen. He who has ears, let him hear.
These words point to the core of inner Christianity. It is not a place, but a being, to which everyone should and can awaken. The children come from there! That is why they are like that! It is found in the innermost part of the inner man, that is, very close (see also Luke 17:21). Every man belongs to the world according to his outer appearance, and should work there, be himself! To have an opinion and not to parrot what the television pretends. Through the human being, who is alive outside and inside, the Kingdom of God is also present not only in us, but also outside of us, as far as he transforms it from the verbal Christian, to the real Christian, through right thinking and acting in his environment. As love, goodness, forbearance, benevolence, mercy, justice, helpfulness, light knowledge and wisdom. So in the measure of his doing in the outside and in the nearest, as an expression of his self-realization, which is at the same time sense-fulfillment of his life. Thus, the Kingdom of God is both hidden and manifest. It is everywhere and at all times. It reveals itself to all who become inwardly awake to reality and manifests itself through them in the external as well. As an inheritance of the Kingdom of God for all to realize: If you recognize yourselves, you will be recognized. By God as the Son, by the world as the bearer of God's light, love and wisdom, and by the awakened as your equals and the guardians of the mystery of life. Then you know that you are "sons of the living Father" and owners of the fullness of God. See Galatians (4:9) "But now ye have known God, yea rather are known of God." And 1 Corinthians (13, 12): "Then shall I know, even as I also am known". Thus the kingdom of God is the fruit and fulfillment of what the sages of all times called the threefold destiny of man: "Know thyself! Be thyself! Realize thyself!" For whoever solves this threefold task has thereby also attained the highest trinity: the God-knowledge, that being one with the Father and the God-realization. In the Gospel of John, "I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you." In the awakening of the soul to Christ as the true light of God shining in its innermost being, it becomes the site of His resurrection. Then the full meaning of that word of Christ dawns upon her, "As many as there are men on earth, so many gods are there in heaven." She, the awakened soul, now sees as truth and reality what before her awakening was only promise and presentiment. That every human being on earth, according to his innermost being, is a citizen of that Kingdom of God in which he is timelessly present. The mystic, Meister Eckehart on this: "The soul itself is the spiritual and divine heaven, in the depths of which God secretly accomplishes his perfect works. Therefore, the soul should turn inward, into the eternity of its own being. And realize how, through the presence of God in it, it is enabled to the communion of His eternal bliss, to oneness with the Lord of Light. Know thyself, know thy self, Christ in thee, the spark of God's light. What do you seek, soul, the living one among the dead? Let him arise in you, for you call the Son of the Father and who you are yourself! Recognize that in the innermost of your being the divine is enthroned. Here you are beyond all words. Here, in the unity of the divine being, you, soul, have lost your name. Here you yourself are the immeasurable being. If you want to become completely one with God, you must leave and lose yourself. Because God is closer to you than you are to yourself. In this becoming one, God gives you everything that he gave to Christ. The unity of being and the perfection. Everything that the Scripture says about Christ becomes true and real in you and in every soul united with God. In this oneness the awakened soul, the enlightened self, becomes a shining primordial light, a sun in the immeasurable light and rays of God.
Somehow the Gospel of Thomas was a kind of reset and suddenly I find humanity quite insane at the moment. One hammer is enough to break the toy. Why do you have 10 hammers for that? One is enough, everything broken! But there are people starving! Well, I'm digressing!
Jesus already said, become like children! He was right, no violence, love without end, energy without end, until you ... well it is enough! I can confirm, when I experience the original of the children. Happy every day, energy, imagination, peaceful, everything is supplied, absolutely no competitive behavior. Nevertheless, more creative and active than the adults. And then I condition them every day, with the opposite of the ten commandments! Violence, fraud, criminality. Since the media are financed by force, it has increased rapidly. Exhausted one falls asleep uncritically in front of the television. Competition, violence and brutality are written into the subconscious. It worked well in the USA. The weapon industry writes super numbers! I was once in the USA. Can't you just go out on the street at night in Detroit? So this is practical proof of what the 1st semester psychology student says. We are 85% controlled by the subconscious. By the way the colleague there made another pretty bad "joke". We are weapons exporter No. 1 and in the films we showed how to operate the equipment, and then a loud laugh. I think it's all pretty out of line. Because if my wife is dead after the argument, God forbid, then the kid will ask me, why didn't you guys settle this verbally? Besides, there are the 10 Commandments! Don't they apply anymore? Are you barbarians? But what do you media want to prepare or condition us for? For war? Even my mother-in-law gets upset! Once Tatort the week is enough! I do not need it 3 times a day! I would like to know how it looks in Papua New Guinea in the paradise. Or on the contrary in the hell of Iraq or Libya! Or what ignorance of the human being causes, Easter Islands for example. Why don't you show that? The behavior of humans would change abruptly! A Doku is enough! We pay yes well! Or do you think the opposite? Garbage, nevertheless the question is not answered! So why don't we stay with the original? That was the best version of ourselves!
The spirit works, and I work through him, as he works through me.
Verse 4
Jesus said, "A man old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child of seven days the place of life, and that man will live. For many of the first will be last, and they will be one.
Jesus likes to play with the image of the child. It conveys untouchedness, purity, joyfulness and bliss to us. The child is still free from explaining the world with the mind, classifying it in terms and pigeonholes, dividing it into "I like" and "I don't like" or pointing a judgmental finger at others. The newborn simply looks into the world full of wonder. Only eyes that look without ego can see like a child. In moments of total presence, we can experience something of the sweet taste of this non-judgment......if only you are free from inclination and aversion.
In Jewish tradition, the circumcision of boys takes place on the eighth day after birth. Thus, the child is officially accepted into the community of believers and becomes part of the institutionalized religion. From the perspective of Jesus, this day represents the conditioning of the mind, the dividing, be-ing, and con-demning of the world. My God, your God, right, wrong. On the seventh day still the spirit is naked and innocent. This day symbolizes the (still) unity with the highest, the wholeness. The eighth day, however, represents separation, the leaving of the original unity and the loss of innocence. The eighth day is forgetting, the transplanting of the vine, far from the Father.
All this is quite provocative: where people set a ritual act that wants to express the reception into the covenant of God, Jesus sees the opposite, namely the separation from our inner reality. That he did not make friends with this among the priests and scholars of his time will surprise no one.
The newborn comes from the highest, into which one can enter only when the spirit is free and non-conditioned, purified, self-knowing. The spiritual practice - ethics, meditation, contemplation, prayer - wants to bring us precisely there: "To a spiritual rebirth, a return to the state of the child in the sense of truthfulness of thought and speech and a simple directness of action.
The child of seven days or the enlightened spirit of the old: They are heaven. Mystic Rumi (1207-1273) explains: "The fresh, perfect fruit comes into existence only at the end. From the beginning we are in the world for the sake of a supreme purpose, namely, to become man in the perfect meaning of the word. The dharma of man - his purpose and task in a spiritual sense - is to come to oneself. Into the One also the last will enter again, into the wonderful and blissful state of consciousness of the seventh day, that mysterious meeting point where the circle of life closes.
Other words of Christ also point to the children in whom the Kingdom of God is still manifest. He forbade the disciples to reject the children (Mark 10:14 f.). For they still have the kingdom of God in them. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, unprejudiced, grateful, will not enter it. See also Matthew (19, 14). In other words Jesus, whoever seeks me will find me in children, because there I will be revealed. May all who seek the truth remember these words. And instead of wandering into the distance, or losing themselves in materialism, open their eyes to what is right in front of them. For the closeness of God directly in the children. Which can become a bridge for them to be born again and to become aware of their own relationship with the divine in us.
When Christ admonishes us: "If you have seen your brother, you have seen God, how much more vivid this truth becomes when we look into the eyes of the children. They still have this unreserved openness to the gifts of life and their self-giving to life in full trust in the security of God and parents. In the adult, the second is absent, because they take responsibility themselves. They should. But nobody tells them. The initiation rites are missing. That's why some still play with the railroad in the basement until old age or if you have money and power war. Yes, this sounds sarcastic, but if you look closer, you have to confirm this unfortunately. Therefore I can say only mankind is ill, seriously ill even! However only 0.001%. But that is enough! Maybe the Gospel of Thomas will heal us again! At least it has healed me to recognize this madness.
Here the gate of the own rebirth and new becoming opens to us. The old man dying will feel the closeness of the Eternal in the sight of the newborn child. And become certain of his immortality. The awakened eye sees the child step out of the security of the inner being into the school of life in the here and now. Towards the revelation of himself and towards perfection. Thus he calmly turns to the kingdom of God, as whose inheritance he recognizes himself. Thus the child becomes to him the consciousness of the rebirth. It is to recognize in God our loving Father and Mother.
To live from this consciousness of eternal friendship with God is to live from the spirit. The awakened one knows that the spirit overcomes the world. The power of the divine spirit in us is greater than all the power of the earth. The one who follows the call of the spirit lives from the fullness of the divine power and from the certainty: No power is greater than the spirit! Not for nothing there are successful spirit healers. The spirit is a reality that is and acts, a truth that is and governs. The more vividly we are aware of it, the more wholeheartedly we trust and flee to the spirit of God in us, the more manifest his assistance and our security becomes. The smallest building blocks of matter, are manifested energy through the revelation of the spirit. Likewise man and his body and spirit, projection of the invisible divine self. The spirit, is the all moving and effecting behind the beings and things. In the inner world the becoming one of the spirit with the divine and thus the incarnation of God takes place. He who lives from the spirit has awakened to true life. For he who has the spirit as his root will reap eternal life. And this pours through him as a stream of renewing power into mankind, which is urgent. This is all the more visible, the more the awakened one realizes, the spirit works, and I work through him, as he works through me.
Inner growth
Verse 5 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and own comments
Jesus said, "Know what is before your face; and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed."
In our minds, usually well hidden and buried, are found our deep-seated beliefs and ingrained habits. There lie thoughts, memories, emotions and repressed things. We don't like to look at it. But what does that change about their existence and the energy that is inherent in them?
All that will unfold its effect. The hidden will become apparent. In the case of repressed emotions, for example, as physical or psychological suffering, perhaps even in destructive actions. "Know what is before your eyes."
The spiritual path does not want to repress anything. It is first and foremost a path of psychological self-exploration that actively seeks to make visible what is hidden. On every facet of our being the purifying waters of our consciousness should be directed.
If we follow a systematic meditation practice, we can bring the light of our awareness, into these dark corners, look at the pain, accept and understand it, and finally let it go. Jesus also calls this letting go forgiveness. That which is hidden is revealed in a healing way and we can thus free ourselves from it. We restore the original healed state.
The last thing that will be revealed is our inner light, buried under mental dust and debris; darkened by guilt and repressed pain. Forgotten and just waiting to be rediscovered by us.
The same promise of Christ is found in Matthew (10:26), "There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing secret that will not be known," also in Mark (4:22) and Luke (8:17). The perfect knowledge that is promised here is the fruit of knowledge, which in the last is the knowledge of God. The beginning of perfection is man's self-knowledge, perfect perfection is God-knowledge.
Everything that does not appear before your eyes and is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is buried that will not be resurrected. Those who engage in inner growth also strive for knowledge and wisdom. This means that we always look consciously and not only see the surface, but recognize the hidden core. To recognize the light behind the shadows, the spiritual behind the corporeal, the eternal behind the earthly and the divine under the shell of the human being. For those who see in this way, something is revealed that remains dark and hidden to others. For the one who learns to see inwardly, intuitively and with the eyes of the spirit, there is nothing hidden that does not reveal itself to him. Happy, therefore, all those who go the way inward. In this way they experience what those who live in the outer world rarely or never experience. That they go up from one step to another, from one realization to the next higher one, from light to brighter light and thereby become more and more aware of their inner growth and maturation. Before their eyes the covers fall and the graves open; and the Spirit of life comes forth, blessing them, widening their hearts, consecrating them, awakening slumbering spirit-senses, and leading them up step by step into the kingdoms of God's light.
Verse 6 of the Gospel of Thomas:
Jesus said, "His disciples asked him, Do you require us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What dietary rules should we follow?
Jesus said, Do not lie, and do not do what you hate. All things are revealed before heaven. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing hidden that will not be uncovered.
Jesus sayings sound enigmatic. Where even the argumentation and all logic end in a dead end, there something else, something deeper can come to light.
Jesus does not give us simple answers, no simple "do this and do that" as a concrete recommendation for action. He gives us a very basic advice: Do something that corresponds to your nature, something that you love. Do not lie to yourself. Don't say something you don't think, and don't do something other than what you say. Be honest in everything you do - with yourself and with others. In other words, be authentic!
Whether we go to church, say prayers, meditate, or venerate statues and images; whether we sing spiritual songs, make donations, or do whatever: as long as these remain only external acts, they don't mean much. The outer act experiences its meaning and wholesome effect only in its correspondence with our inner attitude.
Not to do what we hate, therein lies another dimension of meaning: self-respect and the esteem of our neighbor are like the two sides of the same coin. All beings are alike at one fundamental point, namely in the need to overcome suffering and experience happiness. At some point, everything comes to light. This is quite evident.
Verse 7 of the Gospel of Thomas
The expulsion of the ego
Jesus said, Blessed is the lion when a man eats it, so that the lion becomes man. Corrupted is man when a lion eats him, so that man becomes a lion.
The lion stands as a symbol for the greatest hurdle man must overcome on his spiritual path, his ego. Like the lion in this saying, the ego always thinks only of itself. There is a lion in all of us.
The ego is a hermaphrodite. We need some of it, otherwise we would not be able to survive as physical beings, because it integrates our experiences and the different levels of our being into a wholeness: body, senses, breath, thoughts, feelings and so on. This sum of "I and My" demarcates us from "not-I and not-My" for the sake of sheer survival. But the gluttony of the ego knows no bounds. Then the lion becomes an obstacle on the way into the inside. That he is also capable of destroying the world is shown by the view into the so badly wounded creation.
If only the lion were aware that he is part of a whole, embedded in the community of life, then his inertia could give way to commitment to the whole, and he would no longer use his strength only for himself. He would give to the weak what they need, and his children would no longer have to fear him.
Because we don't know who we are and where we belong, we feel exposed in the world as lonely, separate selves, always fearing for our safety.
To break out of this precarious situation, the ego wants to grow. But what the ego fears most is its death.
These five - spiritual blindness, egocentricity, wanting to have and not wanting to have, and fear of death - are the main causes of human suffering. They cloud our view of reality.
To overcome the lion, we must realign ourselves, turn around and look within. It initiates liberation from error. Jesus wanted our liberation. Pharisees and scribes, however, wanted our bondage.
As physically incarnated beings, we have a part in the earthy and animalistic. We should not let ourselves be overwhelmed by this, otherwise we will lose our humanity. But we must also not deny or suppress our natural side, because otherwise it will remain hidden. It will seek and find a way to express itself, but it will not be a way we can control or direct. What is suppressed becomes harmful to us and to the world. If we want to let go of something and transcend it, we must first look at it and truly accept it. This also applies to our instincts and urges. They are a part of us and are part of our human heritage.
Verse 8 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, "Mankind is like the wise fisherman who threw his net into the sea and pulled it out again full of small fish. Among them he found a good, big fish. Without hesitation, he threw all the little fish back into the sea and kept the big fish. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus can be pretty direct. You can gather as much inventory in life as you want, he says, in the end it still won't make you happy. Titles, positions, possessions, influence, money and knowledge, relationships and pleasurable experiences. The nets can be as full as they are, we still keep casting out new ones.
Even if you should be granted a few moments of happiness, even the pleasant and beautiful carries the germ of pain.
The many small fish, these are the innumerable mental processes in the ocean of consciousness. A frayed mind is weak. Only when we focus the energy of our mind can we achieve great goals and catch great fish.
As a laser beam focuses light, so in meditation we focus our mind. "If your eye is one(directed)," Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "your whole body will be full of light." We need alignment. In meditation as well as in life in general.
Verse 9 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out and took a handful of seed and scattered it. Some fell on the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on rocks, and they did not take root in the ground or form ears. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds, and worms ate them up. Others fell on good soil, and they brought forth a good harvest. They yielded sixtyfold and a hundred and twentyfold.
Jesus, the sower, gives an inner message to his closest disciples in the hope that it will fall on fertile ground. But many people are not yet ready for his message.
In the first verses of the Gospel of Thomas, the Master already lays out the complete program of the mystical path:
- Do not taste death - That which you really are is immortal. (verse 1)
- Seek and find - You can know this by setting out on the path and following a spiritual practice. (Verse 2)
- The Kingdom is within you - This path will take you to your own inner self. There you will encounter the reality of yourself, which is one with all that is. (Verse 3)
- You can only come to this self-knowledge when your mind has become free of its conditioning and habitual patterns, so that it can perceive things in their so-ness without a mental filter. (Verse 4)
- The Hidden Will Be Revealed - The spiritual practice of self-enquiry and meditation brings the light of your awareness to all facets of your individual mind, to all that is unconscious, repressed and buried. This is how it can be released (forgiven). This is a process that cleanses (purifies) your mind and frees it from its conditionings. (Verse 5)
- Don't do anything you hate - Be authentic and undisguised. Be truthful with yourself and honest with others. Look at your mind without sugarcoating anything and without judging yourself. (Verse 6)
- Eat the Lion - On the spiritual path, the ego is your greatest obstacle. The inner purification process will reveal to you that it only causes suffering and is ultimately illusory. (Verse 7)
- The big fish - Align yourself in life with the highest and practice making your mind one-pointed. Get the big fish! (Verse 8)
Verse 10 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and behold, I keep it until it blazes.
This sounds so not like the peaceful message with which we usually associate the person of Jesus. We will see that he knows how to use even more drastic word swords when it comes to waking us up from self-forgetfulness. This is uncomfortable. Making it easy for us is not Jesus' business.
The symbol of fire is telling, and many spiritual traditions play with it. Of course, the Master does not want to set the world on fire, but our spirit: That it may be purified and shine in the light of Christ consciousness. The fire is meant to burn our unconscious tendencies and all mental furniture that robs us of inner peace - all our karma. To hell with the ego!
On the inner path it can be difficult. This is also part of the image of fire. Even in meditation, one can sweat when the mind-field is on fire. Development means inner friction, and that drives the sweat to the forehead of the "spiritual warrior". Transformation and heat belong together like the sun and the light.
Verse 11 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away.
The dead are not alive, and the living will not die.
In the days when you ate what is dead, you made it alive.
When you are in the light, what will you do? In the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?
Jesus begins this verse with the idea of impermanence. Everything that comes must pass away, even heaven. The whole cosmos is born, unfolds, and will eventually go into dissolution again. Being born, growing and dying are an eternal circular movement. Nothing remains as it is. This is Samsara, the wheel of being.
Becoming and passing away are cosmic primal principles, which work in everything what our spirit can only think of, in everything what it can name or grasp. Only the reality which is subject to it, whose energy brings forth the creation in its multiplicity and transitoriness, is excluded from the principle of the cyclic, because it is its source.
Now follows riddle upon riddle. Why does Jesus tell us that the dead are not alive and the living will not die? When Jesus, the Living One, speaks of aliveness, it can only mean aliveness in a special sense: being awakened. To be awakened, to be enlightened, to be immortal - different images, common sense.
Those who are alive in the physical sense may be alive, but in the sense of Jesus' aliveness most people are drunk, asleep, dead. In this state, when they once lay down their bodies, they will not enter paradise or become "alive." Rather, blind as ever, they will roam the astral planes and experience heaven or hell. In this other, equally transient world, they will continue to search for happiness, unaware that they have only passed from one dream to the next. Thus, death in itself does not promise comfort. (See also verse 59).
We only continue what we have already begun as physically incarnated beings.
Eating dead and making it alive - Physical life can only live from physical life. Therefore, we must kill what we eat. Unfortunately, we do this mostly in a ruthless way, en masse and without any compassion. (Anyone who has experienced the roar of a pig before slaughter can never forget it). In any case, the dead that we take in nourishes us, it becomes alive through us and in us, just as the ashes of the dead become the earth from which new flowers grow. Here, too, we encounter the ideas of transience, of the cyclical, of transformation.
But not only our body, but also our spirit makes the dead alive. And I think that herein lies the real meaning of the logion: Thoughts generate living, tangible reality. Everyone can easily check this for himself: Think of yesterday's bad day, and you feel the anger, very much alive, although yesterday is only a dream today. Think of tomorrow's challenge, and you worry. Tomorrow is even more unreal than yesterday, which is still a memory. The future, on the other hand, is mere imagination, fantasy. In the end, it will probably be quite different from what you think.
What do you want to "feed your mind" today? When you are in the light, what will you do? Light means the making known of what was unknown, that is, the coming forth of reality. What do you think we will do when we see things as they are, freed from the many glasses our minds wear, beyond the little ego world in which we live our mechanized daily lives? If Jesus in this saying is really about doing, then one will probably be able to answer: We will do the right thing! We humans like to make life complicated for ourselves.
But when you become two, what will you do? We are beings torn between the poles of duality, searching for our lost unity and simplicity.
To bring communion, faith and works in harmony, that is the message to me, in this exceedingly demanding passage.
Jesus has a love for the poor, the brokenhearted, and for actions rather than words.
James was his beloved follower and brother. James wrote...that it was only by works that faith was made complete...James 1.22 13 My brothers, what good is it if someone says he has faith but lacks works? James 2.1 14
Verse 12 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will leave us. Who then will guide us?
Jesus said to them: Wherever you are, seek James the righteous. For his sake heaven and earth became.
James, whom Jesus calls here "the righteous one", was probably the oldest bodily brother of Jesus and from him came the letter of James, however, this is not certain. Unfortunately only one letter, but it has fire in it! I love him especially because he awakens us humans to live our potential.
That only through works faith was made perfect...Jas 1.22 13
My brothers, what good is it if someone says he has faith but lacks works? Jas 2.1 14
So the disciples are afraid of losing their master. Who then will give them guidance? I imagine how Jesus, the wisdom teacher, may have looked at that moment, disillusioned because with every word he pointed out the inner reality that all they are and can be is already within them, and that they basically need no one to guide them.
James must have been a good disciple, one who was just. To be just here means to have the right view of the world, of meaning and being. It is the awareness around the transitoriness of the world and the immortal essence in ourselves, the distinction between reality and illusion.
How do you explain the light to the blind? Why do they keep calling for guides? Why don't they realize that God is in them all? Do they not feel His power, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit? It is no wonder that the world is in such a bad state.
Whenever what is good and right threatens to deteriorate, and what is evil and wrong takes over, I show up in physical form. To protect the good, to destroy the evil, I appear so age after age. Is also Christina of Three a messenger of Heaven?
James, the successor of the Master, also had to give his life for the attempt to plant the knowledge in the people. The earth was not yet ripe for the seeds he sowed. The blind were to stone him.
Verse 13 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, Compare me with someone and tell me whom I am like.
Simon Peter said to him, You resemble a righteous angel. Matthew said to him: You are like a wise philosopher. Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is simply not able to say whom you resemble.
Jesus said, I am no longer your master, for you have drunk and become intoxicated with the bubbling spring from which I come.
And he took him, and withdrew with him, and said three words unto him .... When Thomas came back to his friends, they asked him: what did Jesus say to you?
Thomas said to them: If I tell you one of the words he spoke to me, you will pick up stones and stone me, and fire will come out of the stones and devour you.
Thomas no longer needs a teacher. So Jesus says to him, "I am not your teacher." The fire is set. The Master's message inflamed him, and he tasted of the nectar of immortality. He looked into the face of the reality that is himself. Simon Peter and Matthew still cling to the person and words of Jesus, seeking guidance and direction. They need something they can grasp with their minds, or at least believe in, because his teaching has not yet become their own inner experience. This is what Thomas has ahead of them all.
Reality is without words, and so Thomas cannot say who Jesus, the Living One, is. Infinity cannot be put into words, defined, delimited or fenced in. Thomas understood that his teacher meant nothing external when he said, "Compare me to someone." Rather, this question is aimed at the core of his being, his spiritual essence. Thomas has drunk from the "bubbling fountain." Sophia is now his inner teacher; he no longer needs an outer one. Once Jesus leaves, Thomas will experience the pain of separation, but his WAY he can go alone. The one who finds Sophia frees himself from the shackles of the world. He becomes a sage who connects with the sacred power from which the world flows out. He who finds his inner light, as Thomas did, is no longer anyone's disciple. Teacher and pupil meet at eye level. And they are careful about what they say.
Verse 14 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban.
Jesus said, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give alms, you will harm your soul.
When you go to any area, wander through the country and people receive you, eat what they give you and heal the sick among them.
What goes into your mouth will not defile you, but what comes out of your mouth will defile you.
This is very incomprehensible at first. This is a drastic answer to the question that the students already asked in the 6th verse. It is not the surface that matters, all the hollow and put-on, the feigned piety and rule-following. All of that is basically just hypocrisy. It "pollutes" our spirit, which nevertheless wants to be purified. The external activity, regulated by social authorities and mechanized by our own habits, can never lead us to God.
Sabbath, the holiday of fasting and not working, means a day when we remember that we are connected to the wholeness of creation? How could we be aware of our connectedness and at the same time refuse to help the sick? So heal the sick - whenever and wherever, Jesus says. Rules that are not helpful must be broken. So more important than any dietary rules are the words we use. They can heal or hurt. They are expressions of our thinking and thus of what we have made alive in our minds.
Right Insight.
Verse 15 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban and K. O. Schmidt.
Jesus said, "When you see one who has not been born of woman, prostrate yourselves and pay him reverence. This is your father.
The meaning of this word is obvious: He who awakens to the inner man, who is not like the outer one, "born of woman," to the divine self, to the Christ in him, who, as it is said in the Gospel of John (14, 9), seeing Christ, at the same time sees the Father and at the same moment, is irradiated and transformed by the inner light and understands: "I and the Father are one!"
The idea of the perfect inner freedom of man threatens every claim to power. If we all stood in the light, the world would be a different place.
Jesus wants to enlighten us to become like Him and find that nameless "something" within us that is unborn and immortal - that which was not born biologically but was there before we incarnated. "Before Avraham was, I am," Jesus says in the Gospel of John (John 8:58). The unborn light precedes our biological being. How also could eternity know time and place?
Angelus Silesius spoke of giving birth to the Christ child within us. We are the manger. Christ dwells in us. Or Buddha. Or the Tao.
Being virgin refers to our spiritual field, the inner field, that we dig and clean it to make it ready for ABWUN to enter into it. Before HIM we prostrate ourselves.
The inner work of forgiving, of looking at and letting go of our sorrowful thoughts and feelings, the "work" on our spirit, may sometimes not be easy. And so, in the next saying, Jesus takes up the image of the spiritual warrior.
The Divine Fire
Verse 16 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban and K. O. Schmidt.
Jesus said, "People may think that I have come to bring peace on the world. They do not know that I have come to bring conflict on earth: Fire, sword, war. For there will be five in one house. Three will be against two and two against three, the father against the son and the son against the father, and they will stand alone.
The same saying is found in the Gospel of Luke (12:49 + 51 f.). "I have come that I might kindle a fire on the earth; what would I rather ,
than that it burn already". It means the embers of the Holy Spirit waiting to be kindled and kindled in every heart. The other words "division," "sword," and "war" are also symbols of spiritual transformation. They point to a transformation of the sense man to the inner man, of the I in the Self.
When man reaches enlightenment on the way inward, then the God-unity blossoms, the completion by becoming one. What outwardly appears as affliction and distress, finally proves to be redemption and becoming free.
The Son of Man came to save human souls. He saves them by urging them forward as their inner guide through suffering and bliss, experience and inspiration, through the inner light and through the inner word, and by helping them to awaken to themselves; that is, to find Him and to complete His work with Him.
Who says that the path to the interior is peaceful? Self-exploration is not a wellness vacation, but an honest look. We should let go of what is blocking our path to inner peace. But to do so, we must first learn to accept it: "There you are, you familiar envious feeling, I see you. You are allowed to be there. And now that I have seen you and not judged you, please move on!"
The five the Master speaks of could be our five senses. But it is not until we direct the senses, like a focused ray of light, toward an object, as
as we try to do again and again in the practice of meditation, we can experience the light and unspeakable things happen.
Richness from within
Verse 17 of the Gospel of Thomas according to Ralph Skuban and K. O. Schmidt.
Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not grown in the heart of man.
This promise means the fullness of the Kingdom of God, which cannot be seen with our eyes or heard with our ears. They are spiritual in nature and make one happier than anything the world can give in the way of pleasures. This fullness is not reached by those who cling to the external, but by those who turn inward and find the greater, of which the world knows nothing.
Behold, I make all things new. He who, following the senses, misses the point and, as long as he falls prey to deceptions, experiences disappointments. Nothing makes old faster than the addiction and search for always new things and forms. The essential is lost in the process.
On the other hand, the one who is always conscious and certain of himself, who lets himself be guided by the timeless spirit of truth and unswervingly goes his way to the light, is considered rich in God. The ancient truths and wisdoms of the awakened of all times are eternally new to him and support him on his way of perpetual renewal.
He sees himself, the world and life in the rising light of the inner being anew every day. Every encounter with others or with destiny reveals to him new happiness, profound wonders and insights. The more vividly he awakens to the Christ within him, the brighter flames his joy at the newness of all things and at the new spirit that shines through everything and unites him with God.
Above all is his own renewal: the rising of the new man out of the old, out of twilight sleep, and the gradual transformation of temporal existence into eternal life, which leads ever higher, that is the way.
Verse 18 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban.
The way to perfection
The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, what will our end be?"
Jesus answered, "You have indeed uncovered the beginning to see about the end. Where the beginning is, there will also be the end. Blessed is he who will be in the beginning. He will also know the end - and will not taste death."
He who has found me, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of everything, and that which is beyond, in himself, has both beginning and end, and that which is beyond without beginning and without end! He who has awakened to the Christ in himself knows about the immortality of his divine self.
What He did to me, I will do to all of you who believe. But already the daily inner growth and becoming greater, in which everyone participates, who goes the way inward and lets himself be guided by his inner helper and guide, is delightful. Already on the way to the light we experience the gradual initiation by the master within us, the gradual revelation of ever higher truths and bright realities, the becoming alive, the increasing harmony with destiny, the gradual awakening to the inner light on the way to perfection. The transformation of our human consciousness to the vastness of cosmic consciousness into the boundless unity of eternal life.
We wear many masks and are forced into roles. None of this, says Jesus, is you. When you realize THAT, you experience what you really are. Enlightenment is a process that transcends us as a person. The heart can grow beyond itself through love.
The beginning comes from the Source and the end leads back to it, home into the GREAT OCEAN, back into the Divine. The path of self-exploration and meditation wants to go back to the source. That I renew myself, I do that to approach my origin anew, because that is pleasurable. God is the source and is pleasure and love. (according to Meister Eckart).
Verse 19 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban.
Trees of life
Jesus said: "Blessed is he who was before he was. If you become my disciples and hear my words, these stones will serve you. Indeed, you have five trees in paradise, which do not move in summer and winter, and whose leaves do not fall off. Whoever will recognize them will not taste death."
This is a beatitude of the one who is conscious of his spiritual origin and thus of the eternity of his being. He who has awakened to his divine self can say with Christ, "For the self was in God before every embodiment, and is now and always in God and eternal as God Himself.
Blessed is he who knows that he was before he came into existence from being, that is, was born, for he, like Christ, is certain of his eternal being. And he who hears the divine word within himself unleashes the elemental power slumbering in all for the benefit of mankind. He works that all things serve to his perfection and vitality.
The five trees, are the trees of life, from which the awakened one nourishes himself, without their fruits ever diminishing: They give to him who ingests them the fullness of divine love and power, wisdom and eternal life, so that he does not find death, because he is reborn in the bright light of the Godhead, certain of his incorruption.
The external instruments function in the present, the internal instruments in all three times. The inner instruments are perceiving, thinking and feeling. Finally, our higher intelligence, wisdom and intuition. Our mind functions in the past, present and future. But most of the time, our mind namely stays in the past that no longer exists or gets lost in the future that does not exist yet. It is stuck in the anger of yesterday and in the worries about tomorrow. This makes the present hell for him.
But our senses always function only in the here and now: Only now can I taste, smell, feel, see and hear. Only now can I perceive. So the senses can become gateways that lead us into the eternity of the present: Only hear. Looking. To feel. Breathe. Being present. This works especially well in nature. Jesus taught outdoors and spoke of the trees, the grass, the wind and the flowers. He was a teacher of nature!
It is the spiritual tradition of the East to get in touch with the essence through the breath. The breath, also means spirit, better: life spirit. Indian mysticism speaks of prana, the life energy, which we absorb primarily through the breath. To feel the breath - this may be one of the trees in paradise.
Verse 20 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban.
Growing from small things
The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, to whom is the kingdom of heaven like?" He answered them, "It is like a grain of sea, which is smaller than all the seeds. But when it falls on the land that is being tilled, it sprouts a large sapling and becomes shelter for the birds of the air."
St. Thomas brings out the essence that the land on which the seed falls is worked by man, that man does his part so that the seed becomes a tree, named here as representative of all living things. As Christ served all, so we should also be brotherly servants to all beings - humans and animals - so that the light and the power in us may increase. Every movement of serving love and willing devotion warms and inflames the heart, every good word, every helpful deed makes the soul lighter, the walk more buoyant and the way up easier.
It is the sum of good thoughts, words and deeds that prepares the ground for the seed of light, leads us to ever higher levels of inner light and brings enlightenment, expansion of consciousness and initiation and makes us a helper and guardian of all life.
The spark within us may only be weak, but when it begins to blaze, it is able to change our world. It can become a great light that guides us. Sometimes it is only a small hint from a wisdom teacher like Jesus. When it falls on ripe ground, it can blossom and become a great tree. It gives us security and protection. If it is very big, giant, it can also become a refuge for countless others. The greatest can grow from the smallest.
Awake to the essential.
Verse 21a of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban.
Mary asked Jesus, "To whom are your disciples like?"
Jesus answered, "They are like children who are in the field that is not theirs. When the masters of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have our field.'
They are naked before them, that they let them have it and give them their field."
The children, as already shown in Proverbs 4, are the closest to the kingdom of God. In the field that 'does not belong to them' - in the outer world where they are guests - they let themselves be served by whatever comes to them and let it go just as willingly, without claiming ownership ...
Thus the awakened one lives in the world without being of the world. He allows himself to be served by everything, but always remains conscious of his higher origin and future and therefore free from the covetousness for that which is transient and cannot be held.
In the midst of everyday life, he remains awake to what is essential, keeps an eye out in the flood of fleeting goods for the higher values that remain, the inner treasures, and lets go of everything else. He knows that it is not the outward gains, but the inner gains and inner growth that are decisive. Standing above things, he does not suffer from the transience of everything earthly, but lives and draws from the fullness of the eternal, which is permanent.
Every day anew the thieves rob us of peace. Anger, resentment, worry, fear, jealousy, false knowledge, prejudice, wanting to have and much, much more. They cause pain and discontent. These predators are our enemies. They steal our peace and remove us from the source.
We are the owners of that house which is our mind. And our greatest possessions are trust, love, kindness, compassion, hope - everything positive in our mind and the words and actions that spring from them. Their fruit is inner peace. Living this is a daily challenge.
Consciousness becomes tranquil when we cultivate an inner attitude that is kind to the happiness of others and characterized by compassion for suffering beings. An attitude that expresses sincere joy for the good and shows serenity in the face of the negative.
What will we be able to take with us once we leave the body? Our physical life is only borrowed for time. Naked we came and naked we go. We take only our spirit with us into the non-corporeality. Plus the responsibility for our actions and their effects - our karma.
The point of maturity
Verse 21b of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt.
"Therefore I say to you: If the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will watch before he has come and will not let him break into the house of his kingdom to have his things carried away. But you, watch in the face of the world! Gird up your hips with great strength, so that the robbers will not find a way to come to you. For the property you were looking for, they will find. Among you be an experienced man.
When the fruit ripened, he came in haste, his sickle in his hand, and reaped it. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
The first parable is found in a similar form in Matthew (24:43) and Luke (12:39), exhorting us to be vigilant against the world, so that the 'robbers,' that is, the children of the world, do not penetrate our inner being to where we are one with the kingdom of God. If we are 'true' children of God, when the 'lords of the field' come, we will willingly leave their field to them, because we no longer cling to the perishable. But whoever still looks for earthly goods and wishes to keep them, what he clings to will be taken from him. And perhaps, above the non-essentials, he will also lose the essentials, the treasures of the inner being.
The second parable reinforces this admonition to be vigilant: it is necessary to pay attention to the point of maturity in everything and to do what is right without delay at the right moment. This in turn means securing the eternal values and leaving the transitory ones.
Awakening to Oneness
Verse 22 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus saw children who were being nursed. He said to his disciples, These children who are being nursed are like those who enter the kingdom.
They said to him, Shall we then enter the kingdom as children?
Jesus said to them:
If you make two into one, and if you make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and if you make the top like the bottom, and male and female into one, so that the male is not male nor the female female, if you make eyes instead of an eye, a hand instead of a hand, a foot instead of a foot, an image instead of an image, you will enter the kingdom.
As in Proverbs 4 and 21, Jesus compares the awakened ones to children. The masculine and feminine in body and soul are merged into higher unity in the self-awakened spirit. Paul also points to this in his letter to the Galatians (3, 28): "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ," a truth.
Let us imagine this scene: Somewhere mothers are sitting and nursing their little ones. These children are totally at what they are doing, immersed in the protective and nurturing feeling of being close to their loving mother. This total yet relaxed focus without any distractions, joy or aliveness. No ego is there to be dissatisfied. The Mother's breast also represents Gaia, our Mother Earth, whose breast nourishes us all. Instead of treating her with appreciation, we beat her and trample her underfoot. A small child would never do that, because it loves the living.
The image of babies being nursed is particularly well suited to convey this message. It reminds us, in fact, of longing. Nothing could be more important for the child than its being with its mother. She is his supreme. Just as these children need their mother, love her, and long for her when they are not near her, so too may we long for the highest and remain restless until we finally get there. Elsewhere, Jesus speaks of the hunger that makes blessed (verse 69). "One must feel for God the longing of a child".
Jesus then replies that it is hard to imagine it more enigmatic. This message formulates a basic cosmic law. In the small the cosmos is reflected, the ONE works in the many. As the human being, so the universe. In the smallest already the big whole is found. The creation is a hologram. If one knows the human being, thus oneself, then one knows the universe.
Awakened and awakened
Verse 23 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "I will choose you one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand alone."
One will be found one in a thousand who have come to the consummation or wisdom of the Mysteries. That is, until now, there was one awakened person for every thousand who were not awakened. While the latter are still inwardly and among themselves divided, servants of division, doubt and discord, the awakened are already on the way to oneness and the awakened are one. Today, however, it is no longer so: today the time of maturity, of the awakening of the soul, has come closer for more and more people, although the awakened and the awakened remain a minority. But this minority will turn out to be more and more the elite of the united humanity and the nucleus of the future cosmic man. This will build the bridge from the earth to the universe and from the animal-man to the spirit-man and further to the God-man.
More and more people awaken to the consciousness of their divine origin and future and become aware of the truth of the other forgotten Lord's word: "I chose you before the world was created."
By recognizing themselves as eternal, they experience themselves at the same time in their innermost being as outer man and inner man, male and female poles of being, no longer separate but united in Jesus, in a mystical becoming one.
Like the sower, Jesus spreads his message. But not many have ears to hear. Jesus wanted to remind us of our inner light. But the few who hear recognize the great unity of being.
The inner light
Verse 24 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
His disciples asked, "Show us the place where You are. For we must seek it."
He answered them, "He who has ears, hear! There is a light in a man of light, and he enlightens the whole world. If he does not shine, there is darkness."
All being is from the light and strives for the light. Even the dark in us wants light, the unconscious wants to be raised to consciousness.
But often the light to which it strives is external: it is the light of ego-relationship and the sense world. But ego, consciousness and unconsciousness are only half of man, only his shell and not the core. In the depths lives the greater, the true, inner man, who longs for another, higher light that is within: for the light of the spirit of the divine self.
