The Gospel of Thomas Fully Interpreted: Logion 11 to 20
Logion 11
Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell 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?”
Interpretation of:
Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away.
In logion 3 Jesus said the kingdom is inside of you and it is outside of you. The kingdom is of course a reference to the mind, which is also referred to as heaven. Jesus was talking directly to the souls of his disciples, and so when he said the kingdom is inside of you and it is outside of you he was saying that heaven/the mind is inside of you and it is outside of you. This is because the soul is formed from and is within the mind.
When Jesus said this heaven will pass away he was speaking of the disciple’s present soul passing away, and when he said the one above it will pass away, he was speaking of the kingdom/mind outside of the soul passing away. This is what happens before the soul is reborn and full enlightenment occurs.
Interpretation of:
The dead are not alive, and the living will not die.
The dead is a reference to the souls who do not possess the Light of Understanding. It is this Light that is the Life of souls. Those who do not possess the Spirit of Understanding have no Life regardless of how much Truth they possess. Therefore the dead are not living. Those who possess the Light of Understanding cannot lose it, therefore they will not die.
Interpretation of:
In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive.
That which the disciples consumed was the Word of Truth and it was with their understanding that they made it what is alive.
The Word without the Spirit of Understanding is like desire without empathy, in other words, it is like an untamed lion. You either rule over desire or it will rule over you.
Interpretation of:
When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do?
When you come to understand what will you do?
Jesus said this to his disciples because he knew that when they did come to understand they would have so much to bear.
Interpretation of:
On the day when you were one you became two.
On the day that you possessed the Truth you were one, when you possessed the Understanding of Truth you became two. In other words, you became the Truth and the Life.
Interpretation of:
But when you become two, what will you do?”
But when you become the Truth and the Life, what will you do?
Logion 12
The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”
Interpretation:
The disciples were not yet qualified to teach the gospel of the kingdom and they knew that Jesus was going to leave them, so they were concerned about not having a leader who would be able to teach them the things they had not yet learned and understood.
James the righteous was the only one besides Jesus who was qualified to teach them because he was full of Truth and Understanding and it was for the sake of Truth and Understanding that heaven and earth came into being.
Heaven and earth are of course the conscious and subconscious mind without which, knowledge and understanding could not be discovered.
Logion 13
Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a righteous angel.” Matthew said to him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out.” And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”
Interpretation:
Both Simon Peter and Matthew perceived only a single aspect of Jesus’ character, and so it was easy for each of them to describe who they thought he was like. However, Thomas perceived all of the aspects of Jesus’ character and so was unable to describe what he was perceiving. In other words, he didn’t know anyone who he could compare Jesus to.
Thomas had called Jesus master, but Jesus had recognized that his student Thomas had learned enough to become a teacher also. This is why Jesus said to Thomas; I am not your master.
Knowledge is food for the soul, and so it is said to have been eaten when received. Likewise the spirit is a drink for the soul, and when it is received it is said to have been drunk.
Thomas was intoxicated, under the influence of the living waters (spirit of understanding) which Jesus had measured out to the disciples. It is understanding that gives life.
Jesus withdrew from the other disciples so that he could speak to Thomas in private. He then told Thomas three things, and what he said was in praise of Thomas and condemnation of the other disciples.
Thomas had sincerely fasted from worldly desires, the other disciples had not. Thomas had prayed in private and with faith, the other disciples had not.
Thomas had given alms without the need for a reward, the others disciples had not.
These three things are mentioned in the logion that follows this one.
When Thomas returned to the other disciples they asked him what Jesus had said, but Thomas was worried about how they would react if he told them even one of those things, so he didn’t. Thomas knew that they would judge him harshly, in other words, they would throw stones of judgement at him. They would be words of criticism filled with an unrighteous passion, a strong desire that would consume their goodness.
See in John 4:14 KJV: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Logion 14
Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth – it is that which will defile you.”
Interpretation:
In the previous logion Thomas had been confronted by the other disciples who wanted to know what Jesus had told him. It was then that Jesus stepped in to take the pressure off Thomas and to give them some advice on their behaviour.
