There are people that think that we live in the best imaginable world. They are convinced that mankind is on the right track. They believe in the false appearance and see progress everywhere. One day, mankind will have a theory of everything and all problems will be solved. Although they know better, they stick to that hope. They feel free but do not realise how imprisoned they are. They have learned that fright, troubles, pain and sorrow are a normal part of their lives. They cling to their apparent certainties. They seclude themselves from what they do not want to see en do not want to hear and so they are seeing blind en hearing deaf.
In a country where from childhood all willows are cut back, no man can form an idea of a willow as it could have been, if it could had turned freely into the tree is was intended to be. In a world where all children are polled and trimmed in their freedom from childhood on because they have to learn to live in this society, no man can imagine a man as he was intended to be. Man has no idea of an independent, free man. At one time, man has been like that, free and only dependent on nature.
Now, people live imprisoned in their convictions, traditions, believes and habits, dependent on others, culture and nature. By doing so, they have constructed an artificial, virtual cage. The bars distort their sight on reality. Therefore, mankind lives in an unfair, dishonest society in which the rich become richer, the poor become poorer and where nobody knows the right direction. Because everybody is convinced of the idea that there is no way back only progress is an option without anybody knowing where this progress will lead.
Always, there have been people that managed to escape from the cage requiring a lot of pain and struggle, sometimes forced by circumstances, sometimes because they thought that there should be more than the lives they lived and they started to search for another world. If you are on the right track, even without knowing the goal, life should become simpler all the time and perhaps simplicity is the ultimate aim. If you are on the wrong track it becomes more complicated continuously until you are strangled in it. In his Allegory of the Cave Plato describes how people get disturbed if they leave the world of shadows in the cave and behold the light. In all cultures, the same metaphor exists and for that reason, there has to be a nucleus of truth in it. Those that stayed in their blessed contemplation are called mystics. Others, who returned to the cave and were indignant with everything they saw, were called prophets. Humankind has known many prophets. No one of them has been able to show the way out to the ones in chains. Perhaps, they all lacked an overview of the consequences of their discovery. Perhaps, they were not able to show the way out unequivocal. Or, did they always get the worst of the establishment and is he right when Plato writes: “if anyone would try to free them and lead them upwards would they not kill him if caught?”
Around 2000 years ago, someone escaped from the world of shadows and came back to tell those who stayed behind of the real life and to show them the way out. At that time, they claimed he had risen from dead, became man or had awoken. Nowadays, people would claim he had reached enlightenment. He had experienced that righteousness is the condition to reach simplicity and blessedness and that it is difficult to live as a righteous in an unrighteous world, as a living amongst the death. The righteousness and compassion with the chained ones demands you to go back. He preached a completely different way of life and not a different way of thinking.The story is that the establishment killed him, his words are misunderstood and that they turned his life into a religion. Humankind took possession of the messenger and did not understand the message. If somebody has seen a beautiful theatrical performance he can tell about it enthusiastically, but he would better show people the way to the theatre. His metaphors of the unspeakable made his message unclear. The experience is not expressible in words. For that reason, he gave people the opportunity to take his words figuratively and his life literally.
In fact, he was an ordinary man who dedicated himself completely to a just world. He was convinced people would follow him, would become like him and would return to the simplicity and blessedness in mass. To a world of love and without power. He had seen through society as being a colossus with feet of clay and expected to bring down Goliath like David by hitting him between the eyes where the intellectual capacity is nested. He had expected that still during his life justice would spread among mankind like a tidal wave. He realised how threatening his message was to the power of the men in power, the knowledge of the scholar, the property of the rich and the fake wisdom of the clergy. And, nothing has changed since. Still it is true that a camel will pass sooner through the eye of a needle than a man clung to his properties will become righteous.
The words of the teacher of righteousness, some people call him “Jesus”, are probably best and least distorted preserved in the gospel of Thomas. The question remains if “Jesus” is not merely a metaphor of the Logos, the conscience or the inner voice, and if the personification “Jesus” has been used merely as a vehicle to carry the message. Ultimately, it does not matter because it is the message and not the messenger that counts. After having been passed on orally over time the words have been written down by disciples, who clearly did not understand the essence, which has lead to some strange and incomprehensible changes. It must have been a very simple message and yet scientists have studied the texts for decades without being able to decode the message.They devote their attention, so to speak, to the treasuremap, and fail to sett of for the search of the treasure.
Only someone who has freed himself of the world of shadows too can understand the message of the statements. Could it then be that you do not have to be educated but wise to understand it? Stripped of the mystical and gnostic distortions and with only the signposts on the road remaining the maxims are indeed very simple. The words preach a radical and non-violent revolution through a return to the origin, back to basics, where the end will be like the beginning again. Did he realise that the effect would be a collapse of the whole society, of all structures of power and that eventually no stone would remain on the other? Although the message uses the terminology of that time indeed, the contents are timeless and concern mankind. Briefly summarised it comes down to:
“Do NOT do unto others what you do NOT want them to do unto you”.
It is new that the others include children too because that no longer justifies our way of educating them. The second elucidation is that creation is put on a par with the Father who flows through the whole creation. Therefore, creation includes the other too. That deprives us of the justification to abuse creation and to destroy it. Spinoza wrote that God and Nature are one and the same and that it comes to the same thing.
What the teacher envisaged was for every man to become like him, one world with only enlightened, blessed people, enjoying themselves, the others and creation. One true community of whole people. In the world he envisaged happiness, freedom and the paradise are unconditional and within reach for everybody. In today’s society all this is conditional and an utopia, unreachable for anybody. People still did not dare.
Multatuli (Ideas)
“They who hawk faith as an arcanum against moral evil would look down upon a simple-minded that ruled his behaviour strictly according to the bible and at the same time dared to neglect all things the bible does not speak about. It is the indisputable truth that today Jesus himself would almost certainly not be welcome in a society of people that name themselves after him and most likely, his followers would hurry to procure him a place in a Christian madhouse. “That man is not of our time” they would claim and immediately the good theologians would come up with some saying- preferably of himself- to teach Jesus how the “real Christian” and even more funny, Christ himself, should be of his time”.
The Gospel of Thomas
These are the secret words, which the living Jesus spoke, and Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down.
Elucidation:
There are two reasons why the teachings were secret. The most important is that they go against all vested interests, knock over all holy houses and invalidate all things man consider to be true. The second might be that the disciples, because they did not really understand, considered it somewhat secret. They called Jesus “the living” only meaning he had risen from the dead (or he had freed himself from the world of shadows)
1
And he said: He who shall find the interpretation of these words shall not taste of death.
Elucidation:
He who will understand these words and live accordingly shall awaken and reach enlightenment. It is not being literally but rather figuratively dead from which man must rise. Then he will no longer live in time, but in an eternal present, without past or future. That is the meaning of eternal life. Then, old and full of years, he will finally return to the place from which he originated..
2
Jesus said: He who seeks, let him not cease seeking until he finds; and when he finds he will be troubled, and if he is troubled, he will be amazed, and he will reign over the All.
