TGU and Thomas: Sayings 19 and 20

Saying 19

19 a Jesus said: Blessed is one who existed before coming into being.

19 b If you become my disciples and listen to me, these stones will serve you.

19 c In paradise there are five trees that do not change between summer and winter, and their leaves never fall. Anyone who comes to know them will not die.

We just finished with sayings about the nature of humans being rooted in the non-3D. So I’m ready to accept that 19 a refers to our knowing that we are by nature immortal.

Not quite. What of b and c?

19 b seems to offer power over what is called inanimate nature to those who understand what Jesus is saying. 19 c is entirely opaque to me. Even associating the three statements and remembering their context amid previous sayings, I don’t get it. The five trees are probably a metaphor, perhaps something spelled out only orally.

Suppose you assume that 19 a refers to someone who has achieved crystallization, as referred to in the previous saying.

Yes, I can see the distinction. That is why his state may be considered blessed: He has already achieved something. He is a permanent consciousness rather than a collection of past consciousnesses whose perseverance is somewhat provisional.

And, as you intuited, 19 b says that Jesus’ teaching offers power over the inanimate – in essence, magical powers. But do not forget to connect b with a. This specifically tells you something between the lines, if you pay attention.

Yes. To achieve b, you first experience a.

Correct. And the five trees that do not change?

If it did not specify a number, I would guess – it would be a guess – that this was something to do with the unchanging nature of things in non-3D. Although, I’m not sure anybody ever said things there are unchanging. Just the opposite, in some respects. Our very development changes – and is meant to change – things. So I guess I don’t know.

You did have a “stray thought” as you were writing that, that you blew off.

The five senses. I don’t see what that can have to do with it.

Yet it is good practice to pay attention to such thoughts. Not adopt them, necessarily, but give them a good look, and not assume they appeared randomly or meaninglessly.

I can see that. When I do that, sometimes it feels like I am trying to force a meaning that doesn’t inherently exist.

That is the opposite temptation, of course, but don’t steer so close to Scylla as to put yourself into shipwreck, merely for the sake of avoiding Charybdis.

I see your point. Okay, the five senses. In what way could they be considered unchanging in the non-3D? And, for that matter, what kind of seasons can there be in the non-3D?

Unless, the tides of vast impersonal forces? Do they flow in non-3D – well, we know that they do flow. That’s why they flow in 3D. Or is that jumping the gun? No, I have the feeling I need more help here, I’d just be guessing.

Nothing wrong with guessing if you know that you are guessing, and so do not go to building elaborate structures upon your guesswork. But as a way of finding new territory to explore – new possible connections to make – there’s nothing wrong with it.

So, the meaning?

We’re going to have to leave this one vague. Next time, start Saying 20.

That isn’t like you, to just drop it.

It may make sense later, and it won’t hurt to gnaw on the puzzle of it, but after all, we never promised to explain everything. Some things are to be divined by hard work, which itself will be the reward.

 

Saying 20

The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He replied: It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all. However, when it falls into worked ground it sends out a large stem, and it becomes a shelter for the birds of heaven.

 Clear enough as is, unless we want clarity on “the birds of heaven.”

What are birds? (However, be aware that this saying may refer merely to the aspect of sheltering.)

Birds are sometimes seen as messengers between earth and sky. Living on the earth, they sometimes visit the sky.

Then in what sense might the mustard tree be said to shelter them? Or rather, how is the kingdom of heaven, the tiny seed, the root of shelter of the birds of heaven?

Put that way, it’s less clear.

Perhaps it is not clear at all, once looked at carefully.

Perhaps not. Glancing back , the birds of heaven reference is obvious: “The state of awareness shelters the ability to connect to the non-3D” is one way to put it. The messengers are the intermediaries, according to shamanic traditions. Birds connect earth and heaven, one might say. “Worked ground” seems to indicate that we need to be in a state of readiness; we need to have done the work of preparation.