Reflection for June 16, 2013: The tree surrounded by four rivers

 

 

 

Soaring upwards
Can be like reaching down

Pushing forward

Can be like pushing back

Going right

Can be like Going left

Within is within

All things begin

And end at the cross roads

–GraalBaum 2013

 

 

This world-mountain was Nizir to the Chaldeans, Olympus to the Greeks, Hara Berezaiti to the Persians of the Avesta, the later Alborz and Elburz; a transfer, as says Mme. Ragozin, of ‘mythical heavenly geography to the earth.’ This mountain—the solar hill of the Egyptians—we shall again refer to in the next two or three chapters. At its apex springs, the heaven tree on which the solar bird is perched. From its roots spring the waters of life—the celestial sea, which, rushing adown the firmament, supplies the ocean which circumscribes the earth or falls directly in rain. At their fountain these springs are guarded by a goddess. In Egypt Nut, the goddess of the oversea, leans from the branches of the heavenly persea and pours forth the celestial water. In the Vedas, Yama, lord of the waters, sits in the highest heaven in the midst of the heavenly ocean under the tree of life, which drops the nectar Soma, and here, on the ‘navel of the waters,’ matter first took form. In the Norse, the central tree Yggdrasil has at its roots the spring of knowledge guarded by the Norns, the northern Fates; two swans the parents of all those of earth, float there. In Chaldea the mighty tree of Eridu, centre of the world, springs by the waters. The Avesta gives a very complete picture—Iran is at the centre of the seven countries of the world; it was the first created, and so beautiful, that were it not that God has implanted in all men a love for their own land, all nations would crowd into this the loveliest land. To the east somewhere, but still at the centre of the world, rises the ‘Lofty Mountain,’ from which all the mountains of the earth have grown, ‘High Haraiti;’ at its

summit is the gathering place of waters, out of which spring the two trees, the heavenly Haoma (Soma), and another tree which bears all the seeds that germinate on earth. This heavenly mountain is called ‘Navel of Waters,’ for the fountain of all waters springs there, guarded by a majestic and beneficent goddess. In Buddhist accounts, the waters issue in four streams like the

Eden from this reservoir, and flow to the cardinal points, each making one complete circuit in its descent. In the Persian Bundahish there are two of these heavenly rivers flowing east and west. To the Hindus the Ganges is such a heavenly stream. ‘The stream of heaven was called by the Greeks Achelous.’ The Nile in Egypt, the Hoang-Ho in China, and the Jordan to the Jews, seem to have been celestial rivers. This mountain of heaven is often figured in Christian art with the four rivers issuing from under the Throne of God.

Sir John Maundeville gives an account of the earthly Paradise quite perfect in its detailed scheme. It is the highest place on earth, nearly reaching to the circle of the moon (as in Dante), and the flood did not reach it. ‘And in the highest place, exactly in the middle, is a well that casts out the four streams’—Ganges, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates. ‘And men there beyond say that all the sweet waters of the world above and beneath take their beginning from the well of Paradise, and out of that well all water come and go.

 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/amm/amm07.htm

 

http://chasinghermes.com/2009/04/24/08-axis-mundi.aspx

 

 

Who is the Giver?

Who is the giver?

What is given, and to whom?

and the receiver, who is that?

and what is gotten?

 

Who is the teacher?

What is taught, and to whom?

Who is the knower of That?

and what is known?

 

Upon knowing, upon realization

what will that one say?

or having said that -

of what value is it?

 

What can that one hope to gain -

What does that one have to give?

Is there any value in what such a one

would offer us?

 

What has been gained?

What great jewel has that one found?

Of what use is his tapasya?

Of what use his penance?

 

At the end, in the desire to give

in the hope that what will be given

be of value and worth, lies a quandry.

 

The evidence of the value of what would be given,

does not yet shine in the life of that one having arrived.

There is no evidence, “but the giving itself.”

 

After the giving, after the sowing

the crop bares fruit, not otherwise.

Yet the Sadhu would give only what has value.

But who is the knower of that value?

 

To the one desiring to give

arises the desire that what would be given,

be of value to the receiver.

That one desiring so, cannot see the worth

until after the fruit is eaten.

 

The taste of truth is not given by the giver

nor does it exist in the sweet words uttered;

“That” lies only in the arising of love

in the receiver.

 

Giving belongs to God, to the consciousness,

never to the Sadhu.

and it is also the consciousness

that is the receiver of the gifts.

 

Yet the Sadhu mutters, “I will not give

a thing which has no value”.

He does not realize that wealth

has no value unless used for the good of all!

 

Selfishness has no part in truth

nor any part in Love. Love that is selfish

is just that; “Selfish”

It is that which excludes and disqualifies

us from realization due to selfhood;

Due to I-Ness and Me-ness.

 

Due to ownership, an I exists!

Due to the mere desire to give

there is a giver, an “I”!

 

True Wisdom is not great knowledge

nor the ownership of understanding;

Wisdom is the realization of charity.