Elucidation:
You must first break away from the herd, from all things you have considered normal, understanding that all you have learned in your life only served self-interest and group-interest; that so far your life, driven by vanity and selfishness, has been a mistake, and that you did not live as you might have. You must see that your character has been a learned behavior, until you have redeemed your last penny and stand completely naked. Then you will be granted the last step, from despair to rest. Then you will be able to see clearly. It is then that you will understand you are only man. At that moment, you will see everywhere around you people acting out their play, adorned with the masks of their character, occupation, religion and other group masks, and initially you cannot imagine that they cannot see this. It disturbs you when you realize you know more than all the great men of earth, because such knowledge is not needed. If you know yourself, you realize you only need knowledge in order to live in society, and that you must refute that same knowledge in order to live free from the world system. But, you understand everything!
3
Jesus said: If those who lead you say unto you: Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of the heavens will be before you. If they say unto you: It is in the sea, then the fish will be before you. But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then shall you be known, and you shall know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty.
Elucidation::
Do not believe the words of your spiritual leaders. They tell you heaven is the reward and hell is the punishment after death. The true hell is the world of the dead, the unconscious, the sleeping here on earth. Heaven is the state of the awakened. When you know yourself, you feel a part of the entire creation and all people. When “Jesus” talks of the Kingdom and the Father, he tries to catch the unspeakable in a metaphor. About that which you cannot speak, you must pass over in silence. It is useless to talk of the unspeakable goal; it is enough to show the way. If you do not know yourself, you lead a miserable life; perhaps rich to the world, but poor for your Self.
4
Jesus said: The man aged in his days will not hesitate to ask a little child of seven days about the place of life, and he shall live. For there are many first who shall be last, and they shall become a single one.
Elucidation:
A small child of 7 days is still open-minded, not yet saddled with the weight of culture. It does not play a role and is itself. It has neither fake needs nor property. It does not know past nor future, frights, problems nor anxieties. It lives in the present and is neither male nor female in behavior. It does not have the schizoid character and spuriousness of an adult. Therefore, if you want to live a real life you must be as a child once again.
5
Jesus said: Know what is before thy face, and what is hidden from thee shall be revealed unto thee; for there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest.
Elucidation:
You will understand everything when you know yourself. If you understand your inner world, you understand the outer world. Men say they know themselves with all their faults and shortcomings. If you know your faults, why do you continue to commit them, and why do you accept your shortcomings? When you conform to society, you do an injustice to yourself and sin against yourself. What is good for nature is wrong for culture, and what is good for culture is wrong for nature.
6
His disciples asked him and said unto him: Wilt thou that we fast? And how shall we pray? Shall we give alms? And what rules shall we observe in eating? Jesus said: Do not lie; and that which you hate, do not do. For all things are revealed before heaven. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, and there is nothing covered which shall remain uncovered.
Elucidation:
By fasting, praying and giving alms, no man has ever become more human. These things belong to a life in society. By fasting, you do not do yourself justice. You only pray to a god if you do not realize that you are god yourself. You can only give alms if you posses property, and property is theft from community.
7
Jesus said: Blessed is the lion, which the man shall eat, and the lion become man; and cursed is the man whom the lion shall eat, and the lion become man.
Elucidation:
Man is the crown of creation. Literally it means that if a lion devours you it is an upgrade for the lion to be admitted into man, but is a degradation if man is admitted into the lion. Figuratively, it means that man should devour culture and leave nothing. For, if culture devours man, he is not doing well.
8
And he said: Man is like a wise fisherman, who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea; he chose the large fish with no trouble. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Elucidation:
Of everything man possesses, his true nature is the only thing of value. The rest is rubbish to be discarded.
9
Jesus said: Behold, the sower went forth, he filled his hand with seed, he cast. Some fell upon the road; the birds came and gathered it. Others fell on rock, and sent no root down to the earth nor did they sprout an ear up to heaven. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed, and the worms ate them. And others fell on good earth, and brought forth good fruit unto heaven, some sixty -fold and some an hundred and twenty -fold.
Elucidation:
Only when the lessons of the master find a good breeding ground will they bring forth fruit and plenty. Civilized people have entrenched themselves in their stubbornness and are deaf to the voice of their common sense. They have confused their common sense with their own laws and rules and therefore are always in conflict with themselves.
10
Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world, and behold I guard it until it is ablaze.
Elucidation:
“Jesus” was convinced that his message would eventually be understood and would spread like wildfire across the world, leaving a track of awakened ones. He understood that the men in power would resist to the utmost. He envisioned that culture and falsehood would go up in flames and he expected man to choose en masse for a simple and righteous life. Unfortunately, power continues to prevail over love. However, power is never brought to an end by power. The eternal law is that power is overcome by love.
11
Jesus said: This heaven shall pass away, and that which above it shall pass away; and they that are dead are not alive and they that live shall not die. In the days when you were eating that which is dead, you were making it alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?
Elucidation:
He proclaims the eternal truth that man is man, no matter what he considers himself to be and no matter what unnatural behavior he shows. Man is doomed to be happy notwithstanding his efforts to resist and he can only return to himself. The degenerated man does not really live and once awakened can never fall asleep again. What is it you are to do when you have reached enlightenment? As a small child you were whole; by adapting to society your life has become split and full of contradictions. Between character and nature, between your inside and your outside, between your mask and your true face. What will you choose?
12
The disciples said to Jesus: We know that thou wilt go from us. Who is he who shall be great over us? Jesus said to them: No matter where you are, you shall go to James the Just for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.
Elucidation:
Do not depend on the master. Everybody has his inner master, the voice of his conscience. The true master is the master that tells you to listen to yourself. He who will listen to himself unconditionally will become like the master. Every man can become wise and you are either wise or foolish, there is nothing between. He who is at a depth of one yard will drown just as the one who is at a depth of 500 fathoms. He who surpasses it can “walk on water”.
13
Jesus said to his disciples: Compare me to something, and tell me whom I am like. Simon Peter said to him: Thou art like a righteous angel. Matthew said to him: Thou art like a wise man of understanding. Thomas said to him: Master, my mouth will no wise suffer that I say whom thou art like. Jesus said: I am not thy master, because thou hast drunk, thou hast become drunk from the bubbling spring which I have measured out. And he took him, went aside, and spoke to him three words. Now when Thomas came to his companions, they asked him: What did Jesus say unto thee? Thomas said to them: If I tell you one of the words which he said to me, you will take up stones and throw them at me; and a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.
Elucidation:
True man appears common just like everybody else. Although he carries the scars of his former life, he can only be recognized by his imperturbability. He does not know fears nor sorrow and he does not worry about tomorrow. He can play the social game faultlessly, but does not allow it to influence him. He is joyful and devoid of emotions. He feels safe and realizes he can no longer become ill or injured. He drifts with the current of life and does not try to manage it. The sleeping ones do not understand him. His disciples will only understand him as soon as they have become like their master. For only being like “Jesus” is understanding him, just as only being like “god” is understanding “god”, but if you tell them that, they will stone you to death. Although it says: you are gods! Why then not behave as such?
