Thomas, saying 18

Monday, May 27, 2019

Thomas, saying 18:

18a The disciples asked Jesus: Tell us about our end. What will it be? Jesus replied: Have you found the Beginning so that you now seek the end? The place of the Beginning will be the place of the end.

18b Blessed is anyone who will stand up in the Beginning and thereby know the end and never die.

6:15 a.m. Ready if you are. This one seems obvious, and I suppose isn’t. Jesus says, we began in the non-3D and that’s where we’re headed back to, and as soon as they realize it, they will realize who they really are and will realize that they are immortal. Though, I do sense there’s a little more to it in that final three words. Crystallization as a permanent consciousness?

Previous saying?

Well, the reality of the non-3D world would be experienced by them. Seems to reinforce what I got.

True enough, and that’s really all you need. If you know who you are, you know what life is, what reality is. Know that, and everything changes for you. That’s one thing the Gnostics – the “knowers” – understood. Shall we proceed to the next saying?

Really? That’s it?

Not everything needs to be complicated or even foreign to you.

All right, saying 19.

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

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

19c 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 19a refers to our knowing that we are by nature immortal.

Not quite. What of b and c?

19b seems to offer power over what is called inanimate nature to those who understand what Jesus is saying. 19c 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 19a 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, 19b 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.

Don’t know why you used that analogy, given that I’ll have to rely on spellchecker to come even near to spelling Charybdis. [Actually, turns out I had it right, except it needed to be capitalized.] But 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.

If you say so. All right, thanks, and we’ll try again another time.