Thus what can be given with wisdom

can only be what is loving to all.

 

Which knowledge is that, and who is the knower of it?

Which knowledge is for the good of all

and who could be the giver of that?

The knowledge can only be knowledge of the One Self

And the giver of such as that,

can only be one who has realized that self.

 

Who is the receiver of great wisdom, of great love?

and who the giver? It is certainly not the one

crying from the mountain-top;

Nor is it the one who seeks value in giving;

 

It is not the one who seeks to be paid homage

neither is it the one seeking absolution.

The receiver and the giver are but one.

 

There can be thus no gain, nor any loss

for in the acceptance of the receiver -

the giver is also the receiver.

 

Wisdom is charity, nothing more.

While it is Love that is the hidden force

of consciousness and the knower of the known.

 

Having known everything, it is time to give.

At this time what can be received?

Nothing what-so-ever,

but the knowledge of “The Love of The One Self”

What can be given?

Nothing what-so-ever, but “The Love of The One Self”.

 

In this way, the one having arrived nowhere

comes home……….. Home to the heart!

Home to Love……. The light then shines.

 

Reflection for December 16, 2008: When the idea of nothingness has disappeared

“It helps me to speak, although I hate speaking.  My classes help me very much too.  I have learned more theology in three months of teaching than in four years of studying.  But talking also helps my prayer–at least in the sense that it inviscerates the mysteries of faith more deeply into my soul.  It is very important to live your faith by confessing it, and one of the best ways to confess it is to preach it.”

–Thomas Merton

“Nothing of the mystery realm is revealed in its truth to the one who has not first fine-tuned their conduct. For the path to mystery wisdom is blanketed with snake spirits who watch to see who is walking up that road to acquire holiness. This is not unlike thorns that watch over the path leading to the rose. And these snake spirits will not permit passage to those who are not worthy.

Not everyone is worthy of approaching the mysteries of Torah, which requires battling with whatever wrongness lingers within us. Only then — after one has worked strenuously on one’s character — can one achieve the fullness of the wisdom and gift of true wholeness. You should not think that anyone who wishes to leap into the mystery realms can simply do so, and that you can know the wisdom of the unknown without mastering first the wisdom of the known. So many of us simply want to jump into the mystery realm without working on ourselves first, wanting to skip the basic wisdom and discipline and immediately study Kabbalah. Of such it is written: “Woe onto the one who builds his house void of balance; and his upper chambers without good judgment” (Jeremiah 22:13).

Rather, you must enter this realm of study in its proper sequence: first through the courtyard, then into the house, then to the upper chambers, and then within the chambers of chambers. But if you wish to jump ahead of the cycles and leap straight into the chamber within chambers of the upper realms without cleansing what is unwholesome within you and without removing the impediments that block your inner vision‚ know that you will taste the flaming swords of the Cherubim who are assigned to guard the path to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24).  After all, who can taste the nut without first breaking off the shell?”

–From Hakdahmaht Chemdat Tzvee ahl Teekoonay Zohar: translated by Gershon Winkler

“Those who seek to enter the Orchard should know that it is a very harmful, dangerous space to visit. Therefore, first make certain that in your daily life you pursue peace and harmony in all of your relationships; that you do not create an atmosphere of terror in your home; that you do not be too demanding and exacting in your relating with members of your family, not concerning even a major issue, and certainly not a minor one; and God forbid do not flare up in rage at them. And do not ever chastise your children with anger.

Also steer clear of conceit and self-aggrandizing behavior, especially when it comes to doing the sacred work. For it is in the course of performing the sacred work that we become most prone to conceit and feelings of superiority. And when you make love to your partner first prepare your mind and heart so that you do not make love solely for your own pleasure to the neglect of the needs of your partner. And at night when you go to sleep, liberate your mind from all the tumult of your thoughts and concerns of this world, so that your soul can ascend with ease to the upper worlds and be clear enough to receive the continuous flux of divine wisdom that emanates from there. Finally, as you seek to learn how to enter the Orchard, seek also to learn how to leave the Orchard and return. For the mystery lies not only in the entering, but as much in the leaving.”

–From the 16th-century Rabbi Chayyim Vital in his introduction to Etz Chayyim, toward the end

The spirit of the human being loves purity, but his mind disturbs it. His reason loves the silence but his desires drive it away. If he were able always to neutralise his desires, his mind would naturally become pure. The six desires (those of the five senses and the imagination) would not develop and the three poisons (greed, anger and stupidity) would be taken away and disappear.

The reason why people are unable to achieve this is that their minds are not purified and their desires are not neutralised. If someone is able to neutralise his desires and looks at his reason, these desires are no longer his; if he looks down at his body, it is no longer his; if he looks further away to the outward things, they are things that do not concern him.

