The Gospel of Thomas (Part 5)

Translated by Thomas O. Lambdin

21

Mary said to Jesus, “Whom are your disciples like?”

He said, “They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, ‘Let us have back our field.’ They will undress in their presence to give it back to them. Therefore I say, if the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before the thief arrives and will not let him dig through into his house to carry away his goods. You, then, be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength, lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty you expect will surely materialize. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This saying contains several messages, pertaining to the karmic tendency to form, delight in, and grasp mental formations. The question is framed: ‘Whom are your disciples like?’ Mary is essentially asking: what qualities and attitudes are necessary for spiritual progress?

Jesus answers, “They are like children who have settled in a field that is not theirs.” A disciple must recognize that their mental and physical reality is built from ‘foreign’ phenomena that they mistakenly believed were their ground of being. They are like children, born into this ancient delusion. The field represents the depth of this delusion—it includes even the ground on which they think they stand.

As spiritual seekers, we must accept that our beliefs will change. The ego is motivated by selfishness, distorting perception. As one travels the spiritual path, new spiritual vehicles allow one to drop erroneous concepts as insights deepen. The paradigms of childhood, adulthood, parenting, worldliness, and training all seem real at the time, but like ill-fitting clothes, must be shed with confidence once true nature is seen.

Jesus refers to how disciples, through insight, become aware of karmic consequence and seize every opportunity to refine themselves. When the owners return and demand even the clothes they wear, disciples relinquish attachments gladly. This is metaphorical: spiritual disciples must approach the path seriously, though not masochistically. One must follow the middle way with seriousness and care.

Jesus continues: “If the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming…” Here, he teaches that disciples must vigilantly guard against becoming attached, angry, or ignorant. One must be aware of temptations that arise through sensory or mental phenomena.

True disciples must overcome both worldly temptations and mental habits. There are stages where all phenomena are seen as objects of rejection. At each stage, the mind’s habits of grasping or rejecting must be refined. Mastery requires absolute commitment to the path.

“Let there be a man among you… he will come quickly with his sickle…” Find a trusted teacher of the dhamma who can quickly sever attachments as they arise.

“Whoever has ears…” This is a code urging deep contemplation of these teachings.

22

Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.”

The disciples asked, “Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?”

Jesus said, “When you make the two one, when you make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below; when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male is no longer male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness — then you will enter the kingdom.”

This is pure alchemy.

The infants are thoughtless; they experience reality without the cognitive overlay of perception that creates a sense of inner being.

“When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside…” refers to the division created by the Veil of Isis. Perception habitually creates both object and subject. Through spiritual discipline, one learns to suspend and cease this habit. When this happens, the mind becomes habitually empty, blissful, and thoughtless — which is nibbāna.

“The above like the below” is one of the seven principles of Hermetic alchemy, eliminating the duality between divine and mundane. The alchemist brings fire down into the mundane; both are fused inseparably.

“The male into the female” refers to the Rebis — an alchemical figure with two heads of opposite sex. In alchemy, physical or psychological sex is simply a feature of conditioned existence, ultimately irrelevant to spiritual progress, much like eye color or birthplace. While physical faculties of gender exist, sexuality holds no essential relevance to spiritual attainment, aside from historical privileges in access to learning.

“Fashion eyes in place of an eye…” Perhaps not a pun on ‘I’, but a suggestion to develop multiple perspectives beyond the singular, self-related viewpoint.

“A hand in place of a hand…”
“A foot in place of a foot…”
“A likeness in place of a likeness…”

These refer to the Buddha bodies: a reconfiguration of senses, mind, and body at full realization. Through deep realization, we recognize our true nature, like that of the Buddhas. Our senses become pure, our awareness limitless, and all the skandhas of conditioned existence are seen as empty. These bodies have always been present but are obscured by conditionality, which we recognize as saṃsāra.

23

Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one.”

This may suggest that disciples exist within a ‘pyramid’ of achievement. For example, there are far more sotāpannas than arahants.

24

The disciples said, “Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it.”

Jesus said, “Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness.”

“Whoever has ears…” means: pay attention. Jesus here speaks directly to all of us.

A man of light — a bodhisattva who has reached the eighth bhūmi (grade out of ten or sometimes sixteen on the path). Jesus refers to both spiritual and physical light, potentially arising from the mastery of ‘the winds’ — the subtle electrical currents of the body.

One might postulate that thinking and neuronal electrical discharge are related; people report fatigue after seizures, and even thinking itself is tiring. When thinking ceases — replaced by bliss, energy, and alertness — perhaps great electrical potentials emerge. The brain, after all, contains wires (iron-rich blood vessels) and is insulated in fat. High electrical potentials ionize the air and cause it to glow.

Thus, Jesus affirms that those teachers with halos are legitimate. As bodhisattvas, they exist to mitigate humanity’s suffering. If your guru doesn’t glow in the dark, Jesus (accurately) warns, “get rid of him.”

25

Jesus said, “Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye.”

We cannot truly hate others — only our perceptions of them. Hatred always arises from our own subjective experience. Recognizing this leads to boundless compassion for all beings.

26

Jesus said, “You see the mote in your brother’s eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother’s eye.”

The faults we see in others often stem from our own denied flaws. If another’s trait irritates us, it’s often because we fear being judged for the same trait ourselves. This is an instruction: resolve your own shadow issues before projecting them onto others. Only when you are completely free from defect can you respond skillfully to others’ perceived shortcomings.