If you fast and it is not in your heart to do so, you will leave yourself open to the temptation of doing what you hate, in other words, you will be untrue to yourselves which is a sin.
If you pray you will be condemned for not having faith.
If you give alms so that you will be praised, you will do harm to your spirits.
To eat what they will set before you, simply means listen to what they have to say.
To heal the sick means to heal their souls.
The knowledge that you receive from them will not defile you, but what you say it is that which will defile you. This simply means, be careful what you say.
See also in Matthew 15:11 KJV: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
See also in Matthew 10:8 KJV: Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Logion 15
Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your father.”
Interpretation:
The father of the soul is the Self’s righteous desire, and the souls mother is the Self’s virgin mind.
The Self and its desire is self-begotten, and so was not born of woman i.e. the mind.
Find your righteous heart and you will have found your father, and in finding your father you will have found yourself.
See also in Matthew 23:9 KJV: And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Logion 16
Jesus said, “Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary.”
Interpretation:
When Jesus spoke of men he is referring to the souls of people, and not to their physical bodies which may be either male or female.
When Jesus spoke of the world he was referring to the world within. Each soul possesses their own world within, it is a place that we refer to as our mind.
Jesus did not come to cast peace on the minds of souls as many had presumed, rather he came to start a spiritual battle within in the mind of souls, a battle between good and evil, and between light and darkness. He came to cast dissension on the soul’s subconscious mind, (the earth).
There would be fire (passion) – sword (judgement) – and war (conflict).
There will be five in a house. The house represents the souls personal domain, which as you can see is divided against itself. There will be three against two and two against three.
The three that are against the two represent the righteous father, the faithful son, and the Holy Ghost which is the Spirit of Truth, in other words, the Spirit of Understanding.
The two that are against the three represent the unrighteous father and the son who does not possess the Holy Spirit.
The father that is against the son represents the unrighteous father against the righteous son.
The son that is against the father represent the righteous son against the unrighteous father that is also referred to as the devil.
Both the three and the two will stand alone and separate from each other.
See also in Matthew 10:34-35 KJV: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Logion 17
Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”
Interpretation:
To be able to give someone something, you must first possess it yourself, in other words, Jesus must have seen what he wants to show, he must have heard what he wants to tell, and he must have touched something that he wants others to feel, and something must have occurred to his mind, but not the human mind.
That which has not been seen has not been imagined.
That which has not been heard has not been understood.
That which has not been touched has not been felt.
The human mind is a reference to the carnal mind, in other words, the mind of someone who believes that they are no more than a physical being. It is plain that what Jesus wanted to give came from his spiritual mind, and it concerned spiritual things.
Those things are; The Way, the Truth and the Life, which in turn are only seen, heard and felt, by those who are spiritually minded.
See also in 1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV But as it is written: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
Logion 18
The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus said, “Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death.”
Interpretation:
The disciples knew that the time would come when their physical bodies would cease to function, and they would leave this world. They wanted to know how that end would be. In other words, what it would be like.
Jesus reasoned that only a soul that had discovered its first and True Image would be concerned about the end of its journey in this world. Jesus explained to them that their souls would be the same at the end of their journey in this world as they were in the beginning.
It is one thing to know what you were in the beginning, and it is another to take that place in the beginning. Taking that place requires you to lay down all that the world has led you to accept. In other words, you have to take off the garments that have covered your True Image.
Blessed are those that do this, for they will know the end and will not experience death, which is the complete loss of their True Image of the Self.
Logion 19
Jesus said, “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death.”
Interpretation of:
Jesus said, “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being.
The soul first came into being in the Self’s righteous conscious mind (Heaven) on the sixth day. The soul was formed within and from the substance of the Self’s righteous and virgin mind.
The second time that the soul came into being was when it was retrieved from the subconscious mind and brought back into the conscious mind. The subconscious mind is referred to as the earth in scripture, and so the soul was reformed from the substance of the subconscious mind.
So the soul first came into being in Heaven before it came into being from the dust of the earth, i.e. the substance of the subconscious mind.
The soul is the Self’s image of itself, and in scripture the soul is referred to as man.
The first man was made in Heaven on the sixth day. The Self rested on the seventh day, and on the eighth day the Self remembered its image.