When he understands these three things, they will appear only a void to him. This beholding of the void will awaken the idea of nothingness. Without such nothingness, there is no void. When the idea of empty space has disappeared, also that of nothingness will disappear, and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, then, clearly, the state of permanent silence will follow. In that state of rest and independent of place, how would desire be able to develop? And if desire no longer develops, there is true silence and rest. This true silence becomes a permanent property, and in this state, everything is comprehended as to its essence; yes, this true and permanent property becomes the ruler of human nature. In such a continuous representation and permanent silence, there is permanent purity and rest.

He who has this absolute purity, will gradually come into the true Dao. And once he has arrived there, he will be called master of Dao. Although he is called master of Dao, he does not really think that he has become master of anything. Because he is accomplishing the transformation of all things, he is called master of Dao. He who is able to understand this, is also able to pass on the holy Dao to others.

– ‘Book of Purity’ by Ko Juan (AD 222-272)

“But I made answer unto them; O ye Fishers, who lap up your filth, no fisher am I who fishes for fish, and I was not formed for an eater of filth (non vegan). A fisher am I of souls who bear witness to Life”

–Yeshu as quoted from chapter 36 of the Ancient Aramaic Nazorean Prophets scroll

 

Prayer for October 16, 2008

We have purified our hands in Kushta In the Name of the Living Gods!

We have purified our hands in Kushta and our lips in faith.

We have uttered words of radiance and were absorbed in thoughts of Light.

Thou, my Lord Yeshu d-Hiya, art blessed and praised and thy praise is established.

Great is the strength of Life; abounding the glory of the mighty Life! Honor rests upon the Uthras who sit in glory.

This is prayer and praise which came to them from the great place of Light and the everlasting Abode.

We praise with it when we have risen from our sleep, before any have spoken falsehood.

For anyone who prays this prayer there will be forgiving of sins and transgressions in the great place of Light and in the everlasting Abode.

And Life is transcendant.

–Extract from the Mandaean text, Qulasta (Hymns of Praise)

 

reflection for March 20, 2008: Yohanna d Masbuta (John the Baptist)

“True solitude is found in humility, which is infinitely rich. False
solitude is the refuge of pride, and it is infinitely poor.”

–Thomas Merton

	In Beginning was Mind;
	And Mind was with GOD.
	So Mind was God. This was in Beginning with GOD.
	All kept coming into existence through it; And apart from it came into existence not a single [thing].
	What has come into existence in it was Life; And LIFE was the Light of the [true] Men.
.	And the Light shineth in the Darkness; And the Darkness did not emprison it.
		It was the True Light, Which enlighteneth every Man Who cometh into the world.
		It was in the world; And the world kept coming into existence through it And the world did not know it.
		It came unto its own; And its own did not receive it.
		But as many as received it, To them it gave power To become Children of God,
.		To those who have faith in his name,
			Who were brought to birth, Not out of [the blending of] bloods,
			Nor of urge of flesh, Nor of urge of a male, But out of God.
			So Mind became flesh And tabernacled in us,
.			And we beheld its glory, Glory as of [? an] only-begotten from Father, Full of Delight and Truth.
				For of its Fulness we all received, And Delight over against Delight –Gnostic John the Baptizer

PRE-EXISTENCE OF YOHANNA

An example of Yeshu (Jesus) teaching reincarnation can be found in the seventh book of the Pistis Sophia (an ancient Manichaean text dated to the 3rd century or earlier). In it we read of the reincarntion of Elijah, or Elias, as Yohanna d Masbuta (John the Baptist):

“Now it happened that when I came into the midst of the archons of the aeons, I looked down at the world of mankind, at the command of the First Mystery.

I found Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist , before she had conceived him and I cast into her a power which I had received from the Little Jao , the Good, who is in the Midst, so that he should be able to preach before me, and prepare my way and baptise with water of forgiveness .

Now that power was in the body of John. And again, in place of the soul of the archons which he was due to receive, I found the soul of the prophet Elias in the aeons of the sphere; and I took it in and I took his soul again; I brought it to the Virgin of the Light, and she gave it to her paralemptors. They brought it to the sphere of the archons, and they cast it into the womb of Elisabeth. But the power of the Little Jao, he of the Midst, and the soul of the prophet Elias were bound in the body of John the Baptist.

You doubted now at the time when I spoke to you because John said : ‘I am not the Christ’ and you said to me : ‘lt is written in the scripture : when the Christ shall come, there will come Elias before him and he will prepare his way’. But when you said this to me, I said to you : ‘Elias has indeed come and he has prepared all things, as it is written : And they did to him as they pleased. And when I knew that you did not understand what I said to you concerning the soul of Elias, which was bound in John the Baptist, I answered you openly in speech, face to face, saying : ‘If it pleases you to accept John the Baptist, he is Elias of whom I have said that he will come’”. – Pistis Sophia, ch 7

 

reflection for March 14, 2008: The Prophecy of Lao Tzu

Mar Mani, the founder of Manichaeaism had a mysterious life. According to the Taoists themselves Mani was the reincarnation of Lao Tzu. The HISTORY of Mani’s life was unimportant to his followers (bearing in mind Manichaeaism lasted for around a 1000 years, so it was not a small group); what was important was the spiritual prowess and leadership of Mani. Any history of Mani was first and foremost to show his spiritual significance, and his factual life a distant second. We could perhaps take this into consideration when it comes to “official” lines on the historical Jesus..

