|
ACCORDING TO THE THOMAS GOSPEL
1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
Interpretation:
The one who is fully identified with the self (by discovering the interpretation of these sayings) can no longer die as the self never dies.
15. Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father."
Interpretation :
The unborn (not born of woman), self-existing Supreme is the source of everything and everyone (the Father) and the only one truly worthy of devotion & worship.
18. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come?" Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."
Interpretation :
The self, the Supreme, is the beginning and end of everything. If one knows the self (to stand at the beginning), one will know that the self is endless and beginningless (one will know the end as no true end), and one will know oneself as unborn and undying (will not taste death).
85. Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death."
Interpretation :
Adam, as the Jewish tradition tells it, was directly created by God (came from great power and great wealth), yet ate an apple from the forbidden apple tree (was not worthy). Had he not created bad karma by doing so (had he been worthy), he would not have had to suffer and die (tasted death), after having lived for 930 years as the first man ever to die, according to tradition. Another more simple interpretation could be that as Adam was not eternal (tasted death), he is less worthy than the eternal self (not worthy of you).
111. Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"?
Interpretation :
The illusion of the universe (the heavens and the earth) will disappear in the presence of pure beingness (roll up in your presence). The one who lives out of his presence, beingness, the self (the living one), will not die (not see death), as the individual which is supposed to die was never alive. Whoever finds the self (found themselves) is no longer interested in the universe (of them the world is not worthy), which is nothing but a manifestation of the self.
|