14
Jesus said to them: If you fast, you will beget a sin upon yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do evil to your spirits. And if you enter into any land and travel in its regions, if they receive you, eat what they set before you. Heal the sick among them. For that which goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which comes forth from your mouth that is what will defile you.
Elucidation:
Fasting is against nature, praying requires a personal god and giving alms is only possible because of inequality between people. If you return to the people, participate in their play again and do not worry about that which you will eat. Whatever you may or may not eat and what is healthy or not is only determined by people. If you are a whole man, you can eat everything. You will not get ill from wrong food but from what you utter. Because what comes from your mouth comes from your thoughts: dishonesty, annoyance, hatred, greed, egoism, jealousy, eagerness, viciousness, unrighteousness, ruse and deceit. This is what makes man ill. If nothing that enters the mouth makes ill, nothing that enters will cure as well. Medicines, vitamins and healthy food are for the sleeping ones. Cure the sick by showing them the way to wholeness and simplicity. The living do not turn ill, because there is no need for warnings to show them they have left the right track. Do not cure the body, that is in vain, but cure the soul and the body follows automatically. After all, a healthy spirit lives in a healthy body.
15
Jesus said: When you see him, who was not born of woman, throw yourselves down upon your face and worship him. He is your Father.
Elucidation:
All men are born from a woman, but if you feel “one” with everything and realize that what gives life to all gives it to you too, then “you see” as it was once written “god”. Then, you know you have made it.
16
Jesus said: Perhaps men think that I am come to bring peace upon earth, but know not that I am come to cast divisions upon earth, fire, sword, and war. For there shall be five in a house; there shall be three against two, and two against three, the father against the son and the son against the father, and they shall stand alone.
Elucidation:
He realized that once his message was understood, it would result in a separation of minds. The one who is not with him is against him. The one that does not fight for himself fights against himself. A grim fight would start between the powerful and their subjects, between man and woman, between parents and children, between leaders and followers, between clergy and believers, between the dependent and the free. The reversal of all values would cause a total collapse of all structures of power, within families, churches and states. The biggest threat to a culture is happy, independent, satisfied and free people. That remains valid.
17
Jesus said: I will give you that which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and hand has not touched, and which has not entered into the heart of man.
Elucidation:
Man, when he has taken the last step and has awakened, experiences an overwhelming feeling of unity with the entire creation. To experience it is not seeing, not hearing, not touching.
18
The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us how our end shall be. Jesus said: Have you then discovered the beginning that you seek after the end? For where the beginning is, there shall the end be. Blessed is he who shall stand in the beginning, and he shall know the end and shall not taste death.
Elucidation:
The end will be like the beginning. The old man will become like a child. As you were, you will become. If you do not see through the present, you cannot know the end. If you know yourself, you know what you were like before and how you became what you were. It is called returning to the origin, to yourself.
19
Jesus said: Blessed is he who is as he was before he came into being. If you become my disciples and hear my words, these stones shall minister to you. For you have five trees in Paradise which do not move in summer or in winter, and their leaves do not fall. He who knows them shall not taste death.
Elucidation:
Blessed is he who did not change, who remained who he is and did not turn into someone who is split inside. Blessed is the child, which has not been expelled from paradise by adapting to an unrighteous society. Blessed is he who hears clearly, looks clearly, smells clearly, tastes clearly and feels clearly, and who does not let experiences from the past distort these things. He has reached enlightenment.
20
The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He said to them: It is like a grain of mustard seed, smaller than all seeds; but when it falls on the earth which is tilled, it puts forth a great branch, and becomes shelter for the birds of heaven.
Elucidation:
The righteous world starts from a solitary person, but if mankind will be open to his message, the movement for the restoration of the original condition and a righteous world will spread rapidly.
21
Mary said to Jesus: Whom are thy disciples like? He said: They are like little children dwelling in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say: Yield up to us our field. They are naked before them, to yield it up and give them back their field. Therefore I say: If the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will keep watch before he comes, and will not let him dig into the house of his kingdom to carry off his vessels. You, then, be watchful against the world. Gird up your loins with great strength, that the brigands may not find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come. May there be among you a man of understanding! When the fruit was ripe, he came quickly, his sickle in his hand, and reaped. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear
Elucidation:
As long as the disciples are not like the master, they have not understood the message. Therefore, it says: First seek the Kingdom of “God” and his righteousness and all these shall be added unto you. As long as you have not found it, it is better if you keep silent. But, as soon as you have found it and have risen from the dead, then you feel like a stranger in society. And, society will make it clear to you that it has nothing to offer you. Then you will wipe the dust from your feet and let them do their own thing. As soon as the establishment feels threatened, it will arm itself against those who preach the unarmed revolution. Therefore, be on your guard, see through their arguments and do not let yourself be pulled into their game. There are so many who hunger and thirst for righteousness; so many rightless, so many mourning and so many meek. They are ready to receive the message. Realize that you will not be heard by the successful of society, the successful by achievement and possession, the men in power and the defenders of the status quo.
22
Jesus saw some infants at the breast. He said to his disciples: These little ones at the breast are like those who enter into the kingdom. They said to him: If we then be children, shall we enter the kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one, and when you make the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper as the lower; and when you make the male and the female into a single one, that the male be not male and the female female; when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then shall you enter [the kingdom].
Elucidation:
If you return to being as a child, you will reach enlightenment. Children are still not split. Therefore, you have to give up your learned behavior, stop your play-acting and take off your mask. Your outside must resemble your inside. You must disengage yourself from all that is considered normal, from all spuriousness and dishonesty. Because the difference in tension between the inside and the outside causes your emotions. If the inside and outside coincide, you have reached apatheia. The feminine woman and the masculine man are products of culture and their behavior is taught and false. The only difference between man and woman is gender, the rest is learned frill and is on the outside. True man is himself. You see, but differently; you feel, but differently; you walk, but differently; you look the same, but you are different. Then, your inside equals your outside.
23
Jesus said: I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one.
Elucidation:
There will be very few who will believe that you can only be happy if you give up everything. He who loses his social life will find his true life. He who gives up everything will get everything. It is therefore that the whores, publicans, and all those who have little to lose will go first. All those that have tried to free themselves, found something but searched wrongly and got lost along the way, will be the last ones. For that reason, it says: the first ones shall be the last ones.
24
His disciples said: Teach us concerning the place where thou art, for it is necessary for us to seek after it. He said to them: He that hath ears, let him hear. There is a light within a man of light, and it gives light to the whole world. If it does not give light, there is darkness.
Elucidation:
The master speaks the voice of conscience. He explains what everybody in fact already knows, but to what they have always been hearing as though deaf and seeing as though blind. The master has become master because he has listened to himself. As long as you need a master, you do not want to listen to yourself. That is indolent.
25
Jesus said: Love thy brother as thy soul; keep him as the apple of thine eye.
Elucidation:
Love your fellow men as you love yourself. You can only love someone unconditionally if you love yourself unconditionally. You can only love yourself if you know yourself and realize that you are a perfect creature. Consider your blinded fellow men to be deceived people, who are in fact just like you but are not aware of it. Watch over them as you watch over yourself.