When this inner man begins to stir, the whole man turns to the innermost: the primordial light of the Godhead. Goethe also spoke of this "To let this spark in us awaken to flame and to realize the divine in us is our highest duty." Jesus' answer directs them to inner hearing and being seized. For he who has learned to be silent and to listen properly, in hearing the inner word, also awakens to the inner light. He has awakened to his eternally shining innermost self and light, and these illuminate the whole world." Jesus lets these people participate in his light and helps them to awaken as well.
Energy is vibration. Light and sound. Energy is life. Spiritual experiences have always been described as experiences of sound and light. Light has so many dimensions: The light of spirit or love; the light of awareness and alignment, clarity and purity; the light of knowledge that illuminates the dark. And the Word proclaims truth. Word and light work the miracle of healing.
Redeeming power of love
Verse 25 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "Love your brother as your soul. Take care of him as the apple of your eye."
With this, Jesus points us to the practical consequences that follow from man's inner awakening, to the responsibility he bears as a more mature, older brother toward his younger brothers and sisters in the kingdom of life, and to his task of loving all that lives as himself and being a guardian and helper to it.
This demand goes deeper than mere goodness and help. For it grows out of the realization of the inner community of all living things and leads to the fact that one not only loves the other as oneself, but recognizes, affirms and loves him as his own self, which is reflected in the other. To this Origen says: 'How can you say, Law and prophets have I fulfilled? Behold, many of your brethren suffer need and die of hunger, while your house is full of goods, and none of it comes to the needy.'
Especially in our time of worship of external successes and progress and addiction to securing earthly existence, it becomes clear how little the external progress and prosperity corresponds to the internal one. How often are there those who have become a blessing to all for the fulfillment of meaning?
Where outwardly apparently nothing more is needed, there inwardly often everything is missing! Why? Because the old spirit of wanting to have prevails and not the spirit of giving, which is followed by the receiving of the essential, and the law of balancing works. "What one does to another, good or bad, will fall back on him. If one is kind to others, he will also experience kindness. Therefore, whatever good a man strives for himself, let him also strive for his neighbor."
He who cares for his neighbor in a spirit of loving devotion need have no concern for himself. For he who wants to do good for others establishes at the same time his own well-being.
This is the touchstone by which everyone can measure how far he is already a Christian, how alive Christ has risen in him and determines his thoughts and actions.
A loving attitude is good. But only what becomes action has value and power. He who thinks with the heart and lives from the light of the heart lives rightly, for God sees into the heart. This also includes the unconditional doing of the good that can be done.
Especially the seekers of truth should heed Christ's admonition not to neglect their duties in the outer life above the way inward or to overlook the neighbor.
This neighbor is also every animal. For in him also, as in us, the divine is in living unfoldment. Word of Christ from the Acts of Peter: Man, why do you strike your animal! Woe to you that you do not hear how it laments to the Creator in heaven and cries for mercy! Have mercy on it, that you too may find mercy." He who values an animal as a thing and withholds his love and help from it, grieves the Creator Spirit within it. For all beings came from God; his love embraces them all; in every being God is as alive and present as in us.
Therefore, whoever has Christ in him, whose inner light shines, foreign suffering becomes like his own suffering, and he feels called to actuate his love.
Our inner light, of our own self, is also the light that shines in our brothers and sisters. I see that happiness and pain unfold in all beings, they are basic facts of biological existence. Love expresses itself primarily through compassion, a quality of mind that has no conditions. It is an energy of light and warmth pouring out from deep within us. We should feel this for the highest as well as for our neighbor, in whom the highest shines, as in us. In this way, love of God, self and neighbor unite into a single force: If everything that is is part of a whole, then in the end all beings are as close to me as my soul and God are to me. In the Gospel of Mark we read:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the most important commandment. And the second is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. No commandment is more important than these two." (Mark 12:30-31)
For Jesus, these principles were immediate lived practice. He went to the lepers and healed the sick. He risked his life for a prostitute. Because he wanted to bring the word and the light to the people, they killed him.
The cosmic law of sacrifice, according to which God became man so that man might learn to realize his divinity, says that the higher lovingly serves the lower in order to draw it up to itself. Therefore, the awakened ones, the children of God, have mercy on the animal world in the same way as on the human world. He who recognizes his neighbor even in the animal, discovers a language of God in the language of the mute. Be bearers of the light and see to it that in every encounter with other beings, through the light that shines in you, you also kindle the light in the hearts of your fellow creatures! In the light there is salvation! Blessed, therefore, everyone who makes the inner light shine even in one soul! And blessed are those whose light shines far beyond the dark lands, lifting up the hearts of the weary, the fainthearted, and the despairing, and unleashing in them the redeeming power of love!
Love God in your neighbor!
Verse 26 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "The mote in your brother's eye you see, but the beam in your own eye you do not see. If you take the beam out of your eye, you will see to take the mote out of your brother's eye."
Never will you be able to be happy if you do not look upon your brother in love. He who knows Christ in himself, sees in his neighbor his brother and in his brother God, can look upon others only in love. This was the case in the first Christian communities. Let us see to it that today, in the dawn of the cosmic age, it becomes a new and perfect reality!
Whoever calls himself a Christian, let these words move in his heart and check himself whether he has not only known but also lived the divine powers of his soul. Only he who follows Christ and puts His words into living deeds will see Him, become one with His light and through Him attain oneness with the Father, with the Spirit of life.
For to believe means to pledge oneself to the inner helper - Christ - and to abandon oneself to His guidance. To believe means to know about the inner support that makes us superior to the external circumstances. Where this faith is lacking, fear and insecurity, helplessness and forlornness prevail, there is no end to the search, because it is not followed by finding, no becoming one with the inner guide and through him with the divine.
Clement of Alexandria: "If you have seen your brother, you have seen your God."
Look upon your neighbor as upon the God who dwells in you and is equally one and the same in him and you. The common God-ground of your souls is what unites you and makes you do by yourself, from the divine self, everything that serves the other. When you are conscious of God in your neighbor, fear and arrogance cease. In God we are all equal and one. No one is less than another, for the same God lives in all of us.
This communion of God is deeper and more lasting than communions of blood and interest. It makes you realize, when you look at your neighbor - even if he is the lowest and poorest - that "in you, my brother, God meets me. In you, Christ meets me." Let us therefore see to it that everyone becomes a light-bearer of the divine Spirit for all!
People are only too happy to judge their neighbor. But are things really always as we perceive them? Do we know for sure what moves others to their actions?
No matter how fine our senses are, they are limited. No matter how great our knowledge may be, it is never comprehensive. Not even the simplest experiences can we really share, because what we see, we always see only with our eyes, never with those of the other.
The beam in our own eye - it reminds us that we have to take care of ourselves. It is better to light a light than to complain about the darkness, says a proverb. It is better to clean our own minds and try to become good people. Working on ourselves helps ourselves and, in turn, helps all those connected to us. Condemnations do not help anyone.
The way up
Verse 27 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
"Unless you fast toward the world, you will not find the kingdom. Unless you keep the Sabbath as the Sabbath, you will not see the Father."
Unless you abstain from the world, you will not find the Kingdom of God. The kingdom, heaven, is within you. And if you are not born again, you will not attain the Kingdom of Heaven.
At every moment, man is faced with the decision to whom he will turn his heart: external riches or the internal kingdom, whose abundance exceeds all the treasures of the earth and whose gifts do not perish because they are gifts of the Spirit.
May one have chosen wrongly and failed a thousand times: the way up, into the kingdom of God's light, is always open to him. The love of the Eternal is closer to no one than to the erring one who thirsts for truth and the right way.
The way up is the way inward, so that the inner senses awaken and become aware of the presence of the Kingdom of God. This inner kingdom is always near to everyone: he only has to pause, abstain from the outer world and be sure of the inner support. Then the awakening soul enters the radiant world of the kingdom of God, which awaits the prodigal son.
However, this does not mean that we deny the world and life and live needily and without possessions. This world is a school for everything that lives: a college and opportunity to develop for nascent gods. That we are embodied in it indicates that we have much to learn here and the task of mastering life where it confronts us and at the same time progressively perfecting ourselves. Neither renunciation of the world nor lack of possessions is demanded by Christ, but freedom from obsession with possessions. The Christian lives in the world without being dependent on it. He is with his feet on the earth and lives with his heart in heaven, not only on Sundays, but all the time.
The world can never satisfy us. Fasting, letting go, is a quality that comes from the spirit alone and has many facets. We have to let go of everything in the end. Even our life. When we go into meditation, we detach our senses from the world. Only in this inner silence can we hear the Word. Only in our inner space can we see the light.
The Call to Reflection
Verse 28 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "I stood in the midst of the world and revealed myself to them in the flesh. I found them all drunk. Not one did I find thirsty among them; and my soul suffered sorrow for the sons of men. For blind are they in their heart, and see not. Since they came into the world empty, they also seek to go out of the world empty. For the rest, they are drunk now. If they leave off their wine, they will be converted."
Drunk or intoxicated is what Christ calls all those who, not yet awakened, still see in things their blessedness and hope for their salvation. All those who chase after success but neglect to be a success themselves, living their soul's plan and advancing in the school of life and reaching the fulfillment of the meaning of their existence.
Intoxicated by the achievements of civilization, they do not see the danger of losing culture and soul greatness to the same extent. Intoxicated by the advances of technology, they do not feel the spiritual regression and loss of inner dynamism.
They feast on growing knowledge and on their many readings, and thereby miss what is more essential. The fullness of wisdom that comes from within. And with all this they deepen the gap between thought and action, knowledge and realization.
Only when they "leave their wine", collect materialism or pure knowledge, will they reach renewal from within. Only when you become sober and awake, you will find the God-knowledge!
Somehow it needs an eye to see light. What seems unimaginable to us, we do not want or cannot see. And if we see it nevertheless, then we often do not want to admit it. Most people are bogged down in their busyness and in the intoxication of illusions. The day will come when we sober up. That is often when the world no longer seems like an amusement park to us. It is pain that awakens us. It is then that we regret having wasted so much of our lives on things that have taken us away from our true essence. Yet this is also a time of blessing and grace, as we begin to look for a way out and develop a sense of the higher wisdoms and begin to listen to them. In this way, repentance becomes repentance to return home.
Body and Spirit
Verse 29 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "If the flesh became because of the spirit, it is wonderful. But if the spirit because of the body, it is most wonderful. But I marvel what riches have taken up their abode in this poverty."
Blessed are we when, instead of focusing too much on the body, we become amazedly aware that we are destined to be temples of the Holy Spirit!
And if we consciously let the body serve as a tool of the spirit for its self-perfection, as a tool for the self-realization of the inner man! For then wonder will turn into amazement and bliss at what richness comes from this tool for the revelation and unfolding of the mystery of God.
As soon as we begin to live from the spirit, the spirit in us begins to make use of the body in order to let its richness, light and perfection become visible.
When we remember that we are spiritual beings and let the power of the Spirit rule over our body and life, we blessedly discover that the riches come to fruition through us. That it is limitless and that it makes our body more and more enlightened and spiritual, until body, soul and spirit are one.
Then that state of conscious children of God is reached, of which a word says, those who walk in the spirit are children of God and heirs of the kingdom of God.
This state is meant by the promise of the freedom of the children of God, who are endowed with the highest wisdom, power and fullness of life, and who elevate man above nature and circumstances, because he now lives from the inner world of the spirit.
This question is: Where does the spirit or our consciousness come from? What is consciousness at all and what is its relation to matter.
From matter, science says, springs the spirit. But Jesus places consciousness at the beginning of creation and the beginning of time. The multiplicity of creation is a manifestation of a common primordial ground, which we could call pure consciousness. Whose energy set the dynamics of creation in motion and drives it forward. God says "Let there be!"
Consciousness is energy and it knows many manifestations. It condenses in evolution through the fine materiality of consciousness such as perceptions, thoughts and feelings, to the gross materiality of matter. Jesus says, everything what is, comes from the spirit. But why is this so? Why does the spirit go into this world where there is joy and sorrow? How only did this great wealth come to dwell in this poverty? Perhaps so that the soul can mature and prove itself, in joy and suffering? Like in a school? But this is the greatest question of all mysteries.
Divine All Presence
Verse 30 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Ralph Skuban
Jesus said, "Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him."
See also Matthew (18:20) "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them; they also are one with the Father, and then whatever they ask will be done for them by my Father in heaven."
Where three are together only outwardly and selfishly, then they are mere shadows of God without divine power. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus (I, 1) quotes the same word: "Wherever two are together, they are never without God; and wherever one is alone, I say, I am with him. Turn over the stone, and you will find me under it; split wood, and I am there." The many seek self-affirmation in the masses and gather noisily to disperse. The few go into silence or meditation to gather themselves, to recognize their own path and to reach on it the oneness with the One. The courage to do this is given to them by the insight that wherever one is alone and reflects on his connectedness with everything, the presence of Christ as his inner helper and higher wisdom becomes more and more alive to him each time. When he communicates, he does it to help and to fill more and more hearts with the joyful certainty that what seemed distant and inaccessible is within reach and immediately present everywhere and at all times. Even where two are together in the consciousness of the divine presence, God closes the ring as the third.
In order to become certain of this, it is necessary to learn to see. The one who sees sees God in everything: in every stone, every flower, every eye, every touch. God is close to him in everything. When he works, when he splits wood, God is present everywhere. In this way, the Creator is present at the same time in the work of everyone who creates. The one who sees knows it and therefore practices doing by calmly letting God work through him. Then everything is well and well done.
He who is aware of God's everlasting partnership in everything he thinks and does walks in the light and light floods and illuminates his work. Then uncertainty and ignorance, loneliness and forlornness give way to the delightful insight: "Whatever happens: God is there! In bright and in dark days: God is with me! In crowds as in solitude: God is with me! In sorrow and in joy: God is in me and blesses everything! Therefore, all is well!" But it is a difference whether I know about this divine omnipresence or whether I live it. Only life turns knowledge into certainty. Only the deed transforms the potential into actual living reality.
Jesus is concerned with the human being. Rituals, everything cultic is not his thing. He knows that the kingdom lies in ourselves. Gods are gods, he may tell us, three, four or forty thousand. The images we make of the gods are often lifeless, they cannot speak.
Jesus' place is with the people themselves, to tell them the gods may comfort them, but in fact they are just a stunner. The Sermon on the Mount says, "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (Mt 6:6) This room may be a place in our home, a corner perhaps only, with which we create space to open ourselves to the Holy. But the real space for the holy is the chamber of our heart. The time we spend there and the devotion with which we do it.
The power of faith
Verse 31 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt
Jesus said: "No prophet is approved in his village, nor is a physician able to heal those who know him.
Here the experience is meant that a great man, if at all, is recognized as such only in appropriate distance. Just your neighbors will follow you the least. Do not worry too much about this.
Those who live together with him every day do not see what is beyond the mere human. Thus the inhabitants of Jesus' hometown saw in him the carpenter's son and nothing else. Lacking insight into his nature and lacking faith, they found neither healing nor enlightenment through him.
While the awakened understands the non-awakened and helps them wherever they wish, the non-awakened see in the awakened either a troublemaker or only their equals. Jesus also experienced this. That is why he emphasized again and again the necessity and the transforming power of faith. From the Acts of Peter: "God will come to those who hunger and thirst, and to those who try their souls in this life." He who hungers and thirsts for the essential, the eternal, becomes partaker of the eternal. He who tries out his soul 'in this life, consciously seeks to develop its divine dispositions and dormant powers in the school on earth, constantly comes closer to God, and even more quickly God draws near to him. Until the hour arrives, the time of which no one knows, when man and God touch each other in the awakening of the soul and become one.
"Blessed are you who believe in me and yet have not seen me! Those who see me will not believe in me, and those who do not see me will believe in me."
It is not the outward seeing that is decisive, but the inward. But this awakens the believing trust. So it is necessary to look inward, so that our inner sense of truth and light may awaken. And Christ will guide us through the gate of the expansion of consciousness into the realm of the light of divine life.
Our trusting, affirmative devotion causes us to become aware of Christ in us, as we see ourselves in the mirror: as our true luminous eternal Self.
Blessed still will be those who do not see me and yet believe in me; for they will be called children of the kingdom and of perfection, and eternal life is prepared for them in the kingdom of my Father through me.
This eternal life is waiting for each of us. Christ in us has prepared it for us. It begins at the moment when our will will be completely one with the will of the Eternal.
No one needs to despair and worry that he will be denied the fulfillment and fullness of the Kingdom of God. He only needs to follow Jesus' demand: "Gather on faith and expectation. By both is born love, the friend of God and the friend of man, which bears eternal life."
Let your heart be filled with new spirit of believing affirmation in silence and stillness, meditation and contemplation. Until you feel the inner guidance and in it the love of God and your own love ignites and glows and urges for the doing of good, for deeds of love.
Then you overcome misery and death even before dying and rise step by step from temporal life into eternal life.
The inner support
Verse 32 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Eddy
Jesus said, "A city built and fortified on a high mountain cannot fall, nor will it be able to be hidden."
Just as a city built on a high mountain and strongly fortified cannot fall, so a person who knows about the inner support, lives from the spirit, knows himself guided by the inner light and protected from above, cannot fall into the world, because he possesses greater things than the world can give him, and because he does not strive for the lesser, the transient, but for the highest, the eternal.
It is about the immensity of the man filled and guided by the inner light and living from the spirit.
If we base our life well on a reliable foundation, nothing can uproot us. Just as a tree has widely branching roots in order to flourish, we too should have deep roots so that the storms of life that will come will not uproot us. Deeply rooted in this divine trust, our light can shine, to us and to others for joy and help.
To be light-bringers!
Verse 33 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Eddy
Jesus said, "What you hear with your ear, proclaim with the other ear over your housetops. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place; rather, he puts it on the lampstand, so that all who come in and go out may see its light."
Again, unlike Matthew, Thomas apparently gives a complete and coherent version of Jesus' words. Whoever makes the Master's words the starting point of his meditation will recognize the living Christ, and it may transform and renew him. In doing so, he will recognize that Christ is present in him now and always as his inner helper and guide.
But these words become alive and fruitful only to the one who puts them into action and transforms them into reality. The word has value, power and reality only to the extent that it leads to living action. This is what it wants to exhort us to do, and likewise another word of Christ:
"What you say to the people in your words, do before everyone in your deeds."
It is not enough, therefore, to affirm the good and to proclaim the light, to call and encourage to good deeds. One must also and first do it oneself. The best example that finds the most followers is the good deed.
If we have recognized something as right and beneficial, we should live it! Maybe not proudly and provocatively, but quietly. But the word in the heart also wants to be lived. Let us not stop halfway, but let us go all the way!
Let us become people who bring joy and light! Let us make sure that our actions are in accordance with our convictions! Then we will convince all the world and help more and more people to that freedom of the children of God. Their blessedness is experienced by those who not only proclaim but live the new spirit that fills them.
To bring light into the darkness, that is our task.
The human being of today is largely lonely and alone, peaceless and empty of joy. Because he is far from himself and a stranger. The coldness of hearts, the deterioration of interpersonal relationships or the worldwide mistrust indicate how far man is from the inner fire and how far he has moved away from the Kingdom of God within him. The fact that he walks around in darkness is due to the fact that he is completely absorbed in externalities, that he passes by his neighbor thoughtlessly and lovelessly, and that many overlook the inner light that is proper to man and that Jesus brought to us. The great gift to all mankind! Man has forgotten that he is by nature a child of light, that under the dark and cold shell there glows an inner fire, image of the sunlike divine core of light which is his true being.
Christ points to this when he promises us that the one who approaches him on the way inward, approaches the Kingdom of Light of God and becomes capable in the same measure to bring the light also for others.
When one has encountered his essence, he will not be able to hide behind it. Rather, he becomes a light-bringer also for the others and passes on what he has seen and heard. Jesus did not hide the message but told this to the people. When you have found your light, become a light for others, become an ambassador and doer of the Most High.
Reality blindness
Verse 34 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Eddy
Jesus said, "If a blind man leads a blind man, both fall into a pit."
Matthew (15:14) also has this word with reference to the Pharisees and scribes. If one who is only focused on the outer word and blind to the inner word and spiritual truths, teaches and guides one who is not awakened, then both equally remain entrenched in darkness, in non-knowledge, and do not see or walk the path to the light. This is only visible to those who have become spiritually awake and are open to the essential. Also in Matthew 23, 15 f. Christ calls certain people blinded leaders, who consider the unessential essential, who confuse the external with the internal, who neglect to take care of the purity of the internal, who seem pious from the outside, but inwardly are full of hypocrisy and darkness. Christ meant all those who deny, veil and slander the divine in their own inner being as well as in their neighbor, thus proving to be blind guides for the blind.
He who cannot draw from his own experience when he instructs others, that is, when he himself feels nothing of what he says, falls into the pit together with his disciple. So be careful, Jesus admonishes, and watch whom you follow. If your guide is blind, you will not get far.
The best teacher is the teacher of our heart. Because only I know and can walk my specific path.
Carl Gustav Jung wrote "For scholarship alone is not enough; there is a knowledge of the heart that gives deeper insight. The knowledge of the heart is not to be found in any book or in any teacher's mouth, but it grows out of you, like the green grain out of black earth."
It is so important that we have spiritual masters who have messages that are fed from the inner light, and go from heart to heart. But there are, and not so few. Just maybe some outside the church? I think here of Christina von Dreien, Anselm Grün, Eckart Tolle, Williges Jäger, Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Than and many more.
Be awake and dare!
Verse 35 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and Eddy
Jesus said, "No one can enter the strong man's house and take it by force unless he binds his hands. Then he will empty his house."
This word is an exhortation to constant watchfulness and vigilance: only he who is certain of his self' and at one with himself is strong and cannot be distracted and misled by the children of the world, and robbed of his wealth and inner strength. As long as he lives from the spirit, lets himself be guided by his inner guide and lets God work through him, he remains superior to all the powers of the world.
But most believe in the inner power and help from above, invoking it even in times of need. Yet many fail to act boldly with the help from within. Origen said, "Why dost thou nothing in my way? It is not manifest unto thee that with me is the power and the sword."
Christ asks us to dare to go into our own inner ground, the homecoming to the light. On this path, no one need fear that the demons of darkness might frighten him, confuse him, and cause him to fall. For Christ in him equips him with the strength to follow him unflinchingly and to pass from awakening to awakening on the way inward, and with the sword of the Spirit that neutralizes all that is negative. Until finally he hears Christ's quiet yet unmistakable word that promises the courageous:
"A lamp am I to you who see me.
I am a mirror to you who look at me.
I am a door to you who knock.
A way am I to you, the wanderer:"
At the end of the path inward, we ourselves become the light, the mirror, by beholding our greater self, by striding towards self-realization and becoming our own way. From then on, awakened inwardly, we penetrate to the bottom of things, perceive the truth in the scriptures, and receive and experience the power of God, and with it, enlightenment and life.
The more our reactions are based on conditioning, the more we are automatons, unconscious and unfree. A mechanical device does not carry love. Countless conditionings cloud our clear view of the world and color our actions, but we are unaware of this. We are slaves of our mind instead of masters in the house.
Clearing the mind of its cloudiness and defeating the lion: This is what the image of shackling the owner and overthrowing the house represents. When we recognize the roles we play and the masks we wear as such, then we are on the way to freeing ourselves. Self-observation is necessary, and that means self-observation before anything else. Every day an analysis and perhaps a small fine-tuning of our life, every day learning something, is that not also a great joy and inner richness?
To look. Keeping awake. Then what does not rest on solid foundations collapses. Haka santaku is what they say in Zen, which means, "The house has collapsed, the dwelling destroyed." Clear view of the horizon.
Turning to the essential
Verse 36 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and comments
Jesus said, "Do not be anxious from morning to night, and from evening to morning, about what you will wear."
What does not this short saying of Jesus give? This message is easy to understand, but difficult to live. See also the Sermon on the Mount (Matth. 26, 25 f.) in the sense, do not worry about your food from morning till night, nor about your clothing. God himself will give you your clothing.
'Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness.' (Matt. 6:33)
What Christ is saying with this - following verse 35 - is the admonition not to overlook the more essential inner and eternal above the outer and perishable. It is about using the inner potential, with the help of which all other worries and problems of everyday life find their solution by themselves - from the inner self. Whoever perceives himself as a child of God asks for the lasting, the heavenly and is sure that the earthly will be given to him in addition.
The worries and brooding of the unawakened darken the days and hours of the night and thus the today and the future. Some worry in healthy days how they will be spared from illness. Through their worries they hinder the inner physician in the work of healing and keeping healthy from within.
Or they worry whether what I intend to do will succeed, will bring me success and wealth, and thus lose what is much more important. The security in the eternal and the abundance that comes from within and makes all worries about the outside unnecessary.
They do not feel that too much worry and selfishness will further distance them from themselves and thus from God and the fullness of life, making them more halting and helpless instead of stronger and superior.
Instead of worrying too much about the small, why not worry about the big first, recognizing and living the plan of one's soul? And ask to recognize being secure in the eternal and leave any worries about unimportant and transient things. And entrusting themselves and their lives without reserve to the inner guidance, then they would learn to draw from that fullness which is promised to the children of light.
He who lives out of the consciousness of his sonship to God cannot worry and beg, but will joyfully and gratefully affirm that all events follow a great and wise order that guides all beings to the light and draws them to God, that therefore everything serves his best and wants to make him bigger, better, more full of light and more perfect.
Let our desire therefore be the striving for the essential and imperishable, the kingdom of God and his order. Prayer is thanksgiving for the everlasting, invisible guidance and support. It is precisely this turning to the essential and the grateful attitude that make the sources of abundance flow. Being certain of the inner support and right conduct, they lead us to ever higher levels of being and knowledge as well as of well-being and well-being. "Grow with my service as those who serve," said Jesus.
Comfort and salvation are found by the one who first comforts and helps himself. Devotion of the I leads to the awakening and growth of the divine self and to the resurrection of Christ in the soul of the awakened one. Thus begins that real life which leads ever higher and which knows nothing of the ghosts of worry and self-torment.
He who no longer worries has much more time for essential things. Worries no longer rob him of energy and time. And the need for sleep is also considerably less. When I know that everything that happens to me serves my greater soul plan, I can gratefully accept everything, even the illness. Perhaps it was a cry for help from the body? Even the seemingly negative has the potential of great and perhaps necessary developments? In this certainty and trust in God, worries can evaporate.
To this greater life awakens the one who always asks for the divine to serve him first. What is necessary for this is then given by itself.
The awakened know about the power of prayer, which does not need words, but only the lightful thought swinging to heaven from a grateful heart. He knows that neither humble begging nor arrogant talking and calculating is with God. It is the certainty of God's children that they are constantly guided and secure in God.
In view of his heavenly origin and future he affirms his oneness with the kingdom of God, the original source of all fullness and perfection - here and now!
When he prays, then for the strength and wisdom to fulfill his task on earth in such a way that he becomes a blessing for many and can say "yes" to his life unreservedly every evening and at the end. And for the light that guides him to growing knowledge and enlightenment. Everything else is given to him by the spirit of life.
There are so many influences and pressures that act uninterruptedly on the head and heart. Be aware of them, do not be enslaved by them, withdraw from them again and again, go into silence, into nature. Be alert, be like a flame that is the inner light of our awareness and God's filiation. We should light it and guard it. The rest, will be given to us then, Jesus said. (Mt 6:32)
Of being truly free
Verse 37 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and comments
His disciples asked, "On what day will you appear to us? And on what day will we see you?"
Jesus answered, "When you take off your shame and take your garments and put them under your feet like children and step on them, you will perceive the Son of the Living One. And ye shall not be afraid."
Take off the masks. Be completely myself. Living my true nature, completely naked and without automated platitudes. I experience this state at times under great stress. Certainly, the negative can come out then, e.g. aggressiveness for self-protection. But so authentically we are a gift to our own being and also the environment. As long as we have changed the destructive traits or transformed them through severe strokes of fate. For some, the ego is completely burned after that.
As long as one worries only about external things, he maintains his restlessness and distress. On the other hand, as soon as he first takes care of his inner awakening and growth, he increases inwardly and outwardly and remains free from worries. God gives him what he needs. His inner guidance imperceptibly guides him in his daily work in such a way that all things and conditions serve him for the best.
When does this happen? When does this being guided from within become apparent?
From the moment when we are naked and free from the attachment to the transitory. Where we no longer live from the ego, egoism and its needs and desires, but unrestrictedly from the spirit. And not being afraid to put all our trust solely in God and expect everything from Him.
This does not mean, however, that we must first put aside everything worldly in order to live from the spirit. It means that we live on this earth like someone who does not belong to it, who fulfills his duties on earth to the best of his ability and always does his best according to his inner nature. But who also understands and lives as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. From this can come healing and everything we need as citizens of the earth.
Those who are filled with the Spirit of Christ can be recognized with certainty by their joyfulness in sharing and giving. This is an expression of their freedom from ego-boundedness, as well as from the radiant love that knows no distinctions. But everyone, friend and foe, meets in the awareness of the truth "giving is more blessed than receiving".
Love dissolves suffering. A sinner who loves is closer to God than a saint who is angry. His love permeates his being and transforms his biographical destiny into a positive one.
What is the 'Anti-Christ'?
To understand the nature of the anti-Christ, we must first understand what 'the Christ' is: the Christ goes far beyond Jesus, the Nazarene. It is a state of consciousness that one reaches when he has become completely one with his Higher Self, and thus with the whole universe. It is a state of all-encompassing love, of being connected with all life. You could call it the merging with God. Jesus exemplified to us what it means to become a 'Christ'. He proved that this can be achieved as an embodied human being, each one of us.
When we have achieved this oneness with God, then His light and power flows unhindered through our being and can work 'miracles' through us.
In oneness with the divine love energy - in Christ-bus consciousness - there is boundless, invincible power. The slogan of the anti-Christ, on the other hand, is: Divide et impera! - Divide and rule! Where the Christ unites, the anti-Christ wants to separate. If the Christ represents the eternal, unchangeable law, the Antichrist stands for its reversal. Wherever the truth is twisted, the energy of the Antichrist spreads.
Night of the soul
Verse 38 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and comments
Jesus said: "Many times you have longed to hear these words that I speak to you. And you have no other to hear them from. Days will come when you will seek me, but will not find me."
How often it demands of us to hear his counsel, to receive his comfort, to hear the words of light, to be certain of his presence.
Those who walk the path within know that there are hours, days and weeks when the inner voice is silent. It is a time of spiritual drought, when we listen inward in vain. But this time of testing our faith and proving our trust will pass. And finally our longing will find fulfillment, and the voice of silence will resound more blessedly than ever before. In the turning inward, the truth will become conscious. You sleep and do not recognize me, although I am in you. I am awake and guide you from within. Turn inward from the outer man to the eternally awake Self of our innermost being. Then you become conscious of me, and enter from the kingdom of the dead into that of the living!
Jesus did not teach faith, but the way to experience and realization. People should find inner freedom, then they don't need a teacher anymore. When the master leaves, the disciple will stay on the way, when he has found the Christ in himself.
Picture Sieger Köder
Key to knowledge
Verse 39 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and comments
Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them. Neither did they enter, nor did they let those who wanted to enter. But you, be wise as serpents and simple as doves".
See also Luke (11:52), "I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be wise as serpents, and without guile as doves."
Christ repeats several times that the Pharisees and scribes, the religious leaders have made religion an outward confession and thus have hidden true knowledge. So that neither they themselves nor others who trust in their leadership can enter the kingdom of God. He warns to be vigilant.
The awakened know that spiritual life and knowledge is within us. Therefore, all instruction from outside are only indications of the way within. No one is allowed to stand before Christ and say: "I am the gate and entrance! Only through me you will reach the eternal life of the Kingdom of God! He who knows the direct way does not need intermediaries and detours. By giving his heart in trusting devotion to the Eternal, the gate into the light, into the Kingdom of God, opens and widens for him.
It is statements like these with which Jesus turned the rulers against him. He was a revolutionary not only of the spirit, but openly opposed the religious-political oppressors of his time. Jesus knows that the path to God is an inner one, a path that involves the unfolding of consciousness, and the conditioning of the mind. But in churches, temples and synagogues, other things are taught. The keys of knowledge have been hidden.
For a long time it was forbidden, under penalty of death, to read the Bible in non-Latin. This ensured the scholars the sovereignty of interpretation and thus the stagnation of the spiritual development of people.
In those times, the pure message of Jesus was fire-threatening. He therefore advises caution: think about what you say to whom. It is better not to talk about the WAY with narrow-minded people. This was also known by an anonymous mystic in the 14th century and his work on meditation, the goal of which is the union of the soul with the Most High.
Be cunning like the snakes, grasp the inner message of the scriptures. Be innocent like the doves, go your way and see with the eyes of the child! This cunning is often superior to the dull power and a way of transformation.
So we can be happy that nowadays the pure message is available for everyone, without danger of death! What a happiness, what a privilege! Although the Gospel of Thomas is usually sold far too expensively for up to 100 Euros.
Many want to see first and then believe. Wiser acts who steps through the gate of faith to become a seeing one. This is also what the following words are about.
From your Eternal Life
Verse 40 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt and comments
Jesus said: "A vine was planted outside the Father and it had no strength. It will be uprooted along with its root and perish."
See also John (15:1 f.), "Abide in me, as I in you. Just as the branch bears no fruit of itself, but abides in the vine, so neither do you, but abide in me.
These statements of Jesus show how important it is to get in contact again and again with the divine in me and outside of me. To be in close contact with our inner and outer sources of life. This can be a daily Bible study, prayers, rituals, songs or spiritual communities. Certainly, there are then also phases where God is far from us. But perhaps this is like a child, where it is a matter of maturing processes?
Again, Christ points out to us that we produce the fruit of life to the extent that we remain aware of the everlasting presence of Christ in us and live and work from it and thus from the eternal. Then God will 'purify us,' that is, enlighten us. The inner light flares up in us and the fullness of power and wisdom flows out of us, so that we bear more and more fruit.
Without the Christ in us, we can accomplish nothing; with Him, everything. Therefore, whoever is not guided by the divine self will accomplish nothing and, because he is unfruitful, will miss the goal of his life.
We can live really alive and fruitfully only from the fullness of the inner wealth, in the consciousness around the glory and fullness in us. And around our oneness with all that is, nature and all living beings, visible and invisible. Rooted in God, the Father and Mother and Creator of all being. Cut off from the flow of life, we are weak and do not live to our full potential. We live without the living sap of life that brings forth deep joy and love from within and manifests into constructive change.
The open hand, live your talents!
Verse 41 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, To him that hath in his hand shall be given. And whoever does not have, even the little he has will be taken away.
See also verse 6, Matthew (25, 29) and Luke (19, 26) in connection with the parable of the entrusted pounds.
The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer? Is this what is meant by this? This is the current inhuman reality on our planet. But this can only lead to descent and decline because, as we know, money and oil cannot be eaten. And because pure egoism blocks any human development and makes it impossible. Thus life and liveliness dies and life becomes a subject failure. In school, this is called failing. Target-missing.
Jesus was not concerned with this apocalyptic vision, that would be a complete contradiction to his life. He means here our inner field, the spiritual and the inner field, which we dig up and clean in order to sow healing seeds in it. Then good fruits grow, which become more the more of them we have. The more love, kindness and mindfulness we have, the more they blossom. And the more we give of them, the more we get ourselves.
The real meaning emerges most clearly in Thomas, in the word: 'He who has in his hand': Whoever uses the powers and gifts entrusted to him and thereby increases them, whoever by right thought and action makes others happy and enriches them, man and beast and all creatures, to him will be given greater power and abundance, so that the more he gives, the more he will have inner wealth.
Who, on the other hand, keeps what he has for himself, does not let other beings participate in it, will also be taken from him what he believes to possess and to be able to hold. For powers and gifts, which are not activated in the service of the good, wither away, dry up and disappear.
The open hand is the mark of those awakened to the reality and fullness of life, while the closed hand excludes itself from giving as well as from receiving.
What is courage for Jesus?
Excerpt from Martin Fieber's novel, The Returned Man. https://t.me/KosmischeWahrheit Here is the frame narrative: https://t.me/KosmischeWahrheit/60
Do you really think fighting men are brave? Especially when they risk getting hurt?" asked Jesus of the Greek. "Or is that not rather stupidity?" ?" Jesus knew the provocation caused a stir. But sometimes nan couldn't draw them out any other way to give them soul impulses to take with them on their life's journey.
Jesus had this to say about it.
Courage is to look at your weaknesses. Courage is admitting your weaknesses to your friends. Courage is to forgive the other person after an insult, even though you still feel the pain. Courage is to face all people with an open mind. Courage is to love the opponent and not to despise him. Courage is to respect the woman and not just use her. Courage is to be who you are and not who the leaders want you to be."
Has a gladiator truly won the battle when he defeats a colleague but loses the battle against his selfish feelings?
Is not the man a true gladiator who stands up for the poor, for the weak, for the oppressed, and defeats the superior? Is not the man a true gladiator who conquers his dark feelings and shows his light-filled thoughts to other people like torches? Isn't the man a true heroic gladiator who loves the other people and doesn't fight them just because they look or speak differently?
Thank you for the input!
The horizontal and essentially vertical orientation of all being is symbolized in the cross.
Be a passerby
Verse 42 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Be a passer-by!"
How much wisdom there is in these two words! The message of the Gospel can hardly be summed up more succinctly than in these two words. "Be ye transients."
All things and events in the world teach us two things: first, the fleetingness and transience of all material manifestations and conditions. On the other hand, a planned order, directed to the higher and lasting goal. And to the controlling forces and spiritual potencies.
We know that the indestructible seeming matter is transient and not eternal. That the visible universe is based on a will causing it, which was before everything and will continue to be after all passing away. And we know in the meantime that 96% of all matter and energy is invisible for us, thus is outside of our visible universe. Or in other dimensions very close and inherently intertwined with our reality. Perhaps love and prayer are the bridge into these other realities?
This will underlying all change is also at work within us and can be experienced by us as a living inner presence if we go to the bottom within ourselves. On the way inward, we finally come upon a spiritual core, an abiding self, which is by its very nature imperishable and eternal. It is one with this Divine Will.
In order to become aware of this and to experience ourselves as part of this eternal will, we have to recognize everything transient that we are not. This is given to us only as a tool for being. But it does not belong to our innermost being. To have or to be is the keyword here. We are supposed to love ourselves and people and use things. But how often is it the other way around?
This meaningful "Become passers-by!" wants to tell us, wake up from the dream and the sense illusion to the reality within yourselves, the world within the human being. Your being essentially belongs to this world. Rise into the kingdom of light, which is inside! Do not cling to that which passes away, but rest in that which has duration! Recognize yourselves as guests in this temporal limited hostel of this reality. And as pilgrims and disciples on the way to your eternal home!
He who has recognized this world of passing and that which is permanent as the inner man, will not attach his heart to fleeting things, but will gratefully enjoy everything without being attached or clinging to it. He becomes a passer-by who enjoys the flowers along the way without picking them. Because they wither under his hands and die if he wants to keep them, a beautiful picture. He cannot be deceived or frightened by the sensual world.
A Sufi word says: The dog barks, and the caravan passes by. The caravan, does not care about the noise on the way, because its sense and look is directed on the way itself and on the goal, the homecoming!
Knowing that everything material is transient, we too should keep our eyes fixed on the lasting on our way in the world, be sure of the eternity of our own self.
We consist of transient and imperishable, and we become sorrowfully aware of the current of the passing of all things. But this is in contrast to our inner being, which is imperishable and eternal, transcending the boundaries of birth and death. Is this not a good message?
Our outer appearance - body, consciousness and ego - is a part of this life-stream consisting of impermanent and imperishable. At the same time, we realize that we are not just this outer person, but have body, consciousness and personality, and temporarily the outer things that enable us to work in love in and on the world. What we essentially are, the inner man, the self, does not pass away with death and impermanence. But go beyond them and pass over them, making use of things only temporarily, without attaching.
He who awakens to this certainty lives as a conscious citizen of eternity. In this awakening, to which Christ guides us, we see many things in the light of the original unity, in the connectedness of everything and everyone, man and nature. Everything is united and common and bound together in one book, what otherwise is written scattered on a thousand leaves. This is the awakening to cosmic consciousness. In it, past, present and future, microcosmic nearness and macrocosmic distance merge into the eternal here and now. At its center is the divine self. Do not cling to possessions on earth, for your light and treasure is heaven. Become aware of your eternity, then smile at the fleetingness of things and time. And no longer try to hold what cannot be grasped and held. Become aware of the inner hold, then the transitoriness of everything external will no longer grieve you. You will master the outer life and it will serve your spiritual unfoldment, completion and perfection, as transient and clinging to all possessions. This world is a bridge. Go over it but do not build your dwelling on it.
