Gospel of Thomas

[Guest guest]

Crossposting from studycircle

 

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 23:33:25 EST

" james bean " <spiritualawakening

not apocalypse -- contemplation!

 

1-1-2000

 

James Bean

spiritualawakening

Sant Mat Fellowship: The Way of the Saints and Mystics

Spiritual Awakening: Inter-Faith Studies Institute

 

 

THE APOCALYPTIC KINGDOMS VERSES THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

New age prophecies of " earth-changes in 1999 " have failed. Y2K

prophecies that the end cometh, have failed. The prophecies of the great

Nostradamus about " an armageddon in 1999, " have failed. Apocalyptic

predictions have failed yet, yet, yet again. The apocalyptic mentality

itself has failed, is deeply flawed -- always has been, and has only

produced cults movements -- never mystics.

 

 

THE CONTEMPLATIVE GOSPEL OF THOMAS FOUND IN EGYPT

 

" The Gospel of Thomas, " an ancient collection of the sayings of Jesus

found in Egypt, contains no apocalyptic thinking whatsoever concerning the

Kingdom of God dropping from the sky. Rather, it presents a present-tense

and real Kingdom of God that's available to us all in this present moment.

Humanity is portrayed as being blind to this spiritual Kingdom -- we can't

recognize it even though it's right here, right now, available in the

present moment of time. End-time groups are looking for the Kingdom in all

the wrong places: in the sky, in the future, over here, over there, over

yonder, in some theory or speculation -- cynical manipulation of the masses

or just pie in the sky in the bye n' bye? Perhaps prophecy has more to do

with controlling people here in the present than it does about a genuine

effort to see the future.

 

In Thomas, apocalyptic disciples are always asking Jesus, " When will

the Kingdom come, " and his reply is always something like, " What you are

looking for is already here, but you haven't learned how to recognize it

yet; you haven't learned how to see. "

 

JESUS (IN THOMAS) ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

Saying 113: " His disciples said to him, 'When will the Kingdom of the

Father come?' " Jesus says, " It will not come by waiting for it. It will

not be said, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Rather, the Kingdom of the

Father is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it. " This saying

sounds like a kind of a lament over the blindness of us souls trapped in

time/space dimensional perceptions.

 

Saying 91: " He said to them, 'You examine the face of the heaven and

earth, but you have not come to know the One who is in your presence, and

you do not know how to examine the present moment.' " I call this one 'the

mindfulness saying.' The end-times mentality creates a psychology of

" running out the clock, " instead of focusing upon spiritual development

during the " threescore and ten " that we've been given. Meditation takes

place in the present moment.

 

The Sikh Scriptures of India: " This human form has come into your

possession. It is your opportunity to realize the One who sustains the

universe. "

 

 

Saying 51: " His disciples said to him, 'When will the resurrection of

the dead take place, and when will the new world come?' He said to them,

'What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it.' " One

not bound by time/space perceptions sought to liberate humanity, bringing us

to the timeless state of being.

 

Saying 52: " His disciples said to him, 'Twenty-four prophets have

spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you.' He said to them, 'You have

disregarded the Living One who is in your presence, and have spoken of the

dead.' " On the surface, the disciples are paying Jesus a complement, saying

that prophets of the past prophesied about his coming, yet his reply is

close to a saying in the gospels: " Let the dead bury the dead! " He students

were being distracted by their nostalgia over past dead prophets or saints,

and their theories on prophecies being 'fulfilled,' instead of focusing upon

the Living One who was in their presence at that very moment.

 

Greek Thomas, Saying 3: " If those who teach you say to you,

'Look, the Kingdom of the Father is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky

will get there before you do. If they say to you, 'It is under the sea,'

then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is inside

you and outside you. You who know yourselves will realize this. And when

you know yourselves, you will comprehend that you are children of the Living

Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you live in poverty, and you

are poverty.' "

 

If we think heaven is a physical time/space place " up " in the sky,

then the birds are, after all, closer to it! Or, while we're still caught on

the wheel of transmigration -- in spiritual slumber, the souls of the birds

will incarnate into the human form, be liberated, enlightened, and will go

back Home before we do? The birds will precede us into the Kingdom.

 

If we know ourselves, we'll make new discoveries -- realize our soul

and God. We will come to know our true identity as soul or spirit. We will

discover that God is our Father, and that, therefore, we are His children.

We aren't going to " become " that in " the future " -- we ARE that.

 

Saying 59: " Contemplate the Living One as long as you live..... "

 

 

KABIR ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

" O my heart! the Supreme Spirit,

the great Master, is near you:

wake, oh wake!

Run to the feet of your Beloved: for

your Lord stands near to your

head.

You have slept for unnumbered ages;

this morning will you not wake? "

 

 

" Within this earthen vessel are

bowers and groves, and within

it is the Creator:

Within this vessel are the seven oceans

and the unnumbered stars.

The touch-stone and the jewel-appraiser are within;

And within this vessel the Eternal

soundeth, and the spring wells up.

Kabir says: 'Listen to me my friend!

My Beloved Lord is within.' "

 

 

RUMI ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

Rumi: " Love of the dead does not last,

because the dead will not return.

But love of the Living

is in every moment fresher than a bud,

both to the inward and the outward eye.

Choose the love of that Living One

who is everlasting, who offers you

the wine that increases life.

Do not say, 'We have no entrance to that King.'

Dealings with the generous are not difficult. "

 

 

" Some persons, relying on the promise of 'tomorrow,'

have wandered for years around that door,

but 'tomorrow' never comes. "

 

 

" My friend, the sufi is the son of the present moment:

to say 'tomorrow' is not our way. "

 

 

THICH NHAT HANH ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

Thich Nhat Hanh: " The place to touch the Kingdom of God is within us.

We do not have to die to arrive at heaven's gate. In fact, we have to be

truly alive. If we touch life deeply enough, the Kingdom of Heaven will

become a reality here and now. "

 

 

SANT RAJINDER SINGH ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

 

Sant Rajinder Singh: " The Saints and Mystics come to share the Light,

the peace, and happiness they found with all humanity. They come to show us

the Light so we can experience more happiness, tranquility, and peace than

we can ever dream of. We do not have to wait until death to experience the

worlds beyond. We do not even need a near-death experience and all the

physical trauma that it brings to find the inner Light. It is waiting

within each of us this very moment. Through meditation each one of us can

find it. "

 

 

SANT DARSHAN SINGH ON FINDING THE DIVINE KINGDOM

 

 

Sant Darshan Singh: " Humanity has always dreamed of a Golden Age.

Some imagine it as having existed in the remote past, while others project

it into a distant future. For those who have the eyes to read the signs,

the Golden Age of spirituality has already begun, and we are witnessing its

dawn. Already, young and old throughout the world are beginning to seek

spiritual awakening. Let us speak of peace, let us listen to the Message of

Love. And once these subjects are begun, let us speak of them from dawn to

dawn. "

 

 

Peace be to you in this New Year of Divine Opportunity,

 

 

James Bean