Thomas, Saying 81 and 82

Sunday, July 14, 2019

2:30 a.m. Last Sunday you concluded our look at Saying 81 by saying I should think about what it means to find “the body,” as in, “whoever has come to know the world has found the body.” And the second part was, if you have found the body, the world is not worthy of you. When it came time to look at Saying 81, you basically blew me off because I hadn’t spent time on saying 80, pondering. That was Monday. But I can’t say I have given it much thought even yet.

80. Jesus said: Whoever has come to know the world has found the body. Whoever has found that body, the world is not worthy of him.

Even though it is worthwhile to build your understanding by cumulating bits one at a time, you can give yourself permission to continue without understanding everything, as you did in reading In Search of the Miraculous [by P. D. Ouspensky]. You will miss some connections you might otherwise make, but in compensation, you will move on to other things that you wouldn’t otherwise get to, if you remained stalled until you figured out what you can’t figure out.

I sort of thought it was you saying “Figure that out before we continue.”

Yes, but if you can’t, or don’t, we can continue. Of course you could cease this exploration – or any exploration, or all exploration – any time you wished. It can’t be forced.

Well, let me just take a horseback guess at 80 and we can move on. I suppose knowing the world may mean experiencing the “external world,” the 3D/non-3D that we are a part of, and that is a part of us, but that seems to us “external,” that is, not under our control and not part of our particular essence. And if we take the exterior to be “the body,” perhaps that is meant to be opposed to “the mind” or “the spirit,” which is what we experience as internal, as the “us” of us.

If so, then anybody who comes to know the external world has moved to another plane of being, and is no longer subject to the same level of constraints that apply to those who think external reality is external rather than experienced as external.

Was that so hard?

No guarantees, I understand, that this is right, just a way to see it.

No guarantees for anything, any time. But you do what you can, and the very act of pondering produces changes. Now we may proceed to Saying 81, keeping 80 in mind.

81. Jesus said: Whoever has become rich should rule. Whoever has power should renounce it.

I suppose “having become rich,” in context, may mean having realized that all that “external” world is actually part of us, and we are not contingent, even accidental, bit-players. But – rule what? Or, rule whom?

How about, “Rule yourself”? That is, remembering that you remain a community, though now realizing that the community of you is vastly larger than you had suspected, the part of the community that is most aware naturally should guide the being. Would you rather be guided by a steersman who is asleep, or half-blind?

Then what does “power” in this same saying refer to? It isn’t power over others, is it? (What others?) and it isn’t’ power over oneself, I’d imagine; at least I can’t see why one would need to renounce it.

What if it is more like saying, “Lay the burden down”?

Interesting thought. Coupled with the first sentence – as is clearly the intention here – it suggests that it’s one thing to come to an extended awareness, another to attempt to use that awareness for personal ends.

Very good.

Thank you.

Saying 82, you see, builds upon this too. What does it mean for one to be near to Jesus, or far from Jesus?

82. Jesus said: Whoever is near to me is near the fire. Whoever is far from me is far from the Kingdom.

Near the fire, far from the kingdom. Implied contrast here, implied comparison of the fire and the kingdom. I presume it isn’t redundant, as I presume that no word choice is arbitrary or careless. “The fire” seems to imply the heart of things. “The kingdom” seems to imply a state of being; at least, that’s what I have been taking it to signify.

But what of the meaning of being closer to or farther from Jesus?

Could mean many things. Mentally, emotionally, in conduct, but I don’t think any of these, or maybe I should say I don’t think any of these only.

What would it mean to be close to the state of being that Jesus embodied?

Well, I was inching toward that idea. I can’t believe he meant, “Who believes in me,” or even, “who believes what I believe” is closer to him. I don’t think it is a matter of faith, the way Christians have come to think it means. Surely it has to be based in experience. Faith may be very helpful in keeping you on the path when you can’t see or feel your way, but I don’t see that blind faith has much to do with having life more abundantly. Although, I suppose it may if it preserves one from falling into fear.

So, in context, what would it mean to be near to or far from Jesus’ state of being?

Didn’t he say, in words that Christians editors neglected to censor, that others would be able to do as he did, and even more? That is, didn’t he say there was not a qualitative difference between him and his followers (and their followers, etc.), but more that he was walking ahead showing by example?

There you go.

So, “the fire”; “the kingdom”?

Your take on it is close enough. if any need more clarity on it, let them sink into themselves and ponder it.

I intended to proceed to Saying 83, but as I read it is see I am not fresh enough to give it the apprehension it requires.

What we’ve done here is enough. we aren’t n the clock, and we face no particular deadlines.

Oaky. Thanks as always. Next time.