Those who are still in dreams know little of their whence, of the meaning of their existence and of their whither. That is why they cling to the visible, which seems to them to be the only one. In order to settle down on this world of the everlasting becoming and passing away, as if everything would last eternally. The awakened ones, on the other hand, know that everything is only transition, but also important stages of development towards future perfection. It has become clear to them that in this world of eternal change and transformation one thing gives support. And that is the certainty that they come from God and return to God. Through countless experiences and transformations, which all serve the maturation of the soul. That is why they take this world as a school, whose tasks have to be mastered conscientiously and at the same time as a bridge, which leads them over to the eternal light world of God.
That is why they avoid sedentariness and obsession with possessions. They remain wanderers who know about the blessedness of the return home. Outwardly they live in temporality, inwardly they know themselves rooted in the eternal and timelessly secure. In this way, everything that is transient becomes a teacher for them, which helps them to achieve ever more perfect fulfillment of their life and realization of their original soul plan, and with every step forward to come closer to the Source, to the One who gives meaning, task and fulfillment to all.
What does it mean concretely?
Everything changes from moment to moment. So don't hold on to anything. Let go of your resentment and worries, they only hurt you. Don't make too many plans and don't get tangled up in too much business. Let go of what you are not, then realize what you are. Enter into the eternity of the present moment. Forgive. Be one with all. Accept the gift of reconciliation, the becoming-one again of what was previously separate. And this leads to the health and salvation of man and mankind.
Right Knowledge
Verse 43 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
His disciples asked him, "Who are you that speak these things to us?"
He answered, "From what I speak to you, do you not know who I am? You have become like the Jews who love the tree and hate its fruit, or love the fruit and hate the tree."
The admonition to see and know rightly contained in this verse is also expressed by Augustine: "You have rejected the living one who stands before you, and you speak of the dead." Among the 'dead, Christ counts the teachers of the past. Whose wisdom, however, is not lived. For he who lives it no longer asks.
Among the dead, for Jesus, are also those who speak of him as of one who lived a long time ago and who, because of this, overlook the living Christ. But he is one who stands before them and is in them, silently waiting to be resurrected through them. But not only in them, but also in their neighbor. Unfortunately, his experience was, "Those who are with me have not understood me." "A prophet is not accepted in his hometown," Jesus says in verse 31. And would one accept, in addition to the teaching, the person from whom it comes? So we accept the fruit but reject the tree. Could we ever consider our neighbor to be a divine being as well?
Even today, many believe in God without recognizing and respecting Him in their neighbor. While others, in their love of man, see only the outward form, but do not recognize and respect the indwelling spirit of God.
Those who have awakened to God, on the other hand, see, love and respect God in all living things: they see in all beings the fruits of the divine tree of life and therefore encounter all with the same reverence and loving devotion that they show to the divine. Because for them God is in all and everything in God. This is true for the inanimate as well as for the animate nature, the plants, animals, all creatures, which all have the dignity of God and the spirit of God, whether they know it or not.
Let's turn this around and we would worship Jesus as a saint, as the Son of God, adore him and prostrate ourselves before him, thus loving the tree. Would we really be willing to accept his message (the fruit) and try to live it ourselves? We would probably object that we are just simple people who could not follow God's example. So we worship the tree and do not accept its fruit, its message, because it tastes too bitter to us. Who forgives easily or sacrifices some for others? Who lets go of mammon to seek God? To love the tree and hate the fruit is to dance around the golden calf. Hearing the message on Sunday and giving glory to God, and then paying homage to Mammon. This is not WAY, but deviation.
All too readily we embrace the trees of life, the things we find beautiful or important, all that we like, enjoy, value and aspire to. But are we willing to the same extent to bear the consequences? The responsibility that goes with love? The pain that can follow overindulgence? The physical death that must follow physical life?
We would love to reap the immortality that Jesus promises at the very beginning. But are we also willing to make the effort to examine ourselves and look at ourselves honestly? Do we want to take this effort upon ourselves? Should self-knowledge come on its own? Or are we willing to take the arduous path?
Who are you to tell us these things? Show us that you are an extraordinary person. That would be convenient, then you would have something to believe in. Jesus did miracles only to heal and make whole again what seemed broken, not as proof of God. But Jesus wants his disciples to understand what he says, to interpret his words and to work on themselves. That they take his words to heart, that is, that they arrive in the heart and are lived in love. No one says that this is easy. But the reward is great.
Renewal through the Spirit
Verse 44 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven. And whoever blasphemes the Son will be forgiven. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven.
See Matthew 12:31 f. and Mark says (3:28 f.). This is because the Holy Spirit is the inner light, the access to the divine spark, to the Christ in us and thus to the Father. As long as we recognize and deny him, we exclude ourselves from the kingdom of God and come closer to him neither in this world nor in the other.
Christ spoke again and again of this Holy Spirit who enlightens us and clears the way for what goes beyond enlightenment - becoming one.
In his speech about the future of mankind (Mark 13:6 f.), he admonishes his followers not to fear and worry about what they will speak, but to be guided and enlightened from within (13:11): "Whatever is given to you at that hour, that speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit."
The enlightenment by the Spirit, according to Luke (11, 13), will be given to those who ask God for it and they will experience it. They will know the power of the Holy Spirit in them and receive His gifts, so that they will become sighted like the apostles (Acts 4:31; 9:17; 10:44).
Only with this being filled and guided by the Spirit, the love of God is revealed to us, as Paul felt (Rom. 5, 5): "The love of God is poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us". And also in 1 Cor. 6, 19: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?". And likewise Eph. 4, 30: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit within you", because you thereby exclude yourselves from the fullness of the kingdom of God. But learn to live by the Spirit, so that you may be blessed "through the bath of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit."
Jerome adds, "Return to the truth and sin no more, that you may inherit the glory of righteousness, which is in heaven as the power of the Spirit and incorruption."
Righteousness, power and incorruption are bestowed upon us according to the measure of our love in the service of our neighbor. In it we reveal how far the 'living man' has awakened in us, how far the Spirit of Christ is alive in us and working through us. Every act of servant love on the path of self-perfection triggers further spiritual ascent.
Ephraem: "Those who walk in the Spirit are children of God." Jesus includes in this circle all who follow him. It is the water of the Holy Spirit, the light of which not only touches those who are spiritually awakened externally, but penetrates and purifies them wholly from within, making them light and renewing them.
This truth has a special significance today, in the rising of the Aquarian Age. Those who are open to the spirit of the new age feel the springs of eternal life bursting within them and allow themselves to be renewed and transformed by the living waters of the Spirit.
To them, the disciples of Christ, religion is not a matter of Sunday morning, but rather an active revelation of that new spirit, that divine power which makes all things new and guides them out of darkness into light, out of light into light and out of light into the radiant primordial light of the heart of the universe, our loving God!
The word Father, in its original usage, refers to something that seeks completeness and perfection, striving toward its goal of bringing a thing to flower.
What does Jesus mean when he speaks of the Holy Spirit? The Aramaic word for it is ruha. It means the breath that animates us. It is pure life energy, a force that is inherent in creation and flows through it. Working with the breath and the life energy that flows with it, has great significance in many spiritual traditions. Every living cell responds to vibration. Take a deep breath, hold it for two or three seconds. Then exhale and say your mantra. The breath connects us to our own depths, as well as to the physical world and our neighbor, with whom we share the air we breathe. This spans the triangle of Heaven (Father), Earth (Mother) and Heart (brothers and sisters).
With blasphemy, we deny the very life that is within us. This is because the life energy makes us alive. When a person blasphemes God, he hurts only himself.
If we disregard and hurt creation, that is, harm fellow human beings, animals and the earth, we will reap the fruits: strife and a desolate world.
Being manifests and follows our consciousness, consciousness directs energy. This is true on a cosmic scale as well as in the human microcosm (as above, so below).
Working from the spirit
Verse 45 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "One does not gather grapes from thorns and does not gather figs from thistles. For they bear no fruit. A good man gathers good things from his treasure. An evil man brings out evil from the evil treasure in his heart, and he speaks evil, for out of the abundance of the heart he brings out evil"
See also Matthew (7:16 f.) and Luke (6:43 f.). It says that the one renewed by the Holy Spirit, the one enlightened by the inner light, usually brings forth good fruits. While the one who is not enlightened and still completely turned to the ego and the world, mostly creates and causes imperfections and shortcomings.
The good is destined to come. And blessed and happy those through whom it comes. Evil is also destined to come, but woe to those through whom it comes.
Those who are filled and moved by the new spirit are more or less conscious bearers of light and bringers of good. What they do is a blessing to many. By letting God work through them, they become more and more vividly aware, "To whom God gave more, from him he will also require more." The more joyfully they give, the more richly they receive. And the more they receive in gifts and knowledge entrusted to them, the more they will make the best possible of it for all. All this gives a great inner joy and feeling of connectedness. To be in the service of the Most High, what an honor is that and with what dignity and responsibility can we live it?
What has once gone into manifestation, be it flower, animal or human being, follows its innate nature as long as it lives in this form. Then it changes like in a metamorphosis the caterpillar changes to a butterfly, into another way of being. Thus we can observe live before our eyes a rebirth into a beautiful butterfly. A miracle!
It is the same with us humans. As malleable and evolvable as we may be, we cannot acquire or become everything. We come into the world with a certain "treasury" already filled to a certain extent when we are born. And with the treasures, more beautiful and less beautiful, we have to work. There is also some karmic heritage, burdens that want to be dissolved. Others can also help with this.
Good and evil. From the root of the word, you can also interpret this as mature and immature. Suitability or unsuitability for a certain purpose. The one who is immature does not know what he is doing. He is spiritually blind and lives in error, not knowing his true nature. This is the root cause of all human suffering. The one who is immature or blind goes down the painful slippery slopes of life. The immature has not yet found and fulfilled his purpose in life. In the mature person, on the other hand, Sophia, wisdom has blossomed. Thus he or she focuses on what is important and right.
The Lord's Prayer says "Lead us not into temptation". But the true meaning means "Let us become mature people." The request for deliverance from evil means striving for the inner light, inner growth, and spiritual fulfillment. Meister Eckhart even says that evil does not actually exist, because even the evil one ultimately seeks only inner peace, but chooses the wrong path. "Love your enemies," Jesus says, and help them find the right path. One of the most ingenious statements of Jesus. Because I can learn the most from my enemies, because they often reflect my shadow sides. What is not in me does not bother me in the other. This means that what hurts in the other person also has something to do with me. This gives me the opportunity to develop and free myself from it.
Hardly anyone sins out of malice. But mostly out of ignorance or carelessness. Because he should know that everything will fall back on him again, according to the irrefutable law of karma, beyond the boundaries of life and death.
Peace, however, brings joy. Thus all creatures chase God with their love, because God is love.
On the way to oneness
Verse 46 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women there is none greater than John. So that ye must not turn away your eyes.
But I have said that whoever becomes a child among you will know the kingdom and will be greater than John.
They also Matthew (11, 11 f.) and Luke (7, 28). In answer to John's question whether he was the proclaimed Messiah.
'So that his eyes may not break', so that he may go from being half-awake to fully awake and his eyes may see, he calls John the greatest born. But at the same time
expresses at the same time that enlightenment is not yet the highest. Higher and greater than it is the becoming one with God and the Kingdom of Light of God. The latter has found his way home to the kingdom of God.
Christ calls himself the key and the way to this becoming one and returning home to the eternal Kingdom of Light of God. And this also and especially for those who are not awakened, who are still caught in the sleep of the soul.
What the Father is able to do, his children are also able to do, in whom the divine light has been kindled and Christ has come to life. And it will be a word of light for those who are still alive, the certainty of the imperishability of the innermost core of their being.
Jesus said, "now I reveal all my glory to you and show you my power."
But we need not wait for this time of fulfillment, for the truth and the saving Word is now and always in us: the Spirit is in us; the power is in us and the Word is in us!
As far as we become aware of this, so far we are in the Father and the Father in us. Then we recognize His image in us, His form, His power and perfection. We become conscious of our divine self, which is light from the light of God. And by hearing the voice of the inner Word, we awaken to the "I Am," to wisdom, and the power of God is immediately within us.
He who becomes a child recognizes the Kingdom. In ancient times, it was the custom to lower one's gaze before the powerful. One does not meet a mightier one at eye level. The greatest among men, says Jesus, was John the Baptist. A man who lived a life close to nature in extreme poverty. He owned nothing. His food consisted exclusively of locusts and honey. Jesus calls this strange baptist the greatest. .
But total renunciation does not yet mean self-knowledge. All aspects of our being strive for integration and authenticity. The unity of body, senses, thoughts, feelings and actions. To make this clear, Jesus again takes up the image of the child: It is gentle, soft, adaptable, and completely undisguised. The person who is a child flows with life. Lao Tzu: "When life begins, we are soft and flexible. When life ends, we are stiff and hard. All things, even the grass and the trees, are soft and pliable in life,
but dry and brittle they are in death." When we live this state, we are greater than John, great and alive like Jesus.
Reflection on what lasts
Verse 47 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "One man cannot ride two horses or draw two bows. A servant cannot serve two masters, or he will honor one and revile the other."
See also the Sermon on the Mount, "You cannot serve God and money at the same time." This verse is also a call to gather to the essentials. Especially because the fleeting pleasures of the outside world make us believe in duration and happiness, but they often only leave us unfulfilled and disappointed.
We have the freedom of choice at any time to decide for the least or the highest. And we reap the fruits of that choice every time. But we cannot have both at the same time: God and the world. We cannot "ride two horses" without running the risk of falling off both. We cannot "draw two bows" but only one. Blessed are we when we take hold of the heavenly, divine bow and draw it, aiming the arrow of our longing and love at the heart of God!
Blessed are we when we realize that the school of life wants to educate us to reflect and gather on the essential: on the lasting, the eternal, the imperishable. This alone enables us the eternity of our being and the meaningfulness of our life!
It is good for us if we free ourselves from the paralyzing delusion that we and our life cannot be changed. And if we recognize that every being and every situation can be changed at any time from the ground up. From within, through a changed thinking and faith, through turning and becoming one with the spirit of life, with the spirit of Christ.
We cannot give our life several directions at the same time. I do not think that this necessarily means to be materially poor in order to be spiritually rich. It is rather a matter of the spirit and what it is directed towards. To inner growth, spiritual practice, seeking. Or to outward success, wealth, status and influence. One does not necessarily exclude the other. But there is a danger that in seeking one, we often no longer have the time and energy for the other. If we seek maximum external success, then we must live fully for it. And if we seek maximum inner progress, then that requires all of our effort as well. It is a matter of priorities. An Indian proverb says, "Where there is desire, there cannot be God. And where God is, there is no place for desire.
On the outer path, for the sake of success, people are sometimes willing to hurt someone, to fight hard against the competitor, to exploit nature, to tell the untruth, and even to accept many a dead body. This is not only an ethical problem, but it destroys harmony with the outside world. But we need this in order to be able to go into the inner silence.
It is not for nothing that Moses teaches the Ten Commandments. These are reasonable basic rules for dealing with our environment and ourselves. The most important of them are the renunciation of violence in any form as well as truthfulness and an inner attitude of contentment. In the tough business of the world, these are qualities that often seem to stand in the way of commercial success. But they don't have to, because there are enough ethically successful businesses.
Which Lord do we want to serve? The Most High or the money?
He who has tasted success will become addicted to it. He will change only when he realizes that despite everything something is missing in his life, happiness and inner peace. That the inner emptiness remains. Then perhaps he will begin to search within himself for answers. And once he has set out to discover his inner light, he will not be able to live his old life again so quickly. He will not want to go back to a narrow and competitive ego world, that would destroy him.
Even a short distance that we have traveled inward has made a noticeably more mature person out of us. Old wine and new wineskins, old patches and new fabric, turning the greater into the lesser or the mature into the immature again, that is not possible.
But it is not about mammon or life and vitality alone. Our time is full of opportunities and challenges. There are so many fires burning at the same time. But I can't put them all out or take in everything interesting. For every fire, there is someone else. And I have to focus and identify the fire or issue where I am challenged. To do this well, persistently and sustainably gives great joy. And not to fly like a butterfly from one topic to another, that is my task. Because then there is too little energy for the single topic. Because like the water that is spilled spreads and washes away nothing. But some topics need a high energy input, depth and perseverance to be successful. And then joy sets in. Not everything has to be perfect, but at least good, so that I am satisfied. Because creation is also good, but not everything is perfect. And certainly not the human being. But we are still loved unconditionally, just as we are to love the children unconditionally.
It is good for us if, in silence and stillness, we often turn inward with the request,
when we live, let us live seeking -
Searching full of longing, God, for you!
Do not want to "live" as dead bodies,
outside life, inside corpses,
want to live, devoted
to Your nature already on earth
and be illuminated by You,
feel your inner glow,
when the body still surrounds our soul
until Your will dissolves it,
into Your glory.
Inner unity
Verse 48 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "If two live together in peace in one and the same house, they will say to the mountain: 'Lift yourself away' - and he will lift himself away."
See Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." It is not only a matter of attitude, but also of being. On the oneness of the inner and outer man, of body and soul in spirit, on the oneness of I and It in self.
Where these two are no longer in conflict, but live in inner peace with each other in the unity of the spirit, there they bring peace. Also for the environment, because they are carriers of the divine power. And capable of transforming beings and circumstances from within. To remove dangers and mountains of difficulties from the way. And to realize the kingdom of God as in the inner, so also in the outer world.
But the 'house' means not only the human being, in which the conscious and the unconscious, the inner and the outer, the I and the It live under the divine guidance in peace and living filiation of God. This is the essence of the united human being, who can move mountains through the power dwelling within.
See also Matthew 18:19 f.: "Where two of you become one on earth, whatever they ask, it shall be given them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Here the divine Spirit becomes directly alive and effective. For what is true for the inner peace of man applies equally to the peaceful togetherness of people, which can be increased to the point of spiritual oneness.
We humans achieve much more in the world together than against each other. But real life, the media, and even schools condition us too much to competition and rivalry. Thus, we deviate from God's original plan. Certainly, a certain amount of competition is an ingenious invention of creation to drive development. But it becomes inhumane when it is too pronounced, when it pushes the other down so that one appears greater oneself. A spiritually developed person does not need this anymore, because the divine self itself gives the necessary confirmation. The inner attitude "I am satisfied with my work, my goals are achieved", makes one more independent and thus freer from the recognition of others.
This struggle of the ego for superiority, has divided humanity, brought prosperity to only a portion of people and driven the others to the other extreme of impoverishment, hopelessness and despair. A very questionable condition has arisen for humanity that does not reveal the spiritual mission. The cosmos cries tears and this state of the planet. A large part of humanity is also waiting for real democracy and freedom. It is urgent time for a conversion and a reflection on our spiritual roots and mission. Jesus said, I hate your sacrifices, I want justice. Go to the temple later and take care of the now needy first, see parable of the Good Samaritan.
Also the treatment of Mother Earth could be based on a new spirituality, love and connectedness. Only in this way can humanity survive. But this is already perceptible with many.
Many think to get ahead only by comparison and by trying to be better than others. We do not perceive that we are all in the same boat, sitting on the same branch, which has become very brittle. So we are not with ourselves, not in our heart and inner being.
This is the outer level of this verse. Real peace is a quality that comes from within.
Peace is what the world longs for most. Just as a tired baby longs to lay its head on its mother's breast. It is the lack of inner peace that plagues everyone.
True peace can only reign when it flourishes at all levels of our lives. Within, in our family, between neighbors, in our society. This is only possible when we are at peace with ourselves. There are many who do not know peace, because they are at war with their own body, with their thoughts, with their family, children, neighbors or colleagues. But there are others who show that peace is possible. Always wanting more is a source of discord and dissatisfaction. Jesus lived modestly and simply, our great role model.
Through advertising, we often chase after that which in the end only brings misery and pain, e.g. through over-indebtedness or addictions, etc. Thus we do not live the Holy Law, the way of the angels, of Mother Earth and Heavenly Father.
The angels surround us and often act as mental forces or energies that are available to us if we address them, that is, clearly commission them. Certainly, they will not fulfill our selfish desires that are incompatible with the sacred laws. But others might. Otherwise, they are out of work. There are people who can even perceive these angels.
But if we are one, inside and outside, we can create seemingly impossible things, Jesus says. If we direct everything to the highest and focus the mind completely, we can come to our innermost reality, to that kingdom where peace always reigns and to a serenity and bliss that we know from some saints.
A little story. A friend addressed her angels with a wish for a white shelf that would fit exactly in a certain corner. When she came home the next day, an apartment door was open and boxes were standing around. It appeared that someone was moving. Although this is not her style, she was drawn to enter the apartment. She couldn't believe her eyes, there was a white shelf in the hallway exactly as needed. Quickly she hung a note on it, "if you don't need it anymore, I'll be grateful taker". It was not long before the doorbell rang. "You wrote us something," said the neighbors. Yes, they can have the shelf as a gift. We were going to throw it away anyway because it wouldn't fit in the new apartment. But how do I get the heavy shelf upstairs, she thought to herself. Oh, we'll bring it right up to them, they said, it's too heavy for them. After she had set it up, a craftsman who happened to be in the apartment said, "But you have a beautiful shelf, it really fits perfectly in this corner.
This story breathes for me something of trust, encouragement and security in the spiritual web of God's love for all people. Let us live more this potential of God's grace, also in us!
The united
Verse 49 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Blessed are the lonely and the elect, for they will find the kingdom. Since you are of it, you will go there in turn."
When the spark of the soul came into existence from the original being in the morning of all becoming, creation unfolded from unity into multiplicity. Just as from one cell the whole life of man ultimately came into being.
In the beginning was the word, it says in John, in the beginning was the plan, the vision, the information, the software. And in the beginning everything was with God, until our soul left on a business trip. Made use of the body to gain experience and to mature. And we eventually return to God. Isn't that a joyful message? If we have completed our school of life well, which includes all suffering and learning, nothing stands in the way of our return to the eternal light. Unfortunately, learning is potentiated, more pronounced, in suffering.
Duality runs through our being. As inner and outer human being, of imperishable and impermanent as well as of male and female. But all that is feels this separation, this dividedness. Life longs and searches for the lost unity.
Who looks deeper, recognizes even more: In the silence, here with lonely paraphrased, we can approach the oneness and the all-unity again. In this the Gospel sees the united ones of tomorrow. But this has nothing to do with feeling lonely, on the contrary, actually, feeling connected to everyone and everything, inside and outside.
When we reach this point of maturity, we become initiates, consecrated to the One, who rise to the level of feeling connected with everything, of being one with everything, and who recognize the great whole and also perceive and live responsibility in it. Returned home, as citizens of the Kingdom of God and of eternity.
One way is the meditative self-reflection, but not the only one that leads beyond the self to the great consciousness. To the heart of God, into which all living longs to return, since this is deeply rooted in us.
The seeker of truth becomes silent when he turns inward, sees through the dichotomy of his being and gives himself completely to the One, the great Master of union, the Christ in him. This does not exclude lively participation in the world and the community, on the contrary! In it we are and live and our existence has only its deeper meaning. Both inside and outside in balance.
In this devotion we become one with Christ, through Him with God and with the Kingdom. With the Kingdom or Kingdom of God, Jesus did not mean a reign of God on earth that will begin sometime in the future. But the eternal kingdom of God's light, which has always existed, to which every being belongs as a citizen and to which everyone can awaken on the way within. This is free to every earth citizen, and nobody can take this freedom and this gift from him.
A mind free from thought, immersed in itself, beholds the essence of the Divine.
Children of the Light
Verse 50 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "When people ask you, 'Where did you come from,' answer them: 'We came from the light, where the light originated from itself.'
And if they ask you: Who are you?" answer them: We are his sons and the chosen ones of the living Father.
When people ask you: What is the Father's mark on you? answer them: 'It is movement and rest.'"
This saying expresses the knowledge of the fundamental divine law in just two words: motion and rest. Like the two poles of consciousness and energy. It is the energy of consciousness that initiates and drives the process of development. This is true on a large scale as well as on a small scale: Before a house comes into being, someone must have thoughts and a plan and follow it with actions. Both belong compellingly together. Only plan without realization, only refueling at the gas station without driving, is also subject-missing. In the port the ships are safe, but for this they are not built! Thus the mental finds its material expression. Without consciousness and spirit there is no energy and no life. The spirit dominates the life.
Symbols of stillness: rest, turning inward, being, origin, consciousness.
Symbols of movement: Sound, movement, activity, extroversion, becoming, existence, energy.
The inner is the foundation of the outer, the resting is master of the hectic. We are spirit, power and mirror of God. Of that unlimited being, whose expression is the light, the harmonious sound, the vibration. This turns faith into knowledge. This is subjective knowledge. Who excludes this, who negates this subjectivity, this turning inward, for him often only lifeless things and data remain. Albert Einstein described this very beautifully. "There are two ways to live one's life. Either in such a way that one says to oneself: There are no miracles. Or in such a way that one says to oneself: everything is a miracle". "Everything is a miracle", brought Einstein to research and it brings us to be alive, to be amazed, to be mindful and to be grateful.
There is a source of energy that never runs dry because it is fed from the primordial force. It is the divine power current at the bottom of the soul, source of inexhaustible energy, creativity and possibilities. Whoever trusts this spiritual source of energy and knows himself to be carried from within and guided by the light, knows he will become the master of his life. Because ever more powerful forces of good burst forth from him, transforming all obstacles into challenges. And thereby bring about growth, development and maturation of the soul, an essential aspect of our school of life here on earth. That man becomes more and more awake of his divine consciousness, and walks and acts more consciously in the light of the Sun of God within him.
In this enlightenment we realize that we come from the light and that we are children of the light (see 1 Tess. 5, 5). This is the mark of living discipleship of Christ to which the Gospel of Thomas calls us. See also the Sermon on the Mount: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light", and, "You are the light of the world".
In the deepest ground and core of our being, we have come from the light of God, born of the light, bearers of the light. We are there so that in the cosmic cycle more and more the divine light emerges from within all beings and transforms the world. May enlightenment, peace and justice reign through our cooperation in God's plan of creation. The awakened and awakened ones, may perceive themselves as the chosen ones of the Father of Light, the Light of all lights. By living and revealing his essence, they are showing that movement and rest are and can be at the same time. By being moved and alive from within, from the heart and spirit, and by resting serenely in the love and light of God.
From the stillness of the interior, they give themselves to the inner peace and the radiance of the light of the Eternal. And when they speak or work, by their behavior and actions, they let themselves be moved and guided by the Spirit. According to the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Those who act in this way will never lose face. Rather, will make visible his true face, the shining image of God and the inner man. As Nicolaus of Cusa also put it, "Your true face is free from every defect and imperfection. It is essentially the image of the Absolute, the vision of God and the face of God".
Whoever looks at you with a loving gaze also feels your gaze lovingly directed at him and vice versa. He may feel that God is looking at him through you. He may recognize the joy of the glad heart radiantly and also reflect this unconditional joy of the heart of God.
An eye that is not yet awakened sees everything in its limitedness as you or it seems to be. For man cannot judge otherwise than humanly. Different is the view of the awakened one, whose inner eye is opened. This eye looks timelessly and recognizes the true being. In all faces the mystery of God appears to him. The invisible is also recognized by the inner light.
Only when man enters completely into You, our great Creator, becomes completely one with You, then he also recognizes his real being, which is unknown and incomprehensible to all others, because You Creator are infinite being and wisdom.
Christ is in us, he is our divine self. Whoever becomes aware of this, whoever perceives Christ in himself and turns to him and lives and works from him in this world full of suffering, pain and birth pangs, to him he gives power to be God's child" (Jn 1:12) and to prove himself a child of light. He confesses, "Christ, the light of life, is in me and I in Him."
This calls for daily reflection and guarding of the inner light. "Do not extinguish the light that shines within you!" said Jesus. Such as by becoming too intoxicated with the transient lights of materialism and the sensual world, forgetting the eternal light of the inner world! Everyone is faced with the task that this light within becomes more and more vividly aware and to live in such a way that this also makes the world around him brighter.
This verse also refers to the practice of prayer or meditation. It is "the soul of the spiritual life." For only in the stillness of my body and mind can I "approach" the sacred awareness within me. That pure awareness which I am myself and in which I find myself, my true essence. This dispels and fills the inner emptiness that is often perceived.
But this is also done through other mental and spiritual activity. And my thinking, feeling and acting can become an expression of this inner light and consciousness.
But prayer or meditation is not the only way. What about the many mothers who don't have the time? Meditation and prayer can also be realized in the midst of life. In the midst of the activities that we do with the heart and contemplation. Life can become a prayer, a grateful attitude for the gift and privilege of life. Also, a conscious awareness of my surroundings and active charity, a silence in the midst of life can bring me to myself, to my core and thus to God. In the next I can likewise perceive the divine.
Our life oscillates between movement and rest, between tension and relaxation. In the alternation of activity and rest our existence unfolds. Without activity we bring nothing on the way. Without relaxation we cannot be permanently active. Rest and movement are essential.
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Addendum and comment on the important verse 50 of the Gospel of Thomas
The mind dominates the body, or it is very good when it does. Why? I decided to fast and I prepared and informed myself mentally. Not for a single moment was there a feeling of hunger, despite a richly laid table with the family. Perhaps this is also an aspect of fasting, to condition oneself and the body? If I conquer myself, then my work in the world is easier and more sustainable. If I create peace within myself, then I can also create it on the outside.
Why is it so important that we listen to the inner voice? Do you remember the war on terrorism? An insider once said that it was a war against a non-existent enemy. How many people have really been killed by terrorism in our country in the last 20 years? And yet, for over 70% of citizens, it was their greatest fear for a long time. Likewise, the Corona pandemic, proven by multiple studies, is hopelessly emotionally misjudged. Young people overestimate it 52-fold, older people 10-fold, with this decreasing with age. In the protest movements against the measures are also very many Christians and religious people. The fall of the GDR started in the churches, in Myanmar it was first the monks, etc. At the big demo in Berlin on August 29, 2021, people prayed together in difficult situations and sang religious songs.
Maybe this inner voice is the original truth, the divine essence in us, which is overwritten from the outside by manipulations? It always helps me to ask myself, "how would Jesus have acted at that moment?"
Why don't people resolve the irrational rationally, for example, by simply calculating the real dangers to oneself and loved ones? An insider has been told that you just have to repeat things consistently until people believe it, no matter how crazy it is. If it were not so, then there would be fewer wars. Because the winners are usually just the laughing third parties, everyone else loses. And it seems to work. Mark Twain said, 'it is easier to deceive people than to convince them that you have been deceived'. This is what very many people experience, Jesus also experienced this! Even if there are much better solutions, and there are, e.g. concerning the financial system, the economic system, the energy supply, healing, agriculture, pedagogy. But unfortunately, many fiercely defend the old systems, although they are harmful to people and good for the god Mammon. Of course, change also needs a lot of energy. And too much and too fast is precarious.
But we have a remedy for it! Fear is the opposite of spirituality. Have faith, Jesus says, always and everywhere. We also have the Holy Spirit and the angels by our side. We can turn to them as well. And fear makes sick and eats up soul. So every person is free to free himself from these external manipulations, to realize what God's plan is for me and for the world. What my task is in the here and now. Isn't that a great gift? And I should not forget that Jesus was also very innovative and brought a lot of changes and questioned many things. So just courage and then we are in the following of Jesus, peaceful but determined, clear but carried by love and appreciation.
The new world
Verse 51 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
His disciples asked him, "On what day will the rest of the dead come? On what day will the new world come?" He answered them, "The one you are looking for is already here; but you do not recognize it."
What individual disciples expect from the future, that is, in the external world, is "already there," namely, as the eternal presence and reality of the internal world. The new world, the realization of the 'Kingdom' does not come on some future day. It is always there as an inner reality, waiting for people who become aware of it, recognize it, and in awakening to themselves also reveal and live it outwardly.
And likewise, the "rest of the dead" is not a problem of time and place, but a question of being close, of feeling connected. Love overcomes death. It is reality for the one who has recognized that the peace of the Eternal is now in him and that he is deeply resting and secure in it.
In order to rest in this peace and silence of God, we need not first pass through the gate of bodily death. For since the kingdom of God is also within, in the center of man's being, it is no closer or farther from us after bodily death than before.
Therefore, the time and place when we are to become aware of the kingdom of God is not beyond death. But today and here, where we have the task and the possibility to experience it in awakening as children and friends of God. And thus also to bring ourselves and our being and message to revelation.
We do not need to die first to reach the resurrection. Already here and now we should and can awaken to the Christ in us in prayer and meditation and right living. To the realization of the true meaning of our existence and to the truth that makes free, because Christ in us is "the way, the truth and the life". Here and now we can arrive at the new world in light and at the certainty that a poet named Pupil described. "I sought God - and found him not. I cried up and begged for light. Then, as I went back weeping, it softly grasped my shoulder: 'I am here! I was looking for you and I am with you!'
The Living One
Verse 52 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own commentaries.
His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they have all spoken of you."
But he answered them, "You have forsaken the living One before you, and have spoken about the dead."
Jesus calls the disciples people who have not yet realized everything, because they ask and demand for something that in reality they possess. They look to him as the bearer of divine light and the heir of the kingdom of God. And overlook over it that the light and the fullness of God is also alive in them in the same way.
In the above verse, Jesus opposes this wrong line of sight. Jesus makes it clear that this way of looking at the prophets, as well as John the Baptist, leads them away from the essential. From the living Christ, who stands before them and who is equally in them.
And he clarifies one more thing: that those do not see the light of truth who stare only at prophets and miracle workers and at their works, instead of at the one who can work equal and greater things and who is in them. To the power of faith that can transform the world. There are greater things than raising the dead and feeding. Blessed are those who believe with all their heart. It is given to all people to perceive the divine within and without, to recognize the light and to believe, which is the life and the Father who sent me. But everyone who believes and does the works of light will live in it.
All the world runs after miracle workers. But only a few know about the most essential miracle that takes place every day, and these are the spiritually awakened ones. It is the power of faith that is realized in life.
This power brings about something greater than the temporary overcoming of hunger, need or death. It transforms darkness into light, uncertainty into certainty, suffering into bliss, and fills consciousness with the divine spirit of imperishable life. It is a process and a becoming. A light that guides us, a path, a direction and a goal. Which can never be fully achieved in this earthly life. We grow thereby imperceptibly from the I-being (ego) bound to the body into that light-full life from the spirit. This living participation in the life of God is timeless and eternal like the holy itself.
Again and again the Messiah was announced to the people, who would save them from oppression and suffering. They had been waiting for his coming for centuries now. The apostles look at their teacher with expectant eyes. "It must be him!" But Jesus will not chase away the Roman oppressors. The expectation that a Messiah could solve the people's problems, in vain. For the liberation Jesus speaks of means freedom of the Spirit. It is not simply given, but is a gradually growing fruit in the spirit of the person who "works" on himself.
Many see the person and make him the projection screen of their unfulfillable desires. Thus, we do not see that what we are looking for has already come, as Jesus also says in verse 51. The disciples carry an expectation of him that he neither can nor wants to fulfill. They often see him only in the light of their own hopes. But to maintain illusions and deceptions, Jesus did not understand as his mission. He first had to dis-illusion people. To then give them the inner light, the eternal joy of growth and the light that outshines everything. This is the greatest thing he left us.
Note
There was a time when I thought to myself, at the moment we are in such a mess, we are at war with humanity and humanity and Mother Earth, injustice is crying out to heaven. Didn't the Bible say that someday the Messiah will come again? And many think that this will be very soon. And I wished that someone would come and show us the right way to the light, to peace and justice and sustainability. A short time later a friend of mine discovered Christina von Dreien by chance and told me about her. And when I heard her words e.g. 'I don't come to condemn, but to bring the light to the people' and read her books, I had the feeling that if she doesn't bring us the divine laws and holy messages, then who should? I do not mean to say that she is the expected Messiah. Because I think this will never come, but the birth must take place in the heart of each person. We must take responsibility ourselves, and cannot delegate this to a savior. But Christina von Dreien shows her authority through many miracles and speaks words of wisdom and hope that far exceed her age and possible horizon. She says of herself that she is not the reincarnation of Jesus. But I have the feeling she gives us the wisdom of God in a precision, more is not necessary! Everything is said! Let's start to implement it and live responsibility for our humanity and Mother Earth!
Clearing of the being
Verse 53 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
His disciples asked him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He answered them, "If it were useful, their fathers would beget them circumcised from their mothers. But true circumcision is spiritual and has benefit alone.
This word rejects all customs and rites performed only externally, washing and eating regulations, fasting and others. It makes it clear that symbolically, spiritually meant instructions, if taken literally, are misunderstood.
See also Rom. 2, 28: "This is not circumcision that is outwardly done in the flesh, but is meant that which is done in the spirit."
It is meant the circumcision of the heart. It is the radical elimination of unpleasant thoughts and dispositions, which is like a pruning of fruit trees. In a figurative sense, it is an enlightenment of the being, its liberation from everything that is not according to it, as a prerequisite for right progress on the way inward and upward.
Rites and customs can help to strengthen bonds within societies. But at the same time they cause separation. Where we show that one belongs to us, we show at the same time that he does not belong. Religious acts that signal group membership are more of a political symbol than a spiritual one. They document exclusivity. "My God, your God - our truth, your truth."
The idea of circumcision is an internal message, and Jesus speaks of circumcision in the spirit. It is the cutting away of illusions and the letting go of our concepts of I and My. It is an inner movement toward wholeness. Get rid of the rags that cover this inner treasure. And do not boast of your faith nor your ethics.
One way is devotion, meditation, self-exploration, ethics. The rags are our false ideas about ourselves and about God. They cover the treasure, that is, they prevent us from seeing our nature in Christ. Remove the dirt that weighs us down and distracts us, and suddenly a thousand eyes open.
Traditions and rituals are also part of our cultural roots and identity. Where they are missing there are dangers. The Inuit in Alaska, unlike the Inuit in Russia, have lost their culture and language. One Inuit said, "we have lost our cultural memory and are trying to learn it again from the ancient people." The tribes in Alaska have massive drug problem and extreme suicide rate, although they have everything material. The Inuit in Russia are different. They are poor but mentally and physically quite healthy and very content and live their religion, culture, dances, celebrations and language. This is not what Jesus means, but it is about the inner attitude in everything. Whether the divine fire is kindled and burning in the heart or not. This is what people notice.
Promise of fullness
Verse 54 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus is talking about the people whose hearts are no longer bound and filled by the things of the world, but have turned to God. Who are free from clinging to fleeting, earthly possessions because they have gained something greater, imperishable: the fullness of the Kingdom of God and the magnificent freedom of a humble life.
Christ promises this fullness to those who follow Him. He says, a greater inheritance I give you than all the world has. To internalize the divine wealth is the goal and fulfillment of all self-reflection and self-knowledge. Like a fortune that is of no use to him who knows nothing about it. Thus, the divine inheritance is worthless and fruitless for us as long as we do not recognize and grasp it.
In order to recognize it, we must first realize and internalize ourselves that we are children of the Eternal, heirs to the fullness of the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, which is greater than anything the world possesses and can give.
Whoever awakens to this, as a child of God, at the same time recognizes all living beings, humans and animals, as his brothers. And by affirming and loving his neighbor as his other self, he brings the law of giving and receiving to work. In this way he triggers the fullness of the Kingdom of God and at the same time becomes a shining example for more and more of God's fellow human beings and creatures. This is a fundamental promise and experiences its further deepening in the following proverbs.
We are poor when we have emptied our mind of all self-limiting ideas and of everything that leads to pain, e.g. pronounced greed. Jesus talks about poverty, which means true, eternal wealth. Because it removes the veil that covers the pearl. It is true, clear seeing, free from all conditioning. Fresh tea (knowledge, truth) should be poured into it only when the cup has first been emptied of the old tea. If God is to speak His word in the soul, it must be in peace and tranquility.
