Gospel of Thomas | Thomas 79

Thomas 79:     A women in the crowd said to him, “Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you.”
He said to [her], “Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, ‘Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.”

In Thomas 79, Yeshua corrects the notion that family members can claim some kind of spiritual privilege, simply by association to a prophet or enlightened being. This may bring into question the position of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who has had a contentious history among Christian denominations for some time. Marian Theology is a powerful force in the Catholic faith; arguably outweighing the importance of Yeshua, in the sense that people turn to Mary in times of need. The ethical dilemma of placing the mother of Jesus in such a high position, to the point of giving her the title of ‘Queen of Heaven’ in the Early Middle Ages, has its problems—particularly when we put her in the context of the Gospel of Thomas. The issues surrounding Mary would require a lengthy thesis in itself. However, for the purposes of this commentary, we can speak of Mary as someone who would have surely felt the pain Yeshua mentions in the last line of Thomas 79: ‘Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.’ Mary would have suffered greatly to see her son killed in such a brutal manner, but, for Yeshua, this saying is less personal than it is didactic. It speaks of times when all mothers, and indeed fathers, wish they had not had children, as they experience great torment and suffering because of them. When a child is sick, or has an accident, or rebels against the family, these events bring suffering and turmoil. This suffering extends to times of war and natural disasters. They are a result of the material world and its imperfections. These are the primal urges humans battle throughout this life (see commentary for Thomas 7).

At this point, we might consider the role of women. How were they perceived and what is their position in the eyes of the modern Catholic Church? In Yeshua’s time, women were marginalised (Thomas 114) and would have had definitive roles in society—as would men of that period. The primary role of the woman would have been as a mother and a wife. This role would have been subordinate to the husband’s role, in all aspects other than the nurturing of children. This aspect is one Mary, the mother of Jesus, has become venerated for, particularly in the Catholic Church. A difficulty arises when this role is combined with Mary’s increased status, because observant Catholics refer to her as ‘ever-virgin’. Mary was married to Joseph; this is supported throughout the narratives in the Canonical Gospels. Joseph and Mary went on to have other children (Thomas 99) and this was not through divine intervention. The premise of this intervention is also a contentious one, since Mary was only in her early teens and naïve to the facts of life. Children of that time would have been protected from such carnal knowledge. This reality does not denigrate her position as virgin. This conundrum could cause grief to those Catholics who place Mary on the ‘ever-virgin’ pedestal, but it should not be seen as an obstacle. Reconciling the reality that is this realm, with Mary’s veneration, depends upon the definition of virgin. The answer is found in the context of the Gospel of Thomas, through 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree, which illuminates this pearl.

In Thomas 22, we see Yeshua point out that to enter the Father’s Kingdom people need to break down their perceptions of what they are. In this sense, humans are not female or male, they are a soul, which is both of these at the same time. Venerating Mary for her position based on being female is incorrect, just as it is incorrect to think of the Father (the Source of all things) as we might our biological father (Thomas 83). So it follows, venerating Mary as ‘ever virgin’ is incorrect—if people perceive this virginity as having to do with the act of sexual intercourse. The way people are required to look at Mary is as someone who attained enlightenment, because she took up the path that her son created for all human beings. Mary can be considered ever virgin, because she became untouched by this realm, knowing her soul to be separate from her body. This is the sacred mystery of Mary, as revealed through 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree—she was as Yeshua instructed, be ‘passersby’ (Thomas 42). She took up the task of having to be a mother to the greatest being that entered into this realm. On this difficult journey, Mary profited by recognising she was to be untouched by this world. Even though she had other children and the same concerns and obstacles all mothers do, she let all this pass her by and attained to the realm of the Spirit. This is the greatest of lessons the Virgin Mary has given humanity. This is what we must learn at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Otherwise, humans injure the dignity of all women, because they think their sexuality is a barrier to attaining spiritual enlightenment. In truth, all humans can attain this level of inner peace—when they become untouched and passersby of this realm (Thomas 42).

In Thomas 79, as in other sayings, Yeshua is concerned about the individual’s potential to escape the distractions of this world. Filial love is certainly one of the most powerful of these distractions. In Thomas 55, Jesus asks that we hate our parents and siblings as He does. In doing so, people may free themselves from the suffering these connections carry with them. This is not a literal hate of the person, but a disdain for the physical body and the hormonal mechanisms that drive it. They are the desires to breed, to be loved, and to have pride in the other. All these things are transitory and fade away, but the Soul is constant. Humans are often veiled by the emotions love encompasses. As a result, the soul is pushed back into the darkness. When people see things for what they are, then they are able to be passersby (Thomas 42). What is crucial in Thomas 79 is that people recall what Yeshua affirms: ‘Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it.’ When a person does this they have activated their inner ear, the ear of the heart (Thomas 33).

Gospel of Thomas | Thomas 30. Invoking The Trinity 

Thomas 30:   Jesus said, “Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one.”

In the Gospel of Thomas Yeshua constantly reminds us of our kinship with Him. This connectedness tells us that there are no external deities. All things are connected. Since the Father/Source flows through everything, we conclude that the soul is within a body, within the world, within the universe—these are the three deities referred to in the first sentence. They are divine because the Source inspired them for the growth of the soul. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is telling us of the fantastic potential we have, by coming to recognise ‘the kingdom.’ Humans accomplish this understanding by recognising what they are through the interaction within these three deities—body, world, and universe. Then, like Yeshua, we become a living Spirit.