“Then four hundred and fifty or so years after my last manifestation, I, Lao-Tzu, shall ride on a vapour of the Tao of natural light. I shall leave the domain of Truth and Calmness and fly into the precious territory of Hsi-na (?Rome). In the kingdom of Su-lin (Assuristan) I shall descend into the royal palace and be born as crown-prince. I shall leave my family and enter the Way and be called Mo-mo-ni (Mar Mani), I shall turn the wheel of the great law (dharma) and I shall explain the canonical commandments and regulations and the practice of meditation and knowledge, as well as the doctrines of the Three Epochs and Two Principles. I shall instruct both gods and men and make them realize that the Present Moment reaches up to the Realm of Light and down to the paths of Darkness. All the beings will thereby be saved.

Five times ninety years (450 years) after Mani, the metallic vapour (or vital force) will rise and my teaching will prosper. As a sign, holy images of Mani will come spontaneously from the Western Regions to the Middle Continent (China).This will be a sign of realization. The two vapours, yellow and white, will coalesce and the Three Schools (Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism) will be united together and return to me. The temples of benevolence and the places of cultivation (will be so numerous) that they will join their beams and link their rafters. The bright and venerable law of the Later Sage will be translated and interpreted. The Taoist masters of the Middle Continent will extensively explain the doctrine of cause and effect (hetupratyaya). They will be the ships of the world and enlarge the scope of service of the law. All that moves, grows. or has life will be saved. This is known as the total absorption of all schools.”

–The Prophecy of Lao Tzu

(taken from Mani, The Angel and the Column of Glory, Andrew Welburn)

In the Name of the Great Life!

Up, Up! Ye Elect righteous ones,

Rise up, ye perfected and believing ones!

Rise, worship and praise the Almighty Living Ones!

And praise the great King Shishlam-Rba,

And praise the Occult Tanna and Ham-Ziwa,

And praise thr great Yawar and Zlar the great,

And praise Simar-Hiia,

From whom all the worlds came into being;

And praise the Wellspring and Datepalm

From Whom the Father of Uthras came into being.

I worship and praise that lofty and great

King of Light, the compassionate One

Who is full of loving kindness.

 

Gospel of Philip part 2

At the beginning were Two Principles, Good and Evil, Light and dankness also called Matter. Each of them was uncreated and beginningless, both the Good that is Light, and the Evil that is at the same time Dark ness and Matter, and they have nothing in common with one another. The Good is a Tree of Life; it occupies the regions of the East, West and North; the Evil is a Tree of Death (and) it occupies the Southern regions The difference between the Two Principles is as great as between a King and a pig the one lives in the places suited to him, as a royal palace; the other like a pig wallows in the mire, feeds and delights in decay, Or squats like a serpent in its lair. Like him, this pig and this serpent are born of themselves.

 

As for the things which exist perpetually and without beginning, each of them exists of its own nature. That is how the Tree of Life exists, which is there adorned with all its beauties and splendors , which is filled and clad with all its good things, firm and stable in its nature. His Earth contains three regions: that of the North which is outside and below, the East and the West, outside and below and beneath it there is nothing which could be plumbed or taken up by Him in any of these regions, but infinity is outside and below. There is no body outside, around or below infinity, nor in any one of these three regions, but He is of Himself below and outside at the North, the East and the West, and in these three regions nothing surrounds Him or encloses Him. But He is in Himself, of Himself enfolding His fruits in Himself, and the Royalty is in Him. He is not in the Southern region, and that because He is hidden in what is its bosom. God has, in fact, surrounded this place with a wall 1 and this wall is autophyte, that is, self subsisting.

 

His Light and His beauty are not visible, so as not to give occasions for desire to the Evil Tree that is in the South, and lest it be a cause for its excitement, torment and exposure to danger. But He is enclosed in His Glory, and because of His Goodness He gives w) occasion but He is protected by His Justice. And He is in this Glory, in being altogether continuously in the nature of His Greatness in the three regions.

 

Now by its (very) nature the Tree of Death has no life, nor has it any fruits of Goodness on any of its branches. And it is ever in the Southern region, and it too has its own place, namely that which is above it.

The Tree of Death is divided into a great number (of branches); war and cruelty are among them;
They are strangers to peace, filled with complete wickedness, and never have good fruits. It is divided against its fruits, and the fruits against the Tree; they are not united with what has borne them, but all produce corruption because of the corruption of their state; they are not subject to what has borne them, but the entire Tree is bad. It never does any good, but is divided against itself, and each of its parts corrupts what is near to it.

 

Now these things refer to Matter, to its fruits and its members; but the chance of ascending to the worlds of the Light was given them by their kev6lt. Indeed, these members of the Tree of Death did not know each other and had no idea of each other, for each of them knew nothing more than its own voice and they saw (only) what was before their eyes. When one cried; they heard; they perceived that, and hurled themselves impulsively towards the
sound they knew nothing else They were so excited and impelled, one by the other, as to reach the frontiers of the glorious World of Light.

