The Primordial Light, the Father in Heaven in the inner world (Kingdom of God/Sahasrara) that unites all souls

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" In certain passages, then, the Gospel of Thomas interprets the

kingdom of God as Tolstoy and Merton would do nearly two thousand

years later. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, also discovered in Egypt,

but in 1896, about fifty years before the Nag Hammadi find, echoes

this theme: Jesus tells his disciples, " Let no one lead you astray,

saying, 'Lo, here!' or 'Lo, there!' For the Son of Man is within you.

Follow after him! " [66] Yet after including his version of this

saying at one point in his gospel, Luke retreats from this position

and concludes his account with the kind of apocalyptic warnings found

in Mark: the Son of Man is not a divine presence in all of us but a

terrifying judge who is coming to summon everyone to the day of wrath

that, Luke's Jesus warns, may catch you unexpectedly, like a trap;

for it will come upon all who live upon the face of the whole earth.

Be alert at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to

escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the

Son of Man. [67]

 

(p.52) The Gospels of Thomas and John, however, speak for those who

understand Jesus' message quite differently. Both say that, instead

of warning his disciples about the 'end of time', Jesus points them

toward the 'beginning'. John opens with the famous prologue

describing the beginning of the universe, when " the word was with

God, and the word was God. " [68] John is referring, of course, to the

opening verses of Genesis: " in the beginning " there was a vast,

formless void, darkness, and " the abyss, " or deep water, and " a wind

[or spirit] from God swept over the face of the waters. " [69] Yet

before there were sun, moon, or stars, there was, first of all,

light: " And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. "

[70] Thus John identifies Jesus not only with the 'word' that God

spoke but also with the divine 'light' that it called into

being--what he calls " the true light that enlightens everyone, coming

into the world. " [71]

 

Thomas's Jesus also challenges those who persist in asking him about

the " end time " : " Have you found the beginning, then, that you look to

the end? " Here, too, he directs them to go back to the beginning,

" for whoever takes his place in the beginning will know the end, and

will not taste death " [72]--that is, will be restored to the luminous

state of creation before the fall. Thomas, like John, identifies

Jesus with the light that existed before the dawn of creation.

According to Thomas, Jesus says that this primordial light not only

brought the entire universe into being but still shines through

everything we see and touch. For this primordial light is not simply

impersonal energy but a being that speaks with a human voice--

with 'Jesus's' voice:

 

Jesus said, " I am the light which is before all things. It is I who

am all things. From me all things came forth, and to me all things

extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there; lift up the stone, and

you will find me. " [73]

 

(p.53) Yet, despite similarities between John's and Thomas's versions

of Jesus' secret teaching, when we look more closely, we begin to see

that John's understanding of Jesus' " way " is diametrically opposed to

Thomas's on the practical and crucial question: How can we find that

light?

 

Beyond Belief (The Secret Gospel of Thomas)

Chapter 2, p. 51-53

Elaine Pagels

Vintage Books, New York, U.S.A

ISBN: 0-375-70316-0

 

Notes:

 

[66] Gospel of Mary 8:15-20. See the major new edition and commentary

by Karen King, forthcoming (as of this writing) from Harvard

University Press.

 

[67] Luke 21:34-36.

 

[68] John 1:1.

 

[69] Genesis 1:2.

 

[70] Genesis 1:3.

 

[71] John 1:9.

 

[72] Gospel of Thomas 16, in NHL 120.

 

[73] Ibid., 77, in NHL 126.

 

 