The poor often interpret this verse quite differently than the privileged. For them, this is also about material poverty, misery and need. In another passage, Jesus says it is quicker for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter paradise. So Jesus sees wealth as a problem. That is actually also logical. For the poor man has little material that can absorb him and his heart. This leaves him much room for the most beautiful, the love for the holiest, for himself, for fellow human beings, for nature, for the development of the mind and the spiritual. The rich man, must take care of his possessions and manage them. This absorbs a lot of valuable life time. And does not necessarily serve the development of the soul and resilience. Snivelling can generate a lot of suffering, in crisis the poor do best. You know the drill!
Especially wealth forgetting brothers and sister. Having money is nothing reprehensible. But it is a question of handling and attitude. Anyone who has ever been to the poor quarters of this world will be amazed at the liveliness, cheerfulness and happiness that can be found there everywhere. The opposite is sometimes perceptible in the rich quarters of certain cities. Seen in this way, Jesus' statement agrees with reality. And indeed, God and Jesus have a special love for the poor. Research shows that the lower middle class is the most content. And then it consistently decreases with more wealth. Let's share, and we will be happier! What a privilege!
An exercise
Close your eyes.
Breathe in and say to yourself inwardly Ru.
Breathe out and inwardly say to yourself ha.
Ruha. Ruha. Ruha.
It is the word that Jesus also spoke.
Be aware of it.
Feel your spirit of life.
Self-realization
Verse 55 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Whoever will not hate his father and his mother will not be able to be a disciple of mine. And whosoever shall not hate his brethren, and his sisters, and bear his cross, as I do, shall not be worthy of me."
See also toned down in Luke (14, 26 f.) and Matthew (10, 37 f.) "He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me ... And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
These are harsh words! How can it be understood? A deep love can also turn into hatred. Why did nature also give us these emotions? I understand it as a help to distance ourselves from someone. And so this could also be interpreted here. What prevents my spiritual development must be removed.
The important thing is to live my being, my soul and my Divine calling. And if a bullying family or relationship prevents that, then I should not deny myself and my Self. Otherwise, I will have lost love and appreciation for myself. In the 10 Commandments it says, Honor your father and mother, ....dam that you may live long and prosper ....; Unlike the other commandments, there is a postscript here! If you are not well with this, if you have to deny yourself, then it prevents you from developing and unfolding your true essence. Your divine consciousness and life plan are compromised. And in this, Jesus is very important not to lose sight of faithfulness to myself and God and my specific destiny.
The text also says that whoever turns only outward for the sake of external ties instead of inward, whoever disconnects from the divine Father within and thus remains distant from himself, the innermost self, will not attain divine oneness. Since he seeks his support and his salvation outside or is caught in structures, the inner support and the salvation being from within is lost to him.
Matthew (10, 39) on this: Whoever finds his life in the external will lose it, because everything external is transient. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find eternal life, the life from the fullness of the kingdom of God.
Self-knowledge is the preliminary stage to God-knowledge and becoming one. He who knows himself will find God. For when you will know yourselves, you will know that you are sons of the Father, the Perfect One. You will recognize Him in you. "Know thyself!" Be yourself! Because self-contemplation and self-knowledge is the beginning of the knowledge of God. And this leads to self-realization, to the fighter of the light, with the sword of truth and love. With the consciousness of the children of God to actively participate in the great plan of creation in oneness and heart relationship with the Eternal.
But this means: Ask yourself again and again the important question that leads to solutions and redemption: Who am I beyond the outer form of many masks? What is my soul plan and mission for this life? Until the answer is found and the conviction and knowledge is awakened, who you are according to your innermost being in the core and being. A bearer of light, a child of God and heir to all the perfections of the Kingdom of God, in which the risen Christ says "I am".
Not according to the outer form and personality, the mask, but according to the inner maturity.
Awakened, we know about the God within us, of whom Christ speaks, "You will know Him in you." All truth paths point inward, to the core of our being, which is God's. All paths lead to the light that is within. All paths lead to the blessedness and security that is within. Because inside is above, is the light, the paradise in me.
And in the consciousness of this glory of God, the outside gains a new quality, like a pair of glasses that I have on, which lets me perceive the positive sides of others more. And the glory of nature and everything that surrounds me.
Jesus' words should wake us up and bring us into the present. These words create resistance and provoke. He does not lull us and does not only caress our heart. It is therefore to enlighten. It is sometimes more important than consolation.
The true inner mother is what Jesus is about, not the biological one. It is about our spiritual home, not the house in which we live on earth. That which was not born of a woman (verse 15). Jesus wants to push us toward that which gives us life. Our real and undivided love is to be for this inner light. That which we really are, not the body in which we have only temporarily moved in.
Love and hate have little to do with our pure nature and the inner light. This is what Jesus wants to tell us here. He conveys the PURE LOVE, the LOVE OF GOD", which is the original source of the love, which we can live then also outwardly so that love and light manifest themselves in the outside, where darkness rules.
You may think that there is one kind of love for this, another for that. But true love is one. It knows no separate parts and no degrees, no types, nor differences. It never changes according to man or circumstance. It is the HEART of GOD and likewise that of HIS SON. "
World knowledge
Verse 56 of the Thomas gospel after K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "He who has known the world has found a corpse. And he who has found a corpse, the world is not worthy of him."
Those who have seen through the world in its transience know that it resembles a dead shell to which only the unawakened cling. They do not yet know anything about the spirit of life, which gives content and life to this housing.
The awakened one, however, sees through the deception of the senses and knows that things are emptiness, dead shells without duration. More and more quickly the joy of it has exhausted itself.
"The world is not worthy of him". This says that there is more than the world is capable of giving, which exceeds in value and duration all external goods. The divine self, the inner light. This was already before our earthly being. And it will return to the glory of God at the end of the journey. From whose spirit everything came forth, the universes and all life and vitality.
The awakened one knows that everything that many longingly seek is already within him.
"Whoever seeks the Grail and does not find it,
he no longer searches in a foreign land.
For look: He carries in unrecognized
Secretly in his own hand."
It is about the distinction between reality and illusion, light and darkness, joy and pain, eternity and transience. A discriminating awareness. For one who has reached his goal, the world ceases to be. It is entering a state of consciousness in which the mind returns to the source from which it once sprang, came.
Not to understand the true nature of our being means: to take only the appearance of the external world for the true, it means to confuse the transitory with the eternal and happiness with pain. For, as is well known, suffering follows from greed.
So, right discernment is what it is all about. Physical bodies are dead and without the life energy that is inherent in all living things. Whether flower, tree, cow or human being, all are inspired and breathed by the energy of life. The Indians call it Prana. In China they call it chi. Jesus calls it Ruha, the breath, the life force. It is the only energy we take with us when we leave the body. The life force and the different aspects of our spirit together form the soul. A complete being of a non-material nature. Much more than just the decaying body and the transience of things and possessions. Such a joy that there is much more waiting to be discovered, by every human child!
Eternal harvest time
Verse 57 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
The Master said: "The kingdom of the Father is like unto a man that hath good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed tares among the good seed.
The man did not let the weeds be pulled out. He said, "Let no one go to pull up the weeds and uproot the wheat with them! On the day of harvest the weeds will appear. Then pull it up and burn it."
See also Matthew 13:24-30 and 13:37 f. It is Christ who sows the good seed. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom of God. The weeds are the children of darkness, of those who are too attached to the world. Both are given equal opportunity to grow and flourish. On the day of harvest, the good fruit is brought in. This day can be at any time. It reveals the effects of our self-created destiny and life. The children of God will recognize themselves as citizens of the kingdom of joyful heroes and will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. While the children who were only devoted to the world will fall again to the lot of the world until they too realize the true light and their true destiny. But since the day of harvest always comes, everyone also has the opportunity today to turn to the divine and become a child of light. He who seeks finds, he who is open, can be granted the grace of God.
Certainly, for many this new orientation seems full of change and lack of freedom, and many find it difficult to make a decision. But Jesus is the great liberator from our addictions and being too attached to material things. In humility there is an incredible freedom in every relationship. Through inner abundance, I can more easily live this modesty, because I have enough inner wealth. This awareness of the divine treasure within each person is Jesus' gift to all humanity. Therefore, we have every reason to remember Jesus and his exemplary life and death again and again.
Here is another interpretation. This someone who had good seeds is ourselves. We often did not care enough for the good seed in the field of our life. We became careless and let the weeds grow that our enemy, the ego, egoism, has sown. It is also constantly nourished from the outside through advertising, television and other influences. Yes, even our economic system does not favor modesty and humility, etc. Thus we are influenced, educated and bent. Jesus advises us not to pull out the weeds. We can't just fight our spirit, because who is fighting who? But we can cultivate the beautiful, constructive and helpful in us and bring the good seeds to maturity. Then it is easier to see the weeds and let them go or burn them.
This also applies to the deep-seated mental impressions that we are not aware of. But which shape our lives and experiences all the more. We overcome the negative by manifesting positive impulses. And by realizing that negativity only leads to suffering, in others as well as in ourselves.
If negative thoughts or feelings are driving us, we should cultivate opposite thoughts, find subjects that bring us joy, e.g. plant or grow something, immerse ourselves in nature, etc. For this, a disciplined mind can help a lot. Whereas the power of sentimental emotional chaos can also darken the beauty of life for us. Although to perceive feelings is a valuable and important gift of life. And they enable us to perceive the music, humor and colors of life. But they must not dominate us! Many people are helped by meditation, yoga on this golden path, others by prayer.
So being mindful and aware of the negative helps us to fulfill our soul plan, which is significant. For we may notice that we have gotten caught up in painful thought patterns. We can try to remove the energy of our attention from them, which feeds them and allows them to grow. Negative thoughts are the fuel for negative feelings and thus for suffering. Consciously looking at something is the mandatory prerequisite for being able to let go of it or forgive it. Forgiveness is the greatest and most ingenious thing Jesus taught us. Whoever engages in this process can only win and that beyond death.
Suffering that leads to the light
Verse 58 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who has suffered. He has found life."
"Blessed is he who has suffered," can we subscribe to that? By nothing is man more easily confused about his faith than by suffering. He asks himself, 'How can God, the Spirit of love and goodness, want my suffering?" Jesus also suffered greatly, even though he was so infallible. Animals also often suffer periodically, for example in the dry season. Is suffering part of life and part of a necessary inner maturation?
Many see only a part, and not the whole, the spirit of light and the spirit of darkness. If a person makes a spiritual ascent, the trials also become greater and not smaller. Because whom God loves, he helps with it to mature and to prove himself. And the highest, the unconditional love, one can develop and live only if there are also hostilities. Suffering often triggers necessary developments and insights that otherwise would not have occurred. Loving parents not only spoil their children, but also challenge and encourage them. At times, this is also associated with pain and suffering. Many realize that they have matured and grown a lot through great crises. Unfortunately, this is often only seen in retrospect.
But when a person awakens and matures more and more to the truth, he detaches himself more and more from darkness, from suffering and becomes a bearer of divine light and feels a bliss. Verse 68 and 69 are also about comforting those who are persecuted. I am with those who suffer. They will be repaid many times over. When Jesus calls the person who suffered blessed, it is not for the sake of suffering, but that suffering led him to the reflection of his self and self-realization.
How will someone find to the divine Comforter who did not experience suffering or avoided it? And thus deprived himself of the possibility of tearing the veil of ignorance and non-knowledge and finding the source of light by looking inward?
The sufferer, who let himself be purified by his suffering and led to the light, finds life with the light and love and knowledge with the life. Already in suffering he is closer to the bliss of oneness with the divine and self than the one bathing in happiness, who is still very much absorbed in the deceptive pleasures of outer existence and sees this as the source of all joy. And only with their disappearance, disappointed, turns inward and gets to the bottom of himself.
All sufferers are sure to find, if they do not give up searching. The insight and realization is given to them that things and destinies are not conditioned from the outside, but have a lot to do with their own perception. Thus, I have an influence on how much I "bathe" in pain. What a privilege that is! With one's own inner transformation, the sorrowful outer circumstances are also reshaped and perceived in a new way.
In the school of life, the more willing we are to learn and to perceive suffering as a field of learning, the more confidently we progress from one class to the next. Only for the one who is unwilling to learn, the lessons of life become harder and more difficult, so that he recognizes his tasks, solves them and thus becomes more mature. If he does not work on himself, unfortunately fate will do it. But if he or she recognizes and accepts the teaching of suffering, dissolves the blockages, overcomes the destructive patterns, renews himself or herself from within and follows the path to perfection, the path to the spirit that makes free, he or she will increasingly perceive suffering differently. Perhaps as a sporting exercise to prove himself? Perhaps at some point well trained, he or she will stand above suffering, knowing and feeling that he or she is on the right path back to the divine peace of heart.
Jesus calls for heroic hearts that rise up, feel their home beyond suffering in the path to the light and know themselves secure in it. The one who suffers is closer to awakening. The more persistently he traces the meaning and the teaching of suffering, the more awake he becomes to the inner guidance and the more silent and willing he becomes to accept it. In this way, suffering can lead to the light, and to looking also at one's neighbor and to compassion. For some, it even burns the complete egoism and the becoming human makes giant leaps.
Always wandering through the darkness is our human lot, always shining to others our destiny, always fighting the shadows our mission, burning for our self, so be you my heart.
With the flame of love, the light from within falls into the darkness of suffering and leads man to heaven, to the spiritual ascent. Pain and suffering become to him a pointer to the light, to reveal hidden powers and to fulfill secret longings. It leads him to salvation and oneness. Becoming still in God satisfies his need and opens his eyes to the redeemer of suffering: the divine self.
Fear is the opposite of love. This seed often lies at the bottom of our minds and do their work there. Suffered can also be translated as "worked". The "burning of the weeds" (verse 57), which always leads to painful feelings, does not happen overnight. It requires determination, effort, and patience. Suffering, then, can be translated as both pain and effort. Both facets are what lead us to the inner light.
Old age, sickness, death and the pain that comes with it also await the richest of the rich and the luckiest of the lucky. All of us enter negative spaces in life again and again. It is usually only them that wake us up and lead us to the questions of where from and where to in life. Sometimes misery is a greater teacher than happiness. Insofar as pain makes us grow, it can also be a grace. Blessed be he who has suffered. The experience of suffering makes us mature beings who feel compassion for the suffering of others and look for ways out. It is the spiritual path itself that holds suffering. Spiritual development brings happiness and great pain to the seeker.
Spiritual practice is not an easy exercise. Entering into the silence of meditation and introspection is not always easy. But the bliss is great when we have grasped the deeper truths and our destiny therein.
Here and now!
Verse 59 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Look for him that liveth while ye live, lest ye die, and seek to see him, but see him no more."
Life time is apparently an extremely precious time. Let's not waste it with trivialities and too much pleasure-seeking. Carpe Diem, pick the day, use the time live many. But do not forget the leisure! Who does not enjoy becomes eventually unenjoyable.
The previous Proverbs were about pulling out the weeds (verse 57) and how it is work and can sometimes cause pain (verse 58).
Now here Jesus is saying what happens when we don't want to go the inner way, don't want to "work" and "suffer".
Here and now we are to seek and find Christ - the living light - within us and remain conscious of him as our eternal inner support. For what we have not found on earth, in the midst of everyday life, in turning inward and toward our fellow man, we seek in vain beyond death.
But if we are certain of his presence and live the message, he also guides us through the spiritual worlds and causes our path to lead constantly higher. We can then affirm from innermost certainty, "I have recognized myself and gathered myself. I have collected my senses, which were scattered, and I know who I am and who You are! Thus speaks one who has also freed himself from suffering through greed and the world of the senses. And through collection reached in the center of his inner man and found in Christ, the divine self, his inner support. Thus man became one again, one with himself and one with God. For "he who sees me sees the Father", "I and the Father are one!" said Jesus.
Here Jesus points out that after death our thoughts generate reality much faster and more immediately. What we think happens there immediately. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," says the Old Testament. We enter and resonate with that world which corresponds to our thinking, which our thinking has created. Here and now, today and in this life, Jesus says, we must seek and knock, strive and understand for ourselves. We are to purify our minds and find "the Living One." Then we will experience the glory that can already begin in this life, because it is shaped and determined by our consciousness. And we have influence on it! What a fantastic freedom and happiness!
Right abstention
Verse 60 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
When they saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on the way to Judea, Jesus asked his disciples, "What is he carrying it for?"
They answered, "To kill it and eat it."
He said to them, "While it lives, he will not eat it; not until he kills it and it becomes a carcass." They answered, "He will not be able to do otherwise."
And Jesus said to them, "Seek ye a place of rest, lest ye become carcasses and be eaten."
With these words, Christ, as the "Great Lover" who embraces all beings, including animals, with His love, expresses His abhorrence of the sorrowful fact that man kills other beings in order to eat them. In times of need this may be justified, but not in times of sufficient food supply. This aims at an ethic of reverence for life also in the form of abstaining from eating meat.
Moreover, the words of Christ aim at the much broader abstention from too much worldly pleasures. It turns against every greedy want to take the perishable, which binds people and takes away freedom. The constant fear of the dwindling and the loss of the gained possession determines the life and often does not let the possessor come to the rest and self-contemplation.
The wise man, however, who is not attached to the sensual, but lives freely, carrying the essential and the
and essence in the heart and gratefully accepts the peace, silence and inner peace.
Like this - so Christ admonishes - look for the, place of rest, so that you do not perish with the one who clings to the transitory. And thus fall back anew to the eternal cycle of everything materially bound. But bring the wheel of becoming and passing to a standstill and become partakers of the eternal life. Which does not nourish itself from the transitory life.
Another interpretation. The poor lamb that the Samaritan carries around is a living corpse, destined to die. "Take care that you do not become living corpses yourselves, entangling yourselves and too bound and dependent on the world, Jesus may be telling us here. If we have no place to rest, if we do not enter into inner silence, then we are as unfree and dead as the lamb carried to the slaughter. We are not to be lambs, but autonomous beings, knowing our divine Christ nature
From Jesus' point of view, what we call normality is definitely to be questioned, If we do not have a retreat now and then, we are somehow alive and yet also dead.
Jesus encourages us here to enter into quiet time again and again. Maybe connected with a study of the holy scriptures, prayer or meditation. Also in Asia with other religions there are as a matter of course house altars or even in the garden, which encourage us to pause. And then the respect for all life can come from the heart, away from the "normality" of eating meat, to the reverence for all life. In every animal, too, there is a soul that feels and suffers. And the way we treat them, maybe that's the way we'll be treated someday? And on top of that, we are doing our health and the entire planet a very big favor these days. It really couldn't be simpler! This is win/win/win!
Being ready is everything
Verse 61 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "There shall two rest upon one bed: the one shall live, and the other shall die." Salome asked, "Who are you, man? As of one! You have used my bed and eaten from my table".
Jesus answered, "I come from him who is like light. One gave me from what is of my father.
Salome said, "I am your disciple." Jesus answered, "He who is alone and empty will be full of light, but he who is divided will be full of darkness."
See also Luke 17:34 for the first part.
Jesus knows that one of them, namely himself, will soon have to die the death on the cross.
It is about the day when Christ will reveal himself and his admonition to be always awake and ready for the dawn of light. Those who are inwardly awake, ready and flexible will overcome death and have true life. Some die without having lived their essence and being.
Salome, as the mother of John and James, reports that Jesus was her guest, but was completely different. As if of one: totally spirit and life, totally one with God.
Jesus helps us to awaken and to internalize the essential through his reference to that light of which all men are children who become aware of their divine inheritance.
Only the one who breaks away from self-centeredness, egoism, is no longer so attached to worldly things and possessions, is instead devoted to God, is filled with light and transformed, is led into the kingdom of eternal life. "Behold, I come like a thief in the night. - Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments ready." Blessed is he whose soul is always ready to leave behind all that is perishable in order to receive Christ, to set out with Him, and to begin the homecoming into the light. He will discover that he is a co-heir with Christ, a child of the Father, of the Spirit and of life.
So now we can complete the picture: "two" go to bed there: our body and its ego are one. The wisdom or deeper reality that we are in truth is the second. The first dies, the second will live.
But the message goes deeper. In dreamless deep sleep there is nothing that makes "I" and "mine", we are without wanting, without fear, without worry, pure being, peace, emptiness, blissful state, without lack, simply true being. A state of fullness, a state of consciousness that transcends waking, dreaming and deep sleep states.
The inner spark lives forever because it comes from wholeness, from infinity.
Jesus identifies with the wholeness that lives eternally. His name means the primordial ground from which everything comes and into which everything goes again, returns, flows in. The second part means to restore or make whole, also to heal or save. Someone who has become whole or healed like Jesus, flooded with wisdom, Sophia. Who would not want to become a disciple of such a being of light?
Mysteries are instructions for the way to the origin.
Verse 62 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
The Master spoke: I tell my secrets to those who are worthy to hear them.
Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand is doing.
Worthy are those who are interested and open, who are in the process of awakening. With others it is fruitless, because they have ears to hear, but in their world they do not understand anything. Only the awakened can grasp Jesus' message. Jesus also advised his disciples to be careful to whom they told. "Be shrewd as serpents," he advises in verse 39. One must already bring openness and a yearning for deeper truth. But not everyone is ready for that.
What was reserved for the few in Jesus' day can be offered to many today. To help many who have become inwardly awake and receptive to it into the bright light of awareness or to serve as further guidance.
Is this not a great privilege that we have today? Their number is greater today than ever before. And it will continue to grow, the more people turn inwards in silence with the request
open my eyes that I may see!
Open my ears that I may hear and hear the word of life!
Enlighten me that I recognize, internalize and live the truth in everything.
Make me able to consciously follow the wisdom of the inner guidance!
With the divine wisdom it is like with the alms, which one gives not publicly, but in the silence to the needy and for it worthy. See also Mat 6:3 "When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your almsgiving may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." The point is not to externalize our own generosity. Bragging about our generosity serves our ego more than we want to help.
New humanity
Verse 63 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "A rich man had many goods and thought: I will use my goods to sow, to reap, to plant, and to fill my barns with fruit, that I may lack nothing. This was what he thought in his heart. And that night he died. He who has ears to hear, hear!"
All his life there was a man who toiled, gathered and piled up his wealth. Someday, he thought to himself, he would be secure and could enjoy everything in peace. But it was not to come to that. How many of us postpone life to an after. But what if there is no after? If this were the last day I had to live, what would I do?
Christ teaches us the way of inner reform, of renewal from within, so that the outer life may also be completed and made perfect. Jesus also speaks about the greedy activity of the unawakened, who spend all the precious time of training on earth to increase externally, to accumulate perishable things, and in the end to go away empty-handed and empty-hearted. They have misunderstood and missed the point of their earthly incarnation and miss the most important thing, their inner growth.
The rich man who labored in vain and who is not yet embraced and transformed by the new spirit. The old time is a time of haste and chasing success. The new one is a time of serenity and creative action. The will of some is focused on the material and the external senses. That of the awakened people is focused on the soul and spirit development. This life is dynamic, springing from the truth, turned towards the inner.
The old worldview is that of the sense person: It is about drawing boundaries, wanting to hold and keep, confinement and inhibition, persisting in the imperfect. The thinking is dominated by the drive, by egoism alien to life, by wanting to have and take, the thought of possession, the will to power and violence. He thinks that happiness depends on money or on influence and external circumstances.
The new world view is that of the intellectual and spiritual man: It is rooted in what the man who is grounded in himself sees and comprehends. Landmarks of the new one are: The widening to oneness with the whole, the free development of the creative inner forces, the will to give and the living progress to perfection and completion. The thinking is based on the will of a sense of community, which is very close to life, of wanting to give oneself and being. It knows no obsession with possessions, no delusion of power, no violence. He recognizes all possessions as a loan and uses them as a means to make his own life and the lives of his brothers and sisters brighter and easier. He does not work for the sake of money, but for the sake of the work. The old man thinks that possessions entitle him to use them freely. The new man knows that possession obliges. He wants to become a blessing for all. He who thinks in this way and becomes free from attachment to things is the master of abundance and the master of life.
Thus, the new worldview is a higher level than the worldview of yesterday. The new life is more essential, more dynamic and more conscious than the apparent life before. Many times richer is the new life: It revolves around inner values. The new thinking is wisdom and enlightenment, the new wanting is goodness, the new doing is love becoming visible.
What the old man regards as the highest is nothing to the new. What seems of little value to the one, spirituality, is considered by the new as the basis, essence and content of life. At the center of this new life is the miracle of the birth of Christ in man, the making visible of the kingdom of God. This new man is essentially spirit man.
Proper life!
Verse 64 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "A man had guests. When he had prepared the meal, he sent out his servant to invite the guests. The latter came to the first and said to him, 'My lord invites you'.
The man replied, "Merchants owe me money; they come in the evening and I will go and give them instructions. I beg to be excused for the meal." He came to a second one and said to him, "My master invited you." The latter replied, "I have bought a house and I am asked to stay for a day. I will not have time."
He came to a third and said to him, "My lord invites you."
The latter replied, "My friend wants to celebrate a wedding and I am to prepare the meal. I will not be able to come and ask to be excused."
He came to another and said to him, "My Lord invites you."
The latter replied, "I have bought a village and am going there to collect the rent. I cannot come and ask to be excused."
The servant returned and reported to his master, "Those you invited to the meal have asked to be excused."
Then the master said to his servant, "Go out to the roads and bring those you find, that they may have supper. The merchants will not enter into my Father's places."
See also Luke 14:16 f. "If a man is wise, when invited to the banquet, he will not hesitate to follow the host and question him about his place at the table. For many will be first to become last, and the last to become first - and these will then receive honor."
On the external level, Jesus tells us that there is more than mammon. But Jesus is not only talking about the economic and greed and the exploitation and destruction that goes with it, but in general about being caught up in the gears of making and doing, in which we become unconscious cogs of a machine. Thus we deny ourselves and lose our life light. Zhuangzi, a wise man from China: "There are some whose decline is like autumn and winter, so their dissolution could be described from day to day. Others are so drowned in activity that they cannot be revived. And still others become so tired that they are sealed as if in a shell, this is how their senility could be described. Their spirit is so close to death that nothing can rejuvenate them. "On which horse do we want to bet? On that which dies, or that which will live?
This is a reminder to be awake and ready at all times to answer the call to the light. For it depends on our answer whether we remain attached to the outer life and perish with it. Or whether we find our way to Eternal Life. For according to the manner of our mind and being awake and of good will, we will be judged. "I will judge you in the things in which I find you." Let us therefore take care to live in such a way that Christ's return can become a reality in us and through us for all. Since He can reveal Himself at any hour (!), it is necessary to be ready to receive Him worthily at any time.
Therefore, may every hour, every thought and every deed of our life be a building block to our completion and perfection! And may the fullness of God, the Creator, which was once alive in Jesus, awaken also in us, transform and renew us, and help us to become living bearers of the light and citizens of the Kingdom of God, which is in all of us and wants to become a reality through us!
The Unwise
Verse 65 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
The Master said: "A right man had a vineyard. He gave it to farmers to cultivate, so that he might get his fruit from them. He sent a servant so that the farmers would give him the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, beat him and almost killed him.
The servant went and told his master. He said, 'Perhaps they did not know him: and sent another servant.' But the peasants beat him too.
Then the master sent his son. He said, 'Perhaps they are afraid of my son.' Since the peasants knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. - He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Good Life, [11.04.21 10:46]
The Unwise
Verse 65 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
The Master said: "A right man had a vineyard. He gave it to farmers to cultivate, so that he might get his fruit from them. He sent a servant so that the farmers would give him the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, beat him and almost killed him.
The servant went and told his master. He said, 'Perhaps they did not know him: and sent another servant.' But the peasants beat him too.
Then the master sent his son. He said, 'Perhaps they are afraid of my son.' Since the peasants knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. - He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Jesus also foretold his own fate with this parable. See also Matthew 21:33 f. Now when the Lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these husbandmen? Jesus repeats the disciples' answer that he will take the vineyard from them and give it to other vineyard owners.
Perhaps the vineyard represents the great talents and abilities that God has given us in his great grace. Not to look at them proudly as in a museum. And to decorate them a little so that they look even better. But to live them and to bring us and the world closer to God. The words of Jesus are always about justice and love. But Jesus also says that we should not flaunt our good works.
But in order to have the necessary energy and focus, the Gospel of Thomas reminds us again and again to have times of silence and focus on what is essential. This can also be an introspection in the midst of life, going to a meta-level, so to speak, and looking at the world from a different perspective. For how often does it happen that I supposedly fight for the good but do not realize that it also generates suffering or that love is missing in the process.
It seems to be particularly serious not to use one's talents. It takes courage and determination to stand by oneself and to live one's potential and one's recognized relative truth. Jesus wants to encourage us to do this. Without becoming megalomaniac or unrealistic. The time of harvest is coming, where the fruits of life will be revealed. For me, every day can become a time of harvest if I reflect daily on where things have gone wrong with my life plan and where painful experiences teach me to rethink my approach. But we are human beings with rough edges, that determines our dignity and personality. Therefore friction is inevitable, especially in the current time of global awakening! But friction creates warmth! Indifference is the biggest poison on earth, because by itself the reality does not change constructively.
This parable also wants to make us aware that when the call to awaken and bring in the harvest of our lives is heard, not everyone is ready to answer this call. Most are so attached to the outer riches of life that they reject or even persecute and kill those who speak to them of leaving and giving away the outer riches and gaining the inner riches.
Another view. The man who owned the vineyard may have been righteous. And yet he lost what was his. He did not work his vineyard himself. He didn't dig up the earth, he didn't sow, he didn't harvest, but only counted his money. He was not even willing to collect the yield himself. He lent at interest what he had in order to make more out of what he had. He cheated no one and kept the law. Yet he lost what he loved the most.
Our interior is a vineyard. We have to take care of it ourselves if we want good fruit to grow there. Every day we have to go to that mountain anew and see if everything is in order, so that the fruit will ripen and we can then burn the weeds. If we are like the rich man who fills his storehouse for the future, or the buyers and sellers who have no time to look within, we lose what we long for most - our happiness of life and fullness of heart.
This verse also conveys the uncertainty of life. Vineyards, warehouses, money or whatever - the physical side of being is fragile and cannot stand the test of time. What do we want to make the supporting pillars of our lives? This is also what the next verse is about.
The Cornerstone
Verse 66 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Show me the stone which the builders rejected. He is the cornerstone."
See also Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, 2, and Peter's Epistle 2:4 f.
The Pharisees and scribes, consider themselves as the only called builders of the kingdom of God. Transferred to today, it could describe the clergy, especially the upper power structures. The stone, which was felt and rejected by them as a stone of the offence and annoyance is exactly this living stone and chosen by God. He was destined to be the cornerstone of the house of God.
Jesus, who with the above saying reproduced the Psalm word 118, 22, thereby pointed to himself, his task and his destiny, as it is also written in the Acts of the Apostles 4, 8 f.. "Ye rulers of the people and elders in Israel, let it be known unto you that Jesus Christ, whom ye crucified ... is the stone, rejected of you builders, which is become the cornerstone." He is the rock for the faithful and awakened. This word is a reference to the inner support and cornerstone - Christ. Through Him, the foundation of the soul is firmly and non-detachably embedded in the foundation of God. On this the human being is interlocked from the outer to the inner. And he grows into a holy temple of the Lord, into a dwelling place of God in the spirit. Happy is he who has discovered the determining cornerstone, the living Christ in himself!
Another interpretation: Let us remember verse 64 and the friendly invitation of the host. No one took the time for it, because everyone seemed to have more important things to do. So they turned down the invitation.
Every day creation speaks to us. Every day it invites us anew to become aware and conscious of its holiness. Again and again she invites us to her table. Do we take the time and give her space? Or do we turn down the invitations? The builders are us: Bricklayers and architects who shape the house of life. Part of building is structural engineering. It is good to know which elements can carry the heaviest loads. How often we consider the unimportant important and overlook the most important.
All-immediate
Verse 67 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, he who knows the all, the cosmos, and misses himself, misses the whole.
Or someone who knows everything, but suffers lack in himself, he lacks everything.
One who recognizes the miraculous structure of the cosmos, but lacks the prerequisite of true knowledge of the great whole, self-realization and cosmic consciousness, cannot recognize the true nearness of God and the immediacy of God.
One may have understood the whole universe and yet not come one step closer to God. And another turns inward, to the "inner" cosmos, and thus progresses from the awakening of the self to higher consciousness.
Many words of the Gospel of Thomas show, self-knowledge is the same in essence as knowledge of the Christ. The one who awakens to the Christ in himself knows about the divine fullness and has expanded his ego and self consciousness to cosmic consciousness.
In him, the beginning and end of the cosmos in space and time merge into eternal life and timeless oneness with everything. He is in the cosmos and the cosmos is in him. Cosmos, man and Godhead have become a living triad. Man becomes a mediator between the natural world and the Spirit of God, between above and below, between heaven and earth. A great responsibility and privilege.
All being divided and separated becomes unity again. Here is neither before nor after but only a present now and here. Here everything divided and separated is one again, the one divine self. Here all feeling and willing is united to a loving all-one-ness. Christ leads us to this unity. And the number of awakened ones who follow him there and step from initiation to initiation to the light is in constant growth.
It is the way of man to the heights of cosmic consciousness, which is equally perceiving, internalizing and being aware of the inner unity of men among themselves, of the brotherhood of mankind, as well as of the unity of men with God. The Son of God is also the Son of man, and both elements are necessary to complete the following of Christ. And to realize the plan and will of God on earth and thus also in the cosmos. Accordingly, Jesus saw his task also in bringing the light, the power and the blessedness of the divine truth and its certainties into the lives of people and thus to accompany them to the higher level of life from the spirit.
All mystics and awakened ones strive for the same for their fellow men, to lead man and mankind from the I-consciousness to the self-realization. And from there to the cosmic consciousness of the immediacy of God. This is then close to paradise that can already begin and manifest in the here and now.
Jesus always means an understanding that is of a living nature, with the heart, but not intellectual acrobatics. That is why he speaks so much in images and riddles. So that we enter into an active process of understanding. To learn his sayings by heart is a wasted effort. Without heart and vitality, we only make a warehouse of our minds and knowledge. We collect data upon data. But the further we look into the cosmos, the more incomprehensible it seems to us. The more we look into the basic building blocks of nature, the more intangible the world becomes to us. In the very largest as in the very smallest things elude our sensual and cognitive grasp. Last and true wisdom and knowledge we cannot attain so. It is only a poking around in the periphery, without advancing to the center. Only the inner work and the heart bring us further. This is open to everyone, regardless of how much intellect or other abilities we bring with us. Isn't this a great grace and very righteous?
Constant self-testing
Verse 68 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed are you when they hate you and persecute you. And where they persecuted you, they will find no place."
See also Sermon on the Mount (Luk 6:22). No one will attain the kingdom of heaven untried.
But it is not God who tempts people. It is the evil one! The shadow of God, which is also in us and tempts us again and again to the outer world and sinful behavior.
Thus, we are drawn back to our divine selves, as the source of inner light. This light develops when we engage in the school of life and walk the path that corresponds to our soul plan. To do this, we must listen to our inner voice. And along the way remain constant self-examination and self-experimentation to gradually reach the highest earthly level of maturity. This is a long and not always easy path.
Whatever level of maturity we are at, life always tests us where we are weakest. So that we learn to further develop and expand the soul. For example, by responding to the difficulties and temptations of life with serenity. So that we pass them smiling, without turning our eyes away from the eternal.
Whoever lives in this way lives without danger. Danger lies neither in possession nor in lack, but in that desire and being obsessed by and after transitory things and attachments. These often blind us to the essential and the reality behind appearances. This means that a poor person who craves for external richness is also far from heaven, just like a rich person who takes possessions and power too seriously. It is not the possessions that decide, but the heart. Wherever it turns, there is its support. If it is attached to external wealth, it is without support. And so are those without a foothold who take away the possessions of others. They find no place and security for their possessions on this earth.
If, on the other hand, the heart is rooted in the inner kingdom, then no one can take it or rob it, nothing can hinder its flight of fancy. Such a heart does not worry and greed, does not chase and does not err. In every situation it remains focused on the essential, because he has recognized God in himself and lives in trust.
So the wise man lives as if he were not bound to this world and dependent. He possesses as if he does not possess. He works as if he does not work. God works through him. His life is giving. And if then with the inner fullness also the outer fullness increases, it is his motivation and calling to give even more, to be even more servant of all people whom God sends him because they need him.
Thus we understand the deeper meaning of Christ's demand for abstinence from the world and the importance of the inner rebirth. He will become the source of more beautiful becoming, deeper awakening, higher initiations and more lively maturing.
He who dies to the old life and is reborn in the spirit of Christ has become anew a child of the spirit, but in a higher sense: he awakens as a child of God conscious of himself. This being born again and awakening is meaningful and the real goal of the school of life. This can be accompanied by a clear decision to live in the spirit of Christ. This leads to a noticeable and perceptible change in the life of that person. It is the beginning of the spiritual and cosmic journey and maturity, which is open upwards.
The hungry person will attain bliss because he is hungry for the truth. Bliss is more than just happiness. It is the pleasant, joy in the heart, inner serenity and light. Only longing is able to lead us to it. He who does not have longing does not seek. He who does not seek, does not find. He who does not knock, no one will open. This longing is the sign that we are "chosen", that we are climbing the ladder to perfection. This is accompanied by the inkling that the world cannot give us perfect happiness, otherwise there would be no yearning. The striving in the world for possessions and power sometimes seems insane. It hurts and sometimes frightens. How does one get from madness to meaning? But the world can at the same time show the way to heaven for those who seek and are not satisfied with bread & games!
Concretely: Also today the people are hated or fought who question e.g. the extensive measures as war against the virus. They act thereby after their conscience and the inner voice, because they recognize, how unbelievably much senseless suffering is produced by it, which stands in no relation to the protection of the life. This is exactly their motivation to become active, the real protection of life and the human being. Life and health are not protected by making people afraid, because this ruins the immune system and makes people sick. But by God-trust, human-friendly acting, a healthy way of life regarding social joy by human meeting, nutrition, movement, etc.. Be vigilant you people, says Jesus, and recognize who really brings fruits and works in the sense of the divine plan. And who acts against it, but adorns himself with well-sounding words.
Suffering solution from within, it is dark, but I sing....
Verse 69 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed are those who were persecuted in their hearts, those who knew the Father in truth. Blessed are the hungry, for the body of him who wills shall be satisfied."
This corresponds to the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5; 6 + 10. It is also addressed to all who can not cope with the sufferings of existence. Because they expect relief and relief, help and liberation from the outside. Although real liberation comes only from within and is often experienced by those who have recognized the Father in truth. Jesus the liberator!
The deeper meaning of the two beatitudes is more apparent to those who have understood the nature and meaning of suffering. And have recognized the life as cosmic school and place of constant self-testing and -proving. They are thereby led to the right recognition, thinking and doing. Christ looks here at those who do not embitter themselves despite all difficulties and suffering. Instead, they are purified and let themselves be led to the light. Often the outer helplessness helps them to find the inner helper. And to break through sorrow and darkness to the inner light. And in the midst of suffering to internalize and be aware of their security in the eternal. Many do not understand why they suffer, but through the message of Jesus it has taken on a whole new dimension. It is dark but I sing, says a Brazilian song. If you understood suffering, suffering would stop! Therefore lean on me, says Jesus. You will know what I am when you have come to me. Whoever, following this call, turns inward and transforms his ego and distress, through Christ as an inner helper, will experience Jesus as a Savior who can also transform suffering, through a different look or awareness of the meaning of suffering. And by internalizing the words of wisdom that can lead to more freedom. Who, what he is, is whole, who listens not only with the mind, but also with the heart of the inner instruction and wisdom, he is truly advanced, in his true becoming human. As children, we have been there before!
"Blessed are the hungry", how can this be? It is also about the physical suffering of human beings and it is a question to humanity, how can we as creatures and stewards of God on earth allow this to happen? But Jesus also has a good message! He starved in the desert for 40 days. There are far more than 10,000 people worldwide who have not eaten anything for years, and some of them work hard. It has been intensively studied and it really is true, even if science is speechless. The body also seems to be able to activate another program, which is entirely based on self-sufficiency. These tans mutation processes have also been observed in chickens.