When they saw that admirable and splendid spectacle, which is far superior to their own, they joined together and plotted against the Light in order to mingle with it Because of their madness they did not know that a mighty and strong God dwelt there , thus they tried to rise and to lift themselves because they had never noticed who God was. But because of this blessed. world they threw a frenzied look, and they thought it would become their own.

Then all the members of the Tree of Darkness, with its corrupting Matter, rose up and ascended with the many Powers whose number cannot be told. Now these members differed: some indeed had hard bodies and were of infinite size; others, incorporeal and intangible, had a subtle tangibility like the demons and ghostly apparitions. After raising itself, all Matter ascended, with its winds, its tempests, waters, demons, phantoms, its Rulers and Powers all earnestly seeking how they could enter into the Light.

Because of the disturbance, roused from the depths against the World of Light and against the holy fruits, it was necessary for a fragment. of the Light to come and mingle with these Wicked Ones, so that by means of the mixing the foes might be captured and there. might he peace for the Good, and that the Nature of the Good might be preserved, this blessed Nature having been saved from the fire of Matter and of the destroying corruption; that on the other hand the Lights be freed from Matter by the Power which had been mingled therein, so that Matter should be destroy-ed and the Tree of Life be God in all and over all.

In the World of Light, indeed, there was no burning Fire which could be thrown against the Evil, no sharp Iron existed, there were no drowning Waters nor any other such evil thing. Indeed, all is Light and a noble region and one could not injure (in) it. But there was this problem: that after being dispersed by the fragment detached from the Light, the enemies should stop their rush and be taken by means of the mingling.

 

–Manichaean (Severus on the “Two Sources”From Alfaric’s French.)

 

…………………….

 

Evil only exists if we allow it to.  The demiurge exists if we awaken it within ourselves.  Evil is thus a choice.   Some argue about the problem of the dichotomy of good and evil.  I think from a certain level of being or perception this is true.  Much like duality itself. It is very true duality does exist.  Much like seeing the world through Newtonian science.

 

With gnosis and a deeper understanding we move to a different view (quantum science in the above example).  Philip tells us that good and evil are brothers, but that good is not good and evil is not evil.

 

“Light and Darkness, life and death, right and left, are brothers of one another. They are inseparable. Because of this neither are the good good, nor evil evil, nor is life life, nor death death. For this reason each one will dissolve into its earliest origin. But those who are exalted above the world are indissoluble, eternal.”

 

 This to my mind tells us that good and evil are a part of mundane consciousness, agnosia (without gnosis).  At the top of the mountain we see that evil is indeed false..and truly nothing like good.  Good in this instance is no longer the brother of evil…good is BEYOND good and evil.

 

Much like the I before gnosis is I and we, after Gnosis it is I, as there is no we. There is only I.

 

So good and evil only exist because we allow them to exist, through our actions and our perceptions.  Some would argue good and evil are purely subjective terms. however it is clear is you bathe in poop you are not going to smell like a rose…you can scream all you like, you are still going to smell like poop.

 

GOOD which is beyond good and evil…when we see the big picture..when all is joined, into a monad..To the point of the ineffable, where there is no concepts, no words….. is thus VERY different to evil…

 

and yes thus GOOD is akin to evil as a king is to a pig….this really IS true.

 

All concepts are ultimately false, thus good and evil truly are false.  The GOOD is the Tao, the way of the Father…etc.  This really is far different from “good and evil.”

 

So the world really is evil, a carcass as the gosp of Thomas tells us…because we are seeing the world not as it really is….

 

As the Basildeans tell us, “all is the pleroma.”

 

 

………………………….

So the world really is evil, a carcass as the gosp of Thomas tells us…because we are seeing the world not as it really is….

 

As the Basildeans tell us, “all is the pleroma.”

 

We see this further explored in Philip logion 2.  Discussed is being of the light land and not of the light land. The dead inherit the dead, the living inherit the living.  Truly to be of the Father evil is so unlike “good” there really is no point in even considering them as “brothers.”

 

These themes can be of course found elsewhere..in Gnostic and non Gnostic texts.

 

But that is how I see things.

……………………..

There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known.

Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.

Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.

It’s easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

All you need is love (all together now)

All you need is love (everybody)

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

………………………..

2a The Slave only seeks to be Free, he does not expect to receive the property of his lord. The Son not only acts as a Son, but claims his father’s legacy for himself.

2b Those who inherit the dead are themselves dead, and so they inherit those dead. Those who inherit the living ones are alive and they inherit the living one along with those who are dead. The dead do not inherit anything, for how can someone who is dead inherit the dead? If he who is dead inherits the living he shall not die, but the dead shall be alive.