" We may also imagine the child Jesus amongst his young companions,

exercising over them the strange prestige given by a precocious

intelligence joined to active sympathy and the feeling of justice. We

follow him to the synagogue, where he heard the Scribes and Pharisees

discuss together, and where he himself was to exercise his

dialectical powers. We see him quickly repelled by the arid teachings

of these doctors of the law, who tortured the letter to such an

extent as to do away with the spirit. And again, we see him brought

into contact with pagan life as he visited the wealthy Sephoris,

capital of Galilee, residence of Antipas, guarded by Herod's

mercenaries, Gauls, Thracians, and barbarians of every kind. In one

of those frequent journeys to visit Jewish families, he might well

have pushed on to a Phoenician town, one of those veritable hives of

human beings, swarming with life, by the seaside. He would see from

afar the low temples, with their thick sturdy columns, surrounded

with dark groves, whence issued the songs of the priestesses of

Astarte, to the doleful accompaniment of the flute; their voluptuous

shrieks, piercing as a cry of pain, would awaken in his heart a deep

groan of anguish and pity. Then Mary's son returned to his beloved

mountains with the feeling of deliverance. He mounted the steps of

Nazareth, gazing around on the vast horizon towards Galilee and

Samaria, and cast lingering eyes on Carmel, Gilboa, Tabor, and

Sichem, old-standing witnesses of the patriarchs and prophets.

 

However powerful might have been the impressions of the outer world

on the soul of Jesus, they all grew pale before the sovereign and

inexpressible truth in his inner world. This Truth was expanding in

the depths of his nature, like some lovely flower emerging from a

dark pool. It resembled a growing light which appeared to him when

alone in silent meditation. At such times men and things, whether

near or far away, appeared as though transparent in their essence. He

read thoughts and saw souls; then, in memory, he caught glimpses, as

though through a thin veil, of divinely beautiful and shining beings

bending over him, or assembled in adoration of a dazzling light.

Wonderful visions came in his sleep, or interposed themselves between

himself and reality by a veritable duplication of his consciousness.

In these transports of rapture which carried him from zone to zone as

though towards other other skies, he at times felt himself attracted

by a mighty dazzling light, and then plunged into an incandescent

sun. These ravishing experiences left behind in him a spring of

ineffable tenderness, a source of wonderful strength. How perfect was

the reconciliation he felt with the universe! But what was this

mysterious light _ though even more familiar and living than the

other _ which sprang forth from the depths of his nature, carrying

him away to the most distant tracts of space, and yet uniting him by

secret vibrations with all souls? Was it not the source of souls and

worlds?

 

He named it: His Father in Heaven. "

 

Edouard Schure, Jesus: The Last Great Initiate, pg. 33-34

Kessinger Publishing; Facsimile edition edition (March 1997)

ISBN-10: 156459498X

ISBN-13: 978-1564594983

 

 

The Spiritual Monsoon Begins

 

It was in early November 1993, that the drizzle of Divine

Consciousness began. A Sahaja Yogi friend, Bhupinder, asked

permission from the father if he could teach his sons Kash (13 year-

old) and Shah (11 year-old) how to meditate. To allay any fears he

explained that it was a simple, extremely harmless, newly discovered

method of spiritual awakening.

 

Both children were given Self-Realization after which all three of

them meditated. When they finished Kash went straight to his father

and exclaimed that he had reached a beautiful land far away. The

father skeptically listened, occasionally glancing at his friend to

see if it made any sense to him.

 

Kash told that the very instant he closed his eyes and went into

meditation, he found himself standing on a soft carpet of clouds —

hues of blue and white not seen on Earth — spreading in all

directions as far as the eye could see. Some distance away there was

a very bright Light of Great Beauty shining above and illuminating

the entire vastness. In spite of its dazzling brilliance he could

gaze at it without hurting his eyes. He just stood and looked around

in amazement and awe at the tranquillity and stunning beauty of the

surroundings. For a long time he continued gazing around this strange

serene land, wondering where he really was. Kash did not even take

one step in any direction. The sheer splendor of this awesome scene

illumined by a single dazzling Light and his inability to comprehend

where he was kept him mesmerized and rooted to one spot.

 

After gazing around for about twenty minutes Kash closed his eyes

again, and descended back to Earth.

 

His ignorant father just took it as a figment of a child's

imagination. Unknown to him his Sahaja Yogi friend had just awakened

his son's Kundalini, the potential divine energy of the Holy Spirit

residing within humans. (This is nothing short of a stupendous

revolutionary spiritual breakthrough achieved by Shri Mataji Nirmala

Devi, who bestows such priceless powers to any human desiring a

Higher Consciousness.)

 

Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God, page 122, 1999