26
Jesus said: The mote which is in thy brother’s eye, thou seest; but the beam which is in thine eye, thou seest not. When thou dost cast out the beam from thine own eye, then wilt thou see to cast out the mote from thy brother’s eye.
Elucidation:
In the way you judge another, you judge yourself. The way you talk about another says more about yourself than about the other. Free yourself from your own prejudices before you judge someone else. Only then, when you have no more prejudices, can you see clearly and not judge any longer. Refute your own ideas first, before you try to refute the ideas of others. Do not condemn the still-sleeping, but realize you were also asleep before you awoke.
27
“Jesus said: If you fast not from the world, you will not find the kingdom; if you keep not the Sabbath as Sabbath, you will not see the Father.
Elucidation:
As long as you play in an unrighteous world, you are unrighteous yourself. As long as you bear even a scrap of unrighteousness in yourself, you are unrighteous. As long as you pursue power over your fellow men, you dirty your hands. As long as you allow others to influence you with their opinions, you are not free. As long as you are not what you are, you do not know yourself. Therefore, you have to be in this world but not be part of it. You have to act without ulterior motives, unselfish and respecting yourself and not obeying the conventions. As long as you serve your self-interest, you do not serve the interest of mankind. As long as you do not take responsibility for your actions and thinking, but blame the circumstances, your past or the other, you run away from your own responsibility. Only when you no longer do that, will you see the light.
28
Jesus said: I stood in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found them all drunk, I found none among them thirsting; and my soul was afflicted for the sons of men, for they are blind in their heart and they do not see. For empty came they into the world, seeking also to depart empty from the world. But now they are drunk. When they have thrown off their wine, then will they repent.
Elucidation:
The enlightened, awakened man finds himself amidst his fellow men who are under the influence of their vices and whose heads are filled with their self-conceit and their own truths. They are proud of their deeds, achievements and vanity and they do not see clearly. They were born without property, without opinions and without convictions, and as such, they will finally all leave life. What a waste to gather all encumbrance if you have to give it up anyway. It would be better to do it during life and return to simplicity now. And, do not saddle your children with your own luggage.
29
Jesus said: If the flesh has come into being because of the spirit, it is a marvel; but if the spirit (has come into being) because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. But as for me, I marvel at this, how this great wealth has settled in this poverty.
Elucidation:
It is amazing that the spirit has chosen the human body for accommodation. It is bizarre to believe that the body generates the spirit as a product. This is seeing the world upside-down, as people have turned everything upside-down. They feel that if the body is sane, the spirit will become sane as well. If you look around at this world, it is pathetic and sad what people do to their lives and bodies.
30
Jesus said: Where there are three gods, they are gods; where there are two or one, I am with him.
Elucidation:
This logion is too cryptic for an elucidation.
31
Jesus said: No prophet is acceptable in his village; a physician does not heal those who know him.
Elucidation:
If someone leaves the world of shadows, finally learning to see clearly, and returns to break the chains of the laggers, they will not accept that. When his ideas changed, they told him to behave normally; that he had to adapt or otherwise everything would go wrong for him. Then, he returns with what is in their opinion insane ideas, far beyond their reality. They will tell him he has changed and that they no longer know him. They will laugh at him and call him insane. The family and friends of a doctor know his weaknesses, prejudices and shortcomings, and for them he is not the authority he is for his patients. For that reason, it says: Doctor cure yourself, before you try to cure others. For in society there are only two kinds of doctors: the first prevents you from living, the other helps you to die.
32
Jesus said: A city that is built on a high mountain and fortified cannot fall, nor can it remain hidden.
Elucidation:
If you have freed yourself of your status, do no longer hold opinions and stakes, in fact have nothing left to loose, you are unimpeachable and elusive. Still you will stand out.
33
Jesus said: What thou shalt hear in thine ear, proclaim to the other ear on your rooftops. For no man lights a lamp and sets it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place; but he sets it upon the lamp-stand, that all who go in and come out may see its light.
Elucidation:
If you have reached enlightenment, do not keep it to yourself, but also do not propagate it exuberantly. Be sly as a snake and innocent as a dove, for the resistance of men is great. People will prefer fighting to the death rather than to give up their unhappiness.
34
Jesus said: If a blind man lead a blind man, both fall into a pit.
Elucidation:
If you are led by people who also do not know the way, by seekers who did not find; if you set out together but do not know where to go, you will keep on wandering and go to rack and ruin.
35
Jesus said: It is not possible for anyone to go into the strong man’s house and take it (or him) by force, unless he binds his hands; then he will plunder his house.
Elucidation:
Only if you first break through your own defenses, will you then be able to empty your thoughts and get rid of everything learned which is not truly yours.
36
Jesus said: Be not anxious from morning to evening and from evening to morning about what you shall put on.
Elucidation:
Do not worry about your clothes, for that is only on the outside. As long as you think clothes are important, you do not realize that it is only to conceal your uncertainty and to distinguish yourself from other wrappings. With your clothes, you create an unnatural exterior that conceals the natural beauty of your body. And, if you do it to hide your malformations, realize what living in a culture has done to your body, and how you have decayed from a perfect baby to what you are now.
37
His disciples said: On what day wilt thou be revealed us, and on what day shall we see thee? Jesus said: When you unclothe yourselves and are not ashamed, and take your garments and lay them beneath your feet like little children, and tread upon them, then [shall ye see] the Son of the living One, and ye shall not fear.
Elucidation:
When will you realize you have succeeded in taking the last step and have awoken? When you are proud and happy to be what you are and do not have to be more than man; when you are unaffected by what people think and say about you, then you will no longer be ashamed of your nakedness. A relationship exists between nakedness and paradise. Someone who is not ready for one is not ready for the other, either.
38
Jesus said: Many times have you desired to hear these words which I speak unto you, and you have none other from whom to hear them. The day will come when you will seek after me, and you will not find me.
Elucidation:
So many seekers have wished to reach the final goal, because otherwise there is no reason to search. The solution is so obvious, yet so unimaginable and so different from what everybody thought, that it is hard to believe. It is useful to have a teacher because he can show you the way, yet it is not necessary. In the end, he only tells you what you already know. He who does not want to listen to himself will also not be open to a master who preaches that you have to listen to yourself.
39
Jesus said: The Pharisees and the scribes have received the keys of knowledge; they have hidden them. They did not go in, and those who wanted to go in they did not allow. But you be ye wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Elucidation:
Your spiritual leaders and theologians do not understand themselves and yet they call themselves your leaders. They are stray leaders, who turned the straight and simple path into a wandering. They think they hold the truth, but it is only their own truth. They could have known, but they go to rack and ruin because of their own vanity, and drag you along. They do not live a real life, and prevent you from living. However, you have to be smarter than they are. Let them talk and play their game for the time being.
40
Jesus said: A vine was planted apart from the Father, and since it is not established it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed.
Elucidation:
If you have lost contact with yourself and your nature, you have expelled yourself from paradise. At that moment, you have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and you think you know what is good, bad, healthy, and unhealthy for yourself. As in the myth of Adam and Eve, you do not take responsibility for your own deeds, but blame it on seduction, circumstances or others.