 

–Phillip Smith

 

The slave seeks only to be free, but he does not hope to acquire the estate of his master. But the son is not only a son but lays claim to the inheritance of the father. Those who are heirs to the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who are heirs to what is living are alive, and they are heirs to both what is living and the dead. The dead are heirs to nothing. For how can he who is dead inherit? If he who is dead inherits what is living he will not die, but he who is dead will live even more.

–Isenburg

 

The slave desires freedom; the extent of his master’s wealth is of little importance.

The Son, he who is Son, posses the heritage of the Father.  To inherit from the dead is to die, to inherit from the living is to live.

The Living One gives us birth and death as our heritage. The dead do not inherit; how could they inherit? If the dead were to inherit from the living, they would live.

–Leloup

 

2.  The slave seeks only to be set free, yet he does not seek after the estate of his master. Yet the son not only acts as a son, but also the father ascribes the inheritance to him.

3.  Those who inherit the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who inherit the Living-One are alive, and they inherit both the living and the dead. The dead do not inherit anything. For how will the dead inherit? When the dead inherits the Living-One, he shall not die but rather the dead shall instead live.

–Patterson Brown

 

A slave longs for freedom

and doesn’t hope to own a master’s estate.

A child claims the father’s legacy,

But those who inherit the dead are dead.

Heirs to the living are alive

and are heirs to life and death.

The dead are heirs to nothing.

How can the dead inherit?

Yet if the dead inherits the living,

the living wont die and the dead will survive.

–Barnstone

 

A slave seeks only to be free and does not seek the master’s estate.

For a child it is not enough to be a child, but a child claims the father’s inheritance.

Heirs to the dead are dead, and what they inherit is dead. Heirs to the living are alive, and they inherit both the living and the dead. The dead inherit nothing, for how could a dead person inherit? If a dead person inherits the living, the living will not die and the dead will come to life.

–Meyer

 

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Genesis 15:

 2Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

 3And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

 

 

John 8

 

 35“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.

 36“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

 37“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

 38“I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

 

 

gospel of thomas part 36: garments

(36)

Jesus said,

“Do not be concerned

from morning until evening

and

from evening until morning

about what you will wear.”

 

 

Matthew 6:28-30,34

“And why be anxious about clothes?

Consider how the lilies grow in the fields;

they do not work,

they do not spin;

yet I tell you,

even Solomon in all his splendour

was not attired like one of them.

If that is how God clothes the grass in the fields,

which is there today

and tomorrow is thrown on the stove,

will he not all the more clothe you?”

“So do not be anxious about tomorrow;

Tomorrow will look after itself.

Each day has troubles enough of its own.”

 

Luke 12:25

 

“Can anxious thought add a day to your life?

 

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655.1-17

Jesus says, “Do not worry, from morning to evening nor from evening to morning, either about you food, what you will eat, or about your clothing, what you will wear.  You are much better than the lilies, which do not card or spin. As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? That very one will give you your garment.”

 

 

To those with “eyes to see”,

New clothing is like the Emperor’s,

It can’t hide the naked truth.

True colors shine through.

 

 

As in The Hymn Of The Pearl, the “garment” is the earthly body, which is “poverty” when compared with the “robe” worn in the Kingdom where we originated and to which we are to return.

 

(29)

“Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth

has made its home in this poverty.”

 

 

 

Reflection for November 21, 2007: A man of perfect character

“A learned and charitable man had constant problems with pride. He was
told that if he could learn to be humble, he would become a perfect
person.  The man listened to the advice and dedicated himself to the
study of the questions of humility until he knew, almost by heart, all
the recommendations to avoid pride. One day, someone failed to show
him due deference. The man who thought himself humble, came to the
person and said, “You fool! Don’t you realize since I learned about
humility, I am a man of perfect character, deserving respect?”

–The Kabbalah of Envy

 

Gnostic words for November 6, 2007: Oxyrynchus, Pachomius, Panentheism, Pantaenus, Papias, Parable,Paraclete

Oxyrynchus: Place in Egypt, and adopted name for Greek fragmented copies (3, Oxy
654, 655, et sec), and of the Gospel of Thomas and other works. (See also; The
Five Gospels,” p. 546.)

Oxyrhynchos map

A private letter on papyrus from Oxyrhynchus, written in a Greek hand of the second century A

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Pachomius: (290-346) Founded the Christian monastery around Nag Hammadi Egypt. Thought by some to have held Gnostic beliefs. He is known as the most probable person to have had the Nag Hammadi texts. He is known to have met Basil of Caesaria, who studied Origen’s work. He is known to have met Basil. He opposed Athanasius who took over as the Orthodox authority in Alexandria around 297, ending the reign of Origen there. Athanasius, is said to have organized the books of Bible before the Nicean influence of Eusebius. He opposed the Gnostics, and is known to have posted himself in front of the Nag Hammadi mountains, where the texts were eventually found. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachomius

Saint Pachomius (ca. 292-348), also known as Abba Pachomius and Pakhom, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism.