I have tried it myself! After an initial weight loss, the weight stabilized and all blood values were excellent despite 40 days of fasting, with a short interruption. Physical and especially mental fitness was better than ever. However, spiritual exercises, prana breathing, sun meditation, etc. were accompanying. It seems the spiritual life is significant in this regard. But it is a good message, and Jesus exemplified and communicated it to us. And he said you can do greater things like me if you take the path inward, toward the light. If that's not a hopeful message?
We can also experience condemnation on the inside. In the heart we are tested, on the way to our own depth and ascension.
The three worlds
Verse 70 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "If you beget him whom you possess in you, he will save you. If you do not possess this one in you, the one you do not possess will kill you." Or
If you bring forth what is in you, what you have will save you. If you do not have anything in you, what you do not have in you will kill you.
With this paradoxical sounding word, the seeker of light is faced with the choice of either leaning on his divine self. And thus to be freed from ignorance, impermanence and suffering bondage. Or in not recognizing his self to rely on his ego. Which in truth he does not possess, because it belongs to him only temporarily.
If you confess Him, surrender to His guidance, make yourself the instrument of Christ, your inner helper, you are safe as citizens of the spiritual world.
We move in different worlds. In the illusory world, the world of senses and things. In the world of light and truth, from which we can draw energy and creativity, in which we are more human than in the external world. And in the spiritual world of God, which encloses the other two and to which we belong through our divine self - Christ in us.
These three worlds interpenetrate each other. But the ignorant man sees separation where in truth there is unity. But man can be alive in all three worlds, even if he is mostly consciously present in only one.
But more and more people perceive that the illusory world existence is not the whole. They recognize a greater life, whose beginning and end and whose nature is still unknown to them. They suspect, however, that the existence on earth according to time and content is only a part of another, real life, the so-called eternal life.
The illusory world is like the eternally moving surface of the sea. The world in us, that is the depth of the sea. And the world of God is its sustaining ground.
With the illusory world our senses connect us. With the other one our soul connects us. And with the third one the spirit unites us - Christ in us.
In the illusory world, everyone lives essentially for himself, often unconcerned about the others (hunger, war). In the real world, everyone knows about the You in the I, about his being connected with the other beings and nature. In the divine world, man recognizes the great whole, being one with all. And there is the spiritual life directed towards God.
The illusory world is a world of masks. Much is not as it seems; everything is different. What one wants to hold sometimes evaporates.
In the true and spiritual world, everything is here as it is, and everyone recognizes himself in the other; everything is unchanging. The divine world is the world of superbeing and insight.
The illusory world is a confused world with much suffering.
The true world is a world of light, love and full of life. In the true world, we are all deeply connected and related, living members of the all-common. The destinies interweave. In the process, we unfold into people who swing weightlessly toward the light.
The world of God is the original being that transcends space and time, that cannot be named, beyond being and non-being. We are all one and everything ourselves. Here we are without form - the spirit of life itself.
The illusory world, that is the pilgrimage from life to life, the wandering in eternity without knowledge of the time that lies between.
The real world, that is also the inner or otherworldly sections of our wandering journey through the worlds, in growing awareness of the meaning and goal of our journey in the worlds.
The world of God, that is the high goal of our cosmic pilgrimage, the original home and the goal, which we can experience now and be eternally at home.
Whoever surrenders only to the illusory world runs the risk of losing himself. He who surrenders to the true world advances to self-discovery and knowledge. He who surrenders to the world of God awakens to God in him.
The mystics describe the illusory world as night, the true world as morning, and the world of God as eternal noon. This ascension is our destiny. Many still live in twilight and no one else can open our eyes but ourselves. For example, by turning inward, by the fire of our heart, by the power of the Spirit, by turning to God.
In doing so, we do not need to search in the distance, but only to turn to the interior, where the sun of God rises. Then, in the contemplation of one's own soul, the illusory world and the true world become one world again, a unity above which the heaven of God stretches.
Persistent contemplation of this truth leads to freedom without fear of perishing, and he becomes master of a meaning-filled life. In the awakening of the self, man recognizes himself as the I in the Thou, from the I to the We, as part of a greater plan in which he actively participates. The heavenly order of God on earth. The goodness and mercy can become a trait. He then becomes a helper and redeemer to others, as to himself, whether human or animal. Humanity becomes a family of brothers and sisters at eye level.
Every burden that we take from the shoulders of a human brother or sister is transformed into forces that carry us further towards the light. The more willingly we surrender to this, the higher we rise to the world of God. All powers, the whole cosmos serves the one who follows love.
Another interpretation. Blessed is he who has suffered and found life. Persecution, suffering and other things, what does this have to do with blessedness? To transcend our ego-centeredness, sometimes and some times we have to go through the desert of the spirit. To where fears, insecurity and lack await us. Away from all that is familiar, familiar and all the gloss we make of ourselves. My soul leads me into the desert of my own self. Have I lived too much outside myself, in people and things? Why did I avoid my self? Beyond my thoughts to my own true self. C><
We are a soul that has a body, not a body that has a soul. If we have lost our connection to the innermost, we are dead even when our body may still breathe - a vine far from water and without root (verse 40). If we are connected to the inner light, we live beyond death Thus we are killed in living and saved in dying to the light nature.
The power of the spirit
Verse 71 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "I will destroy this house, and no one will be able to rebuild it."
This house refers both to the body and to the external world. Of whose transience the previous saying made us aware. But it has another meaning, which the priests (Mark 14:58) cited in their accusation against Jesus. Christ once meant by it his outer form, the body in which he would rise again after the crucifixion and become visible to his disciples. With which he at the same time gave to understand that the spirit controls the matter and if his body work is destroyed, he is able to create a new body.
On the other hand, with regard to the temple in Jerusalem, he meant the houses of God built by human hands, which are also protected by those awakened to God and based on the spirit, and thus indestructible.
Another interpretation. There are experiences in life that change us forever. The house that Jesus wants to destroy is the spirit through which we look into a colored world. To destroy the mind conditioned by school, media and system means at the same time its rebirth. So that the imprisoned spirit may be liberated and open to new horizons and dimensions. As in the case of one's own child, which allows us to perceive completely new dimensions that one did not believe existed before.
From confusion to crystal clarity. A seeing with different and awakened eyes. Many people experience this and more and more are doing so. What does change mean but the death of the old and the birth of the new? To this liberation also belongs the letting go of supposed knowledge, of all interpretation and judgment, of all relativizing and explaining away in order to remain in divine bewilderment. The free man turns to his soul with the request for a pure spirit, which can simply see what is without thinking and judgment.
When the abundance of speakers threatens to fall on me, I ask, keep away from me the clever explaining, the science, and others who want to bind the souls and lock them in cells without light. Protect me from the snake of judgment, which appears healing only on the surface, but in your depth is poison and agonizing for some.
But he also meant the visible world and the cosmos, which is subject to perishing. This world is also school and place of unfolding of spiritual beings and a mirror image of spiritual worlds "as above so below". So completely differently it does not seem to be in the beyond, in the fine-material, also, only more lightful and more fantastic, so report media which can connect with others.
While the development of all living will experience its continuation in higher realms beyond all time and transitoriness. To then experience its completion in the becoming one with the immediacy of God. What great prospects for people who have lived through their school of life and the soul plan with good inner alignment, steadfastness and sincerity. What a joy this idea can create in times of suffering and pain? However it turns out, the crucial thing is to play my role well according to my specific soul plan in this.
The countless questions of a worldly nature are not the issue of Jesus. How do I become rich and happy? Who is my dream partner? How do I gain influence and assert my interests? Jesus is even asked for help in inheritance disputes. It encourages people to take their own responsibility for certain issues.
To answer the question of division of property, he expresses that it is UNITY for which he came into the world, not division. The division (divide and rule) comes from the darkness!
In the great scriptures of mankind there are no suggestions to gain advantage and success. But we can find this advice: To set out and have the courage to recognize the Most High and His will for me and to fill His mission for me with life.
Right discernment
Verse 72 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Someone said to Jesus, "Tell my brothers that they share my Father's things with me." Jesus answered him, "Man, who made me a sharer?"
He turned to his disciples, "Am I then a sharer?"
The same saying is cited by Luke (12:13 f,) as a warning against possessiveness and avarice. But it also has a deeper meaning. In the question, "am I then a divider?" lies the answer: you misunderstand me as long as you take my word that I have come to cast divisions on the earth literally, instead of spiritually. What I divide and separate from each other are man and world, realization of reality and sleepwalking not recognizing reality, inner being and outer appearance, in short, light and shadow. So that the essential can happen it needs the reflection on itself, the self-realization of the human being, the restoration of its lost inner unity, which is the condition to become one with God again. I am not a divider, a splitter, but a guide to the participation of all in the kingdom of God, from which I also come. Thus one who wants to unite, who wants to help you to become one with the One, the Divine. If you turn inward, to your divine core and light, learn to live from the spirit, you can experience the fullness and depth of life. Instead of living only from the senses and desire, surrender to the whims.
Right Realization
Verse 73 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few. But ask the Lord to send out laborers for the harvest."
See also Matthew 9:37 and Luke 10:2. True, the longing for higher and more perfect things glows secretly in all hearts. But those who pursue it, who bring the hidden spark to flame, so that it comes to enlightenment from within and to the right realization, are few. Many are scattered like sheep that have no shepherd.
The inner guidance and thus clarity of purpose are few.
It is also about the sending of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen and appointed to carry out the good news of the Kingdom of God in order to give courage, confidence and strength to the tired and unstable people.
The word of Christ is also a call to us to make what we have recognized as essential known to open hearts, to all seekers of truth, according to our ability, in word, writing and deed. So that it becomes brighter on the still dark earth and more and more people become aware of the inner support, the inner guidance, the inner comforter and helper. And to find the highest realization, the self-realization. To the realization of their real greatness and destiny. To the fulfillment of the meaning of their life and to the realization of the kingdom of God, inside as well as outside, in the periphery of their daily life and also in the context of the talents for the great whole.
This is often not easy, and we will stumble again and again. But if we keep getting up and keep moving forward, trusting in the help from above, we will make more rapid progress year by year.
The water of life
Verse 74 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
He said, Many are around the trough, but there is nothing in the well.
Many are around the well, but there is no one in the well.
Or also 'many go around the well, but no one draws from it'. Water stands for life and vitality, source of all life and basis of our existence.
This saying speaks to the call for right realization. Many know about the well from which water of true life comes. But they stand and walk around it and only talk about it, discuss and argue, debate and lament. But only a few descend into the depths and draw from it, from the Word and the joyful message.
Only individuals bring to light the water of life, the delicious drink. So that in the spirit of joyful giving, the thirst of others for light and life may also be quenched. Many of us have the Holy Scriptures and the words of the Wisdom Teachers in our bookcase. But they draw their daily nourishment for the soul from ephemeral media, leaves and books, which do not go into the depths and perish with it. But one drop, drawn from the well of divine wisdom, can change life from the bottom up, provided that the heart is gratefully open. And awaken the seed of new humanity in him and them and in the world.
It is also important to realize that in truth everyone carries in the deepest bottom of his soul the fountain of God's wisdom. And that he can only learn and get used to it, turn inward and to God again and again. To hear in listening silence the voice of Christ within and to follow the inner word. This makes the words of the Holy Scriptures alive and fruitful. Not only for oneself, but for all beings that surround us and to whom we can be guides and helpers, perhaps called and called to do so?
John 21:6 also described it: I will give to the thirsty of the fountain of living water freely, so shall we also do. We should and want to be led from within to lead all seekers to the living well of water. This also means the symbol of Aquarius, those born again of water and the Spirit, from whom "rivers of living water flow" (Joh. 3, 5 + 7, 38).
The new spirit
Verse 75 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Many are standing at the door. But it is the lonely ones who enter the bridal chamber."
Those still standing at the door are those only turned to the world, those not yet awakened. Those who, with all their efforts, often spend a lifetime barely advancing spiritually on the path of spiritual maturity, perfection and self-realization. The few, on the other hand, who are in awakening, turn inward, find themselves and God, and move forward to be One and connected with everything, people and all of creation. They recognize life and God's spirit in everything, and deal with it accordingly appreciatively and lovingly, conscious of being an important part of the whole, but not the ruler. They are the ones who experience the mystical wedding, the becoming one of the soul with its bridegroom, the divine light. That ends in the mystical union, the oneness with the Divine. Back to where we once came from, as children of God sent on a business trip so that the soul can mature and have important experiences. This also includes negative experiences in order to see the light more clearly.
Those who repeatedly retreat into solitude, just as Jesus did, to rest within themselves, are those touched by the spiritual spirit, who live and work from the spirit of Christ. The mystics who have understood the deep meaning of the spiritual life, and walk the path to becoming one with their spiritual essence and Christ and God.
They are called blessed by Christ, because they find their way home to the Kingdom of God, from which they once descended, in the beginning of all becoming. They are the ones who are filled with the life-giving Spirit. See also Ezekiel 36:26, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. This new spirit also wants to enter mankind today. The children of 'Aquarius', those who are born again of water and the Spirit, i carry it out into all the world. To fill more and more people with this new spirit of inner unity and God's immediacy. In order to open up the possibility for them to no longer stand at the door, but to pass through the gate to perfection.
All are called! But there is still a long way to go until all people are ready to listen. Maybe that is why it sometimes takes painful experiences to be ready to give up what we are used to in order to make the ascent possible? It takes many to live the good news that we are pure abundance in the core of our being and are nourished by the nectar of immortality. Before our eyes is the source of life, available to everyone. But many do not see it.
Didn't Jesus say that everything hidden will be revealed? The WAY requires not only determination, but also patience. When the moment comes when the bride, meaning man, is lonely, free from everything that is not truth, far from any delusion and without any idea of God. Then he may enter into the connection with the Most High.
The meditation, the prayer or the time in the nature wants to lead us into that peace, which prepares us for this marriage.
Withdraw from time to time from the restlessness of external works and circling thoughts; they only create discord. Bring the senses and the mind to rest and turn all forces inward. To come into a forgetfulness of all things and oneself. The pure being without body, thoughts, feelings, memories, knowledge and ego is identical with the highest spirit and fulfillment.
And so it happened that Moses and Jesus fasted forty days and yet did not weaken. Do greater things than I do, said Jesus. So, many things may not be impossible for us, which we do not even think we can do. But the matured spirit can do a lot! New possibilities arise, let us be surprised and let us be ready for them!
We reap what we sow.
We should love the people and use the things. But many love the things and use the people.
The highest value
Verse 76 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a merchant who had a cargo of goods and found a pearl. That merchant was wise: he sold the cargo of goods and bought only the pearl. - Seek ye also an incorruptible, an enduring treasure, which no moth can approach to devour, neither can any worm destroy."
See Matthew 13:45 but it is rendered there only fragmentarily, while Thomas renders the more detailed and original form.
The pearl is symbolic of the best we can salvage. It stands for the light that is in and above all things. The pearl is worth more than anything we could ever buy or give away.
That is why the merchant gladly gives away everything for it. He exchanges the perishable for eternity, having for being.
The meaning comes from the final sentence, turn first to the kingdom of God, the inner life, the essential and imperishable. Then you have won the highest value, the lasting, which the world can neither give you nor take away.
The goods of the world, on the other hand, and even if these treasures make up whole loads of goods, are fleeting and transitory, so that the person who sees this material as the most important thing and believes to hold and possess it, ends up with empty hands and an empty heart. He has forgotten the most important, missed the best.
In view of materialism and the attachment of most people to the world, Jesus repeats this demand in ever new parables to open these people's eyes to the greater and essential, the lasting treasure, the precious pearl of the Kingdom of God.
The light of the universe
Verse 77a of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "I am the light that is above all. I am the All. The All has come forth from me, and the All has come to me ....".
Or I am the light in all things. I am all things. From me everything has sprung and to me everything has come.
There is no place in the cosmos, says Jesus, where the highest would not manifest itself. I, the divine Spirit, am the Self who dwells in the heart of all beings. I am the beginning, middle and end of their life. Of all that is created, I am the beginning, middle and end. I am the preserver. My spirit is everywhere. I am all the seasons, I am also the spring that brings the flowers. I am the silence of the mystery, the wisdom of the knowing, the seed of all beings, whether it moves or not: nothing can be without me. I am the light in all things. And the light that conquers.
From the divine wholeness we can exclude nothing and nobody, whatever attribute we give to him. The highest is ALL that is.
This also includes the painful. I am also the stick which punishes if it is necessary. For many people this may be difficult to accept. And yet it is the love for all and everything, which also includes the painful, to enable development and maturation for everyone, so that no one is lost! But could God be less than everything?
And because this is so, Jesus also went where the people of his time did not go: To the sick and lepers, to the outcasts and difficult, to heal them. To the prostitutes, to protect them from the angry man.
He was one who lived the divine spirit and principle, comparable to water. Because water is good to all! It takes care of all beings and creatures. It also purifies those places where man does not want to go.
Christ is the inner light, which outshines all outer lights. "I am the universe", means not only the visible universe, the shining starry dress of God, but the living Spirit, who creates and moves the cosmos and is not visible for us.
From Him everything has come forth, the visible manifestation of light and matter, the space and time continuum, as Albert Einstein called it, and also our soul.
And so the soul and everything returns to him in the end matured. This lasts for all very different long. But already now and here we can reach him and the serenity of the heart can spread.
Thomas does not equate Christ, the light of the world, with the universe, but sees God in everything and in the universe and at the same time above the visible universe as the guiding spirit. He sees God in the cosmos and in everything that surrounds us. But he sees at the same time the invisible divine light that is above everything and that shines at the same time through all and everything.
This perception of the heart of God's handwriting also in all creatures and the wonderful nature and fascinating order evokes appreciation and gratitude.
And at the same time Jesus makes clear to us humans, you are also the light of the world. And therefore you have a great responsibility. To threaten or destroy the living beings or nature is a direct attack against God and his indescribable work, which exceeds every human imagination!
Thomas, like Meister Eckehart, Johannes Tauler and all Christian and non-Christian mystics of mankind, recognizes God even in the dead rock. To him the view of the inner life and the inner light in all things and beings opens. And this is similar to his own divine interior, which can result in deep respect and mindfulness. And he knows himself in this light with everything one and connected.
At the same time it is an admonition to use the inner light, the source of energy and vitality, responsibly. As a guardian of life, into which he lets flow the forces of love and life, the currents of salvation and sanctification. The power of the spirit, which also permeates and moves matter and enables him to transform spirit into substance and substance into spirit. This potential is also in us human beings. How richly we are endowed and how much we can still experience! That makes desire for future and spiritual development.
At the advent of Christianity, many nature religions worshipped God, the Creator of all being, in nature. To distance themselves from this, some blinded themselves to this beauty of God in nature, which had serious negative consequences, until today.
We are the people who can manifest the appreciation and love of all opposite again more. what a great responsibility, because it is also about the survival of a humanity! Nature will survive us, but maybe not vice versa? It is up to us! We are the weakest and most sensitive link, we should internalize that!
The light of the universe
Verse 77b of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Split the wood - and I am there. Lift up the stone - and you will find me there."
To the awakened one, the one touched by inner light, everything external also shows itself in a new light as a correspondence of inner realities. In harmony, order and beauty he can recognize the handwriting of the Creator, and astonishment and deep perception can inspire the heart.
When he looks at nature or splits wood, in all activities he is there with all his senses, being, consciousness and self. Then everything can become special, become a deep experience. When he picks up a stone, it is the manifested spirit of God radiating back to him from the earth. Behind all beings and things, the spirit that underlies them reveals itself to him. Man, animal and nature are creatures inspired by God, and the appreciation and treatment is accordingly. An animal that serves man for food is not only a thing, but an ensouled being with everything that belongs to it. Everyone who is closely connected to an animal can confirm that, there is everything there, joy and suffering! The contact with this soul could be mirrored also in that like with humans is dealt.
Where the one is kept the divine light and feels deep joy about it, others see only dead wood and rock. But Jesus says, seek and you will find. But be clear about the fact that the truth is not openly revealed. From the outward appearance, which often deceives and disappoints, learn to dig deeper to penetrate, to reach the Being.
Then we already feel that security, happiness and peace are not to be sought externally, but can be found and realized from a liberated and enlightened spirit. They are no longer content with what is offered to them as truth, but turn searchingly to their heart and inner voice to gain the gold of wisdom and truth from within.
In doing so, they are guided by the promise (Proverbs 2) that whoever seeks with a seeing heart will find. And when he has found, will fall into rapt amazement at the perception that all support and peace is within him. That he is inwardly much richer than he knew, deeper than he suspected. That in the midst of the consciously lived present, he can perceive eternity and become a citizen of an intense life.
become a citizen of an intense life.
In the midst of this amazement at the growing light, knowledge and wisdom that shines in him and also illuminates the outer life, the gate to heaven in the outside and the inner worlds opens. People see and attain the kingdom of God and with the realization of their inner light and as children of God they reach that peace and serenity of the awakened ones who know themselves secure in the infinite in the midst of finiteness and difficulties. And radiate that peace of God, of whose power and blessedness the world outside often knows nothing.
In the Brazilian song "It's dark, but I sing", reflects this perception, the art of living a fulfilled life. This does not mean that I am indifferent to darkness or contradictions, but rather that I outshine the darkness with the light of love and motivate transformation.
Praying is more important than sleeping at certain times....
The inner word
Verse 78 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Why did you go out into the field? To see a reed moved by the wind? Or to see a man clothed in soft garments like your rulers and mighty men? They are clothed in soft garments and cannot understand the truth."
See also Matthew 11:7 f. Do you know why you have come into existence and what your task is? Is it the task to enjoy the game of the world and to be content with it? Or to live only the external existence, to worship the materialistic, like money, possessions, dead matter.
Some are completely absorbed in the external game of life, and they do not realize the truth and the meaning of their existence. They delight in the outer lights - and know nothing of the inner light. They stick to the outer word and dissect it verbally. But know nothing of the inner word, which comes from the spirit and is power to change the world as well, so that more light flows into reality.
This truth of the heart is also reflected in the scriptures. Whoever perceives and recognizes it, also feels the power of God in you and what this can bring about. You do not live in sleep, and therefore do not pray after foreign opinions. But recognize the divine wisdom, which comes from the good reason of all holy writings of mankind, namely directly from the inside of the soul. This is different from the illusory knowledge of the spiritual seducers, the sectarians and illusory saints. The words must be examined for their truth, in order not to become victims of half-truths. The touchstone is the inner word, the clear-sightedness from the power of God.
Repeatedly Christ turns against the word-stealing and the too literal faith, which overlook the content above the cover, overhear the inner word above the outer sound. They look for proofs of the truth of the scriptures, although these prove themselves as soon as someone takes them in with the inner eye and ear and lives and implements the truth. Knowledge alone does not change me and the world, it is the prerequisite and basis.
Then he recognizes that the holy scriptures of all religions show the same way, lead to the same truth and mean the same 'Infinite Spirit of Life'. That we are brothers and sister, a humanity-family with the same longings for peace, freedom, inner joy and justice. Whoever becomes one with Him has become a living person who knows himself guided and led by the Eternal, by the Divine.
Otherwise, we constantly go in circles, remain attached to egoism and the materialistic outer world, and are far from the real world of being. To have or to be is how Erich Fromm aptly described it. Are we still in having or already in being? Do we still live in intoxication and noise, flee from solitude and silence, and fear death as the end of all wishes and dreams? Or do we already live from the inner fullness and creativity?
A leaf gently swaying in the wind can lead us closer to our essence than the greatest achievements of human culture. The leaf is creation and a miracle. Wealth, power and materialism do not lead us to happiness or inner freedom. The leaf does not compare itself to anything or anyone. It is what it is. Humbly, it allows life to flow through its body. Jesus calls his disciples to take in this energy of creation - and to be like the grass: touch the grass and feel the angel of energy as it enters you through your fingertips, as it flows up through your body and shakes you until you tremble with wonder and awe. Walk barefoot through nature and feel what Mother Nature and Mother Earth is giving you. For truly I tell you, the stream of life flows through every living being, and all nature and everything that lives bathes in the Sacred Stream of Life.
Inner rebirth
Verse 79 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
A woman in the crowd said to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!"
He answered her, "Blessed are those who have heard the word of the Father and have kept it in truth. For the days will come when you will say, Blessed is the womb that does not conceive and the breasts that do not give milk."
See also in Luke separately (11, 27f.; 23, 29) but here as a whole. Jesus does not go into the praise that comes from the woman, but goes from the external birth to the more essential, the internal rebirth. This makes man awake and receptive to the divine word and to receive the light of truth. But also ready to be not only a hearer, but also a herald and truth-teller.
But if a man enters the world and in a long life did not come to Christ being born in him, if he did not awaken to the inner light and did not enter from the transient into the eternal life, he will perhaps one day painfully realize that he missed the meaning of his existence, the meaning of the school of life. For the one who gave him life, also gave him the task, the self-realization and implementation of the soul plan. But everyone also got the talents, gift and the ability to fulfill this without being overwhelmed, so that there is no reason to despair.
The way inward, to the light, is always open! The light of truth can, if a person detaches himself from the outside and resolutely opens and surrenders himself to the eternal, transform and renew him from the bottom up. Many people have already experienced this in the flesh and with others! Here, the clear decision, similar to the marriage vow, is decisive. One gives this in trust, even if one does not know how it really becomes. After this decision of faith, I also felt perceptible changes, which represented a personal proof of God.
Megalomania, the Tower of Babel
Does man go too far again when he messes around in the genes? Reprogramming the human being? Are we entitled to do that? What is the state of the eco-systems? Are we irresponsibly interfering with systems without knowing how it will turn out?
Bearers of eternal life
Verse 80 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "He who has known the world has found the body. But he who has found the body, the world is not worthy of him.
He who sees and sees through the world from within in the light of truth has found true life. He has recognized the transitoriness of the world and is thus protected against its delusions and has risen above them. The worldly is no longer so significant. The outer life and the transient pleasure of the world are no longer enough for him. For he knows about the higher, brighter and inner world. The eternal life and its cosmic citizenship in the kingdom of God.
He has come to self-knowledge and knows that he is not of the earth but of God.
As also described in John's Epistle 5:4, 'for whatever is born of God overcomes the world.'
Born of God is he who has found the divine spark of light in himself, as John also elaborates in 5, 11 f.: "This is the testimony that God has given us Eternal Life. We know that we are of God and that the world is in ruin. The body and everything is subject to perishing. But the awakened ones are bearers of eternal life.
Many contemporaries of Jesus believe in him whom they have seen. But without recognizing the spirit that works in him, from which he comes and speaks, and with which he is connected in consciousness. That spirit of which he wants to remind us with every word he says. The pearl is in the depth, not on the surface. We are not to worship Jesus, but to become like him. This the greatest proof of love for him. That we become like him, a philanthropist who poured out love, appreciation for everyone and everything, man and nature, peace and justice, not dividing but uniting. This is the deep meaning of discipleship.
Opening ourselves to the inner one allows our light to shine far beyond ourselves....
Ruling by serving
Verse 81 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Let him who is rich rule, and let him who has power renounce it."
Wealth is first of all not reprehensible. But only if I handle it irresponsibly and use it only selfishly. Property obligates, it says even in our Basic Law.
The one who lives out of the abundance of the kingdom of God proves his greatness and dominion by giving abundantly and not making use of his superiority. Only the unawakened want to rule over others.
The way Jesus exemplifies to us is self-sacrifice for all living things. He rules by serving, works by letting go, reveals his power by renouncing and his wealth by giving. Earn through generous use of the material and perishable things, that which is truly yours and does not pass away. The perishable things do not belong to you. They are only borrowed from God's lavish treasures. Learn to use the things of the world without clinging to them; learn to let them go without attaching your desire to them. Learn in the inward richness the needlessness in the outward. Some can do without even food.
Regardless of the coming and going of external goods, be always awake and receptive to the inner riches and impulses given to the heirs of the Kingdom of God.
There is, after all, the statement of Jesus that it is more likely for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. To whom much is given, much is required!
Who became poor, cannot govern and thus also politically nothing to the positive change.
So let the rich rule, and remind them of justice and humanity. Jesus does not want to divide, poor against rich, but to heal.
However, spirituality and politics do not mix well. Often there was then hypocrisy and oppression, religiously justified.
Jesus' power is not political. His theme is the power of the spirit, which is above all a power over ourselves. Those who possess it are truly powerful, for nothing is more difficult to conquer than conditioning one's mind and passions. Its reward is inner peace. Whoever has found it will no longer want to rule over anyone. This spiritual consciousness nourishes and protects all beings, but never does it demand dominion over them. We see: The opposite principles apply on the inner path as on the outer. There, the less is more and the goal is the one, not the many.
Wealth is a great privilege to be used freely and creatively in the service of man.
The Inner Fire
Verse 82 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"He who is near me is near the fire. And he who is far from me is far from the kingdom."
In other words, if someone is close to me, he will burn. I am the blazing fire. Whoever is near to me is near to the fire. Whoever is far from me is far from life.
When Christ speaks of fire, he means the fullness of the inner light that radiates through the inner man and radiates outward. One feels this inner fire in oneself and others, and even the eyes radiate something of this fire and enthusiasm. Matthew (3, 11) means the same experience when he speaks of the "baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire". Jesus said in Luk 12, 49: "I have come that I might kindle a fire on earth ...", that I might cause the inner light in all hearts to ignite.
Whoever was born anew from the light, whoever found Christ in himself, knows the inner light. Through the connection with the hearts of God, the inner fire and the heart joy is also rekindled. This inner light is nevertheless dynamic. But it is a path and a direction. But a decision to walk this path is inevitable.
"Those who are far from me ..." - Far from him are those who think only of themselves and their good. Who live only egoism, even if they are occupied with pious sayings or circles. For the inner light is not there for its own sake, but to enlighten the world and dispel darkness. Edmund Burke said that it is enough for evil to triumph if people with good intentions do nothing. Martin Luther King went further and said that if you ignore evil, you make yourself an accomplice.
Like the rich man in the Bible who wanted to retire with his wealth and enjoy life. Maybe he never broke any law either? But God demanded his soul from him. He who only gathers earthly wealth and is not rich in God, see Luke 12:16 f.
Rich in God is the one who feels the fullness of life in himself and draws from it, the one who found Christ in himself. He is in the light and close to the fire, he knows about the inner fire, about his being sheltered in the shining heart of God. His reference is Christ, the inner word and light. For from God came forth the Word of Life, like the stem from the root, like the river from the spring, and like the ray from the light.
To be close to Jesus also means to walk a path of inner purification, no matter where and in what time we live. Jesus also walked this path. Purification is change, and change means overcoming resistance. Overcoming resistance creates friction, and friction creates heat. Jesus' way is transformative and thus a way of fire. Only heat is able to turn coal into diamond. Only one who has suffered and worked on himself can become blessed. In addition to heat, fire has a second power: light. Where heat is the way, light is its goal.
Image and archetype
Verse 83 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The images reveal themselves to man. And the light in them is hidden in the image of the light of the 'Father.' ' He will be revealed, and his image is hidden by his light."
Here in other words "If anyone is near me, he will burn. I am the blazing fire. Whoever is near me is near the fire. He who is far from me is far from life. -When man becomes aware that he also carries divine dignity within himself, that he is God's image, materialism and the fixation only on the external, which until then appeared to him as the only reality, become mere shadows, which now can no longer prevent him from recognizing the light that first gave these shadows their fleeting existence, and from internalizing his origin from the light.
In this awakening to the higher reality, the self-knowledge expands to the knowledge of God. He sees Christ, the divine light, which has always glowed in him and now reveals itself and flares up in his heart. As a ray from the divine light of the Father.
At the beginning of this gradual process of awakening, the original image is still blurred, until the light of the image of God becomes clearer and clearer. Its radiance is so brilliant that at first it is perceived and reflected back only dimly. But in this surrender to the inner light, the original light becomes more and more manifest, and the divine self, the image of God, more and more clearly recognizes and besotters man.
In meditative self-contemplation, the one consecrated to the Supreme steps out of the twilight sleep of only outer life into the light of the inner image and reunites with the heart of God to the supreme certainty of "I am Thou." He awakens, to the image and archetype. This can take place from one moment to another. This moment, when man's gaze is one to God and God's gaze is one to man, is determined by inner wakefulness and maturity. The divine image Christ in us, is waiting for us to open ourselves to his light. When this happens, "we shall be like Him and behold Him as He is". And from the oneness, the return of the image to its archetype in the flaming primordial ground of God takes place.
The light of the sun falls everywhere. It gives warmth to all beings. But we cannot touch it or look at it directly. It is too hot and bright. It would burn and blind us. In every place is the energy of the sun. In every form that we see and in every sound that we hear, the sun is at work. Who of us already recognizes Him in the things of the world? Who of us looks at the tree and really feels that the Supreme is expressing itself in it?
Even when we experience enlightenment, that is, when God reveals Himself, He cannot be seen as He is. And that, strange as it may sound, has a logical reason. Because what does it even mean to attain enlightenment or to meet the Supreme? Who attains what or who encounters whom? Actually, everything meets everything and nobody meets nothing. Because when it comes to the peak experience of meditation, when we enter the kingdom of heaven, we lose ourselves. There is no one left who experiences something that is not himself. And if and as long as he is there, he cannot tell anyone about it. The raptured one does not speak a word. Seeker and sought fall into one in the process of seeking. Pure awareness becomes aware of itself. Nowhere subject. Nowhere object. Only being.
God is not this or that, not here or there. He simply IS. And he is in himself. The Father cannot be looked at. Thus, even in the state of enlightenment, there remains a final mystery, for if you will ever be able to feel or see Him, it can only ever be in that cloud and darkness. And yet He reveals Himself to us, and His image appears in nature and in the cosmos. Although we cannot comprehend Him with the mind and cannot see Him with the eyes, He can be experienced completely. God Himself cannot be grasped by any human being intellectually. And therefore I want to leave behind everything that I can think and choose as the object of my love that which cannot be thought. For God can be loved, but not thought. He can be grasped and held by love, but not by intellect.
Bliss of self-awakening
Verse 84 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "When you recognize your image, rejoice. But when you see your images that have come into being from you, which neither die nor are revealed, how much will you bear?"
This word is about the bliss of self-awakening. When man recognizes himself as the image of the divine source and the original image, becomes aware of his descent from the light, higher inner joy fills him than all earthly things can give him. For then he realizes that his longing for the oneness of inside and outside is an expression of the fact that deep inside he is eternally one with Him. Everything is eternally united within. First barely perceptible then becoming brighter and brighter.
The perception of this light and image of God inside, which all embodiments in space and time before are also based on, but remain invisible, is often confusing at first and needs time and is a process. And also fellow human beings cannot take too much truth at once, only small doses of challenges by new realizations.
If the one who has awakened to himself does not look too much at the past and embodiments in space and time and wanderings through worlds that lie behind him, but looks unwaveringly at the image of God, his innermost man and eternal self, the light and peace of his divine original image fills him.
He who has experienced God can endure many things. Who has penetrated there for him there is nothing more to reach, and nothing can shake him ever again also not great suffering. Because he knows about the meaning of suffering and his destiny and his way,
Does the text above mention incarnation and reincarnation? Is there something to it? More about this in the appendix!
Certainty of oneness
Verse 85 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Adam came into being out of great power and great wealth. And he became not worthy of them; whom he had become worthy of, he would not have tasted death."
Although man and God stand to each other as the image and original image, we are not separates, for one is in the other. The spirit of man, is in God, born of Him and sheltered in Him, as the Spirit of God is active in man. But only a few are aware of this.
In his origin, when he came forth from God, man was a spirit endowed with great power and many faculties, and as such he was still one in himself, inside and outside, male and female in one. With his immersion in matter and the material envelopment of the creating spirit, the desire for creative development and free self-determination also grew in the outside. With it began the separation of the inside and the outside and the bipolar division into man and woman. And with it at the same time the insatiable longing for the original unity, which remains unattainable in the outer connection. In this bondage to the transient body world, he tastes death again and again until, in the course of his journey and wandering through the worlds, he progressively awakens to himself again. And he becomes aware of his power of the spirit and his wealth of creative potentials, as well as his childship of God. And he begins step by step to realize the Kingdom of God in order to prove worthy of his original image again at the end.
Adam - the original man had power. But he was "not worthy of it". The man of today, who has passed the lowest point of materialism and non-knowledge, will gradually become aware and worthy of his divine power again. He will be able to reveal it to the extent that he turns inward, to the Eternal Self, Christ within him, and awakens to the consciousness of his Oneness.
To this Christ calls us when he points us to our divine inheritance: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," and also Paul when he points to the inner light, the spark of God in the bottom of the soul, in Col. 1, 27, "which is Christ in you, who is the hope of glory." He adds in Rom. 8, 10 f.: "If Christ be in you, though the body be dead, yet is he raised from the dead, that his Spirit may dwell in you." Seek ye therefore those things which are above. For your life is hidden with Christ in God. To the same extent that this truth dawns on us in self-reflection, the conformity of the image to its original divine image takes place as the outer man recedes.
The Hebrew word Adam means man and does not designate any gender. He sprang from the boundlessness of God. He separated and lost the Garden of Eden. He forgot his inheritance and became a mortal who toiled and endured pain on earth, as Genesis tells us. Why did Adam not keep God's counsel? We don't know. The sleeping man does not tell us why he is sleeping. Pain wakes him up one day. Then he turns back and goes back to his original simplicity, which he basically never lost. This is the inconceivable great illusion of creation. Our birth is nothing but a dream and a forgetting. All this can never be explained, only transcended. Jesus disciples belong to that great caravan that set out to go back the way. Adam went away. But the disciples return home. Adam became mortal. But whoever becomes like Jesus "will not taste death."
The inner home
Verse 86 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The foxes have their dens and the birds their nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head and rest."
See also Matthew 8:19 f. as Jesus' response to someone who said he wanted to follow him where he was going. He wants to make him aware that his 'place of rest, is not in the outer world, as it is with the animals, but in the inner: in the kingdom of God. He is saying with this that he must turn inward and seek and find the home of the spirit, the kingdom of light, in his own inner being. If he wants to follow Him there, where He goes and has His home.
It is the answer that every awakened one and every mystic gives when one asks him about the way to the light or offers him his allegiance: "Turn inward, turn in upon yourself; for to yourself, awakening to your light self, you find yourself at home and recognize yourself as a child of the light and as an heir of the kingdom of God!"
Don't most animals flow with life more than we humans do? They do what they were born to do. They instinctively know their purpose. Their minds are not as complicated as ours. They do not know malice. Good and evil have no place in their being. The fight for survival, yes, that is well known to them. But not even the lion does what he does out of anger, hatred or jealousy. His motivation is not to hurt another. He kills because he has to.
In their simplicity and authenticity, animals are at peace with themselves. They have a home and a resting place.
Man, however, is a restlessly driven man, always dissatisfied. And the more he has, the more he wants. Thus man is chained to his illusory nature.
But sometimes his eyes turn to the sky, longingly watching the flight of the bird. What freedom! A moment of clarity! A brief flash of the grace of the Eternal Light. When we are ready to begin the journey, God lets us feel it. The Great Father or the Great Mother watches the children at play. Only when the child grows tired of his toys and childish pursuits does God really approach the child and draw him away from his toyland of illusions. What a gift, grace and privilege to perceive this call?
The living man
Verse 87 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed is the body that clings to a body. Wretched is the soul that hangs on these two."
or Wretched is the body that depends on another body. And wretched is the soul that depends on both.
Even those who are still spiritually asleep, marvel at the creation of a human being from two cells. But of the far greater creative power of the divine spirit, which is alive in them, they know nothing yet. The greater tasks of life to participate in the great whole are more clearly recognized by the people who live from the spirit. They also know the higher blisses of the inner life, of the oneness of soul and spirit.
These groups of people are meant by this word: those who are still completely caught up in their physicality and passions and see there the highest and only happiness of earthly existence. They have not yet recognized themselves as a unity of body, mind and soul.
Jesus pities the people who are completely outwardly focused and cling to the body, because in them the living human being who lives from the spirit has not yet been born. Only when he begins to awaken, the higher possibilities of life from the spirit and thus the actual destiny of man become visible. In the oneness of the inner man with the divine self in the neighbor, he can reach the Highest Unity, the oneness with the divine Original Ground.
