The Gospel of Thomas is one of the most intriguing Gospels not included in the
Bible. The gospel is part of the Nag Hammadi corpus and is considered Gnostic
in nature... it is controversial since it contains teachings that differ in many
ways from mainstream Christianity. My hypothesis is that gnostic teachings
including the Gospel of Thomas contains knowledge that was prevalent in the
ancient world specifically in the eastern dharmic faiths this knowledge
postulated that the self transcends physical death... the material world is
illusory... the self is part of the ultimate reality the actions in this
world - karma - dictates the progression of the soul toward salvation and this
progression can last over various cycles of births and deaths. My hypothesis is
that this was the knowledge that some realized souls wanted to convey. Of
course there are gaps in this knowledge that we need to seek out to fill but for
now let us try and understand what this gospel says.The prelude to the gospel
begins with this statement these are the secret sayings that the living Jesus
spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded The first verse begins and he said
"Whoever discovers what these sayings mean will not taste death" If we consider
that the teachings speak about the realization of the self as hypothesized
this states that whoever discovers the true nature as part of the ultimate
reality they will be liberated from the cycles of birth and death. The next verse
Yeshua said seek and do not stop seeking until you find then you find you will be
troubled when you're troubled you will marvel and rule over all. This parallels
the concept explained in the Kathopanishad. The Kathopanisha is a
conversation between Yama the god of death and Nachiketas, a young boy eager
to know the truth about salvation. Yama explains that at any point in the
journey of life the seeker can follow two paths - Shreyas -
the part which is good to the soul and Preyas - the path which is pleasing to
the senses. Yama says that the wise one always chooses Shreyas which is the part
that is good to the soul. This path... the good path... is difficult but if you follow
the good path the right is path the path where you realize the universal oneness
that is the path to attain liberation. Preyas the path pleasing to the senses
might give comfort to the body may be material wealth but keeps the seeker
bogged in the cycles of birth and death. This is the import of the verse. We move
to the next verse Yeshua said if your leaders tell you look the kingdom is in
heaven then the birds of heaven will precede you if they say to you it's in
the sea then the fish will precede you but the kingdom is inside you and it is
outside you when you know yourselves then you will be known and you will
understand that you're children of the Living father but if you do not know
yourselves then you will dwell in poverty and you are poverty.
This again is similar to the Dharmic teachings of the self and it's connection to the divine
reality...The senses make the seeker focus externally on an external heaven
consciousness being externally focused leads to ignorance once we know the true
essence of the self we will know that we are all part of the
same ultimate reality.. the children of the living father... If we are in ignorance
thinking that this material world is the only reality that leads to repeated
cycles of birth and death. The poverty being talked about is the spiritual
poverty of not recognizing that be a part of the ultimate reality...The next
verse Yeshua said a person old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child
7 days old about the place of life and the person will live. For many of the
will be last and become a single one The seven day old baby they do not have
wants or desires... they are innocent... they do not have any ego associated with them
but with age grows their individuality and ego. At the end of the verse the words
becoming a single one refers to realizing our connect with the ultimate
reality. The next verse - Yeshua said know what is in front of your face and what
is hidden from you will be disclosed there is nothing hidden that will not be
revealed here this is the enlightenment that we see... If we realize that the
material world is illusory and we meditate on the all-pervading reality
and we seek to understand our oneness with it then the truth becomes revealed
The next verse is very interesting his students asked him and said to him "Do
you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should be give to charity ? What diet
should be observed? Yeshua said Do not lie and do not do what you hate all
things are disclosed before heaven there is nothing hidden that will not be
revealed nothing covered that will remain undisclosed. This is a very very
important verse that puts responsibility back on the individual... let us try to
analyze this a bit deeper all of us have desires that tie us to this world... we all
have thoughts that are good and bad you cannot be forced by guilt or fear into
righteous conduct... across faiths fear of eternal damnation or fear of getting
stuck in the cycle of birth and death should not be the impetus behind
practicing something or restricting certain things... so think of it this way a
evil doer who ends up in prison does not become a good man all of a sudden if he
still harbors those instincts that caused him to err in the first place
It is the fear of the law and this temporary confinement that
prevents him from acting out... it has not changed who he is... of course this does
not mean that we should encourage our baser instincts or act out on the bad
thoughts... it is a good thing to do good deeds even if it is under pressure of
guilt or fear but what is being said here is that it is better to do it
due to the drive of the souls natural instinct to seek the oneness in all
Caging desires with fear does not change who we are.... so do we fast do we pray
do we be charitable? so the answer is we don't need to do any of this out of the
fear of being judged... if one does something due to fear then the doer
obviously does not like what they do... Further fear and guilt always creates
loopholes... loopholes that can be exploited to make one think one can
expedite the spiritual progress... it is not fear and control but realization and
knowledge that drives spiritual progress The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says this
"You are what your deepest desire is... as is your desire so is your intention... as
is your intention so is your will... as is your will so is your deed.... as is your
deed so is your destiny" Moksha (salvation) cannot be obtained by
force of fear or attained by ritualistic means ...The next verse adds to this
Yeshua said "Blessings on the lion if a human eats it
making the lion human foul is a human if a lion eats it making the lion human"
This is a very interesting verse... the lion symbolizes our base animal
instincts... it symbolizes pride aggression passion desire etc obviously all these
animal instincts help us progress in this material world but a person who
masters this beastly nature and uses his strength for
righteousness is the lion which becomes man men consumed by man...
so in dharmic fates there is this term called karma yogi a person who performs
actions selflessly for the greater good without paying heed to his ego without
expecting any rewards... the karma yogi is a lion which becomes man when consumed
by man... the man who is consumed by his animalistic side and becomes attached to
his baser desires has to suffer the cycles of birth and death and cursed is
he the man whom the lion consumes... the next verse is interesting
And he said humankind is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea
and drew it up from the sea full of little fish among the fish he found a
fine large fish he threw all the little fish back into the sea and easily chose
the large fish whoever has ears to hear should hear
I have two opinions on this ...ignoring the subtle truths and going for large
opulent objects is the current state of humans... they are like the worldly wise
fishermen... the other angle is that the material world has so many distracting
themes that it would take visit them to appreciate the truth and ignore the many
different distracting ideas... once you realize the truth the desires for these
illusory objects fade away and the wise progress towards salvation ...The next
verse goes as follows Jesus said now a sower went out took a
handful of seeds and scattered them ...some fell on the road the birds came and
gathered them up others fell on the rock did not take root in the soil and did
not produce ears... and others fell on thorns they choked the seeds and worms
ate them and others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit it was
sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure... the meaning of this
verse - the self in ignorance finds itself in various starting points and the
innumerable cycles of and death good soil is the understanding
can actions performed in accordance with their understanding this will lead to
spiritual progression.... the next verse Yeshua said I have thrown fire upon
the world and look I'm watching till it blazes... this fire is the knowledge the
video of how the self can progress towards enlightenment...This brings me to
the end of my first part on the analysis As always the known as a drop and the
unknown is an ocean...If you have any questions any observations please feel
free to reach out to me ...thank you... peace