41
Jesus said: He who has in his hand, to him shall be given; and he who has not, from him shall be taken even the little that he has.
Elucidation:
He who is willing to reform his life and look for himself will be helped. You have to take the first step yourself. That is why it says: approach “god” and he will approach you. He who remains where he is and does not set out, will perish in his self-conceit and stubbornness.
42
Jesus said: Become passers-by.
Elucidation:
Get rid of your ballast and do not stick to anything. Live like a free man. Freedom can only be defined by what it is not: not committed to property, opinions, desires, and independent from other people. What remains is a total dependency on nature, and the only true freedom man has is to break that bond and restore it.
43
His disciples said to him: Who art thou, that thou shouldst say these things to us? Jesus said to them: From what I say unto you, you do not understand who I am, but you have become as the Jews; for they love the tree and hate its fruit, and they love the fruit and hate the tree.
Elucidation:
The words of the enlightened man sound terribly arrogant. It appears that he knows things better than all academics and all the great men of the world. However, he does not know more. He says he does not know anything and that all knowledge consists of human constructs that only damage life. He who increases knowledge increases sorrow. He who reduces knowledge reduces sorrow. No knowledge, no sorrow. Men love their wisdom writings, but consider the consequences too absurd to live accordingly.
44
Jesus said: He who blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and he who blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven.
Elucidation:
Everything will be forgiven when no longer practiced. Ignorance has made you sin. However, he who has the spirit and is enlightened and should know, but misuses it anyway, cannot be forgiven.
45
Jesus said: They do not gather grapes from thorns, no pluck figs from camel thistles; these do not yield fruit. A good man brings forth a good thing from his good treasure; a bad man bring forth evil things from his evil treasure in his heart, and he says evil things; for out of the abundance of his heart he brings forth evil things.
Elucidation:
You know a man by his deeds. By his prejudices you learn his opinions. You know his dichotomy from his emotions. His outside shows you his inside. You know his spuriousness from his illnesses. You know the master by his disciples. You know the parents by their children.
46
Jesus said: From Adam to John the Baptist there is none born of woman who is higher than John the Baptist, so that his eyes will not be broken (?) But I have said: He who shall be among you as a little one shall know the kingdom, and shall be higher than John.
Elucidation:
There are many who sought very long, found a lot, but not everything. He who reaches enlightenment is greater than they.
47
Jesus said: It is not possible for a man to ride two horses or draw two bows, and it is not possible for a servant to serve two masters; or he will honour one and insult the other. A man does not drink old wine and immediately desire to drink new wine; and they do not pour new wine into old skins, lest they burst, nor do they pour old wine into new skins, lest it spoil. They do not sew an old patch on a new garment, for a rent will occur.
Elucidation:
You cannot be faithful to yourself and to society. You cannot lead a natural life and take part in an unnatural culture. Every compromise compromises. You cannot be righteous and join an unrighteous society. You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. It is not a choice for both, but for one of the two. It is not grey but black/white. Nature and culture never go together, but one is always at the expense of the other. If one grows, the other has to shrink. To reach 100% Culture is a utopia; to reach 100% nature means paradise. That is how it began and how it will end. You cannot change from one day to the next. You cannot live a new life next to your old life. You cannot make old mistakes in a new life.
48
Jesus said: If two make peace with one another in this house, they shall say to the mountain: Be moved, and it shall be moved.
Elucidation:
If you live in peace with yourself, you can handle the whole world. You can only live in peace with another man if you live in peace with yourself. Happy people need nothing and can achieve everything.
49
Jesus said: Blessed are the solitary and the elect, for you shall find the kingdom; for you came forth thence, and shall go there again.
Elucidation:
Blessed is he who was divided but returned to simplicity. He has found himself. You can become again the child you once were.
50
Jesus said: If they say to you: Whence have you come?, tell them: We have come from the light, the place where the light came into being through itself alone. It [stood], and it revealed itself in their image. If they say to you: Who are you?, say: We are his sons, and we are the elect of the living Father. If they ask you: What is the sign of your Father in you?, tell them: It is a movement and a rest.
Elucidation:
Then, when you have reversed your life and have awoken, people will tell you that you have changed, that they no longer know you and that you are no longer the one you used to be. Then, be careful and play the game for the time being. Do not try to explain to them what happened to you, for they will not understand.
51
His disciples said to him: On what day will the rest of the dead come into being? And on what day will the new world come? He said to them: That which ye await has come, but ye know it not.
Elucidation:
The dead who think they are alive, or the sleeping who think they are awake, do not know peace. They are always busy with their thoughts, with their past and future, with solving problems, with acquiring and defending their property and opinions, and with giving sense to their senseless lives. If they stop doing that, the new world starts. The awakened are already part of this new world, but the other people do not see it.
52
His disciples said to him: Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and they all spoke concerning (lit. in) thee. He said to them: You have neglected him who is alive before you, and have spoken about the dead.
Elucidation:
All prophets and mystics have seen a glimpse of the new mankind, but they have been unable to show the way unequivocally. They always got caught in the elaboration of the message, or they gave in to their vanity. The true master, the righteous, serves the interest of mankind.
53
His disciples said to him: Is circumcision profitable or not? He said to them: Were it profitable, their father would beget them from their mother circumcised. But the true circumcision in spirit has proved entirely profitable (lit.:has found usefulness altogether).
Elucidation:
If the foreskin were harmful, man would have been born without it. If it made sense for man to fly, he would have been born with wings, and if it were necessary to dress, man would have been born with fur. All mutilations and adaptations which man has made to himself, do not serve life but his way of life only.
54
Jesus said: Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.
Elucidation:
Blessed are those who have little property and have filled their heads with little knowledge. They are the ones who have little to lose. They only have to part with little, as opposed to the rich and the scholars. He who loses his social life will still have true life.
55
Jesus said: He who shall not hate his father and his mother cannot be my disciple, and (he who does not) hate his brethren and his sisters and take up his cross like me, shall not be worthy of me.
Elucidation:
For generations, parents have passed on their luggage to their children, blended with their own prejudices, fears, self-conceit, ambitions and other scars they incurred in their lives. That is why it says that the sins of the fathers will be transferred to the third and fourth generation. If you want to become whole, you have to get rid of the luggage of your parents, as do your brothers and sisters and of course your parents and their parents too. Do love them, but not their thoughts and deeds. It is a difficult task, but if you do not want to sacrifice this, you will not awaken.
56
Jesus said: He who has known the world has found a corpse, and he who has found a corpse, the world is not worthy of him.
Elucidation:
He who has seen through society with all its uselessness, unrighteousness and contradictions and has distanced himself from it and refuses to take part in it any longer, is too good for that world.
57
Jesus said: The kingdom of the Father is like a man who had [good] seed. His enemy came by night, he sowed a weed among the good seed. The man did not allow them to pull up the weed. He said to them: Lest perhaps you go to pull up the weed, and pull up the wheat with it. For on the day of harvest the weeds will be manifest; they will be pulled up and burned.
Elucidation:
In essence, man is perfect. However, he does not realize it. Self-conceit and pride have landed him with matters that are contrary to his nature. You have to realize what is improper before you can get rid of it.