Thus man recognizes his true destiny and task, his specific soul plan. And is on the stony and challenging path to the maturation of the soul and to perfection. For this not always easy path to the light, Jesus wants to prepare the way for us and open our eyes and hearts. See also verse 56 with other words.
The physical can live only from the physical. The child needs its mother. This dependence may change in the course of life. We accumulate possessions to become more economically independent. We exercise our bodies and eat sensibly to live better and longer. We take care of our relationships. All of this is important and good. But it does not change the problem of dependence and the fact of dying. Physical existence is a fragile matter. Every second can be our last, we all have to lay down our physical body.
But Jesus and the people who also live from the spirit knew and know about their spiritual essence, which is their very reality. The soul is not dependent on any body, not its own, nor anyone else's. It is not miserable, but liberated and lives in eternity. Reincarnation research also clearly proves these ideas. This consciousness can take away many fears of death. And highlight the importance of a life for conscience, values and destiny, even if it makes one very unpopular with some. But it should also not lead to irresponsibility towards life and the community. Every life is also important for others! And you inflict a great deal of pain on others when you leave. The life time here is extremely valuable! Because it offers the soul the necessary challenges for maturity and growth. Use the time, as long as it is possible, to collect positives (karma). At some point, this will come to an end, and you will have to rely on others yourself.
The Second Enlightenment
Verse 88 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"The angels and the prophets will come to you and give you what you have. And you also, give them what is in your hands."
The prophets remind us of what is deep within us and what we have been and knew long ago. Before the darkness came. He who gives with every gift the highest thing he possesses - himself - receives an equal from the Spirit of Life. That means to serve with the whole heart the individual order and soul plan and with it God. This then helps him through his messengers to the realization of his divine self. These messengers can be angels, a sage, a child, an animal, an unexpected encounter or something else.
Yes, the angels surround us again in great numbers, just waiting for clear instructions or questions that serve the soul plan and are not selfish. My guardian angels and companion angels are fully challenged and doing an extremely good job! Thank you dear ones at this point!
Fully awakened to Himself and at one with Himself, Jesus and His followers, that is us (?), lived from the Spirit, and that means from the fullness of the Godhead. Like Jesus at the feeding of the people, he turned inward, and the angels gave him what he passed on in such abundance that all were satiated and there was still plenty left.
In this way, we too can recognize the well-being in the spirit, free and independent from the storms of life and lack. And recognize ourselves as heirs of the Kingdom of God. Then the Spirit provides us not only with what we need, but also with what is more. If a person gives up everything for my sake, he will reap eternal life in the end. That is, because he is no longer so attached to things, he will be free and full of God.
No longer merely enlightened, he will become a shining one himself, a bearer of the light of Christ. All this is a long process, the journey being the goal.
In these two, in being enlightened as well as in being a bearer of the light, the new man differs from the old man. The new man is grown up and takes responsibility for himself, his beloved people and the planet earth within his limitations. He reaches self-realization through self-contemplation. In the old man the soul and spiritual forces are still dormant, in the new man they are awake and active. This way is given and open to every human being. However, sin stands between God and man. That is why repentance and forgiveness are so important, and "collecting positive karma" is so significant, that is, bringing light, love and healing into the world. It brings us closer to God, to the serenity of a free soul.
What is unconscious to the old man is conscious to the new. Beyond dreams and sleep, life and death, outer and inner world, his view expands. What was slumbering in the unconscious is now raised into the light of living consciousness. He sees things and beings in their wholeness, from outside and inside, thus also with the heart and love. As a greater and greater master of immersion, he can reach levels of spiritualization whose existence he did not even suspect before.
Just as one's own child opens up completely new dimensions to us, which we did not perceive nor suspect before. So fair is life, because even without children there is fullness and happiness, because we do not know the other dimensions.
The spiritually walking one knows with it neither death nor annihilation, because he knows about his where from, where to and where to. About the eternal ascent of all living things - from the electron to the Divine Dignity. He masters the transforming power of the burning heart and works in harmony with the laws of life, which are the laws of God. He knows himself deeply connected and related to all and one with all. His inner ear hears the language of the silent creature. And even the stones speak to him and fascinate him, each stone different. And at night the order and the harmonies of the universe enchant his heart and awe goes along with gratitude to be able to perceive and recognize this incredible. Those who are a little further can unite with the souls of the stars and with the life in the depths of the universe. Just as the life of the inner worlds and the highest realms of the spirit are visible and close to him.
As in the firelight the spark, so in each of us the spark of God slumbers, waiting for the time when man awakens to God-realization and relationship, clearly decides for it and courageously steps to the elevation of consciousness. In each of us germinates the new man as our true self. We only have to follow the call: "Become who you are!" The further we go along the path, without slipping into extremes, the closer we come to the new man within us. And the bigger the crowd of invisible helpers becomes, who protect and support us and promote our inner growth. If this is not a good message?
This new man does not belong to a distant future, but to today: it wants to awaken in all of us. But still the dark one works against it with all means.
Unfortunately, the Corona measures are for the most part from the darkness. Fear and distancing, splitting and condemning is the opposite of spirituality, the anti-Christ presents itself, so to speak. Vaccination also seems to be a sabotage of this ascension. How to start it on Sunday? A clear symbol and sign where it comes from! For many Christians this symbol alone is enough. Who nevertheless must do it, should clarify it before spiritually.
The prophets and the angels whispering in our ears remind us of what we have forgotten. What could we give back to them in return? Certainly not things, sacrifices or rites. Our gift to them can be love and gratitude and the realization of reality. For it brings back the spark of God that we are. Our greatest gift to them is also the greatest gift to us, for it heals wholeness. Each individual who comes home makes the family happy.
Millions of angels are just waiting for man to ask them for help
If he does not, their hands are tied. This is what Lorna Byrnes says, who saw angels in the cradle and has been working with them every day since. The angels do everything we allow them to do to help us win the "crown of life".
We have forgotten that we have a soul. Realize that strangers also give you messages from your angels. We can specifically ask angels of love to help you rekindle love and choose to forgive yourself and your partner. If you do not love yourself, you cannot love someone else with all your heart. Your guardian angel loves you unconditionally because you are pure love. Your guardian angel also always supports you in freeing the love that you have already imprisoned.
"There is only one God and we all share Him. We are all God's children, no matter where or how we pray or if we pray at all. The sooner we realize that all religions are one and that we should be united under one umbrella, the sooner we pray together, the better and more loving our world will be.
Some things man cannot do alone. But in connection with "Heaven" there is no mountain he cannot move, no wall he cannot bring down! This applies also to the uncanny spider's web which tries to ensnare the whole mankind and to put in chains in the end.
There are immeasurably large legions of angels, which stand ready and only wait for the call of humans, so that they can step into action. Michael the Archangel is known as the fighter of the demonic, but there are other great beings who are also dedicated to this service. They all become active when people call out to the angels with fervor, determination, and love, asking that they take care of all the filth created by humans that prevents this earth from developing into the paradise that its divine plan intends it to be.
However, the call must always be made from that level where the help is needed - this is what the cosmic law wants. Therefore, we humans must first consciously ask the heavenly legions for support, so that they may unfold their full power and intervene in the destinies of mankind.
These angels are there! Day and night! Imagine how this world can brighten up when all at once thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people of good heart and good will regularly call out to them that they should purify the astral and etheric worlds - those planes from which the demonic exerts its reprehensible influence. How many "walls" can still fall there!
But unfortunately not too many people believe anymore in the existence, let alone in the power of the angels.
But how does one nourish the inner spirit? For example, by praying and meditating or by taking time again and again to go within - be it during a walk, in the streetcar, the lunch break at the desk or even on the quiet toilet.
It is important that we do not starve the spiritual in us - and unfortunately this is the most widespread epidemic of all, nowadays. A lot of things break down when there is just silence and the inside turns out to be one big vacuum. How are such people supposed to form a better society one day, if they only know a herd existence?
They must be taught that the power lies within, the fullness, the true, lasting joy sprouts within and cannot be grafted on from outside.
The spirit is the inexhaustible source of all good. It is to be kept open, and not the purse.
The spirit stands in the vibration above matter (which is ultimately also only deeply vibrating spirit). It is he who can move mountains
A divinely awakened spirit can unimaginably powerfully conquer matter.
Example the nuns study: The dementia researcher David Snowdon examined for his study published in 1996 over years the nuns
Some of the women had suffered from dementia, some even from the most severe Alzheimer's disease with a correspondingly destroyed brain. During their lifetime, however, nothing at all had been noticed of it: They had been mentally agile until their death in old age and had had an excellent memory.
Whoever puts the weight on the spirit, his scales tilt in his favor. The spirit within us is the key to all that is good
Ursula Seiler www.ZeitenSchrift.com 64/2009
More Links
The return of the angels
During millions of years the angels had almost completely withdrawn from the darkened planet Earth. But now they have returned to humanity in great numbers - with promising effects for our future. Therefore, it is about time that mankind finally consciously cooperates with them again!
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/die-rueckkehr-der-engel
Angels must have a thick skin...
...otherwise they would have quit their service long ago. Why angels are not figments of our imagination. What they do good to our PC and our soul. And why they continue to serve a stubborn mankind 'despite everything'.
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/engel-mussen-eine-dicke-haut-haben
Lorna Byrne: Love with angel wings
Do you love yourself, consistently and deeply? Or do you always see only what could be better? Then take your guardian angel as a role model. He loves you without ifs and buts and sees only the best in you. This is what a woman says who already saw angels in the cradle and who has been working with them every day ever since. Her message: Call the angels and your life can become so much easier and more fulfilling! https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/lorna-byrne-liebe-mit-engelsfluegeln
Lorna Byrnes www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-KIZQqW9WQ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZN9xhSm8M
An angel watches over each nation
Nations are the various classrooms for humanity. An angel of nations watches over that the class schedule is followed and that lessons are given in the best possible way. And our rulers also receive heavenly support (which, unfortunately, they often masterfully ignore...).
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/nationenengel-ein-engel-wacht-ueber-jedes-land
"Angels are natural science"
The angels are the guardians of man. It is their mission to help him. So we should know how to walk hand in hand with them. Gundolf Wiedenbruch communicates with these ethereal beings in a way as if they were his work colleagues.
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/gundolf-wiedenbruch-engel-sind-naturwissenschaft
Angel Pictures: https://www.christusundengelbildershop.de/home/galerien/engelbilder/
The Flaming Heart of Love
Where the star of longing has fallen from our heart, there we can no longer feel at home. We can be at home only where the mystery dwells. It is not about a distant goal, an orientation to something foreign, or an achievement to be made that makes us important in front of others. Within ourselves is this space where the mystery dwells. This space of silence is free from the noisy thoughts that otherwise dominate us, it is free from the expectations and desires of the people around us.
Anselm Green
Outside world and inside world
Verse 89 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that he who created the inside also created the outside?"
The point is to recognize behind the conditional, the outer life, the unconditional, the inner life. Multiplicity comes from unity, the complex from the simple. Everything inside gives things their being and their meaning. The spokes of a wheel meet in a common hub. But it is the opening in the center of the hub which alone allows the wheel to turn. Clay is formed into a cup. But it is the space inside that enables the cup to hold water.
Man is a hybrid being, a dual being, a being with two faces. There is the outer man, the mortal shell, and the inner man, the immortal soul and heart.
The clothes and the cosmetics reflect the one face. Jesus also opposes the heartless implementation of ritual commandments, which often misses the more essential purification and cleansing of the mind and the renewal of the spirit. All strive to keep the body pure and beautiful, healthy and efficient by external means. The others also see beyond this the greater possibilities of transformation and renewal, of healing and sanctification of the body from within, through the spirit. The shining eyes and the radiance in the face, reflects the other side of the human being. The inner face that looks into the eternal world and looks for the divine light. Thus, the outer face is also transfigured and the human being is illuminated, renewed and slowly becomes more perfect, just as Jesus was perfect. To solve tasks in the outside, which lie on his way with energy and joy.
The outer beauty can reach the highest form of holistic human radiance through the inner glow. Pay attention to the fire in your heart, that it does not go out! Perhaps violent movies, giving oneself too readily to many promote the extinguishing of the inner fire nd indifference? Who does not know the fascinating people where both are in harmony? Or the shocking thing about a cool beauty, where inwardly there is no more liveliness? Some people let themselves be blinded by the outer shell of the person or great speeches. But inside it sometimes looks quite different.
Whoever looks deeper knows that man is or can be good and evil, depending on the sources from which he lives and feeds himself. But also depending on the external circumstances. If many are good, many can also be good. Especially in the personal or general crisis often shows the true character, the true essence and resilience. But this needs training and especially the hard times offer this "training space". Thus they get their very specific meaning.
For everyone personally, this means paying attention to the source from which our being is fed. The one who lives not only from the outer I, but from his innermost self, the divine of his being, has the potential to help God in the implementation of the great local and global projects, appreciation and unconditional love, healing, peace, justice and global community. But this does not mean equalizing everything! If in the disco in China the same music as in New York, this is a cultural impoverishment. Dominance in all areas is what representatives of the global agenda call this. Reduction of nation-states, uniform culture, religion, reporting, point of view, medicine, energy sources, agriculture, language, behavior and rituals. Everything centrally given and fed. And this source also makes maximum profits with it.
But the plan of the creation is the opposite! Diversity is a treasure of mankind! Global hospitality and peace yes! But each ethnic group has its specific treasures and cultural roots, plants, medicinal herbs, traditions and rituals, clothes, music, dances and much more. Monocultures are vulnerable, diversity is not!
So: If a thing has only existence alone, then it is merely dead mass. Only if it has also inwardness, it has life. But if the life has only inwardness, then the world has become indifferent and it amounts to a subject-missing. Indifference is by far the worst attitude towards humanity and nature. This is because the suffering of fellow human beings and nature no longer touches me, and thus the impulse for change is missing. With it I ignore the individual order of God to every human being to work on his creation as a ground-person. He has essentially our hands to change, our mouth to drive change with the power of love and truth, which serve life and humanity. But to do this, I must first listen within myself to what my specific mission is. Otherwise I get lost in too many construction sites. What you do, do well! Perfect doesn't have to be, otherwise you lose too much energy. A method to recognize one's specific mission is described in the appendix.
To many people, only the world of forms seems real, the external. This also includes our mental creations, i.e. thoughts, feelings, memories and so on. We may cherish the cup, which means our body. But it is the inner to which we should turn more attention. The inner precedes the outer, and the subtle comes before the gross. Fullness comes from emptiness, music from silence. That is why meditation strives for emptiness, so that afterwards there will be space and mental power for fullness again.
Either the awakened people will sufficiently confront the dark forces and push them back. Or mankind will be destroyed because of its passivity and ignorance.
The story of Noah possibly describes the fall of Atlantis. This story also appears in other historical sources and in regression memories.
Mystery of Devotion
Verse 90 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"Come unto me, for my yoke is easy, and my rule is gentle. And you will find rest for yourselves." Or
Come to me, for my yoke is easy and my rule is gentle, and you will find rest in yourselves.
She also Matthew (11, 29), the gentle yoke of surrender to the divine will, the surrender and love that leads to becoming one. The turning of the outer man to the inner, to Christ, the fire in the bottom of the soul, in the consciousness of which the suffering on earth can change into the consciousness, of the necessity of development also through suffering towards the light. For the person who has awakened, the question of the meaning of suffering is different. He asks himself where suffering wants to lead him, what it has to say and mean and what has to be accomplished.
Behind the shadows of suffering he already sees the loving will of God's light, which wants to make him more awake, more mature and more perfect. And helps him to move from lack to fullness, to move from insight to oneness, and thus to break the cycle of cause and effect, the law of karma, guilt and atonement.
"My yoke is gentle": whoever does not resist suffering, but affirms it as a guide and accepts its teaching, becomes its master. Everything else only makes it more oppressive and painful. This is what the Word meant: "Carry your cross with a willing heart - and it will carry you."
He who affirms suffering as his companion and companion from time to time is certain of guidance. He is on the way to complete and win the outer life and the inner. He enters the realm of peace and joy, of tranquility and serenity, feeling in his heart, "Fear not! - I am with you!"
Again and again Jesus shows himself to be a relentless enlightener, even if not everything is popular. He speaks of fire and sword, of the inner contradictions that we must reconcile, of suffering, hunger and work. With the word yoke we actually associate something that is imposed on us, a heavy burden, a bad fate. But the original idea is different. It derives from a common source called connection. It means a connection of an inner kind, and that is the connection with our inner light, with the Highest. The way of Jesus is the way and the goal at the same time. It brings us freedom again. It leads us to inner peace.
The inner helper
Verse 91 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
They asked him, "Tell us who you are, that we may believe in you."
He answered them, "You test the face of heaven and earth. And Him who is before you, you have not known. And this time - ye know it not."
This as a continuation of verse 43. Many people are controlled from the head and always want to know it very exactly and have coverings before they can let themselves in from the heart. In doing so, they don't even recognize the obvious, as the old saying goes, 'some can't see the forest for the trees?' Perhaps it takes great attention to discover happiness in small things? Some people get an inkling that we might already be living in paradise. Is it our bondage, that we see too little with the heart, that we do not recognize it? Is it our conditioning and daily problems that we do not recognize it or also because we do not have receiving antennas for it?
Jesus wants to admonish us: "You look up to the sky for the signs of tomorrow's weather. But the certainties of destiny, which tomorrow will bring you and which have their sources in you, you do not recognize ....... You look outward with faith, to all distances and to everyone who promises you new wisdom, and you accept many things. But what is close to you, what is right in front of you, you do not perceive. Jesus and many other wisdom teachers experience, in your own immediate environment you do not listen to them. Eckart Tolle from Germany also experienced this. Only when he emigrated, he became famous.
But Jesus also refers to the inner helper and guide, your own divine self, Christ in you. Whose wisdom makes every question unnecessary and every doubt irrelevant. Jesus thus urges reflection on the only real support in life - the inner support. And he points to the present moment, the present, as the most important moment of all existence. Many dream mentally in the past or future and overlook reality.
Realize that in this time - here and now - you can awaken to yourselves. That you can find me in you and so that you get help and certainty which you long for! Just ask yourselves "how would Jesus have acted" and you will get certainty.
Instead of letting your searching eyes wander over heaven and earth, turn silently inward until you find what you are looking for. Until the longing and searching is satisfied and you get answers to your questions.
Therefore use this time for self-reflection and recognize your self and me in you! Then the beginning of the end of the time and temporality and all earth migration has come for you. From this moment on! The next saying goes into the how.
Many have also recognized that the current time is a very special time. Armin Risi speaks of the fact that this special transition time occurs only every 26,000 years. And if you miss this unique chance you have to wait another 26000 years and some incarnations until the next opportunity to ascend arises. See appendix for details.
But if you do not recognize and take advantage of this time, then much time may pass until you are once again given a moment of maturity for self-awakening, enabling you to recognize heaven and earth as mirrors of your own innermost being. One is not ready and able to open up to the spiritual dimensions at all times. This is important to keep in mind in conversations. It is also a grace to have the appropriate antennae. The dark tries to prevent this through fear, etc. But also physiologically the pineal gland seems to be most likely the "spiritual organ". But this can also calcify or it is inactivated by certain substances (Flour etc). In the appendix methods are described to open the Zirbel gland again more.
Appendix:
I have put together some things for you regarding the pineal gland: http://e.pc.cd/Uc7otalK
Here is a pdf: https://transinformation.net/die-aktivierung-deiner-zirbeldruese/
THE PINEAL GLAND, THE ORGAN OF GOD: https://transinformation.net/die-zirbeldruese-das-organ-gottes/
Lecture by Armin Risi on Telegram https://t.me/EddyUbuntu/759
Lecture by Armin Risi on the importance of the current time, which occurs only every 26,000 years.
He talks about the fact that we are now at the end of a cycle of 26,000 years. And that the soul now has the unique chance to rise to a very high level. That is why so many people have incarnated to take advantage of this unique opportunity. This also emerges from many other sources.
But the darkness has recognized this awakening. It is doing everything to sabotage this unique ascent of all mankind. Now many people are moving away from the light through fear and isolation. As if in panic, measures are taken that can lead to dehumanization to the point of threatening all of humanity. Are we to become a digital creature? According to the head of the World Food Program WFP, David Beasley, Corona measures are now causing 270 million people worldwide to go hungry. The deaths from Corona are currently well under 2 million worldwide who have died from or with Corona. The super-privileged have become 15% richer. What is being pushed here? Is vaccination part of it too? Words fail, deepest consternation, shame and grief fills the heart for this planet in this cosmos.
Whoever misses the chance of this extraordinary time will have to wait another 26,000 years and many incarnations. It is important now to recognize the truth, to have the courage to admit that we were partly lied to by the powerful and their leading media in order not to endanger their power. But now everything is available to us through the Internet, isn't that wonderful? Every person now has the unique opportunity and freedom to deal intensively with more truth and reality. There are so many brave people who risk their reputation and their name to help us in the search for truth on the Internet or through books. Much is disturbing and shocking. But if I don't use my eyes to see and recognize now, I will need them to cry then.
There are such great people accompanying us all in this transformation process, as if the best people in the entire cosmos are gathered with us. Christina von Dreien, Dalai Lama, the Pope, Anselm Grün, Erika Schuh, Armin Risi, Ludwig Garz, Robin Kaiser, Alicia Kusumitra, Ruediger Dahlke, Eckart Tolle, Alexander Laurent, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Joe Dispenza, Pascal Voggenhuber, Patric Pedrazzoli and so incredibly many more.
I realize I am not alone! I realize how many other people have realized more truth and reality and are now very engaged. New relationships are deepening and developing great momentum.
Consciousness is expanding in amazing ways. The relationship with Mother Earth is renewed and the love for all that surrounds me intensifies. What has always been there shines in a new light and music fills the heart. I notice how incredibly active and committed people become who have recognized this. They have developed courage, energies and drive through the confrontation with the real truth, phenomenally.
Meditation is a gift of the mind to itself
(Lama Ole Nydahl)
Meditation is my medicine! In meditation I learn to condition and focus my thoughts.
A gift from heaven for me! Anywhere and anytime. It gives me peace and deep joy, without performance, just "being".
The way of meditation
Verse 92 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "Seek and you will find! But what you asked me in those days, I did not tell you in that day. - Now I will tell you - but you do not ask."
We should always be awake and ready to receive the Word of God, sometimes it shows itself through outward signs, sometimes through inward messages. So that we can move from seeking to finding, from self-contemplation to self-knowledge and from there to God-knowledge, the following can help. To gather ourselves again and again and to be silent and to become aware of our childship and immediacy to God. And also to pay more and more attention to the divine guidance in everyday life. An important means and way to hear the inner word is meditation. But this is not the right way for everyone, especially if no decision for the way of God has preceded. Then there is the danger of falling into abysses that are not good.
What meditation in the spiritual sense is not: It has nothing to do with the use of meditation for external, worldly purposes, for relaxation and mental harmonization, for the development of the ego or for the cultivation of the personality etc.. It is rather the bridge to contemplation, to the immersion in God, to the revelation of the divine self. In it, knowledge is not striven for and attained, but certainty and God-wisdom. It is about penetrating to the core of the human being: to the divine self. The unfolding of the inner senses is also not to be brought about from the ego. It opens by itself when the ego steps back and the Self takes the lead. This is the direct access to God is, the gate to becoming one. The seeker of truth must leave behind the supersensory as well as the sensual in order to penetrate to the essence: to the vision of the spirit, to the knowledge of the Self. It is about the path of mysticism, which leads through the gate of devotion and purification, enlightenment and becoming one. In this process, each person must find and walk his or her own path inward, on which no one can accompany him or her. He can enter the Holy of Holies only alone. Here he is guided by the inner guide: by Christ in him. It begins with the devotion to the silence of the interior. It leads to the recovery of forces, to the renewal of forces, and it causes this renewal not according to the length of time, but according to the depth of the immersion, from the measure of the letting go and the devotion. The deeper the layers of the being are reached in self-sinking, the more perceptible becomes the flow of forces and the inner and outer healing. In silence, even the greed- and purpose-obsessed person finds himself. Here the goodness and kindness of God shows itself. Everything that is not in accordance with his nature gradually falls away from him. He learns to see himself as he really is and not as everyday life has distorted and disfigured him. He recognizes where he stands, what has been done wrongly and what has been done rightly, where his real powers and tasks lie and what possibilities of inner and outer growth open up to him.
He further discovers how he is also guided from within. And how blissful it is to be aware of the inner control and guidance and to be calmly guided by it towards the light and ascension. He learns to listen to the inner voice and to follow it more consciously. But also to pay attention to the subtle signs and messages in the outside, with which the angels of God also want to help us.
And with it begins a sequence of initiations, which will cheer up the soul more and more, as long as what is recognized as right is also put into practice in everyday life, to the joy of God and the whole cosmos. Such self-contemplation is the goal of being human. Only he who recognizes himself also knows where he comes from. He knows that his divine self is the only fixed point from which the world can be changed.
This self-contemplation is the awakening to the Christ in us, the unfolding of the Christ-Spirit and the resurrection of the divine Spirit in us. Just as Jesus freed himself from the bonds of the material and unleashed the full power of the Spirit of God in himself. He thus overcame the world and death. In the same way, we too are to rise from the lower. To awaken to our higher selves, to the power and fullness of God within us. For Christ is also in us, in us his resurrection is to take place. This is the real Paschal Mystery, we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord in us, out of darkness into light.
Another interpretation. The disciples hope for miracles and for consolations like fog candles. The cosmos has truly given Jesus a difficult mission! The whole earth you search and the sky, he says, everything you investigate and collect your knowledge in the storehouse of your spirit. You are full and you think about what you are going to do tomorrow. You ponder over what was yesterday. But just being in this moment, you cannot.
After all is said and done, students still want signs. They do not explore themselves. They do not meditate, do not seek, do not knock. Their inside is still foreign to them. The outside of the cup interests them, but not its nectar. Drunk are many of the world. Where is the longing for the truth ? But without this thirst, which makes us seekers, we are withering vines. Only in openness and search we will find on what the longing calls for, "restless is our heart until it finds rest in you", writes Augustine in his Confessions. With this everything is said!
Here is some more about meditation: https://bit.ly/3o8lbAw
Giving with wisdom
Verse 93 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, lest they pollute it; neither cast ye pearls unto swine, that they may do likewise."
Someone else put it this way, It is not right to grant the goods prepared for the sons of the kingdom to those who resemble unreasonable beings in their lack of discernment.
Elsewhere already, Jesus admonished his disciples, be shrewd as serpents (verse 39). For not everyone is ripe for the mysteries of life. A person with a mind that is not open to the ideas of mysticism will turn away shaking his head and dismiss or explain away the messages. At worst, he will even turn aggressively against the messenger himself, as Jesus and his disciples experienced. Some great and vast things are better kept secret in a narrow world!
The secret words of Jesus, recorded by Thomas and addressed to the inner circle of the awakened and those in the process of awakening, are not to be conveyed indiscriminately to all. Because in their non-knowledge they would not be able to make a right use of it, but would consider the pearls of divine wisdom as worthless stones, throw them on the way and trample them.
This admonition is still valid today. But the number of awakened people in the present transitional period is much greater than ever before and is constantly increasing. This is very gratifying! Therefore, in panic is counteracted, by virus scaremongering, vaccination etc.. Certainly we must behave responsibly, but is this not the emperor's new clothes, as well as the war on islamic terror? But maybe it helps a lot that many people are awakening?
In those who have just awakened, the spark of God glows brighter and brighter, and the dross of being too ego- and earth-bound is broken through.
Therefore, today it is more possible to convey the spiritual meanings of the secret words of Jesus with wisdom and sensitivity, as it is done here. To the interested and awakened as a help on the way inward, to self-realization. At eye level, because we are all learners. Otherwise the opposite can be achieved.
The deeper truths open up to them more and more as they continue to walk unswervingly on the path of step-by-step initiation from their divine self. This takes over more and more the guidance and reveals to them more and more all wisdom, which is according to their respective awakening and maturity level. Certain miracles can also serve as a sign that it is authentic. But don't demand the same thing several times, then it might not happen. I, too, have experienced tangible miracles. They were enough for me to feel that there is more between heaven and earth than I have perceived so far and that there is something to it.
But not everything what comes there at "channeln" etc is from the light! Unfortunately, most of it now comes from the darkness. See https://t.me/EddyUbuntu/1959 https://transinformation.net/auserwaehlte-und-besondere-missionen/. Therefore, caution is advised! Robin Kaiser has described how to recognize and get rid of occupations, even in children. The ice queen is to be regarded there critically. Our daughter was there like changed. Now it is gone. But where this it does not find itself everywhere again herholt! E.g. on youtube on ice queen in Japanese, but no matter, main thing the Elsa!
Thoughts about meditation and thoughts
Each act is the child of a thought. Thoughts are fundamental power of creation. Like attracts like. If he gives himself to gloomy thoughts, he attracts them. If he takes the trouble to shut out the gloomy thoughts and devote his attention to the beautiful, noble and good, he becomes the recipient of heavenly beautiful powers of thought. If he does this often enough, his thought channel may become so refined that he is able to receive heavenly inspirations.
inspiration. Man is indeed the smith of his own fortune, and his thoughts are the anvil. For the destiny of all life is to absorb only good, only beautiful, only light, and to grow eternally into a perfection never to be attained. Without the will to learn, to realize more, no new channels of thought open up.
Sometimes there are long forgotten, repressed feelings of resentment, envy and hatred. Once you have redeemed these negative emotions with the stronger forces of love, forgiveness and helpfulness, the misalignment in the subconscious ceases. Humans have two rather different hemispheres of the brain. On the left sits the lightning-fast computer, the analytical signal converter. The right brain hemisphere is more dreamy. It receives images, creative thoughts, ideas, divine inspirations in pictures. Its organ of perception of the higher is often dulled as a result of disuse over the years.
Meditation can be of valuable service in balancing the hemispheres of the brain. By sitting and being silent and concentrating on a mantram or the processes in his body, a person immobilizes the left hemisphere of the brain until it gradually becomes possible for the right hemisphere to 'speak' to the human being. . This is where the wonderful impressions and experiences come from, which people practiced in meditation often experience. Only in the silence the golden 'treasure' of enlightenment, which comes from the inner thinking, can be realized! But do not wake sleeping dogs, but quietly pass them, always looking at the sun in the sky.
If the dark thoughts appear, you can immediately and consciously direct your attention to something beautiful - an uplifting book, an uplifting picture, or force yourself to some other positive action. Bad thoughts and feelings poison the blood of the person concerned, he becomes prone to all kinds of diseases. It is absolutely necessary that we are constantly alert to what we are giving our attention.
Master Aivanov: He says that one day everyone will live in the region to which he has sent out his thoughts. So, when you leave this world, you will go to the region of your thoughts. If those thoughts were sublime, you will go to the most sublime region, and vice versa, if your thoughts were directed to hell, you will find yourself in hell. This is the greatest truth! If you desire only intelligence, love or beauty, no force can ever prevent you from dwelling in the region you prefer, where your thoughts and desires have been.
thoughts and desires.
Such is the power that lies dormant in man. One with God is a majority.... And the right thought is the seed that brings forth all that ever existed. "I AM, therefore I think" - creating an ideal world!
Sources: Zeitschrift 28/2000, O.M. Aivanov: The Power of Thought, Prosveta
Publishing House; K.O. Schmidt: Thoughts are effective forces.
Certainty of reaching the goal
Verse 94 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said "He who seeks will find. To him who knocks, it will be opened."
It is up to us to follow our longing until it is satisfied. Whoever is satisfied with the material things of this world will not feel the glory of God. Those who do not engage in love will not know the happiness of love.
It is a proactive matter, like the angels. We must say what is important to us, what we are about.
Christ's word, "To you it is given to fathom the mysteries of the kingdom of God," is a call and a promise to all of us. For the kingdom is in all of us and is waiting for us precisely where we are all one: in the center of our being, where the ground of the soul and the ground of God are one.
To get there, regular contemplation is needed. The way to get there is different for everyone. Many obstacles stand in the way of one or the other,
Depending on what experiences the soul still has to make, and there can also be negative ones. Especially in the initial phase, there is still some karma to be paid off. But the attainment of the goal is certain to everyone who remains steadfast! Maybe the Corona vaccination is also a test in this respect? Nothing should discourage us! Because the divine core of our being is certain to us and that we go to the homeland, to the perfection, in spite of all wandering, in the constant inner wakefulness. Questioning and listening, we are open to hear the answer to prayer and to find comfort and certainty. Jesus exhorts us to search unceasingly until we find.
Good life is always moderate life!
In modesty there is an indescribable freedom and vice versa, possessions burden and rob the most precious thing we have, time! It is not natural to find one's measure. Because, as the Greek philosopher Aristotle says: the nature of desire is unlimited and the great multitude lives only to satiate it! We have in us the tendency to pursue everything without measure. Those who are fascinated by sport are in danger of practicing it without moderation. Those who enjoy food always want more. Money and possessions have the tendency to kindle in us an immoderate greed for them. But we make the experience that moderate people attract us. On the other hand, those who have lost their sense of proportion make a rather embarrassing impression on us. Abbas Poimen says, "It is like a great honor that man knows his measure." :It is the glory of man that he knows his measure and lives like that.
Modified according to impulses of Anselm Grün.
"If people understood the monetary system, we would have a revolution before tomorrow morning." -Henry Ford
The Golden Rule
Verse 95 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to him from whom you will not get it back."
Jesus said this several times in the Gospel of Thomas verse 2, 59, 92. It seems to be very serious and important to him!
What a message for business today! Utopian -no, bizarre even! But is what Jesus says here really so far-fetched?
Money was created to facilitate the exchange of everyday goods. Instead of going in search of someone who has what I need and needs what I have, as was the case in the barter economy before, man invented coins and paper bills. Since then, we go to the merchant around the corner and get what we need. Money was nothing more than a practical means to an end. But it mutated into an end itself. People try to make more money out of and with money. It is the dance around the golden calf, around the god Mammon as never before. The human being, the environment and the health becomes means to the end, in order to come to still more money. It would be best for mache, if all are ill.
But this serves no being. Greed is a disease of the mind, and the depressing state of nature reflects this to us. Although every child knows that money cannot eat and happiness cannot be bought, people try to irrigate their inner desert with it. In doing so, they only make it more barren and lifeless.
Does this not also correspond to our values and fundamental laws, property obliges? Whoever has more than he needs to live, let him give it to others who do not have what they need to live. So that these non-privileged then in turn help others, in whatever way. So that the world becomes more human and better. Scientific studies show that the degree of satisfaction decreases with increasing property. Then everyone is happier and it doesn't take violence to get what you need. Poverty also encourages prostitution and human trafficking.
Experience shows that borrowing money from friends or acquaintances can strain a relationship. What if the other person doesn't pay back? Experience shows that it is much better to give a little less, but then to give it as a gift. This is what the second sentence of verse 95 says.
The prohibition of interest already existed in the Old Testament Dtn 23,20-21: "You shall not take interest from your brother, neither for money nor for food nor for anything for which interest can be taken". In the Bible at Luke 6:35, "give a loan, but do not hope to gain from it." Canon law declared taking interest to be robbery. The Koran has this prohibition of interest in several suras: Sura 2:275, Sura 2:279, Sura 30:39 (that which is lent with interest increases the assets of the people, but not with God). And here now also in the gospel of Thomas. Maybe this is why the Gospel of Thomas was hidden for many years, because it is stated so clearly and unambiguously here?
Too much attachment to possessions makes man incapable of receiving spiritual goods and powers. How was it with the rich man and the camel and the eye of the needle? The Corona pandemic has made the super-privileged over 15% richer, and the poor are now twice as poor. This is a high degree of abnormality.
Jesus is not denouncing money or other means and goods of external life. He only rejects here the greedy and fearful attachment to money and possessions. It is an expression of inner blindness and spiritual poverty. He who thinks only of having and taking more, becomes inwardly, and consequently also outwardly, poorer, more barren and imperfect. On the other hand, the one who pays attention to inner wealth, growth and giving, becomes inwardly, and subsequently also outwardly, constantly richer, more creative and more perfect.
Whoever lends as if he were giving, whoever gives without looking at the return, whoever gives himself with his gifts, causes streams of abundance to flow which otherwise remain hidden. Blessed are the givers, for they release the divine fullness. To whom God gave more, from him he will also demand more. Remember the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
So seeking is important. Without search there is no finding. The highest is not experienced through logical thinking, but through practice. Christ-consciousness wants to be experienced, not thought out.
How this is put into practice in daily life and has a beneficial effect is clear from the Sermon on the Mount. And also the "Gospel of Thomas" shows the focal points of a practical and spiritual Christianity. In the Islamic cultural circle the Islamic banking was extremely successful starting from Tunisia, until it was broken, so that it does not make a school. But it showed, it works successfully!
More about it: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinsverbot and in the following.
Islamic banking without interest, is that possible?
The fuel rods of this worldwide and extremely unstable financial reactor consist of the interest system with its insane compound interest.
In Islamic banking, interest transactions are not allowed. Financial instruments such as derivatives are forbidden. Stock market speculation is also not permitted under Islamic law.
The depositors are partners who, with the money invested, have a share in the profits made or losses incurred. This type of banking business is called private equity. The investor participates quite classically in enterprises by means of share certificates and the like and thus brings the money into the real economic cycle. In any case, such investments generate some form of real added value. The opposite of this is speculation on the stock exchange.
There was (bank in Tunisia that was ruined) and is a minimum of certain moral rules of the game: They are not allowed to receive any capital from or invest in businesses related to alcohol, gambling, pornography, tobacco, weapons, or pork.
Consequently, Islamic banks are fairly crisis-proof. Washington Post on October 31, 2008 "Islamic banking: steadfast in shaky times". No skyrocketing national debt, no "Black Fridays" in the stock market, no real estate crises, and so on. Islamic banks weathered the 2009 financial crisis remarkably well.
Amr al - Faisal: "In Islamic finance, no one can create money out of thin air." "Our business relationships are tied to real economic activities, such as an asset or a service. You cannot create money out of money.
Successful implementation of this attitude of Jesus in Wörgl according to the ideas of Silvio Gesell
How do you put money into circulation and get the economy going in a hopeless recession? In 1932, the region of Wörgl made an amazing experiment. As a result of the Great Depression of 1929, the economic situation in the region around Wörgl, Austria, was characterized by deflation in 1931. A debt of 1.3 million shillings and 1,500 unemployed.
Silvio Gesell implemented a program based on ideas, issuing consumption-guaranteed free money as a complementary currency for the Wörgl region.
- Increased construction activity and consumption were the result.
- The money cycle and economic activity were revived while the rest of the country was severely affected by the economic crisis. The success of the project was impressive:
- The revenue gap was reduced by 34%,
- The tax gap was reduced by more than 60%.
- In addition, there was a 34% increase in municipal tax revenues and an increase of about 220% in the municipality's capital expenditures.
- While the unemployment rate in Austria was 10%, the rate in the area of the municipality of Wörgl was reduced by 25% during the same period.
The experiment attracted worldwide attention. Woergl's success story was stopped by the banks. So this topic is serious and requires good diplomacy!
There are numerous other impulses of a sustainable financial economy summarized here in the Book of Hope: http://e.pc.cd/uAjotalK.
Leaven of truth
Verse 96 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "The kingdom of the Father is like unto a woman: she took a little leaven, and put it into the dough, and made it into great loaves. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
See also Matthew (13:33) and Luke (13:21) and here verse 93.
The message of Jesus is a joyful and liberating message that has the potential to transform the whole person once the message has reached the heart.
With a first step, we set out on the long road of self-development. We cannot find Sophia, the pearl of wisdom, overnight; it is a process. But a small seed is already enough, and a big tree can grow from it. An open heart, interest and basic questions are needed like why am I here, where do I come from, what is the meaning of my life, who am I etc.
Small things can already ignite our spirit, in the positive as well as in the negative. That is why it is so important what spiritual food we take. Jesus' life and death served to show us this path of light.
It wants to make clear how the divine wisdom, when it meets an open heart, like leaven in bread dough, enlightens people from within and transforms them from the bottom up. So that they can find self-realization. And at some point they in turn can become a life-giving help to others as well, in whatever form.
But we should be careful not to stick too much to the letter. And to live only external beliefs that are not filled and guided by the spirit of truth. Then we can help other seekers with the divine wisdoms of the heart. So that they can find the certainty and truth they long for, and discover and ignite the light of truth of their souls. Jesus said, I have cast fire upon the world, and behold, I keep it until it blazes (verse 10).