If we look at the canonical gospels objectively and try to ignore the biographical narratives and polemic positioning, we can see a clear distinction between the jealous, vengeful God of the Old Testament and the loving ‘Father’ Yeshua speaks of through most of the New Testament. We might also notice the way Jesus describes the truth of where the mythical Adam sprung from (Thomas 85). Moreover, He maintains that Adam ‘was not worthy’ of us. In the Gospel of Thomas, we learn that the Father is the Source, flowing through all things (Thomas 77). It is where our life force springs from and It is our kinship with Yeshua. It is not someone who made us for his pleasure or glorification, as is the Gnostic thesis. The one is the Holy Spirit and Yeshua is with that one. When we are joined to the Source, ‘[we] become two’ (Thomas 11)—the Holy Spirit is the conduit, which connects the one, making them two. For this reason, the Holy Spirit is lifted above all things in Thomas 44. Yeshua signalled His duality as spirit-within-flesh by stating He is both at the same time, but ultimately He is with the one—the Holy Spirit. The one is the collective consciousness and it transcends space and time; it is at the beginning and at the end (Thomas 18). It is the whole. These are the reasons why we are worthy of God, the Source that is wrapped within the flesh.

The Gospel of John affirms what we see here in Thomas, but the various authors who completed this gospel could not fathom the truth of Jesus’ teachings. They could only see God as a being outside of themselves. They are God’s creation, not a part of Him. In John 14 we see several very clear references to how Yeshua saw Himself. In John 14:7 we read: ‘If you know me, you will know my father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’ Prior to this, Thomas is said to have made the statement: ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ This statement was fabricated by the Johannine sect as an attack on the believers of the Gospel of Thomas. The statements by Yeshua in this chapter of John, which follow the naive question coming from John’s doubting Thomas, are meant to ratify the notion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate persons being one God. Christians, who believe in this definition of the Trinity, use these statements to try and prove their case. In reality, it does not prove their position at all. It in fact cements what we have discovered by connecting the threads in this gospel. When John’s Jesus says, ‘If you know me, you will know my father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him’, He is restating what the Gospel of Thomas has revealed. The Father is the source of all things; it is in Jesus, just as it is in sentient beings. When John’s Jesus announces He will send humanity a Paraclete (referring to the Holy Spirit, the advocate), He says: ‘the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you’. This again affirms the teachings we have from the Gospel of Thomas. The last part of this statement, he is with you, he is in you, confirms the mechanism of this facet of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the thing that connects all enlightened beings – it is the collective consciousness. All these three facets are Yeshua, just as all these three facets are humanity. We are one when we become two, this is why Jesus states: ‘Where there are two or one, I am with that one.’

The key to Thomas 30 is found in Thomas 44, which lifts the Holy Spirit above all things. When Jesus says, ‘Where there are two or one, I am with that one’, He is revealing a great mystery and truth. Yeshua is referring to souls (what we are) and our link through the Holy Spirit. Human beings are the one and the two at the same time. Previously, the analogy of the two elements which create water was used, as a metaphor for our comparative relationship and linking with the Source. When we, the soul, are linked to the Father via the Holy Spirit, we are with Jesus, because all things are connected through this conduit. We are one when we are living in this world, because our physical world, and body, is a barrier to fully realising our true relationship with the Source. This recognition is only possible (for most beings) when they die—they are stripped of the flesh that clothed them, becoming two with God, the Source. Not understanding this mystery during the physical existence leaves people confused and unaware when they pass (Thomas 11). If this happens, the soul fades into the whole. This should not be seen as a terrible thing, because it represents the rejoining to the whole, where new possibilities are advanced. 

Is it appropriate for us to invoke the ‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’? Most Christian faiths define the Holy Trinity as being three different entities, yet ‘they’ are one God. In a sense this is true—these facets are linked. In the Gospel of Thomas, and through 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree, we see what these relationships stand for in relatively simple terms. It is a relationship we see mirrored in the material universe, where elements given off from stars, combine with gravity, and dark matter to create this realm. Similarly, the Source is the thing that flows through everything, and aggregates in some places to eventually form living Spirits. The Son represents all sentient beings. They are the bodies formed to house souls on this planet we call Earth. The soul is the spark of Light from God, the Source, in this outer layer. The Holy Spirit is the binding, collective energy, not unlike dark matter. It links the Father/Source and the Son. The Father issues forth Its Light as an aspect of Its nature, through and over all things. The function of the Son is to house the Light of the Source, which is the soul on the journey to becoming a Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the unifying conduit connecting all enlightened beings. It is like the symbol between mathematical equations. The numbers represent the Source and the enlightened Spirit is the answer to all the equations.  Invoking the three is indeed a powerful metaphor for the formula that is our heritage and kinship with Jesus.

Invoking the Trinity:

This can be done at any time. The actions can be visualised, rather than performed. Ideally, one would be seated on the ground or floor, cross-legged. Do not allow this to become a ritual, which may limit this profound gesture of recognition. Find your own way.

• When invoking ‘Father/Source’, we might touch the ground or floor with the palms of our hands, at each side of the temple (body). Here, we recognise and bless the Source, which is over and through all things in this universe (Thomas 77).
• When invoking the ‘Son’, we might lift both hands off the ground and point to the centre of the chest. Here, we recognise and bless all human beings and interstellar beings seeking enlightenment. We are from the Source, just as Jesus is from the Father (Thomas 49 and 50).
• When invoking ‘Holy Spirit’, we might extend our arms out in front of us, towards the horizon, palms facing out with fingers pointing up. As we move the hands away from each other, across the horizon, we recognise and bless the Holy Spirit for uniting us, so that the Father and Son are no longer one, they have become two, joined as one – the collective consciousness (Thomas 44).

  Amen.

While the meaning of the word ‘amen’ may vary in different bible translations, it is generally considered an affirmation or an agreement towards a statement.  In a collective or small group, people might say ‘Namaste’ meaning, I recognise the divine in myself and I bow to the divine in you. A profoundly beautiful response, which has the potential to change the violent, egocentric world of the early twenty-first century.

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