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Panentheism: is the theological position that God is immanent within the universe, but also trancends it. It is distinguished from pantheism, which holds that God is synonymous with the material universe. In panentheism, God is viewed as creator and/or animating force behind the universe, and the source of universal morality. The term is closely associated with the Logos of Greek philosophy in the works of Herakleitos, which pervades the cosmos and whereby all things were made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheistic

This term seems to describe the basis for Sethian Gnosticism. Consider the Thomas saying, 77. ”I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

Consider the following passage from ”Eugonostos the Blessed.”

”The Lord of the Universe is not rightly called ‘Father’ but ‘Forefather’. For the Father is the beginning (or principle) of what is visible. For he (the Lord) is the beginningless Forefather. He sees himself within himself, like a mirror, having appeared in his likeness as Self-Father, that is, Self-Begetter, and as Confronter, since he confronted Unbegotten First Existent. He is indeed of equal age with the one who is before him, but he is not equal to him in power.”
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/eugn.html

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Pantaenus: (b.?- 212) Appointed to head the Christian Catechise School of Alexandria by Peter. Originally, the Alexandrian church was thought to be founded by Mark, Peter, Barnabus, and Glaucius. Known to have been a Stoic, and teacher of Clement. Pantaenus is known to have done missionary work as far east as India. Claims to have discovered Eastern Christians in possession of the
”Gospel of Matthew,” written in Hebrew and presented by Bartholomew.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11446b.htm

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=808

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Papias: (70-155 A.D.) Papias had associations with Polycarp and with St. John himself, and known to have talked with Philip’s daughters, and of “others who had seen the Lord.” (Irenaeus, ”Against Heresies,” v.33.3) He is said to have been Bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia. Only fragments of his work have survived and they are called, “Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord.” Papias is said to have claimed that the ”Gospel of Matthew.” was written first, and Mark served as a scribe for Peter’s work. Three fragments from Clement of Alexandria’s work confirm this idea. (See; Clement’s Fragments- Online. See also; Works of Henry Barchlay Swete, 1835-1917. See also; ”New Testament Apochrapha” James, Apochrypile Press, 2004.)
http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/synopt/ext/papias.htm


http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/papias.html

”The Gospel of John was made public and given to the churches by John when he was still alive; as Papias by name, of Hierapolis, dear disciple of John, recalled in the “exoteric”, that is the outside, five books; he in fact wrote down the gospel correctly as John was dictating.” (Carlson)

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Parable: Stories with a point that Jesus is believed to have spoken to the
multitudes around Galilee. (See the ”Gospel of Thomas;” Sayings 8, 9, 20, 57,
63, 64, 65, 76, 96, 97, 98, 107,109. According the “Apochryphon of James” and
“Pistis Sophia” the parables are passages which relate or are intentional
mysteries. In Greek (parabole), meaning comparison, or similitude, placing
beside or together. Can also refer to the interior dimensions of a cone.
Clement of Alexandria writes:

“Wherefore the holy mysteries of the prophecies are veiled in the parables –
preserved for chosen men, selected to knowledge in consequence of their faith;
for the style of the Scriptures is parabolic. Wherefore also the Lord, who was
not of the world, came as one who was of the world to men. For He was clothed
with all virtue; and it was His aim to lead man, the foster-child of the world,
up to the objects of intellect, and to the most essential truths by knowledge,
from one world to another.
Wherefore also He employed metaphorical description; for such is the parable, –
a narration based on some subject which is not the principal subject, but
similar to the principal subject, and leading him who understands to what is the
true and principal thing; or, as some say, a mode of speech presenting with
vigor, by means of other circumstances, what is the principal subject.”
(”Stromata,” Bk. VI, et sec.)

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Paraclete; Parakleiton: (puraclete) “Comforter” or one who pleads a case for
another. This word is sometimes used for the Holy Spirit or for the Logos. (See
“1st Book of Jeu”) ”The followers of Valentinus say that Jesus is the
Paraclete, because he has come full of the Aeons, having come forth from the
whole. For Christ left behind Sophia, who had put him forth, and going into the
Pleroma, asked for help for Sophia, who was left outside; and Jesus was put
forth by the good will of the Aeons as a Paraclete for the Aeon which had
passed. In the type of the Paraclete, Paul became the Apostle of the
Resur­rection.” (Theodotus, source, Dr. Andrew Criddle.)

note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraclete

Some people including Montanus in the mid 2nd century and Mani (210-276) claimed to be the promised paraclete of John 14:16.The leading authority on classical Greek ( Liddell, which is of course slightly different than biblical Koine Greek ) portrays the word Paraclete as an antonym for Diabolos, characterizing the former as a defender and the latter as an accuser. The ‘clete’ syllable derives from the same etymological origin as ‘ecclesia’ – the infinitive of which means “to call”. By the ‘ecclesia’, the church is called to assemble. Similarly, the Paraclete is “called” to the side of the one on trial.

Let us worship the spirit of the Paraclete (comforter).
Let us bless our Lord Jesus who has sent us the Spirit of Truth.
He came and separated us from the Error of the World.
He brought us a mirror. We looked into it, and saw in it the Universe.