58
Jesus said: Blessed is the man who has suffered; he has found true life.
Elucidation:
You have to sacrifice a lot and fight a heavy fight with yourself. However, if you will lose the fight with yourself anyway, why not surrender now? The reward is blessedness and a life without sorrow and pain.
59
Jesus said: Look upon the living One so long as you live, that you may not die and seek to see him, and be unable to see.
Elucidation:
He who has awoken will never be able to fall asleep again without deceiving himself. The deceit of the sleeping is a collective, repressed and unconscious deceit. The self-deceit of the awoken is conscious and for that he is blameworthy.
60
They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb going into Judaea. He said to his disciples: Why does he carry the lamb? They said to him: That he may kill it and eat it. He said to them: So long as it is alive he will not eat it, but if he kill it, it become a corpse. They said: Otherwise he will not be able to do it. He said to them: You also, seek for yourselves a place within for rest, lest you become a corpse and be eaten.
Elucidation:
As long as you do not lead a true life, you are “dead” and liable to illnesses and emotions that eat up your mind. Therefore, look for the true life.
61
Jesus said: Two shall rest upon a bed; one shall die, the other live. Salome said: Who art thou; O man? And whose son? Thou hast mounted my bed, and eaten from my table. Jesus said to her: I am he who is from that which is equal; to me was given of the things of my Father. Salome said: I am thy disciple. Jesus said to her: Therefore I say, when it is equal it will be filled with light, but when it is divided it will be filled with darkness
Elucidation:
The degenerated man has two souls: the wise one and the opinionated one. The first leads to life, the other to death. The enlightened soul is the simple one, in whom the opinionated soul has died.
62
Jesus said: I tell my mysteries to those [who are worthy of my] mysteries. What thy right hand shall do, let not thy left hand know.
Elucidation:
Only the one who is open to another life and longs for righteousness will understand these words of life. Act without meaning.
63
Jesus said: There was a rich man who had many possessions. He said: I will use my possessions that I may sow and reap and plant, and fill my barns with fruit, that I may have need of nothing. These were his thoughts in his heart. And in that night he died. He that hath ears, let him hear.
Elucidation:
Always busy securing the future, always busy becoming happy, never having time to live, men miss life. As soon as they have organized everything, it is too late and they pass away without having truly lived. Working is for fools.
64
Jesus said: A man had guests, and when he had prepared the dinner he sent his servant to summon the guests. He came to the first; he said to him: My master summons thee. He said: I have business with some merchants. They are coming to me in the evening. I will go and give them orders. I pray to be excused from he dinner. He went to another; he said to him: My master has summoned thee. He said to him: I have bought a house, and they ask me for a day. I shall not have time. He came to another; he aid to him: My master summons thee. He said to him: My friend is about to be married, and I am to hold a dinner. I shall not be able to come. I pray to be excused from the dinner. He went to another; he said to him: My master summons thee. He said him: I have bought a village; I go to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. I pray to be excused. The servant came, he said to his master: Those whom thou didst summon to the dinner have excused themselves. The master said to his servant: Go out into the roads. Bring those whom thou shalt find, that they may dine. The buyers and the merchants [shall] not [enter] the places of my Father.
Elucidation:
He who thinks his occupations in society are more important than life, he who is attached to his properties and is not willing to detach himself, he who is attached to his cage and does not dare leave it, he who is addicted to his pleasures and is not willing to give them up, he who swills in his power and does not see the unrighteousness of doing so, will never join the feast of true life.
65
He said: A good man had a vineyard. He gave it to husbandmen that they might work it, and he should receive its fruit from their hand. He sent his servant that the husbandmen might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant, they beat him, and all but killed him. The servant came (and) told his master. His master said: Perhaps they did not know him. He sent another servant; the husbandmen beat the other also. Then the master sent his son. He said: Perhaps they will reverence my son. Those husbandmen, since they knew that he was the heir of the vineyard, seized him (and) killed him. He that hath ears, let him hear.
Elucidation:
Men who have been given the earth to live on to inhabit and enjoy its overwhelming nature, have destroyed nature in their foolishness, greed and vanity, and still they continue. Only men who, in their haughtiness, place themselves outside of and above nature can do such things. All those who raise their voices against this are scoffed at and declared unpractical fools or are killed as heretics.
66
Jesus said: Teach me concerning this stone which the builders rejected; it is the corner stone.
Elucidation:
The entire societal building, the entire culture, the entire tower of Babel is built on degenerated men. If humankind would return to its roots, the whole building would collapse. A man who is real only needs himself.
67
Jesus said: He who knows the All but fails (to know) him-self lacks everything
Elucidation:
He who believes nature is imperfect thinks he is imperfect as well. He who believes nature is to be improved believes he can improve himself.
68
Jesus said: Blessed are you when they hate you, and persecute you, and do not find a place in the spot where they persecuted you.
Elucidation:
If people hate and pursue you, then you know you are on the right path. Honesty and righteousness are punished mercilessly in a dishonest and unrighteous society.
69
Jesus said: Blessed are they who have been persecuted in their heart; these are they who have known the Father in truth. Blessed are they that hunger, that they may fill the belly him who desires.
Elucidation:
Men who do well in society, who receive esteem from others and those who have reached success in the world have no motivation to change their lives. Only those people who stand with their backs to the wall: the losers, the deprived, they who hunger for righteousness, will be ready to accept a change in their lives.
70
Jesus said: When you bring forth that in yourselves, that which you have will save you. If you do not have that in yourselves, that which you do not have in you will kill you.
Elucidation:
Your conscience will save you if you obey it. Honesty will finally win. If you do not listen to your conscience, you will perish without having lived.
71
Jesus said: I will des[troy this] house, and none shall able to build it [again].
Elucidation:
“Jesus” was convinced his message would end culture and the untrue life. He foresaw men returning to simplicity ‘en masse’ during his lifetime, and that men would destroy all products of this society so that none of it would remain
72
[A man said] to him: Speak to my brethren, that they may divide my father’s possessions with me. He said to him: O man, who made me a divider? He turned to his disciples (and) said to them: I am not a divider, am I?
Elucidation:
The message of “Jesus” is meant to restore the lost unity of humankind, not to distribute property in a fair way, since in a righteous society there is no property, but all belongs to everybody.
73
Jesus said: The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few; but pray the Lord, that he send forth labourers into the harvest.
Elucidation:
Notwithstanding the enormous misery in this world and how many there are who can no longer cope with life in this society, there are only a few who understand. They are the voices of one crying in the wilderness.
74
He said: Lord, there are many about the well, but no one in the well.
Elucidation:
Many long for the full life, but the words of their leaders are empty.
75
Jesus said: There are many standing at the door, but the solitary are they who shall enter the bridal chamber.
Elucidation:
Many want a happy life, but are not willing to give up their inner division. Only the simple ones, those who will not run with the hare and [also] hunt with the dogs will reach blessedness.
76
Jesus said: The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant was who had a load (of goods) and found a pearl. That merchant was wise. He sold the load, and bought for himself the pearl alone. You also, seek after his treasure, which does not perish but endures, where moth does not enter to devour, nor does worm destroy.