Above the clouds
Continue on your chosen path to the light, be vigilant!
Admonition to wisdom
Verse 97 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The kingdom is like a woman carrying a pot of flour and going a long way. The handle of the pot broke and the flour poured out behind her on the road. She did not notice anything; she had not understood to work. When she reached home, she set the pot down and found it empty."
This parable, like Proverbs 93, is a reminder to those who are still on the first steps of the path to the light and have the task, first of all, not to lose the truths they have recognized on their further journey through the world, but to "carry them home," to make them entirely their own and to realize them in daily life for themselves and others in active love in a beneficial way. The power of conviction, awakens only when the spirit of truth flares up within and guides thought, will and action.
In the initial phases of faith, after a period of happiness, there may well be challenges to strengthen the substance, to manifest the seriousness. This should not frighten us but encourage us to continue on the chosen _et to the light. Much come again from the way. Also a love lives on continuity, and I go with the partner also through dark nights, so that the love matures like wine. Everything else would be pure ego.
It is not the task in this initial phase to bring the truths, which they have recognized as correct, unasked to those who lack insight and whose hearts are not receptive and open to the light of truth.
Those who are touched and excited by the first rays of light of truth, and pour out their hearts before the time and even want to convert others, run the risk that the handle of the pot will break and the flour, without them noticing, will fall behind them on the path. And thus neither he nor those benefits, he wanted to convince and win. For in wanting to convert, the ego still speaks, not the divine self. When this takes the lead, it is immediately enlightening and also renews the hearts of the others.
It is therefore necessary to wait calmly and to go on until the word in us becomes more and more alive and audible and then to let ourselves be further inspired and guided by it. Those who follow the inner guidance give from an abundance that, the more they give, the richer it flows and has no end.
Other aspects
Isn't it the same with our lives? We accumulate, only to realize at some point that we have nothing at all. We only cared about the outside, but inside we became empty. Restlessly walking the streets of the world bled us dry. It is a dramatic moment when you realize that the jar is empty, feel the emptiness inside. It hurts a lot. But this perception is also a beginning. And as such, it is grace.
The road may be our spiritual path, where we must forgive and leave everything behind so that the highest can enter into it. We must become the empty cup. However, letting go of our conditionings is not easy and happens only gradually, so we do not notice it right away: Who can feel the lost weight of just a little flour dust? But step by step we become lighter. The empty pitcher becomes a symbol of that poverty of which Jesus speaks in verse 54, poverty in spirit and inwardly.
All interpretations bring us a good message: the empty pitcher as the emptiness in life that sets us on the path to seek glory and fullness. Or the empty pitcher as an image of the path on which we go unnoticed, already. One day we wake up and know, "I have arrived!"
Freedom is made of courage
Gate of life
Verse 98 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The kingdom of the Father is like a man who wants to kill a mighty man. At home he drew his sword and cut it into the wall to make sure his hand would be strong enough. Then he killed the mighty man."
Like every verse in the Gospel of Thomas, this one is not easy to understand. Defeat yourself and you will win the world. Surely it does not mean violence against others.
The "man who wants to kill a mighty man" is the man who goes the way within, to the source. The sword he tests against the resistance of the dull world is the light weapon of meditation, from the handling of which to mastery is a long way. The hand is the symbol of right action, which must be practiced again and again as the immersion of the inner man. But also outwardly - in gaining increasing outer world superiority until the one connected with the inner power and the inner world has become so strong that he is able to overcome "the mighty one" - the ego and world bondage and the sleep of delusion.
This 'killing' means the peak of self-realization, the transformation of the I in the surrender to the Self, the overcoming of the world-boundness. Knowledge means at the same time 'killing' and 'overcoming' of the old ego and turning to the source of the inner strength, Christ in us. According to the words of Jesus "I am the gate of life. He who enters through me enters into life." "You see me in you as you see yourselves in the mirror."
Whoever, in the turmoil of the world, desires a direction to lead him to a new life from the power and fullness of the Eternal, finds it in the Divine Self. What the many call life is often a bloated personality, while its spirit being dozes away in half-sleep.
The few, however, who have persistently awakened to themselves step by step, are not merely there, they are alive. They have found the I Am. In them Christ has risen, and in becoming one with Him the gate of life has opened for them. For them, life is more than just experiencing and enjoying existence, whose span of birth and death is limited. For them, life is awakening to the light and to reality, progressive self-realization and becoming one with the eternal - a life from the spirit. Thereby birth and death are only turning points into the light realm of the Godhead.
Being at home - this means introspection, meditation, mindfulness. In the chamber of our heart we meet the lion and cast our light of awareness on him. Thus we integrate him, accept him and let him go. We enter this chamber not only in the morning or evening, in formal prayer or in the meditative silence of being alone. We can also be at home in daily life: Whenever we are mindful and in our own center.
The strong sword or the sharp blade - that is viveka, our power of discernment, which is alive when we consciously look into the world, what we think, feel, say and do, that is, what happens, and our reactions to it. What is real, what is unreal? Where is the lion and where am I, where is the body and where is life? Verse 56 was also about that. Basically, it's very often about awakening from illusion.
United in the light of faith
Jesus loved all people, unconditionally, whether believers or not.
Brotherhood of the Awakened
Verse 99 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
His disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." He answered them, "Those in these places who do my Father's will, these are my brothers and my mother. They will enter my Father's kingdom."
See also Matthew (12:47 f.) and verse 55. It is hardly likely that Jesus left his family standing outside the door for long. For he let everyone into his heart, even the Roman soldiers who crucified him and diced for his garment. Jesus' real family, however, are those who walk the path with him. It speaks of spiritual brotherhood, of unity in spirit. His blood relatives were not more important to him than his disciples or the sick outside the gates of the city.
He emphasizes not only that the importance of spiritual kinship, but also that the realization that we are children of God makes the awakened ones inwardly united, brothers and sisters. This is felt in Christian circles and this is independent of social position and attractiveness. Here the unconditional love and order of God appears for a short time, the inner oneness becomes perceptible. It is fantastic to have experienced and felt this! A foretaste of the time after death.
This experience of the highest oneness can be described with "I am you" or "This is you". The other is your other self! Ubuntu is what the South Africans call it, I am because we are community, I am because we are.
This inner brotherhood and unity is above all external ties and is grounded in the Kingdom of God. Christ is present in each of us and through him and like him we are one with the Father. But this must never lead to an elitist arrogance towards non-believers. They are simply in another place on the path of unstoppable ascent. Perhaps it may sound frustrating to some, but all come from God. We are all divine beings, even the one we hate. Even the criminal. And all will return to God, even the one we hate, even the criminal. But the duration of the business trip is different, with more or less suffering.
One is not arrogant towards a child. But you love it and realize what you can learn from it in a different way. It is the same with non-believers. They are often characterized by a high degree of compassion, human traits and social thinking, which is sometimes very rudimentary in believers. Thus, everyone is important in their own way!
This unity with the divine light is in truth without beginning and without end. Jesus said "I chose you before the world was created. So let us be grateful for this grace! And do not use it to snub others, that does not go down well. Living God's love, making peace, enriching the community and others, doing justice, however, does. And it shows that we are really children of God, not just verbal Christians, but real Christians. James writes clearly in his letter, one does not go without the other, faith without works is dead. James was most likely the brother of Jesus and according to some sources the desired and nominated successor of Jesus. However, many did not like his clear and challenging words. For he loved all people unconditionally without exception, even the enemies, whether they believed in him or not. This is an unmistakable sign of his divine authority. In modern parlance, one would say his extremely high vibration. And if he loves all people, he does not want to see them suffer. Therefore James says what Jesus life was through and through, love all, help them you privileged ones, so that they suffer less! And you show your love for Jesus in this act. Everything else is spiritual egoism, the main thing is that I am saved and immortal! The others are themselves to blame! If they would accept Jesus, they would still starve, they would still suffer, but they would suffer with Jesus. Believe me, I was in the slums in many countries of this world! Most people there are religious (and human!) through and through. Much more and much deeper than me! There I can learn from them! But Jesus and God suffers with these beloved people! Jesus had a special fondness for those not privileged! What you do to them, you have done to me, he left us. Thus, we can make Jesus happy every day, the scouts have understood that "every day a good work" is their motto.
The spark of Christ is sown in every soul to guide it on its journey through the worlds (plural!). But some first have to gain other experiences before this divine spark shines. So we also had to make other experience first. We did not have the consciousness of Christ in our hearts right away. This was preceded by an experience and a conscious decision. At least for most living religious people it is like that.
The grace of God opens the gate of life to people at the moment they open themselves to the Spirit of God. This is often accompanied by looking inward. Man becomes aware of the inner presence of God. He recognizes the spirit of God as his own innermost being and self.
Does the god Mammon dominate here?
Clear decision
Verse 100 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus was shown a piece of gold and said, "The imperials demand taxes from us."
He replied, "What is Caesar's, give to Caesar. What is God's, give to God, and what is mine, give to me.
See also Matthew 22:21, Mark 13:17 and Luke 20:25.
This sentence is often quoted by the powerful to justify high taxes. But Jesus says, what is Caesar's, give to Caesar. But the emperor often takes much more than he is entitled to! The Romans oppressed and exploited the people, and took much more than belonged to them. Whereby it is still said in Thomas, "What is mine, give to me."
If you look within, you will know from the innermost certainty what to do and what to leave. You will then not oppose just taxes, but unfortunately they were not just. And you will give to God what is his: to reconnect yourselves with God, with all that essentially belongs to you. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit who is in you, and do not extinguish the light that shines in you!"
For one who will free them from the tyranny of the Romans, Jesus' followers hope. But he did not come to do that. For centuries, rulers subjugated their peoples, and they are still doing so in many places on earth. They conquer, rob, oppress, murder, torture and execute their subjects. Jesus alone could not change this. It was essentially about inner liberation. And yet there is a connection: Only peace on the inside can ultimately pacify the outside as well.
The way to the Redeemer
The Divine Mother
Verse 101 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"He who will not hate his father and his mother, as I do, will not be able to be a disciple of mine. And whoever will not love his father and his mother, as I do, will not be able to be my disciple. For my true mother has given me life."
Here Jesus is addressing the physical parents in the first sentence, and the spiritual parents in the second. It was already made clear in Proverbs 99 that the spiritual kinship ties are above the bodily ones. Of course, Jesus does not call for hatred against blood relatives, as in Proverbs 55. Rather, he meant non-attachment, pointing to himself as an example. Higher than the bodily one stands the spiritual father - the Godhead -, and higher than the bodily mother stands the spiritual mother - the Holy Spirit - from whom we truly came forth and live. With this, Jesus reminds his disciples of the Holy Mountain of the Transfiguration, of which Matthew (17, 1 f.) reported as an eyewitness and to which Peter (2. Letter 1, 16 f.) later referred, with the promise. Every soul has a mission and this must not be threatened by external factors.
Jesus varies the theme from verse 55. Robert Adams told his disciples: As long as you think you are only a body, you think you are someone important or you are a failure. If you would turn inward and see the one Self, then you would never again worry about what is happening to you. Because then you would realize that there is no I to which anything can happen. Realizing that we are nothing of what we think we are leads us to the true Mother.
Inner Christianity
Verse 102 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Woe to the Pharisees! They are like a dog lying on a manger of oxen. For neither does he eat, nor does he let the oxen eat."
The first step on the path to light is to become aware of the shadows. These are mistaken by some for light. Then the burning longing for the true reality, for enlightenment, awakens in his soul. He finds the access to it within himself. Then he also becomes aware of the difference between inner Christianity and outer Christianity. It should go beyond the historical Jesus and go from the outer worshipper and follower to the inner way of self-reflection, to spiritual rebirth and God-realization. Because the outer Christianity often prevents to go this way inward.
Just as the dog forces the oxen to starve by his behavior, so some believers prevent others from advancing to the core of faith. For they themselves have not yet advanced far enough in their life of faith. However, Christians who live only in the external often see their truth as the only and correct one. While the others call for striving for the truth, which everyone has only as far as he lives it.
The one emphasize the separating and would like to convert self-righteously all world. On the other hand, the others emphasize the common and unifying, which leads to self-contemplation, love of neighbor and God. And on the way to the light, one is the other's supporter and helper, who tolerantly respect any knowledge affirmed by conscience.
External Christianity puts doctrine first, fights over words, interpretations and opinions, it promotes fanaticism and segregation. While inner Christianity puts life above all, follows the inner word and leads to right thinking and doing.
The one puts man's sinfulness and weakness in the foreground and fills his mind with guilt and fear of God's vengeance. While the other makes man aware that he is good and light by nature, because all are of divine origin. Therefore, everything has the kingdom of God in it, only often they do not find it. Thus, the person who is only in the external faith remains in the state of non-awakening. While the other points inward and comes to gradual self-awakening and reality awakening.
This shows itself in reduced striving for power, readiness for self-exploration, more harmonious relationships, distance from dependencies and consumer desires, less pride and craving for recognition, clearer expression in few, coherent words. Mental growth is accompanied by a desire for stillness, contemplation and silence. Teaching others is stopped. One becomes freer both inwardly and outwardly. Losses are processed differently, as a different meaning and depth open up in suffering. Charity, harmony with creation and the willingness to share increase. Consciousness shifts to the present, where one experiences the fullness of the moment without forgetting the past or losing perspective for the future.
Jesus repeats the theme from verse 39. The scholars definitely do not want people to become aware of their inner freedom because they fear for their position. They close the gate to the truth, just as the dog guards the cattle. But they also only know intellectually about the mystical message. If they could experience this love, they would give up all censoring and faking.
Being strong from within
Verse 103 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who knows where the robbers are coming in, that he may rise and be gathered and prepared before they come in."
See also Proverbs 21 and 36.
The inner eye and perception opens only when the outer eyes are closed. And the inner ear unfolds its hearing for the inner voice only when the outer voices are silent. Meditation can help with this. In order to breathe in, to receive the intuition of the inner man, one must first breathe out what belongs to the outer reality, and hold one's breath, be inwardly still, serene, empty, and ready to receive.
Looking inward, we learn to see without eyes. Listening inward, we learn to hear without ears. Acting inwardly, we learn to act without hands. Meditation and prayer also changes something in the world. Can create peace. Here the self and behind it the divine is active.
To turn to this essential, the above word wants to guide us. It is a call to be vigilant and strong from within.
The robbers who rob us are the thoughts and desires far from God, which can penetrate through the external senses into the consciousness and from there into the soul.
The wise man who is aware of "where the robbers come in" keeps a constant vigil at the gateway of his thoughts. He lets in only impulses that are according to and worthy of his innermost nature and will, that elevate him, increase his collection, strengthen his armor and his creative faculty. They arm him against the invasion of all foreign and hostile thoughts, feelings, desires and wills and keep him capable of preserving, proving and increasing his superiority.
Jesus calls the one who acts in this way blessed, because self-control is the beginning of all self-perfection. And he teaches that one should and can follow this path of self-mastery and life-mastery without withdrawing from the world and taking refuge in solitude. No one needs to give up his home, his circle of life or his profession. It is not the outer loneliness that matters, but the inner aloneness and oneness with all that can be realized and held in the midst of the world.
He who is at home in his self is in the sanctuary of God in the midst of the world. The early Christians understood it correctly as a reference to the fleetingness of all earthly things, and pleasures of the senses. And life on earth as a school of the spirit. This spirit belongs to a higher imperishable sphere of life. They realized that the awakening to the kingdom of God does not occur collectively at any point in time, but individually for each one at the moment of his inner maturity.
For many, this awakening was already a reality. Others were on the verge of it. More and more people, are passing from the realm of things over a bridge into the higher spiritual realm.
The predators are those unhelpful mental tendencies and habits that cause us to be more robots than living beings. Every feeling to which we seem helplessly to surrender; every thought that goes unchecked on its rampage. Thoughts and feelings are important tools. But a certain discipline prevents them from taking too much possession of us. We have feelings and thoughts, but it is not the feelings and thoughts that control us. Meditation can be an important tool here as well. Being awake means being mindful and focusing the clear light of awareness on this present moment.
This requires that we practice introspection and concentration to be present in each moment.
There are simple ways to practice this, such as asking, "Who am I?" Or looking into space and asking, "Am I dreaming or awake?" Or asking ourselves, "Be clear!" Observing our breath. Sometimes it is simply the crack of a branch in the forest, the drop of a coin, or the song of a bird that catches our attention, brings us into the present moment, and frees us from constant thinking.
Man was also created to sit still and find the truth within himself as well. Meditation is a good way to detect the robbers. They are numerous, sophisticated and subtle. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that it will be the meek who inherit the kingdom of heaven? (Mat 5:5)
The Holy Spirit came upon people and accompanies them through all hardship. And the angels stand by us, waiting to address us.
Thank you universe for these treasures!
I AM
Verse 104 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
They said to him, "Come, let us pray and fast today."
Jesus answered, "What sins have I committed? Or in what am I inferior? - But when the bridegroom comes out of the bridal chamber, let them pray and fast."
Jesus, awakened to reality and God-centered, is without sin. Jesus knows the value of prayer of fasting, and he very well prayed, fasted and was baptized. Here it is about something else! Here it is against that overestimation of external regulations, customs and rituals, above which the more essential inner growth and awakening is forgotten and missed. To reach inner purity, awakening and enlightenment, it is necessary to turn inward, to the inner light, to the consciousness of "I Am!". He said, "I am Word and Spirit and Power! I am completely in the Father and the Father is in me. For I am His image and of His likeness, of His power and perfection, and of His light. He who hears me hears him who sent me."
I am! - This word holds nothing less than the key to our rebirth. We find it when we turn inward and realize that it is Christ in us who speaks this word, which gives expression to our inner state and condition.
I am! - this is the key word of life that knows no death, the word of the one in us who was before the world was, who is and will be for all eternity. Our divine self. The light within us and with whom we are one according to our origin as well as our being. This is the way to further true knowledge like reduction of suffering and perishing, because it is rooted in the essence, in the imperishable and eternal. Jesus knows about his real parents (verse 101). He who stands in the light does not look for a candle.
Mystery of oneness
Verse 105 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, He that knoweth father and mother shall be called the child of a harlot.
This is difficult to interpret. Jesus did not make it easy for the people. This shows that the other gospels already have great simplifications behind them. Jesus apparently spoke in a very sophisticated way.
The non-awakened cannot and do not want to understand Jesus. Jesus answers them: "You neither know me nor my Father. You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from Him.
Only he who is one with Him can know the Father. The unawakened do not understand that Jesus is free from earthly bondage and without sin. Because they are still divided, because they are neither one with themselves nor with the Father.
To recognize father and mother means to distinguish our real parents from our unreal ones. But who is actually the whore child here? If we identify only with the body and carry it to the market of life, but deny our inner light, are we not selling ourselves? "Do not work for the food that rots, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (John 6:27)
The inner work is more important than the outer work, says the Master, and: Do the outward work in such a way that you can grow inwardly in the process. Do what you do solely for your soul and for God, for that which is immortal. Make everything an act of devotion to the Supreme. But who thinks like this in times like today, when money has become an end in itself and determines everything? Whoever really tried to live Jesus' message, would he not be ridiculed?
Mystical wedding
Verse 106 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"If you make the two one, you will become sons of man, and if you say, 'Mountain, lift yourself away,' he will surrender."
In love, everything is possible. That's where we transcend ourselves. When we walk the path of God's reconciliation, when we recognize Christ in our heart, then incredible things are possible. When we are in love, life flows and we live an unbelievable potential which is in us, so that one can't get out of the amazement. One could travel out trees, or in the language of Jesus, pull out trees. So this potential is in us and sleeps in us, it only has to be activated. The Christ consciousness can activate this potential permanently. This can be felt in many people who get involved with their hearts in a healthy relationship with Jesus, with the Christ Consciousness, without becoming narrow-minded. Energy and vitality until old age. My mother is 94 years young and extremely fit and alert. I regularly see living proof of what is possible. What a great gift for everyone that Jesus has left us.
When man turns to God, his original source, the two aspects of his being become one, the inner and the outer, and Christ is resurrected in him. We have become partners with God to implement love and justice on earth with God's help. For this to succeed, man becomes a bearer of divine spirit and will, and nothing is impossible for him. No earthly condition, circumstance or resistance can prevent him from continuing his way in God's grace and coming closer and closer to Him and implementing God's vision with all his energy and power for these people and earth.
Paul on this in Ephesians 2:13 f., Now that you are in Christ, and before were far from one another, ... you have become close. For he is our peace, who makes both one...that he may create in himself one new man out of two, and make peace, reconciling both to God in one body.... Through Christ both have access to the Father in one spirit.
Christ, the divine self, is that part of our being which belongs to the kingdom of God. Where he awakens in man, there we are all one, all brothers and sister and that flows a never again exhausting source of divine energy and power. Where this oneness is achieved, the Divine Spirit, Agape, transforms into permanent inner oneness in the 'mystical marriage'.
The different dimensions of oneness:
- At the level of the world or heart, it means making peace with one another. From reconciliation comes peace, and from togetherness comes strength.
- On the level of the mind, oneness means mental alignment with the tasks and goals we set for ourselves.
- On the level of our personality, it means authenticity and truthfulness, that is, the unity of thought, speech and action.
- On the level of spiritual practice, it stands for the strengthening of mental energies. Meditation and mindfulness.
A concentrated mind can work wonders where the scattered one achieves nothing: Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 12:25, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or family divided against itself does not endure.
- At the highest level, Jesus means unity with Christ consciousness. Nothing is impossible.
Our Creator loves everything and everyone equally. When we arrive at unconditional love, it shows a very high level of development.
Unification
Verse 107 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The kingdom is like a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. One among them went astray; it was the largest. He left the ninety-nine and searched for that one until he found it. When he had labored, he said to the sheep 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'
Matthew (18:12 f.) and Luke (15:4 f.) gave different interpretations of this saying. Of course, the shepherd loves every sheep, but not a single one is to be lost and all energy is directed towards saving that sheep. In the same way, God loves people, every single one! Infinitely! In the case of a plant, if a leaf breaks off, and only part of it hangs on the branch, it is still not dropped, but continues to be cared for.
With this Jesus wants to make us aware, why the whole love of God belongs to all, to every stone, plant, animal and human being, mineral etc.. In moments of cosmic awakening, man feels that he is both God-seeker and the one sought by God, and that the Kingdom of God, with all its fullness, power and perfection, is waiting for him as the called heir.
Penetration of the Christ in us
Verse 108 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
"He that shall drink of my mouth shall become like me. And I will become what he is. And that which is hidden shall be made manifest unto him."
When we awaken to the truth that Christ, the source of life, is within us, and when we draw from it and live by the Spirit, then we are fully imbued with Him and partakers of His power and fullness, His light and wisdom. Then that which was hitherto unconscious and hidden is revealed and conscious to us to the innermost core.
This means the cosmic consciousness or the bliss of reunion or 'I am You! This divine in everything is you yourself, according to your innermost being!
It is the Self with the All-Self' or "I and the Father are one". When Christ comes alive in us, when God indwells us and fills and governs us with His Spirit, all good follows by itself. Then the Holy Spirit pours out love into our hearts and prepares us for every good work. He needs us as the instrument of his will. He speaks in us what He wants, snatches us out of the kingdom of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of Christ's light, so that we are children born of God and of divine nature. We are what God wills and does in us and through us, lets and suffers, knows, has and is.
Thomas knew the inner message. Nothing of miracles he reports, of spiritual healings or the raising of the dead. Nor does he tell of the crucifixion and resurrection. He does not even speak of guilt and atonement, but only of the liberating new birth of man, which is neglected in the other gospels.
Note
The Gospel of Thomas but also the Bible shows us a never ending source of energy and rest in itself from which we can live. Those who have not tapped into these spiritual energy sources often steal energy from others. This happens by dominating others, demotivating others, and thereby feeling stronger. Unfortunately, this often happens unconsciously. Children still have the original energy of life and connection in them. That is why Jesus says become like children, spontaneous, enthusiastic, full of imagination. Unfortunately, sometimes these energies are abused by children. When a person protects himself by discovering the inner core and thus becomes more independent from the external assaults, it becomes difficult for the other person to extract the energy. And he has to look for other sources of energy. So the victim could free himself and the perpetrator would have the opportunity to tap the inner energy sources. But this is not always easy and possible for everyone. After all, one cannot become religious on orders. It seems that certain crossroads of life are predestined for it, especially crises. There is no point in telling other people how great a spiritual life is. Perhaps it is similar to me as a father constantly telling someone else without a child how great a child is. He can't do anything with it.
Do greater things like me, Jesus said. You can do it!
Be treasure diggers!
Verse 109 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said: "The kingdom is like a man who has hidden treasure in his field, of which he knew nothing. When he died, he left the field to his son, who also knew nothing of the treasure. He sold the field. But the buyer found the treasure while plowing."
The unawakened are not yet aware of the fullness of the Kingdom of God, like the hidden treasure in the field. Although they are richer than they know, they die without knowing about their inner possession and without bringing it to light. They do not live their potential, which they realize when they are in love. When love flows so much goes, wow. Who hasn't experienced that? Over time, love often dries up in the relationship. What to do? Turn inward and realize that beneath the surface of the outside is a treasure, Christ - the divine self. And already I may recognize my true divine dignity and the other person can no longer dispose of me, it goes into the void. When it no longer works, he can no longer suck energy, which puts some in real distress. Another trick, I find someone (preferably of the same sex) with whom I feel deep connection. And we treat each other with appreciation, do good to each other, give each other mutual pleasure and are mindful. And suddenly the win/win situation is there again, at least I have experienced it that way. And maybe you no longer need to articulate your dissatisfaction by complaining. Here, too, I have had good experience and am very grateful. Children and good friends are for me the deepest gift of life. These relationships keep with mother lively and joyful until the highest age. But I digress. Suddenly there comes one who does not leave the field of life fallow, but works it wisely. Suddenly he finds, ever more deeply urgent, the hidden treasure. And thereby attains a wealth that infinitely exceeds the value of the field, that is, of all the riches of the external world. Because the spiritual journey has no end! It is dynamic, constantly in change and God speaks again and again differently to humans, and to everyone differently. Spiritual standstill is generated not the liveliness, as also not the liveliness of the love. Panta rhei, everything flows and changes! Let us allow it!
The parable wants to encourage us to become treasure diggers and to lift up the richness that is laid out in us. We can do it if we reflect and get to the bottom of ourselves. Until we come across the treasure and awaken to our inner strength and greatness. Jesus gave us his peace and said, do greater things like me. When you have tapped into this treasure, then you do greater things without becoming megalomaniac. The megalomania is without love and without love for people, that's why it makes you sick and broken.
And suddenly hedonism is twice as beautiful. Because we are also beings of pleasure and sensuality. Why shouldn't we accept the gift to enjoy again and again with gratitude, to be funny with good friends, to dance to a tune or to walk barefoot over wet grass and feel ourselves? And to climb around in the quarry and pause, oh how wonderful this moment is, how beautiful nature, and me in the middle of it, connected to the source, and what great beings we are? We didn't do this and yet we function fantastically.
A blind man said "the people around me, in full possession of their physical senses, pity me because they know nothing of the inner senses and do not see the golden bracket in my heart where I dwell overjoyed. Dark as my path appears to them, I carry a divine light in my heart."
Beethoven became deaf and so he became all the more clairaudient to the harmonies of the inner world and more capable of climbing the highest peaks of creative humanity and artistic genius. He was deaf, but a listener to whom music conveyed a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. There is nothing higher than approaching the Godhead and spreading the rays, the love and that among the human race. In addition to the Sermon on the Mount, he listened to the sound of the inner, divine harmonies, so that they would become aware of the friendship and love of God and the fullness of real life! Seek the kingdom of God, and all the rest will be added to you. Is not this a word?
It is like the image of the beggar who sits on a box without knowing that it is full of gold. So he remains poor and begs, although he is sitting on a huge fortune! If he knew about the gold, he could invest it or let it grow, or even open a bank and increase his wealth immeasurably. But he does not know about it and dies as poor as he was born. Do you notice anything? Here the church and the clergy do not appear. That is why the Gospel of Thomas was hated and banned for 2000 years, at the beginning on pain of death. But that's just by the way. Jesus is not talking about the worldly treasure, but about the pearl in our heart. It was given to all of us through Jesus! Yes, the Christ-consciousness, Jesus brought into the world. That is why he is much more than a good philosopher. Love and wisdom are among the things that grow (or earn interest) when you pass them on. Because the right wisdom can give independence. Love, compassion, kindness, knowledge, serenity, patience, humility and all other helpful qualities of man become more the more we give of them, because giving waters their roots. And everyone we meet will benefit from our gift. But most of all, we ourselves. Giving is a basic principle of the universe. Every thing gives itself for others. The night to the day, the winter to the spring, the life to the death; the inhalation dies for the exhalation and the leaf in autumn for the tree that bore it. Giving is our destiny. Those who do not align themselves with it violate the most important fundamental law of the cosmos. Jesus gave us the wisdom of the inner light and he paid for it with his life. That is how much humanity was worth to him.
The Kingdom of God
Verse 110 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said "He who found the world and became rich, let him renounce the world".
The inner abundance is much more than the outer wealth. This can also be transient. Those who have discovered the world and have become materially rich will find that their happiness is not yet perfect. And that still no inner peace has been won and death will inevitably come to take everything away from him again. Such a person should be mature enough to renounce the world in order to turn inward. Power is on the ladder of inner growth. Those who have a lot of money seek influence. How often money and power go hand in hand! The boredom of the inner desert can be transformed. If not, then he is only a poor drip. Because at the latest the death will snatch the illusory from him. So he dies in delusion and makes hardly progress in life. Some take longer to realize who they are not. The sad thing is the pain they inflict on themselves and others in the process.
Whoever sees through the world and in the contemplation of the essentials found the hidden treasure and became rich, may then use his wealth properly. Not for the mastery of the world and its beings, but for the mastery and liberation of himself and for the redemption of the world, reduction of suffering and creation of justice. For Jesus loves all men and himself suffers from the injustice that cries out to heaven. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these least brethren, ye have done it unto me.
All outward things and works are for the purpose that through them man may be directed to God and ordered to life from the Spirit. So that he does not move away from himself to do anything that does not correspond to his innermost being. Rather, he is restrained by it, so that God, when He wants to work through him, finds man ready.
No matter how much man would have committed himself to all kinds of things in the outer life. When he comes to true inwardness, he is no longer dependent on it, but free from within. For, when that which is perfect comes, that which is imperfect passes away. That we become partakers of this perfection of the kingdom of God, that the eternal word be spoken in us and understood by us, God help us!
Renunciation of the world does not mean escape from the world. It means overcoming the world, freeing ourselves from dependencies and addictions, more concentrated and conscious enjoyment of the beauties and joys of this world and this life. In the consciousness of our citizenship also in the kingdom of God, which is greater than the visible and whose fullness exceeds everything that the outer world can give us. "It befits you not to have riches on earth; your possessions are in heaven.
Before understanding comes confusion. The contradiction that stirs within us takes us out of mental inertia and forces us to think for ourselves. Inner work is an active process. Some things only dissolve when we ascend to a higher level. The solution often comes from another higher level. It is a matter of perspective.
Eternal Being
Verse 111 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said, "The heavens shall roll up before you, and the earth. And he that liveth of the living shall not see death. He that findeth himself, the world is not worthy of him."
As long as one is attached to the outer existence, to the outer world, he passes away with it and suffers from this transitoriness. - As soon as he awakens to the inner life, has found the inner support, the living Christ in him, heaven and earth reveal to him their transitoriness and the insubstantiality of their goods. Then he knows: Heaven and earth will pass away, but the divine Word, the Logos, Christ in me will never pass away, the soul lives on eternally, eternal being! And for this I do not have to do everything perfectly in this life, good is enough. Next time better, then even better. There are countless opportunities to practice. What matters is that it gets better. It is the effort that counts, and only that. Someone who has a weak will has to make much more effort than someone who is completely controlled but with little compassion.
He who "lives from the living", who knows in himself and lives from the Word that was in the beginning and was with God and that is God, in other words, "he who finds himself", who awoke to his divine self and was "born anew of the Spirit", sees the Kingdom of God and remains untouched by the passing of the external world, its forms and goods.
The outer world is very important for development, but that's it. The relationships, however, are essential for development.
All existence is subject to change and decay, only the inner treasures remain and increase.
But he knows himself as the bearer of the eternal being and being above, because he has found next to the apparently unessential the unconditional, only essential, because unchangeable, inner being, the absolute in and above him, which is one and has existed eternally.
Does not Jesus say, "He who has found himself, the world is not worthy of him?" The unrolling of reality is like the unrolling of the carpet. Then we see what was not visible before. Light comes into the darkness. Everything becomes apparent. He who does not see death, his perception has expanded into the limitlessness of himself. The unrolling of the carpet or the cutting of the veil, the dissolution of what the mind has created and is only a part of reality.
The Divine Man
Again and again it is about the inner light that makes the eyes shine. The inner beauty.
The Divine Man
Verse 112 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
Jesus said "Woe to the flesh that clings to the soul, and woe to the soul that clings to the flesh."
See also Proverbs 87. Christ awakens the unawakened or semi-awakened from their soul sleep and shows them paradise in the heart. He calls them to self-contemplation so that they may find self-realization. The opposite is to be programmed from the outside, by continuous media fire. Our subconscious is programmed, which essentially determines our speech and actions. Until the farmer in Oberpleichfeld also believes he needs living space in Russia 8000 km away and even sacrifices his son for it. Yes, in such a way the Germans were "programmed" by the media and government, around at the end it should have been the citizens, who were to blame for everything! Therefore it is mostly Christians, surely Jesus would also be there, and not TV-watching, who are in the resistance at present.
But here is also meant the dependence of the soul on the body and its desires, which pulls the soul down deeper and deeper into the bondage and bondage, by the wanting and striving of the human being, who lives only in the outer and where the inner anchor is missing. The deeper communion is beyond the realm of the senses and the body, to recognize oneself inwardly as two aspects or revelations of the one Spirit. To unite in the Mystical Marriage to be God's partner forever.
We see how important the central themes are to Jesus as he varies and addresses them over and over again. Hearing something only once and taking note of it does not help at all. It must sink in deeply and be accepted. Thus messages become mantras and words become meditation.
The individual souls are eternal. They existed before they came into the bodies. Only self-knowledge can liberate the soul. This knowledge is nothing new. It is an echo, a memory of what has been forgotten.
A liberated soul can endure difficult times and courageously realize its specific mission in the process. Praying and meditating is also an important task, in my case my mother takes care of this, because she can no longer do any other revolution. For that I can be more active. So everyone does what suits him. And not what the media want to program into us.
Everything is inside
Verse 113 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and own comments
His disciples asked him: "On what day is the kingdom coming?
Jesus answered, "It does not come in looking after it. It will not be said: Look, here!, or: Look, there! - Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out over the earth, and men do not see it."
In the Gospels, as well as in Jesus' Secret Words, the Kingdom of God is compared to a mustard seed, the smallest and most inconspicuous of all seeds. But when it falls on the right soil, and is nurtured, it unfolds into a great tree and becomes a shelter for the birds of the air.
So the spark in the innermost part of our heart wants to unfold into a great fire like a tree, which spreads and transforms all. In whose glow and splendor we are reborn and become children of God from children of men. To become heirs of the Kingdom of God, God's friend and partner in transforming this world, towards more peace, justice and less suffering.
Jesus means by the Kingdom a threefold thing. First, self-knowledge and its fruit, the knowledge of God. Then, the inner life from the Spirit. And finally, the inner kingdom of light, in which Christ, our divine Self, is eternally one with the Father, the All-Self and Source of Light.
In the above saying Jesus clarifies again that the Kingdom of God does not have, like the kingdoms of the world, its place and time, beginning and end, or that it, before the end of the world will be visible in the sky, called the Armageddon or Dispensationalism. This is a dangerous notion Cyrus Scofield constructs (see below) so that in the end people also push the chaos and destruction. So that then the Messiah will come.
But he is already there, they only do not recognize him! He has been born in them! Today and now and forever.
The kingdom of God in the heart is a supra-temporal, eternal state of the soul. An inner being, which already exists here and now. More and more people awaken to this higher consciousness and being, it is spread over the earth. Even if many do not perceive it yet. The kingdom of God does not come with signs from heaven, as an external event, which is announced by word and writing, radio and television over the whole world. It comes secretly - inwardly. It awakens and grows in the souls of men and reveals itself to them at the moment of highest awakening of the self, as a state of being everywhere and above all, filled with light, feeling the immediacy of God and the bliss of being.
All the words of Jesus proclaim this supreme certainty, including Luke 17:21: "The kingdom of God is within you." Awaken to it and learn to live from it! - Realize, then, that eternal life does not rise sometime in the distant future or after death, but that it is already here and now as a living possession within you. See also John's Gospel 5:24: He who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He has passed through from death to life, to the kingdom of God, which is within and which he then also recognizes everywhere on the outside. Above all in nature. Precisely because it is in all of us, all will recognize it in the end and enter the kingdom of God.
Another variation. The kingdom of God is like the man in the ocean who goes in search of water. Wake up and be free, be yourself. When you love yourself, you love God. You are total freedom, right this moment, right this minute. And nowhere else.
Armageddon and Dispensationalism
The friends of Jesus are waiting for an "apparition," a coming back with kettledrums and trumpets. Even today, many hope that the Messiah will return as a physical figure of light, as announced in the New Testament. This idea was taken up and blended into an ideology called dispensationalism. Its inventor was named Cyrus Scofield (1843 to 1921). In America alone, seventy million people are longing for Armageddon, total chaos, suffering and destruction because of this. This is an extremely dangerous and richly naive tissue of lies, ultimately to secure claims to power.
The inevitability of a nuclear war is discussed, which will mean the long-awaited 'rapture' for Christians, but extinction for all other people like our planet.
This last great battle is to take place in northern Israel.
In case of a nuclear war, however, nothing will be left of the Middle East! Also in the rest of the world hardly more life will be possible (contaminated water etc).
When Armageddon is won, Christ will sit on the throne of King David - in a Jewish temple, and rule the world from there.
The belief is called dispensationalism and is about a hundred years old. Its inventor was named Cyrus Scofield. He lived from 1843 to 1921.
Dale Crowley Jr, a radio preacher from Washington, D.C., explains the most fatal errors of the Scofield doctrine.
This doctrine places not the Christ but the Jews at the center of world affairs.
It places the Jewish state above the Church and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- It destroys the unity of the Bible, especially the unity of God's love and grace for mankind of all ages. Indeed, Muslims, Buddhists, or those of other faiths do not exist for God until they convert to Christianity, according to Scofield.
- It dishonors the meaning of Christ - and of Christianity.
- It does so, among other things, by making Christians hostages to what Jews are doing - or not doing - today.
Some things they derive from statements of Apostle Paul, who unfortunately also did a lot of mischief in Christian teaching.
One should remember, Israel has an anti-missionary law. There is a prison sentence of up to five years if someone does Christian missionary work.
By the way, the Arab world has never been 'anti-Semitic,'" affirms Hussein Hassouna, ambassador of the League of Arab States. Everyone will win if the principles of morality are revived. People will treat each other with respect and restraint, with tolerance and friendship, and each will honor the divine in the other.
The whole is a contradiction in itself, because suffering and chaos is the opposite of the plan of God. So this comes from the darkness! Because this topic is top current, following a few thoughts to the anti-Christ.
But the mystics see this coming back as an inner coming back. This can be experienced in deep meditation. A child is a good example of what we can then experience. Free from acquired shame and without pretense, it is simply what it is: a playing and laughing being, rooted in the present, flowing with life, spontaneous and authentic. Meister Eckhart said 'that in your heart there may be nothing but constant joy. Then the child is born, then Christ is reborn in you.' Some compare this death of the old as to taking off a coat, even physical death. As one puts off an old coat to put on a new one, so that which dwells in us puts off the old body and enters into a new being.
Then we also die a good physical death. Knowing that our essence gives back to nature what it has only temporarily borrowed to express itself physically in. Like a spacesuit or vehicle that we use but are not. If we can see it this way, then the end that is not an end loses some of its terror.