When the Holy Spirit came,
he revealed to us the way of truth and taught us that there are two Natures,
that of the Light and that of the Darkness,
separated from each other since the beginning.

The Kingdom of Light consisted of five Greatnesses,
these are the Father and his twelve Aeons,
the Aeon of Aeons, the Living Air, and the Land of Light,
the Great Spirit blows in them and feeds them with its Light.

The Kingdom of Darkness, however, consisted in five Chambers,
these are Smoke, Fire, Wind and Water and Darkness.
Their resolution crawls in them,
moves them and spurs them on to make war with one another.

Now as they were warring with each other,
they made bold to attack the Land of Light,
considering themselves capable of conquering it.
Yet they know not that what they thought will recoil upon their own heads.

But there was a host of angels in the Land of Light
which possessed the power to issue forth and overcome the enemy of the Father,
whom it pleased that through the Word that he would send,
he would subdue the rebels
who desired to raise themselves above what was more exalted than they.

Like a shepherd who sees a lion approaching to destroy his sheepfold,
he uses guile, takes a lamb and sets it as a snare that he may catch it with it,
for with a single lamb he saves his sheepfold.
Afterwards he heals the lamb that has been wounded by the lion.

In this way too the Father acted,
who sent his stout Son.
He produced out of himself his Maiden, furnished with the five Powers
that she might fight against the five Abysses of the Dark.

When the Watchman stood fast within the frontiers of Light
he showed the powers of the Darkness his Maiden, who is his Soul.
They became agitated in the Abyss and wanted to possess her,
they opened their mouths and tried to swallow her.

He seized the Maidens power and spread it over the Powers of the Darkness,
like nets over fish, he rained her down on them.
Like purified clouds of water, she penetrated into them like a piercing lightning stroke.
She crept inside their insides and bound them all without their ever knowing.

When the First Man had ended his struggle the Father sent forth his Second Son.
He came and helped his brother out of the Abyss.
He built this whole world up out of the mixture
that had come into existence out of Light and Darkness.

All the Powers of the Abyss he spread out to the ten Heavens and to eight Earths,
he shut them up into this World and made it a dungeon for all the Powers of Darkness.
This World is also, however, a place of purification of the soul
which had been swallowed up in the Powers of Darkness.

The Sun and the Moon where set up and fixed in the heights, to purify the Soul.
They take the refined part daily upward to the heights but they destroy the deposit.
They convey it up and down.

This whole World stands firm for a Season,
since there is a great Building being erected outside the World.
At the Hour when the Architect shall complete it, the entire World shall be dissolved.
It shall be set afire, that the fire may melt it away.

All Life, the Remnants of Light in every Place
he shall gather to himself and form of it a Statue (Eidolon — image, likeness).
Even the Resolution of Death also, the whole of Darkness,
he shall gather in and make an image of itself along with the Archon.

In a moment the Living Spirit shall come.
It will succor to the Light,
but the Resolution of Death and the Darkness
lock away in the chamber that was built for it that it may lie in chains forever.

There is no other means save this means to bind the Enemy,
for he shall not be received into the Light because he is a stranger to it,
but he shall also not be left in his Land of darkness,
lest he may wage a greater war than the first.

A New Aeon shall be built in the place of this World, which shall be dissolved,
so that in it the Powers of Light may reign
since they have preformed and fulfilled the whole of the Father’s will.
They have overthrown the hateful one, they have defeated him forever.

This is the knowledge of Mani,
let us worship him and bless him.
Blessed is every man that may trust in him
for he shall live with the Righteous.

Honor and Victory to our Lord Mani, the Spirit of Truth,
that cometh from the Father and has revealed to us
the Beginning, the Middle, and the End.
Victory to the Soul of the Blessed Mary. Theona, Pshai, Jemnoute.

(Let us Worship the Spirit of the Paraclete–Manichean Writing)

Mani’s mystical teachings have profoundly enriched the Nazorean Way. His name means the “Vessel of Life” and he came to be regarded by his Christian disciples as the Paraclete, by his Persian followers as the Zoroastrian redeemer Saoshyant, and by his Buddhist adherents as the Avatar Maitreya. He was a gifted writer, teacher, artist, physician, astrologer, musician and a miracle-worker. He personally illuminated and illustrated many of his original scriptures, and could draw a fine line on silk and then erase it by removing one thin thread.

The term Paraclete is another term Gnostics have a special meaning for because he (Jesus) has come full of the Aeons, having come forth from the whole. This makes Jesus the carrier of the Word from the Pleroma. Because this is what Gnostics mean by Paraclete it doesn’t matter what the Church thinks it is, as far as to Gnostic content.

Mani and other Gnostics could have adopted the term to mean a number of things distorted by the Heresiologists, and anti-Gnostics. Some have meant paraclete to mean comforter. What the term conotes and denotes is largely gleaned from the context the term is placed. Both Comforter, or Paraclete imply a form of companionship between entities, and imply helping the other in the union. This is not that far from the concept of union with the Word.

Tom Saunders