log arhythm

Jesus said: You see the splinter in your brother's eye, but you do not see the log that is in your own eye. Remove the log from your own eye, and then you can clearly see to remove the splinter from your brother's eye. Saying 26, The Gospel of Thomas.

The splinter in my own eye of consciousness is like a log to me, affecting my entire vision. But I think it is just a splinter. No big deal. Or I may not even know I have a splinter at all. I have been living with this consciousness handicap for so long that I think it is normal.

I can certainly see where others have gone wrong though. I can see what hinders their vision. If not careful, I will sashay all around concerned about their splinter while doing nothing about my log.

When I remove this log of judgment from my eye, not only can I see a clear way for the removal of a splinter from another's eye, but the other will trust me to do so and may perhaps do the same for me.

standing outside

His disciples told him: Your brothers and your mother are standing outside. He responded: These here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother. These are the ones who will enter the Kingdom of my Father. Saying 99, The Gospel of Thomas.

"Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." Already we see a distinction, a barrier. Jesus' earthly kin would not come in to where he was. After all the fanfare of his birth, his mother may have thought he would be a great Rabbi within the Temple, but here he was, on a different course, wandering the streets and visiting in the homes of the riff-raff, the scum, the societal outcasts.

They stood outside. When told they were standing out there, Jesus did not rush out to greet them. Instead, he strengthened the understanding of the distinction. "These here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother."

Earthly bonds of kinship give way to spiritual linking of souls. All who live in accord with the Father, the Source, The-One-Who-Breathes-Us are spiritual kin. These are the ones who will enter the kingdom and, indeed, are already in the kingdom which is present even now.

richness

Jesus said: Whoever has become rich should rule. Whoever has power should renounce it. Saying 81, The Gospel of Thomas.

This does NOT mean whoever has a lot of money should rule. Having a lot of money is not rich. Richness is of the heart, the soul. Nothing that stays here when you die is of any richness. Your richness is the warm and brilliant radiance of connection with your angel, your higher being already on the other shore. With this merge you now rule. Nor is it a rule of laws and force and power (power is a trap that drains the soul), but a radiance of spirit which can never be overcome.

the telling of the mysteries

Jesus said: I tell my mysteries to people worthy of my mysteries. Saying 62a, The Gospel of Thomas.

What are the mysteries? Who is worthy to be told them? Even if they are told, as Jesus frequently did and continues to do so, only "those who have ears" can hear. When we are full of ourselves, we cannot hear -- full of emotion, full of intellectual chitter-chatter. One has to be silent to listen, to open in contemplation. Con-templum-ation: to sit quietly in the templum, the clear and open space for divining, for opening to the divine. Clear, open, capacious, expectant, attentive: one is worthy.

Worthiness comes too from tiring of abiding by social constructions of reality. One would rather listen to what the blood is singing, the heart is radiating, the Tao is Taoing. One is ready to listen to the great pulsations of the planet, the galaxies, the universe, the cosmos than the daily news. Whatever one attends to, one becomes. One makes oneself worthy, prepares an open space for the telling of the mysteries. They will be told.

god energy

Jesus said: Where there are three Gods they are Gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him. Saying 30, The Gospel of Thomas.

Numbers are important. They show relationship. "Two is company and three is a crowd." Jesus, quoting a psalm (Psalm 82), said, "You are gods." When we are two gods conversing or one god standing, all the energy that Jesus represents is with us. When we triplicate, that energy shoots off into the heavens somewhere, complex and theological.

the place for rest

They saw a Samaritan going into Judea carrying a lamb. He asked his disciples: What do you think he will do with that lamb? They replied: He'll kill it and eat it. He said to them: As long as it remains alive he will not eat it, only if he kills it and it becomes a corpse. They said: Otherwise he won't be able to do so. He said to them: You too must seek a place for rest, or you may become a corpse and be eaten. Saying 60, The Gospel of Thomas.

If you do not know your place for rest, how can I tell you? Reflection will not do it. Caught in reflections, you are a corpse. Reflections are not the mirror. When you know your mirror is a mirror, you will know your place for rest. Your place for rest is not a place. Your place for rest is no place.

The mirror knows it is a mirror but does not make itself into a mirror. This is the place for rest. This is the kingdom of heaven spread out over the earth that people are not aware of. It is pure awareness. Awareness of awareness is already dead. One has become a corpse and is eaten.

circumcision in the spirit

His disciples asked him: Is circumcision useful or not? He replied: If it were useful, then they would be born already circumcised. On the other hand, true circumcision in the spirit is entirely beneficial. Saying 53, The Gospel of Thomas.

Jesus was never one to waste a metaphor. Circum means all the way around (circle). Cision means cut. An incision is a cutting into. An excision is a cutting out. Circumcision is cutting all the way around. He says that physical circumcision is not useful. It is true circumcision in the spirit that is more than useful, is "entirely beneficial," is "profitable in every respect" (Pagels).

We are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to be "passersby." This is cutting all the way around. As long as we have one piece of spiritual foreskin attached to the world of desire, the realm of samsara, we are in danger of infection. In fact, the attachment is the infection. We are to make the cut all the way around. No attachment.

Letting go of our attachments is painful but essential. If we wish to launch into the consciousness that Jesus knew and represented, we must cast off all lines that hold our spiritual vehicle to the earth. This is entirely beneficial. As Seung Sahn said, you don't want to be centering in your body when you die.

basket cases

For nobody lights a lamp and puts it underneath a bushel basket or in a hidden place. Rather, it is placed on a lamp stand so that all who go in and out may see the light. Saying 33b, The Gospel of Thomas.

We are bushel baskets. Light beings, we weave ourselves clothing and insist we are that clothing. We hide our light. We cluster our thoughts around this chosen shroud. We dare not be naked light shining unadorned.  In trying to make our selves some body, as Jesus says, we become "nobody."

Our consciousness is light, the light of awareness. Awareness courses through the heart brain and the head brain. The light of awareness is seen as the nimbus (whole being aura) and the halo (head aura). The bushel basket of petulance, of self absorption, of singing the song of me, me, me is left behind, vanquished, toodle-ooed. We shine.