Sources:
ZeitenSchrift 39/2003 p15. Grace Halsell: Forcing God's Hand; Amana Publications; Stan Rittenhouse: Fear of the Jews.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalismus#Kritik_am_Dispensationalismus
https://www.betanien.de/argumente-gegen-den-dispensationalismus/
Now this is the last verse of the great Gospel of Thomas for the coming Age of Joy from the Heart, the Aquarian Age.
UNIO MYSTICA
Verse 114 of the Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt, Ralph Skuban and our own comments
"Salome asked, "How long shall men die?"
The Lord answered, "As long as women give birth." Salome asked, "When will this stop?"
The Lord answered, "When the two will become one and the male will be joined to the female and will be neither male nor female."
The higher man evolves, the nearer he comes to the stage of the Spiritual or Spiritual Man, the more clearly the interior of his being reveals itself as the source of his creative activity. The more completely he awakens to himself, recognizes his innermost divine being, and rises to his divine core, the more both poles of his being become one. They reveal more and more the divine, the eternal in him, which is neither male nor female.
Simon Peter speaks out of the attitude of the not-yet-awakened that was characteristic of the whole Piscean Age. It placed the man above the woman, which Jesus strongly opposed. For example, in John 4:27, he reported on a conversation Jesus had with a Samaritan woman, in which the disciples were surprised that Jesus was revealing the secret of life to a woman. This attitude towards women is still widespread today and will change in the Aquarian Age. There comes the realization that man and woman are equal, for in every man there is a female component and vice versa. But the inner man is neither male nor female, but a divine self.
Christ said, I will guide Mary to the inner sources of life, so that you may realize that woman can also enter into the glory of God and thus be equal and equal to you! I will lead her to self-realization, so that she becomes one spirit and one being with my self as with your self! The moment she becomes one with the divine light within, she is living spirit, like you and me.
Jesus thus teaches the people of his time that a woman is just as capable of self-initiation and worthy of the highest consecrations as a man, which at that time was still an unimaginable thought. And that both have to step equally in the Mystical Wedding to the inner unity, in order to reach the God-immediacy.
This mystical wedding is the higher becoming one of man and woman not only externally, but also internally, the reunion of the seeking souls and parts of beings.
The unification of the human with the divine, of the image with the archetype. The source of suffering becomes less when man and woman recognize their own self in the other and find inner harmony and oneness. Then 'love your neighbor as yourself' becomes a reality. And the living commonality with the divine being arises. This in turn leads to birth as a child of God and bearer of the perfect divine spirit, which is the bearer and heir of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus wants to raise us from the level of the animal-man to that of the spirit-man and further to that of the God-man. From the perishable existence into the eternal life from the spirit.
Jesus has given us human beings so much. Again and again Jesus taught people that we are more than our bodies. Until the end, the disciples did not understand that Jesus is about the whole being and the perfect knowledge. The disciples always saw only Jesus' body. The man. The speaker. The liberator. The Redeemer. The savior. They heard his words, but not really! Until today. It is about the sun and the moon in each of us, about the movement and the rest. We are children of the living Father. So each one may find the pearls and the precious treasure in himself. From love, this can be grasped and held. But not from the intellect.
Conclusion on the Gospel of Thomas
I am very grateful to the Gospel of Thomas, because it has rekindled the inner fire in me. Perhaps it is no coincidence that it is now becoming known and popular at the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. For it shows, after the age of materialism that almost destroyed the planet, that there is an inner joy that far exceeds anything material. Erich Fromm has paraphrased it with having or being. Both do not seem to be possible.
Anyone who has children, a good friend who understands him, a partner who loves him, knows that there are feelings that exceed the joy I feel when I get a new smartphone by dimensions. And above all it lasts and becomes more. I can't say that about things.
It is the same with the joy of the heart through the discovery of the inner source of joy and peace. That's when the latest cell phone doesn't even become that significant anymore. And already we are in a sustainable future, beyond dead-consumption. The inner emptiness generates material greed. This knows no limits and even destroys its own livelihood without restraint.
But with real joy in my heart, always and everywhere, even without a cell phone I don't need things to be happy. Is it even possible to imagine that? One key to this is gratitude!
This inner joy is the greatest treasure Jesus left us. But unfortunately it has been appropriated by the Pharisees and their followers. They have placed themselves between God and man, and eliminated the Gospel of Thomas, the direct line. The way to God is only through us! We know, because only we can read the Bible! Yes, it was deliberately not translated until Luther came. And the way to God is through the ringing bag. And the more it rings, the closer you are to God.
Then Luther came along and said, it's all a lie! You can't buy the grace of God! "That guy has to go" was the violent reaction! After that, not one stone was left upon another, and unpleasant things happened!
Transferred to today, one could say, then came Julian Assange, Eduard Snowden, Ken Jebsen, Boris Reitschuster, Ivo Sasek and numerous others, who proved that a lot is lied, especially when it comes to international and war. But not with the sport, culture, local etc.. Please do not doubt everything!
One could have refuted everything "what these types" say, but that would have been almost impossible, because "these types" were really mostly right, were on top of that educated, eloquent and integer, often even religious. And they say and prove seriously also all the same. So, they all have to go! Then we can continue to lie and collect money for our great hobby, geo-strategy games and wars. Excuse, I go too far! So forget about it!
But I believe seriously, Jesus would have been also with "these types the nerves". Because he was just that kind of guy. He said, you don't live by God's laws! You shall not kill, but in war people die! Have you forgotten that? War is the realm of the devil! Terrible things happen there! This is not somewhere in the universe, at a door where "hell" is written on it! This is in the middle of you in the war! You make the hell yourselves! In Libya is now the hell, before it was super, up to 1%. Now it is the other way around!
What a joy that now the access to the inner sources of joy are open. I believe as a child we are on it without being aware that it could be the Christ consciousness. In my daughter I feel deep joy, energy and aliveness around the clock every day. I too can remember my childhood and adolescence, that was positive emotions and aliveness, for years, with few exceptions! We are probably connected to these sources until they dry up at some point. Maybe it took longer for me, because we didn't have a TV to reprogram me. We still don't have one! Maybe that's why my thinking is so free and brash?
But now I understand how the media program and condition people. Probably also the children. Only rarely do I look, but there was a children's movie, it was about evil, and then at the end of the enumeration a Russian was mentioned and also shown longer. Aha, these were probably the Jews in the 30s, who were then shown to the children. After the war for years the Germans, the epitome of evil (look at old films), and now the Russian, tomorrow the Chinese etc.. And the child knows unconsciously, evil is many terrible things and "the Russian". Very dangerous! But there one sees also, against whom the next war is to be made. And the children think then, well, he is also really evil. But I digress!
In love it comes again, this energy of the heart. And our full potential comes out. It is enough (empirical experience), if there is a smart girl in Turkey, who writes now and then that she loves me. Enough! The energy flows in full streams (empirical experience!). Until it tips into the opposite. A single phone call, " the relationship is over", can catapult the entire energy system into the basement from one second to the next (empirical experience).
Jesus teaches us about the Gospel of Thomas, this source can flow the whole life. My mother is a living example of this. Cheerful and alive to a ripe old age. Thank you Jesus and Thomas, for this treasure you have left us.
But the story is not over yet! Later I bought a second book of the Gospel of Thomas K.O. Schmidt, which I would like to revise for you and then present verse 1-14 again in the quite sympathetic interpretation of K.O. Schmidt. Ok?
It was a great honor for me to communicate this exceedingly joyful message to you in simple words. Read the original by K.O. Schmidt. It is not without! Totally convoluted sentences, word constructions, no translation program can do it. Because I translate it also in other languages, at present English and French.
I was happy that it resonated with many. And perhaps Jesus was experienced once again in a completely new way. He was much more than the churches tell us, much more! At least for me, the relationship with Jesus and with my self is deeper than ever. I rest in myself and the storms and the negative outside do not burden my life energy.
And I need that too! Because what is going on outside, I find quite sick at the moment. The honest and courageous are put down as criminals and persecuted (Julian Assange, Edward Snowden). And those who lie to the face of the citizens without inhibitions (e.g. Relotius from SPIEGEL), get the highest journalistic prizes, 10 prizes, again and again! Who lies best is rewarded. But behind the dark clouds is also again the sun! Sure! But we must not sleep!
Perhaps then we recognize sometime that we are already in the paradise. Because it is in us. If we have recognized this, we can also recognize the paradise in the outside. Take a trip with children into the beautiful nature or sit down with them at the water. Time stands still there! Is there anything more beautiful?
By the way, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene continues these new revelations for mankind.
Here you can find the actual version of the Gospel of Thomas: http://e.pc.cd/rFuotalK.
Here the audio to it http://e.pc.cd/4qjotalK
Now a word to my dear secret agents or paid ones to control the critical voices. Everyone else can get out now.
Ok, still here! Super I have yes the honor that you look in here from time to time, because there is also critical.... To be honest, I only do it so that you are here and I can talk to you! Seriously!
I just want to say, look for a new employer! Not the darkness, but the light!
On higher levels the light has already won. At least that's what many who channel say, that is, several independent sources. So it is a question of time when the light will win here too. But that it wins is clear!
So guys, you are welcome in the light! But one condition, as always in life! If you fix what you have broken before. For example the hope. At least that's what the book says about you, "killing hope" by William Blum. Hope is the most valuable resource of man. Without it, life becomes hell. The Word of God is the opposite, pure hope, even in darkness. You can do it! But forgiveness is of course not free, it can't be, otherwise everyone would be Hitler! Forgiveness costs some effort! But it also brings joy! Because it shortens then the time in the hell! For example in Iraq at 60 °C in the shade. My friends there say, it becomes every day more terrible! Man am I glad that I am not reincarnated there! But what is with you? I don't know, it's not my job.
Yes I confess dangerously, very dangerously even, because I am pacifist and peace activist. I want truth and justice, with all my heart. These interests collide with the arms industry! They want war, because that generates profit, that is Mammon. But there would be a new job for them! Free energy generators e.g. I can mediate! Worldwide big demand! Huge business! They are hiring! Or build railcars, for the Belt & Road Initiative. The world as a living free and happy organism. For this it needs trains, as it needs veins in the body for food there, and dirt back, to the collection point.
We already have enough hell on earth! It is enough! Stop the war! We know, for years the USA wants war, because it is broke! Russia definitely doesn't want war! They want to do business with us! So it's clear who's staging what, "it must look like Russia wants war".
Stop persecuting in the country those who actually want your real freedom and happiness in life.
The stupid thing is, all the heroes that you fight are not afraid of death. Because they get afterwards, a very good job, and they know that! But they love people here, for example their children. They don't like to leave them alone. That is also unfair.
Unlike you. That's probably why you're afraid of death, right? But you can fix some things before that, don't worry. The heroes usually know a lot about what you always do, your tricks, so to speak. And they are just waiting to make this known when you put them away. Unfortunately, they are also internationally networked, and the others already know about it. If he doesn't get in touch anymore, they send out the letters. Everyone will know about it! Think of Eduard Snowden, or Julian Assange. There's something going on! That goes fast nowadays. But that is only in the margin. So, the offer stands! Go into the light, and you have it in your hearts! Read the Gospel of Thomas, then you will realize that it is true.
Cosmic Consciousness
"You shall be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
The explanations concluded herewith prove the Gospel of Thomas to be the "Good News" of a new age and a higher, cosmic humanity, which will come to development in more and more human souls awakening to themselves.
We are living in a world-historical turning point in which, on the one hand, technocratic thinking is spreading over the whole earth and uniting mankind into an outer unity, and in which, on the other hand, with the ever deeper penetration into the wonders of creation of the microcosm as well as the macrocosm, the indissoluble rootedness of man in the whole of life, his being guided from within and his being endowed with spiritual powers and creative faculties which have so far only been insufficiently developed, and at the same time the inner unity of mankind and beyond that of all living things in the universe is increasingly more clearly recognized.
Thus the decisive gift and task of man becomes visible, which we are all called upon to fulfill - each according to his gifts and according to the state of his maturity and consciousness: the task of gradually progressing self-perfection and self-realization, which is accompanied by the equally gradual internalization of his sonship to God, unity and immediacy to God.
With the awakening of these cosmic levels of consciousness pointing beyond the ego-consciousness in man and in mankind the age of the more external civilization, which took its beginning with the beginning of the ego-consciousness - of the individualism, of the essential thinking - ends. The actual cultural history of mankind begins, in whose dawn we live ...
... In it it will become clear that not the discovery of the atom and the energies slumbering in it represents the most significant event of today's turning point, but the discovery of man as a living force field and source of creative powers and possibilities, which will only be recognized and exhausted in their full extent and cosmic scope in the centuries to come. im
It is certainly no coincidence, but fateful providence and purposeful guidance, that the Gospel of Thomas, with its words of Christ that appeal to and awaken the inner man, came to light after almost two thousand years of being hidden, precisely at the present turning point, in order to help the seekers of truth throughout the world to kindle the light of Christ in their hearts and to become one with Him, and to make those who are awakening aware that not only are they longing for the dawning of the inner light, the resurrection of Christ in them and the realization of the Kingdom of God, but also that Christ is waiting and longing to awaken in them and lead them to self-realization.
We are all on the way there. Blessed are all those who consciously walk this path, for this certainty will accelerate their steps and lead them from awakening to awakening in the midst of everyday life - towards the cosmic high goal that Christ set for us:
"You shall be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
Many today think that with the end of the Piscean Age of faith and violence has also come the end of Christianity, which will give way to a new religion.
However, the life span of a religion is not limited to the world day on which it came to light, rather religions grow with mankind and unfold - from aeon to aeon - new, previously hidden or overlooked truths and certainties. This is true for all high religions and especially for Christianity.
Those who speak of the end of Christianity, of the end of faith and the future of unbelief, look too much at the one who was - the historical Jesus - and overlook the one who is: the timeless, ever-living, eternal Christ who waits for his resurrection in every human soul and whose messages remain valid as long as the world exists because they give expression to timeless cosmic truths and absolute certainties of life.
The one whose gaze spans millennia is sure that Christianity has been proclaimed and widely spread to many peoples in the short time of its existence, but is still hardly lived. -But the time of its living realization is coming!
Seen in this way, it appears as a promising twist of fate that the imperishable life teachings of Christ's Sermon on the Mount have experienced a new confirmation and deepening precisely through the rediscovered Gospel of Thomas, and that the essential and liberating aspects of Christ's message are recognized today - in their universal significance for the higher development of mankind.
This essential and liberating aspect consists in the central certainty, conveyed by the Gospel of Thomas, of the immediate filiation of each individual to God by virtue of the living presence of Christ in him.
It is this certainty that leads those who are filled with it on the way inward - in the midst of everyday life - to gradual self-reflection, self-dedication and self-completion. And that means: to the internalization of their indissoluble connection and unity with the Divine and thus their all-sufficiency. For the secret of the inner light, the power and the fullness is revealed to them, which blessed the awakened and the awakening-willing and the awakening-standing.
Everything becomes bearable and fruitful for those who carry Christ in themselves and know themselves carried and guided by God. For them, a source of eternal renewal and ever more perfect self-realization springs from everything that happens, as from the depths of their own inner being.
If the outer Christianity of the Piscean Age was characterized by the opposition of doctrine and life, faith and deed, the seal of the inner Christianity of the new age is the unity of doctrine and life. Today, new senses are beginning to awaken in people, which make them clairvoyant for the cosmic truths of salvation of inner Christianity. The restlessness of the transitional period in which we live, the growing insecurity of external existence and the uncertainty of what is to come, has torn open the depths of the soul and is making more and more people clairaudient to the voice of truth that resounds from eternity through the ages and beyond all temporality.
Today, as then, when Christ spoke to the seekers, the world is in a state of upheaval which is feared and lamented by those who are still dreaming, the slaves of everyday life, as a collapse of all values, but which is recognized and welcomed by those who are inwardly awakening as the dawn of the new spirit of a new eon.
Today, as then, those who have become inwardly unstable and blinded by fate speak of a near end of the world, while those who are filled with the spirit of Christ know about the turning point of the world and welcome what the unawakened fear as a downfall as a transition and as the dawn of a new age of spiritually conscious humanity.
Today more people than then will internalize the truth of Christ's promise:
"The righteous will shine a hundred times more than the sun, and even the lowly among the saved will shine a hundred times more than the moon."
Summary of the most important statements
- The style and the sometimes incomprehensible verses show that Jesus spoke in images and at a very high level. The other gospels are much easier to understand. Did one rework and simplify and explain here?
- In various passages there are reports of a life before ours. These are references to a reincarnation or transmigration of souls. In the meantime we know that this topic was removed by the church at some point.
- Again and again in the Gospel of Thomas it is pointed out how important it is that man finds the divine within himself. This also implies the statement that the church and pastors / bishops is not absolutely necessary for this.
- I like in the Gospel of Thomas that the life of Jesus is in the center and not the death of Jesus.
- Again and again it is pointed out how important it is to live the message of Jesus. As this is also emphasized in the Gospel of James.
- Jesus said to them: "Wherever you are, seek James the righteous. For his sake heaven and earth were made". The outstanding importance of James is pointed out, who was probably the successor Jesus wanted, his brother in the flesh. And not Peter or Paul.
- Suffering, as part of the school of life, acquires a quality of its own. And must therefore not necessarily be perceived negatively. My consciousness is what makes me perceive it as suffering or as schooling. It is up to me! Is not this a great free has?
- It is clear from the Gospel of Thomas that it is not enough to accept Jesus as our Lord and everything will be fine.
- It is pointed out that we can experience the Kingdom of Heaven or Paradise already on earth.
Analysis of the commentary on the Gospel of Thomas in Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomasevangelium#Theologische_Eigenart
The interpretation of the logia is difficult because the respective context is missing. For example, the shortest logion 42 merely reads, "Become temporaries!"
For me, there is an incredible amount, an extreme amount, almost everything in these two words. You can see that also in the commentary in the text. I cannot understand how one can have problems with such a brilliant statement. Just the short is the extremely ingenious. Because it challenges the reader. Everything is not simply prepared, but one must participate and think along.
The present world, this world, is judged negatively.
-> I don't see it that way, on the contrary! The greed, the materialistic and the being too much arrested in this world, that is seen negatively. But who has found the light of God inside, will be liberated, and can discover the world new and with different eyes and be grateful for everything.
The inner spiritual orientation is decisive, the inner being rooted.
The orientation towards the future is almost completely missing....
Perhaps that is exactly the problem of the other views! That one is aligned too much on the hereafter and lives and does not recognize that the paradise can be found already in this world. This world is perhaps the vale of tears, but you put off or are put off with the afterlife. Who tells us that everything is true as it is told to us? There are meanwhile some trustworthy information ("channeled information") which report quite differently. As above so below, it is called so beautiful. If I have lived here in the vale of tears, made nothing out of my talents and potential, maybe it will be the same in the hereafter?
Christianity is often reproached to be a consolation for the hereafter, and here the bondage and exploitation can run. Later everything is good.
"The kingdom of the Father is already spread over the earth", it says in the Gospel of Thomas verse 113. This is for me a very joyful message, full of hope. I can already perceive this life here as paradise! It is up to me, it starts with me, it is open to everyone!
When I am in nature, I sometimes feel paradise. When I am with my daughter Sophie, I sometimes experience great moments and feel almost like in paradise. With certain very spiritual people, I feel a bliss that gives an idea of paradise. Anyone can get there! That is the promise! Isn't that super?
Man, although blind in his heart (verse 28), is nevertheless of divine origin (verse 3, 50).
-> Isn't that a fantastic statement? We come from God and go back to God. And now we are going through the school of life! This is very similar to the statements of other Asian religions. This speaks for truth.
The radiant One dwells in all hearts. His name is God in man. Lao Tse
Even the ancient Chinese were aware of this, and we have forgotten it.
The books of Anselm Grün address exactly this point of view, and are probably so popular because of it.
There are hardly any traces of community building
-> it is also first of all about the fact that the human being builds up the relationship inside to God or Jesus, each one for himself, alone and naked, without masks or hiding behind others. No community can take this from him. Also Jesus withdrew again and again to be alone with God and his innermost.
But very many verses are about the practical realization and the service to the next. There the Gospel of Thomas is very close to the Epistle of James, "faith without works is dead". Spiritual communion with others is such a self-understanding, and Jesus also exemplified it, that this does not need to be explicitly mentioned.
Verse 30 says, "Where two or one are, I am with him." This is also about fellowship. But God relationship is also possible without community, even without church.
This is perhaps also a reason why this gospel is not loved until today and is still suppressed at least by the price.
Audio version, sources and links
The Gospel of Thomas illustrated and commented in simple language pdf: http://e.pc.cd/rFuotalK
The Gospel of Thomas annotated as audio: http://e.pc.cd/4qjotalK
Gospel of Thomas according to K. O. Schmidt (the original) http://e.pc.cd/v2jotalK
More about spirituality and inner development: http://e.pc.cd/TCuotalK
Gospel-of-Mary-Magdalena http://e.pc.cd/1kfotalK
The Gospel of Wasserman: http://e.pc.cd/hVfotalK
Appendix
Incarnation and Reincarnation
With this aspect one or the other may have his difficulties, at least this is not part of the teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Is¬lam. Perhaps this aspect was also removed because it was very unpleasant for some powers. Because it might mean that the bad deeds could be very negative for a future reincarnation. Whereas with forgiveness, the bad deeds should somehow be erased. This seems more pleasant and attractive. Nevertheless, there are many clear indications and proofs that reincarnation is real (see appendix (1)). There are some who could remember a previous reincarnation, and spoke languages or described things they could not otherwise know. On the other hand, the idea of reincarnation is also very positive, because I get again the chance to develop myself further and it is often just very nice to be reincarnated on this beautiful planet. Furthermore that I might try to make the best version of myself out of myself. After all, this belief has the potential to make this planet a more human place and generate more justice. If you don't like reincarnation, you can simply ignore it. Man is free in his interpretations.
The findings are very much in line with Anthroposophical findings, and they can describe it in great detail. Also they say, "a disease serves for healing", for development, to make necessary changes in life. So at least some illness still has a "positive" aspect.
Hermann Hesse wrote "I also believe in something like a transmigration of souls, I also actually take it for granted, as soon as one starts to think. This belief has some reassuring things". But it also contains the realization that everything we experience is willed and summoned by ourselves. It ultimately means taking absolute responsibility for everything we do, think, feel, want - and also for everything that happens to us. It means really having to deal with the laws of life, to strive for knowledge and to want to learn and educate ourselves for the better throughout our lives. This is simple, but by no means easy. Ultimately, however, any other form is only childish truancy in the school of life, which will bring us endless detention in always similar, meaning- and content-empty incarnations.
incarnations. So why not pick ourselves up and seize the day that is offered to us now? After all, every day is a new beginning that can lead us to a completely new, meaningful and thus inwardly richer life. And as a jackpot, there is also the prospect of a better next life!
The Ego
At birth, the ego is added to the soul. This is necessary, so that the human being lives also its completely personal soul plan. If someone lives only for others, then he may not live his own soul plan. On the other hand, the ego is certainly not there only to fulfill all desires, but that one lives his potential, lives out his talents and abilities. Otherwise it would be "waste". Thus the ego is not only negative, but has its sense, if it is lived correctly ("produce instead of consume"). At death also only this ego dies but not the soul. The ego is afraid of death but not the soul.
It is not necessary to know and research details about one's life beforehand, this can distract from the task of life. In the present is to find happiness and the tasks that require concentration. Dreaming too much in the past or future may not be goal-oriented.
Other aspects
The purpose of the law of karma is to bring man to insight through difficulties and illnesses and thus to change his behavior and as a consequence his
character towards the good - which is ultimately an educational effect.
Perhaps someone who suffers greatly from racial discrimination was a racist and perpetrator in life before?
Those who work with disabled people usually experience them as very content people. This can be freely interpreted.
High consciousness is most easily achieved today through applied selflessness, service to others, and love for all creation. It is not reserved for Christians alone;
High consciousness cannot come through simple desire. But by applying the knowledge of eternal truth. You don't teach it, you learn it through life itself.
Meditation, prayer, the study of the scriptures, the practice of the virtues, and service to others are often recommended ways to achieve a change in consciousness. But true growth cannot be mechanically forced. But without genuine charity, they are essentially worthless.
Many a highly evolved soul has chosen a low-key life to learn certain qualities, and many a one in the limelight goes through severe trials and tribulations.
Perhaps it is simply a matter of making oneself the best version of oneself, in all aspects of being human.
- What I do, fate makes me.
- Today's fate could reveal our character from yesterday.
- Everything you are could be the result of what you were before.
- A disease can be a cure to show us the right way.
Commit to certain issues now (even in old age), in preparation for future incarnations.
(Source excerpt Zeitenschrift 99/2019)
Is reincarnation compatible with the common ideas of Christianity, Islam or Judaism? (Eddy)
- This is a complex issue. I think it is more or less compatible. We have heaven and hell here on earth. War is the devil's realm, all the abysses of man are revealed there.
- But many people feel as if they are in heaven, especially in community with believers. Nevertheless, there is certainly a space of even greater bliss in the afterlife, of which Christina von Dreien and others report.
- After all, purgatory corresponds quite well to the law of karma, a chance for purification in the earthly environment, where else? Because there we have the necessary environment to change, to behave more constructively. We get another chance, This is a reassuring message.
- Every person is forgiven and given another chance. That is very fair! The strict separation always hell without return does not correspond to the forgiving and merciful God. Parents will also forgive their children again and again, but they will demand and punish the children if they love them and care about their development. Spoiled children become difficult adults.
Dangers of the Reincarnation Doctrine (Eddy)
Every person who suffers is only serving his just punishment and one must not prevent it? This is perhaps too simple! When there is war, people suddenly suffer a lot. Are they therefore all fallen in guilt that this is necessary? Certainly not!
If we do not reduce the suffering of others, perhaps victims will become perpetrators? At least the option is, if a suffering one is helped, that he shows gratitude later. But suffering is and remains a mystery. But the mission of religions is clear. Reduce suffering, show love. Mercy and co-humanity, God wants justice more than anything else (Amos 5, 21-24 "in your spitting sacrifices I have no pleasure, it flows ...justice"). This means that we do not understand suffering, but we should reduce it. And every human being has the opportunity for personal development and maturation, as a victim and as a helper.
Reincarnation in the different world religions
If Asians ask me what Europe is, I would have to answer: it is the part of the world that is completely possessed by the outrageous and unbelievable delusion that the birth of man is his absolute beginning and that he came out of nothing. Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher, 1788-1860.
Representatives of reincarnation
30% of Germans, the Egyptians, Pythagoras (could remember reincarnations), Zulus, Aborigines, Paracelsus, Leonardo da Vinci, Giordano Bruno (was burned because of it), Wilhelm Leibniz, Voltaire, Friedrich II, Immanuel Kant, Ephraim Lessing Johann Peter Hebel, Friedrich Schiller, Goethe, Hindus, Buddhists, Anthroposophists.
Judaism
"Belief in reincarnation is actually one of the tenets of Judaism, but nowadays the subject is taboo" says Rabi Jacob N. Shimmel, head of the Torah and Talmud Assosiation. This is confirmed by Prof. Friedrich Weinreb: the reincarnations were called Gilgul. In the Kabbalah, reincarnation is partly spoken about openly and clearly (see the book by Ronald Zürrer). For example, we read in the Zohar that all souls go through the trials of transmigration. The Hasids also share this idea.
https://israswiss.me/2015/01/15/reinkarnation-im-judentum/
Christianity
At the time of Jesus, reincarnation was common teaching. John 9:1-2 says' 'and Jesus passed by and saw one born blind. And they asked him, Master, who sinned, this one or his parents...'. This shows the belief in reincarnation at that time. Possibly also the following:
Matthew 16:13 to 16:14: And when Jesus was come into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, What say men, who is the Son of man ? And they said, Some: John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and others again, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
Mat 17,12-13: But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him what they wished.
At the Councils of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), the amendment and removal of unpopular passages in the New Testament (reincarnation, etc) began.
Jesus had always called to follow his example and do even greater works (John 14:12), the new church fathers postulated that one only had to believe in Jesus as the only begotten Son of God to gain eternal life. No more word about the fact that everyone reaps what he sows. Today, millions of fundamentalist Christians still believe in this "comfortable" doctrine of salvation, especially in the "Bible belt" in the south of the USA. This doctrine is therefore attractive, especially among powerful people and people who have a lot of guilt on themselves, because it is supposedly so easy to have, the "eternal bliss".
The great church father Origen of Alexandria (184-254) also confirmed reincarnation in "De Pricipiis". "If one wants to know why the human soul obeys the good one time and the evil the other, one has to look for the cause in a life that preceded the present life. Each of us hastens towards perfection through a succession of lives. We are bound to lead ever new and ever better lives, whether on earth or in other worlds. Our devotion to God, which purifies us from everything, means the end of our rebirth".
Links
https://theologe.de/theologe2.htm
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/reinkarnation-mehr-als-einmal-in-dieser-welt
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/reinkarnation-die-grosste-luge-der-kirche
Have we been living on earth for thousands of years - interrupted by small breaks for regeneration? Have we all existed in different bodies, genders, continents and life worlds? The view of reincarnation suggests so. Thomas Schmelzer interviews leading experts and people who have experienced extraordinary things: Children who remember past lives, women who are certain they have known their partner for many incarnations, and former skeptics who have experienced irrefutable proof of their pre-existence through regression therapies.
Film: Rebirth: Your soul is immortal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-ZyfdW0HI
Memories of a Dozen Earth Lives, Jenny Cockell www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hyo67DKR4k
Islam
On the Internet one writes: "Because I have done many sins in my life, I will surely go to hell . What is the point of accepting Islam if it is already too late? There is no way out, even if I repent of my sins, I will go to hell.
There are several references in the Quran that seem to refer to reincarnation.
It is only our worldly life, we will die and live and we will not die forever " (Al-Játhiyah) 24
God brings the living from the dead and the dead from the living (27 Al-Ìmrán).
Islam 28th verse of the 2nd Surah: "How can you deny God when you were dead and He made you alive? Then He causes you to die and makes you alive again, and then you are brought back to Him." (Quran 2:28, translation by Adel Theodor Khoury).
Sura 82:6-8: "You man! What has beguiled thee concerning thy excellent Lord, who created thee and formed thee evenly, and composed thee in a likeness as He willed?"
"Thou makest the night to pass into the day, and Thou makest the day to pass into the night. Thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living, and Thou bestowest sustenance on whom Thou wilt without (much) reckoning." (Sura 3:27, translation by Adel Theodor Khoury).
In Islamic mysticism, many esoteric orders clearly hold positions that easily integrate the concept of rebirth into their spiritual worldview.
Poet and Sufi master Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi (1207-1273).
"I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as a plant and became an animal,
I died as an animal and became a human being.
Why should I be afraid?
When did I become less by a death?
Once again I will die as a human being,
Only to ascend with the angels' blessing.
But also from the angelic existence I must go on ..."
(Excerpt from the Mathnawi of Rumi).
Life After Death in Hinduism and Islam - Cycle of Birth, Death and Rebirth in Hinduism - Zakir Naik: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftqgNtG5hTs&feature=youtu.be
From other sources
"And when his body falls off altogether, like an old fish-shell, his soul does well to free itself, and forms a new one instead.... The person of man is but a mask which the soul puts on for a time; it has its proper time, and then is thrown off, and another is worn in its place. (1)
"God generates beings and sends them back again and again until they return to Him." (2)
"How can you deny Allah, who made you alive again after your death, will make you dead again, and then will make you alive again until you finally return to Him?" (3)
"God is the one who created all of you, then provided you with food, then made you die, and then brought you back to life." (4)
"It is God who splits the seed and the stone and takes the living from the dead, and it is God who takes the dead from the living"(5).
"I tell you in truth that the spirits who now have kinship will be related, though they all meet in new persons and names." (6)
This last verse is one of my favorites and seems to allude to the existence of soul groups, of people who have emotional connections returning to life with those they knew before.
In addition to the passages about reincarnation, the Quran also refers to karma:
"God does not force a soul to do what is beyond its capacity: it gets what it deserves and is responsible for what it earns. (7)
"Every soul will be confronted with the good it has done and the evil it has done." (8)
"And We shall set up the scales of justice for the Day of Reckoning. And no soul shall be wronged. Even if it be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We shall bring it forth, and We are well able to take it into account." (9)
"For We make the dead alive, and We write down what they sent before and what they left behind after them; and We have taken all things into account." (10)
1. Joseph Head and S. L. Cranston, Reincarnation, an East-West Anthology, 1961, p. 56.
2. Joseph Head and S. L. Cranston, Reincarnation, an East-West Anthology, 1961, p. 56.
3. koran, sura 2, the cow, verse 28, Essential Koran, Thomas Cleary, Harper, 1993, p. 89
4th Qur'an, Sura 11, Rome, Verse 38, Essential Qur'an, by Thomas Cleary, Harper, 1993, p. 89.
5. Qur'an, Sura 6, Cattle, verse 95., from Essential Qur'an, by Thomas Cleary, p. 56.
6. Joseph Head and S. L. Cranston: Reincarnation and East-West Anthology, 1961, p. 57.
7. koran, sura 2, the cow, verse 287, from the Essential Koran, by Thomas Cleary, p. 18
8. Qur'an, Sura 3, The Family of Imraan, verse 30. Essential Qur'an, by Thomas Cleary, p. 22.
9. Quran, Sura 21, The Prophet, verse 47, from the Essential Quran, by Thomas Cleary, p. 81.
10. Quran, Sura 36, Ya Sin, verse 12, from The Essential Quran, by Thomas Cleary, p. 111.
https://www.reincarnationresearch.com/de/past-life-story-with-innate-talent-deja-vu-geographic-memory-religion-change-reincarnation-case-of-an-islamic-persian-peter-avery/
Again, there are many proven reincarnation cases: https://www.reincarnationresearch.com/?s=ISlam
https://www.reincarnationresearch.com/reincarnation-in-islam-and-muslim-reincarnation-cases/
1.(1) Reincarnation documented cases and sources (Eddy).
What many have believed in for a long time has now been scientifically proven: There are repeated earth lives. Prof. Dr. Ian Stevenson and 4 other professor colleagues have documented in approx. 45 years of research worldwide approx. 3000 cases and verified many of them. Other researchers: Dr. Jim Tucker, Trutz Hardo and many more.
Links
https://equapio.com/kultur/wiedergeburt-beweise-ueber-3-000-faelle-sprechen-baende/
https://www.trutzhardo.de/en/
www.reinkarnation.de
Dr. Jim Tucker : Children remember past lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPGg8R-v-1k&feature=emb_logo
2016 11 30 Reincarnation Research Conscious tv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_con-tinue=3&v=UB¬JKYTVnZ5k&feature=emb_logo
Reincarnation of Shanti Devi
https://www.horizonworld.de/reinkarnation-eroeffnet-sich-der-wissenschaft-immer-mehr-als-sehr-wahr¬probability/
https://www.zeitenschrift.com/artikel/reinkarnation-fruher-als-ich-gross-war
Reincarnation: scientific evidence and real experience - Horst Vogel https://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=in8ZKJCRfsU
Facts from reincarnation research www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=BUc-72fgkLU&feature=emb_logo
Books
Man in the Change of Death and Reincarnation, Ian Stevenson. In this book he presents to the public 20 convincing and scientifically proven cases.
Reincarnation in Europe, Documented Cases, Stevenson, Ian.
Rebirth - The Evidence . . . and the importance for a new consciousness Hardo, Trutz
Stirring testimonies of karma and rebirth, July 1, 2001, by Gina Cerminara
Film: REBIRTH - Your soul is immortal!
How can I get more certainty about what my soul plan is?
- We all have our issues, to each his own.
- Because we have free will, the higher good beings must not impose themselves.
- No matter if God, Jesus, higher self, soul.
- Write and address questions and wishes for the lightworkers....! E.g. I invite my intuitive primal knowledge.
- If no invitation is given, then nothing comes. So ask for spiritual teachers.
- Invite spiritual teachers. Or also invite higher self, the soul. Also ask spiritual teachers or Jesus or angels or Archangel Michael, etc.
- One should know what one wants, not wischi waschi....., quite focused pronounce
- ....I invite my higher self....
- "I am ready for support"
- E.g. Ask what is top priority.
- Purposeful intention. Be precise in wording!
- Addressing e.g. "Hello folks..."
- State intention: Intention .....
- I name decide now for .........and ask for support for the following topics....
- I trust in God, in Jesus
- I (my name) say thank you....
- The inner attitude is important!
- Being 100% convinced, knowing with certainty.
- I cannot save the world alone..... Asking for help for the big picture e.g.
- Worry about ....
- The pearls are only in the depths. Diving deep into consciousness to create certain content to the top.
- I know the big picture, but not the details
- We don't know what the next issue is.
- Align, be open, then the next topic will open.
- Spiritual orientation helps a lot.
- Trust is important, clear knowledge that I am guided. Knowing that I am connected.
- Yes, the information is coming!
- We can tap into the deep spiritual levels.
- We have to remember, trust, no doubts.
- There is a way out of the tunnel
- Bring light into the darkness.
- Have intention, but at the same time be free
- Have no doubts!!!!
- Be workers of God, inquire of the boss.
How does the answer come?
Then listen or dream or feel. Can also be a real person who gives a hint, a friend who suddenly answers. Open book.... Something jumps out at me, someone specific hit, someone calls ....
Learning (for everyone there are different focuses)
- Learning, practicing, letting others be who they are.
- Patience
- Shadow: accepting imperfection in the world
- Bringing together feeling, thinking, acting.
- Bringing body, mind, spirit into harmony
- Discernment, without judging or evaluating.
- Analyze, perceive, but do not judge
- When said, then all is done. Then learn to let go
- Where to fight?
- Get into fine tuning.
- Methodical procedure
- Body awareness.
- The Intuitive Nature part can unfold even more.
- Keep your own energy in balance, don't throw pearls before swine, if there is no interest, let it be.
- Not wanting to solve the problems of others. Only hints.....
- Serenity
- I am here to be there for others as well. But not to forget myself here. Own well-being is also important
- Paying attention to own energy too.
- Self-love and self-respect
- Integration of spirituality in life
Generally
- Being more at the truth
- Discovering one's own inner powers in everyday life....
- In the subtle plane there is no time.
- Living from the divine consciousness
- Certainty that we are children of God, loved, and that we can rely on it.
- Trust, primordial trust.
- We need to see ourselves with divine eyes.
- We get everything we need
- We are a channel of God
- Doing these rituals again and again, going to the center, listening in, being alert
- Trust that I am being guided
- Also follow the spiritual guidance.
- How do we define ourselves?
- Feeling the body
- Sensing body, emotional body
- Perception training
- We do not feel our limitations.
- The more you sense, the more responsibility you take.
- There is also the mystical sensing.
- To find access to the earth / nature again. Then you can feel the energy in the bud.
- But you have to train this!
Book: get your body back, it is about the sensory body
Thought loop, despair anger, rage, powerlessness situations, how do I get out of it?
There is a very easy exercise to guide yourself, so that you become "more one" in yourself, which simply means that you have better deeper roots.
-> A help can be: to come back into the body
- Precondition: there are open questions
- Giving up the solution to come back to the center with it.
- Walking or standing,
- "I feel now, ...how the soles of my feet..... then go through the whole body,
- No thoughts, only body sensation, until I am empty;
- Then look for basic statement e.g. "I feel my anger now...."
- possibly write it down.
- What is the essence of the basic feeling. So that the nerves are calmed.
- Then invite a 3rd solution....
- While doing this feel the body, feel anger, feel the heart,
- then articulate the core message .....
- Maybe write it down on paper, then get rid of it.
How do I find answers to my questions?
Ways out of fear in conversation with Angelika Uliczka from www.missflowtravel.com
- Find a formulation for the question with the options : Yes / No / Maybe
- Write down this formulation!
- Then ask the body (heart).
- Do not think about it!
- Pay attention to body signals, reactions, getting dizzy etc.....
- Write down body sensations
- Inquire with higher mind.
- Lower mind is "pull yourself together"....
- Appointment: do I go reluctantly or not?
- Anxiety-feelings come.
- Usually comes very quickly.....But many don't hear it.
- Inner teacher, higher divine being.
- Illness is also a language of the body
- Talking with fear, fear, what do you want to tell me?