Elucidation:
Get rid of all things that are not typical of man, such as your false needs, and be yourself. That is the only thing that cannot be taken from you.
77
Jesus said: I am the light that is over them all. I am the All; the All has come forth from me, and the All has attained unto me. Cleave a (piece of) wood: I am there. Raise up the stone, an ye shall find me there.
Elucidation:
He who has found himself feels unity with the entire creation and all creatures. The mystical experience gives that feeling momentarily. Enlightenment is a lasting mystical experience. It is an everlasting pantheistic experiencing.
78
Jesus said: Why came ye forth into the field? To see reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in soft raiment? [Behold, your] kings and your great men are they who are clothed in soft [raiment], and they [shall] not be able to know the truth.
Elucidation:
Why do you enter society? To gaze in admiration at the false appearance of it? At the lovely outside that hides rotting and decay? At the great men on earth who are only as small as man? At their erudition and knowledge that conceals their ignorance? At the ingenious buildings that are insignificant compared to the wonderful majesty of creation?
79
A woman in the crowd said to him: Blessed is the womb which bore thee, and the breasts which nourished thee. He said to her: Blessed are they who have heard the word of the Father and have kept it in truth. For there shall be days when you will say: Blessed is that womb which has not conceived, and those breasts which have not given suck.
Elucidation:
It is of no merit to parents if somebody, forced by circumstances, leaves the world of shadows and comes to rest in the true world, neither is it a merit to himself. He did not know what he was looking for when he started his search and found what he had never expected. Nowadays, one should not be envious of people who have brought children into this world, for they have to educate them and split them until they fit into this split society. They have to teach them that sorrow, pain and unrighteousness belong to life. That is why it says: it would be better for them if a millstone were put around their necks and they were thrown into the sea than to seduce any of these little ones into sin.
80
Jesus said: He who has known the world has found the body, and he who has found the body, the world is not worthy of him.
Elucidation:
He who has seen through society, with all its contradictions and false appearances, understands himself. He has found himself. He has reached the ultimate wisdom and is greater than all great men of the world. And, he realizes that it is achievable for everybody.
81
Jesus said: He who has become rich, let him become king, and he who has power let him deny.
Elucidation:
He who has found true life sees through society and his fellow men. This enables him to use his knowledge for his own sake, for it gives the master power over his disciples and society. Resist the temptation to misuse it, however.
82
Jesus said: He who is near to me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom.
Elucidation:
He who sticks close to himself is close to enlightenment. The bigger the gap between the inside and the outside, the more untrue you are and the more darkness there is.
83
Jesus said: The images are revealed to man, and the light which is in them is hidden in the image of the light of the Father. He shall be revealed, and his image is hidden by his light.
Elucidation:
If man feels one with creation, he will experience that whatever inspires himself, inspires creation. He will experience it, but will not see what inspires everything. He will see “god” without seeing him.
84
Jesus said: When you see your likeness, you rejoice; but when you see your images which came into being before you — they neither die nor are made manifest — how much will you bear?
Elucidation:
Rejoice if you see who you really are. However, if you experience the uncreated that penetrates everything, can you cope with that?
85
Jesus said: Adam came into being out of a great power and a great wealth, and yet he was not worthy of you. For if he had been worthy, he would not have tasted death.
Elucidation:
The original man was a beautiful and perfect man, but he has spoiled it for himself and his descendants by not listening to his conscience and by ignoring his nature, as well as nature as a whole. Therefore, he has “died”. Still, small children are the true men, though their parents lead them into the underworld without knowing what they do.
86
Jesus said: [The foxes have] the[ir holes] and the birds have [their] nest, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head and rest.
Elucidation:
Every creature has its place in the world, which it has been assigned. Where every animal obeys his nature, man has deviated from his because of his stubbornness. He no longer listens to his nature but fights it. His conscience is never leaves him in peace.
87
Jesus said: Wretched is the body which depends upon a body, and wretched is the soul which depends on these two.
Elucidation:
It is a curious spectacle for somebody that has awoken to watch one who is sleeping be guided by another who is sleeping or to hear a conversation between two sleeping ones. It resembles a discussion between two masked people or two exterior bodies. Miserable is the conscience that dwells in both and that is overruled by the insane mind.
88
Jesus said: The angels come to you, and the prophets, and they shall give you what belongs to you; and you also, give them what is in your hands, and say to yourselves: On what day do they come and take what is theirs?s
Elucidation:
As soon as you have awoken, false messengers and prophets who do not exactly understand you, try to give you what you already have and try to make clear to you what you already know. Be strong and do not listen to them, but know that you must listen to yourself unconditionally. Try to make that clear to them and wonder when they will understand.
89
Jesus said: Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that he who made the inside is also he who made the outside?
Elucidation:
Why do you pay attention to your exterior and why do you clean and beautify your bodies? He who is perfect on the inside is also perfect on the outside. He who is mutilated inside is mutilated on the outside also, for the body is the mirror of the soul. Nobody gets more beautiful by decorating the outside of his body. What poverty does today’s man show with his mutilated body, as wrinkled on the outside as it is on the inside? Ill on the outside and ill on the inside. The more ill outside, the more ill inside. The more dolled up, the more to hide.
90
Jesus said: Come unto me, for easy is my yoke and my lordship is gentle, and you shall find rest for yourselves.
Elucidation:
Get yourself together and do not fight yourself any longer, because in the end you will lose anyway. It is so exhausting to pretend you are different from who you truly are and to constantly reconcile your inner conflicts.
91
They said to him: Tell us who thou art, that we may believe in thee. He said to them: You test the face of heaven and earth, and him who is before you you do not know, and you know not to test this moment.
Elucidation:
Imagine somebody standing up and claiming he was enlightened, how can he explain that? How will people recognize him? How can the disciples know they have to believe his words and how do they know what he says is true?
92
Jesus said: Seek, and ye shall find; but those things concerning which ye asked me in those days, I did not tell you then. Now I wish to tell them, and ye seek not after them.
Elucidation:
The master acts carefully, for you will recognize the truth by not liking the message. It is a painful discovery to find out you have slept your whole life, and imagine how it would feel if you have to explain this to someone else. Men are not willing to listen to the truth unless they are with their backs against the wall. For that reason, they insist on playing their game and not asking themselves whether they should play the game or not.
93
Jesus said: Give not that which is holy to the dogs, lest they cast them on the dung- heap; cast not the pearls before swine lest they grind them [to bits].
Elucidation:
Try to tell these words to the opinionated cautiously, but if they persevere in their untrue life, do not insist that they hear you. They will misuse the words and twist them for their own use.
94
Jesus [said]: He who seeks shall find, and he who knocks to him it shall be opened.
Elucidation:
Only when you have searched to the end and have gotten rid of all your luggage will you pass through the narrow gate. You do not need to knock, for the door is open.
95
[Jesus said]: If you have money, do not lend at interest, but give [it] to him from whom you will not receive it back.
Elucidation:
If you do have property, abandon it unconditionally and definitely. It is not wise to burden somebody else with it.
