Gospel of Thomas | Thomas 70

Thomas 70:   Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you.”

This is a revealing metaphor about the true nature of what we are and of the way we come to life—the life that Yeshua defines, not the one defined by this outer, material layer. When we are asked to bring forth what is within us, we are asked to search for the thing we cannot point to. One cannot point to the self, since everything one might think of pointing to is a spot on the body. That spot, or part of the body, is not you. The soul is the thing we cannot point to. The body is a reflection, which changes as it decays. An enlightened Spirit does not decay—it grows. The thing animating the flesh, inside every cell of the body, grows in experience and wisdom—it is the soul. Yeshua would have spoken to His contemporaries with reference to their bodies, because this is what they believed to be their identity. When Yeshua said, ‘bring forth what is within you’, it was a challenge to Yeshua’s contemporaries to consider something other than the body, as the self. 

The second part of the saying refers to the processes humans go through when the soul is reabsorbed into the whole. Without the connection to the Source, through the collective consciousness (Holy Spirit), death leaves the soul lost, searching for a place to be. This energy, which was the soul, is reabsorbed into the material world, as that is all it knows. The thing that has killed the person, in this instance, is the lack of knowledge and acceptance of the true self. This results in the lack of connection to the Father/Source. These souls are perpetually new, the previous identity is scattered and lost, absorbed into the whole—the Source. This is why Yeshua states in previous sayings that those who are lacking taste death; those who are filled with Light live.

People who believe in reincarnation might find this premise difficult to accept. These people have to admit that there are very few examples of people who know of their past life with clarity and conviction. Their recollection is usually fragmented and clouded. This indicates that the death of the self is certain if the connection with the Source is not realised during physical existence.  We might also consider, how is it that there are more humans on the planet Earth now than ever before—were they all reincarnated, or are they fragments of something else? It would seem there are countless souls, which are sparks from the eternal source, and each has the potential of self-realisation—to live. In countries like India there are numerous examples of children who remember a past life, to the point where they are able to identify where they lived and previous family members. This demonstrates how belief systems impact how a soul perceives existence. If a soul becomes convinced that a place on earth is its domain then it will be bound to it. Perhaps this place on earth offers these souls more potential for growth, perhaps they only know this place. Whatever the case may be, we recognise that every human soul has choice through knowledge and understanding.

Consider how clairvoyants who claim to speak with ghosts of the dead cannot have a conversation with a murder victim, leading to the capture of their murderer. Psychics are tapping into the Light of the Source, because they have a stronger awareness of their own soul’s connection with this Light. They are receiving images and feelings from the living person, who desperately wants to communicate with their departed loved one. This is not to say that ghosts do not exist, but the identity of a soul fades away and is eventually reabsorbed.  Psychics can also gather information from the environment around them, since they are connected to the Source and this Light flows through all things. This is reinforced when Yeshua tells us the thing that He is, is in all things (Thomas 77). This knowledge should bring us out of our complacent beliefs, which arise from books and movies depicting troubled ghosts resolving their issues and ‘crossing over.’ This becomes a rather romanticised presentation of what happens to souls—they are so disturbed by this life they need to resolve something. This is what Jesus means when He asks us to hate our father and mother in Thomas 55. If people are tied to this world and all its primal instincts and obligations, then they are veiled from seeing the truth and they cannot bring out what is within them. People cannot become the perfect human if they are attached to this life. They need to accept it for what it is and be passersby (Thomas 42).

Thomas 77 – The Link

Light comes from a source of energy. When Yeshua talks about ‘the light that is over all things’, He is referring to the energy flowing over, around, and through everything. We could compare this to contemporary String Theory, or the Higgs boson, which explains how the smallest of particles obtained their mass. The difference in Thomas 77 is that there is a consciousness present—making a link between the Source and the Son (all sentient beings). This consciousness should not be confused with the popular belief known as Intelligent Design. This idea links biblical myths and evolution. Essentially, this belief suggests that God is the designer of evolution. The problem with this notion is that it does not recognise the physical world as separate from the realm of the Spirit. The laws governing each of these are entirely dissimilar. The fact that the Light Yeshua speaks of is through all things in the physical world does not mean this thing is intentionally responsible for its creation (Thomas 97). There are manifestations of this Light in the natural world, but these are mere reflections. We saw this previously, in the two elements that form water. When separate they are one, but when joined they are two and a source for life, as in Thomas 11.

Christian faith explains the imperfections and chaos inherent in this world as resulting from a separation from God, through the action of the original sin. Gnostic Christians put forward the premise of an imperfect demiurge, which has created a place for his own glorification. His imperfection is reflected in the suffering people experience and, as a result, he was perceived as jealous and vengeful in nature. In the Gospel of Thomas, people are invited to accept that this world is a distraction from our true nature, which is unlike anything in this universe. The soul is something humans cannot see, or experience with any of their senses. This is why humans must separate the physical from the spiritual. At the same time, they must recognise that to escape the physical they need to minimise their suffering. Religion should not steer their decisions, which should be based on common sense about our reality, such as population control and responsibility for the environment. Praying to a God to change what is outside the realm of the Spirit is senseless. This is not an argument against the possibility of miracles. It is the recognition of the reality of the soul and the reality of the physical as separate states of being. The mechanism of the physical universe is different to the realm of the Spirit. Recognising this liberates people from much of their suffering. Seeing the nature of this world as having its own phenomena, apart from the realm of the Spirit, brings peace—we know that the Spirit flows through it. The imperfections and chaos in this realm are symptomatic of the nature of physical materials, which have a finite life. Beauty in this realm does not last, because of its inclination to decay. These four dimensions are only a reflection of what exists in other stable dimensions. This is where Yeshua comes from and where enlightened Souls move into.

When Jesus tells us we can ‘split a piece of wood’ or ‘lift up a stone’ to find the Source of all things, He is liberating us. People from the Abrahamic lineage are released from centuries of isolation, stemming from a belief in an authoritarian father, who had imperfect, human emotions. This is the god men created. Jealousy is an emotion driven by primeval urges for power and control over others. These emotions are rooted in the want of the alpha-male to be the sole genetic father to the groups’ young. A god who punishes by killing and causing suffering is a reflection of primal fear and anger. This god has nothing to do with the nature of God, the Father, which Yeshua speaks of. A vengeful god is in fact a creation of men, who have been influenced by the lion referred to in Thomas 7. Religious texts describing such a patriarchal god reflected the writers’ insecurities and primal heritage, not the reality of the Spirit and its nature. This shows us how the prophets and disciples were looking through a thick fog—this realm, the ‘powerful one’ in Thomas 98.

Seeing what God, the Source is like is liberating and profound. If we break down all materials into the smallest of known particles, we find there are spaces between these components too. These spaces are the fabric of the Source. It brings peace and calm when we connect with it, because it is a constant—unlike the chaos of the physical realm.  As mentioned in a previous commentary, people find solace and peace in rituals, as a pseudo connection to the Source. Rituals are calming due to their predictable nature. In times of great despair, religious rites and practices have great benefit, because people, momentarily, connect to this Source. Yeshua wants the connection to be constant. This is what He presents us with in the Gospel of Thomas—the steps toward the perpetual link. Through these words, we know Thomas 77 is the pearl the merchant has found in Thomas 76.

Gospel of Thomas on The Eucharist 

77th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree – audio extracts from the book on Youtube