96
Jesus [said]: The kingdom of the Father is like a woman who took a little leaven and [hid] it in meal; she made large loaves of it. He that hath ears, let him hear.
Elucidation:
As the leaven penetrates the whole loaf and makes it rise, the uncreated penetrates the entire creation and lets it be.
97
Jesus said: The kingdom of the [Father] is like a woman; carrying a jar full of meal and walking a long way. The handle the jar broke; the meal poured out behind her on the road. She was unaware, she knew not her loss. When she came into her house, she put down the jar (and) found it empty.
Elucidation:
Man has to free himself of all that is not his. Only then, when you have emptied your head of all thoughts and emotions that stem from the difference between your inside and outside, will you awaken.
98
Jesus said: The kingdom of the Father is like a man who wanted to kill a great man. He drew a sword in his house and drove it into the wall, that he might know that his hand would be strong. Then he slew the great man.
Elucidation:
If you have awoken, first let it rest. Realize how threatening it is for the sleeping, for it is very difficult to explain his mistake to who sleeps but thinks he is awake. Train, train, train; make the most of your talents, and if you see through the play completely, then speak out, but remain cautious.
99
The disciples said to him: Thy brethren and thy mother are standing outside. He said to them: Those here who do the will of my Father, these are my brethren and my mother; these are they who shall enter into the kingdom of my Father.
Elucidation:
Your true relatives are your congenial spirits. For the righteous one, true brothers and sisters are also righteous ones.
100
They showed Jesus a gold piece and said to him: They who belong to Caesar demand tribute from us. He said to them: What belongs to Caesar give to Caesar, what belongs to God give to God, and what is mine give unto me.
Elucidation:
As long as you live in this unrighteous world, play the game. Do not play the martyr, but realize your freedom is fenced in by the intolerance of your sleeping fellow men. Do not fight them with their own weapons and never fight back in defense. Let your honesty disarm them. Do what they want you to do and realize they do not know better. However, stay firm and honest with yourself.
101
Jesus said He who shall not hate his father and mother like me cannot be my [disciple], and he who shall [not] love [his father] and his mother like me cannot be my [disciple]; for my mother [. ..] but my true [mother] gave me life.
Elucidation:
Distance yourself from the ideas of your parents, and that they taught you to become a small cog in a big wheel in society. They tried to do well, but did not know what they were doing. Love them as you love your fellow man. In their role as parents, they have wrinkled you and led you out of paradise, because they thought you had to make something of yourself. They taught you right and wrong and how to live, because they never reflected on this for themselves, but rather believed the words of the people they had estimated to be better and more clever than themselves.
102
And Jesus said: Woe to them, the Pharisees! For they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of the cattle; for he neither eats, nor does he let the cattle eat.
Elucidation:
Woe to the spiritual leaders. They are not happy and go astray, although they think they own the truth. They have complicated the straight and simple road and now guide their church people. They themselves are unrighteous and hinder their followers in becoming righteous. Continuously, they try to justify the contradictions between their doctrine and their lives and adapt them to the present.
103
Jesus said: Blessed is the man who knows in what part the robbers are coming, that he may rise and gather his [domain] and gird up his loins before they come in.
Elucidation:
As soon as you have become man again, you are elusive and inviolable, because you see clearly through the weaknesses and contradictions in the arguments and reasoning of your opponents. Therefore, they can no longer upset you. You do not need to arm yourself, but can disarm them by your disarming simplicity. There is no need to refer to the theories or ideas of others, because you have certainty in yourself.
104
They said [to him]: Come, let us pray today and fast. Jesus said: What then is the sin that I have done, or wherein have I been vanquished? But when the bridegroom comes forth from the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray.
Elucidation:
To fast and pray is something the sleeping do. As soon as you have left simplicity and live a split life, you have to fast and pray, although it will not help.
105
Jesus said: He who shall know father and mother shall be called the son of a harlot.
Elucidation:
He who relies on all he learned from his parents, and he who tries to blame his deeds and unhappiness on an unhappy childhood, does not take responsibility for his own life..
106
Jesus said: When you make the two one, you shall become sons of man, and when you say: Mountain, be moved, it shall be moved.
Elucidation:
If you dissolve the contradictions in yourself and overcome your schizoid existence, you will be man again. Then you can cope with the whole world.
107
Jesus said: The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the biggest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and sought after the one till he found it. When he had laboured, he said to the sheep: I love thee more than the ninety-nine.
Elucidation:
This logion is analogous to logion 8.
108
Jesus said: He who shall drink from my mouth shall become like me; I myself will become he, and the hidden thing shall be revealed to him.
Elucidation:
He who lives unconditionally in accordance with his conscience, will become a whole man and will live. The disciple will become as the master. He will understand himself and all will become clear to him.
109
Jesus said: The kingdom is like a man who had in his field a [hidden] treasure about which he did not know; and [after] he died he left it to his [son. The] son also did not know; he took (possession of) that field and sold it. The man who bought it came to plough, and [found] the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomsoever he chose.
Elucidation:
Men could have always known that their laws for life were not right. Generation after generation has lived and died without having truly lived. Men have always lived according to laws invented by other men and have remained deaf to what they already knew to be right. Men have always stood up to men who tried to voice the voice of conscience. No one has ever listened to them. Do not let yet another generation remain asleep, but wake up. You owe it to yourself and to your children. And, when you have woke up, pass it on and see the righteous world grow.
110
Jesus said: He who has found the world and become rich, let him deny the world.
Elucidation:
He who has understood himself and society, should not attempt to use such knowledge for his own good. Do not give in to vanity. Let him realize that it is not his own merit, but that it was given to him.
111
Jesus said: The heavens shall be rolled up and the earth before your face, and he who lives in the living One shall neither see death nor (fear); because Jesus says: He who shall find himself, of him the world is not worthy.
Elucidation:
When righteousness spreads over the earth, the appearance of heaven and earth will change. Man and nature will return to their original pureness. The original harmony will be restored everywhere. God’s water will flow onto god’s fields. Man will no longer interfere with nature and the end will be like the beginning.
112
Jesus said: Woe to the flesh which depends upon the soul; woe to the soul which depends upon the flesh.
Elucidation:
Pitiful is he who is attached to his character, for he cannot change. Character is just a product of your adaptation to society.
113
His disciples said to him: On what day will the kingdom come? Jesus said: It cometh not with observation. They will not say: Lo, here! or: Lo, there! But the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.
Elucidation:
Man will not awaken suddenly one day. He will have to fight for it himself and will have to make a choice between society and himself, including the fact that he will have to conquer all resistance. He has strayed from his nature and nature as a whole and has to return to it himself. He has to re-graft himself to the ubiquitous.
114
Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Elucidation:
Men and women are man, but have assigned themselves a different role with a different way of thinking, dressing, doing their hair and decorating themselves, all of which is dependant on the culture in which they live. The masculine man and the feminine woman are caricatures of man. They not only distinguish themselves by their inside but by their culturally-defined outside, too. Both women and men can become man again.
The Logia are from a translation, made from the Coptic text published by Messrs. Brill of Leiden. English by W. R. Schoedel, The numbering of the sayings is that of the Brill edition.