Blessed is the soul that came into being first because it is the Self’s true and uncorrupted image. It is that image that the soul strives to restore. This requires the soul’s rebirth.
Interpretation of:
If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you.
In scripture stones represent words of judgement. The judgements of Jesus were based on Truth and Understanding, and so by listening to the words of Jesus the needs of the disciples would be taken care of.
Interpretation of:
For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall.
In scripture a book of knowledge is likened to a tree, whose branches represent chapters, and whose leaves represent pages.
Paradise is the enlightened mind. It is the place of the soul’s birth and rebirth. It is the place where all Truth is revealed, and it is filled with the Light of Understanding. It is in that place that the peace experienced through true freedom is found, and it is in that place that the bliss of Unconditional Love permeates every part of the soul’s whole being. What the soul experiences the Self and the physical body experiences also. In paradise there is no fear or need of anything more.
The five trees in paradise remain undisturbed regardless of what the soul experiences on its life journey.
Summer and winter represent times of strong desire and weak desire. In other words; times of passion and times of apathy. In paradise there is neither passion nor apathy. There is no more struggle to fulfil desires because all desires have been fulfilled. It is because of this that emotions are stilled and a perfect state of peaceful bliss is experienced.
The mystery of the five trees
All of the knowledge that you possess has come to you through your five senses. Your physical senses are no more than conduits that pass on information to your spiritual senses. This is why your spiritual senses remain active even when your physical senses are dormant or non-functioning.
The information that your senses receive is entirely dependent on where your attention is focussed, and whatever you focus your attention on will have an effect on what you experience. The stronger you focus your attention, the stronger the effects will be on you, and ultimately your physical body.
The five physical senses transmit information from the material realm to the five spiritual senses which are the receivers. For the purpose of understanding, both sets of senses are likened to each other as an analogy.
Everything that you have experienced in this life journey, has been experienced through your five senses. These are of course the Self’s five spiritual senses.
It is important to realize that the five physical senses only gather information from the material world and transfer that information to the Self’s spiritual senses. Think of the physical senses as collectors and the spiritual senses as receivers.
Imagine the Self that you refer to as ‘I’. Now consider the space that it alone occupies and consider that space as the Self’s house. Now imagine the house as having four doors, one door for each of the four spiritual senses. These four doors all lead to the Self and its primary sense of awareness; these are the five senses.
Each spiritual sense gathers a specific category of information, and the Self stores them separately, in other words, each represent a tree of knowledge. Each tree is likened to a book of knowledge. The branches are likened to chapters, and the leaves are likened to pages. Each tree bears its own fruit, which may be bitter or sweet.
There are three things that determine the health, growth and fruit on the five trees. These are Understanding, Desire and Truth.
The five trees in paradise are nurtured with Unconditional Love, Truth and Understanding. Their fruit is holy and blissful. Their leaves do not fall in times of passion or apathy, because in them is written the Truth.
What are the five spiritual senses?
The five spiritual senses are likened to the five physical senses, but this is only a likeness. Everyone knows what the five physical senses of touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste are, but how are the spiritual senses defined and understood. Let us look at the spiritual senses.
Touch is the primary sense, it is the most important of all the senses; it is the ability to feel and to know. Without this ability there would be no awareness of anything, including the information gathered by the other four senses. Without awareness the Self would remain dormant and even ignorant of its own existence.
Hearing is the ability to interpret information received. When this sense is weak, information received cannot be understood correctly.
Sight is the ability to perceive an image in the mind of information that has been received and interpreted. The intensity of the light in the image is dependent on the validity of what has been interpreted and understood. To see is to understand. It is the light that gives life to the Word.
Smell is the ability to sense the aura surrounding or generated by a person, place or thing. This can be pleasant or disagreeable. What is sensed is the spiritual atmosphere. It is how we sense what is good or evil.
Taste is the ability to sense whether information/knowledge is good or bad for us before we digest it. If this sense is weak then we are prone to believe anything that seems attractive and desirable.
It is the four senses that feed the primary sense of awareness, and if those four senses are weak then they are easily overcome and compromised by unrighteous desire. This is why we should focus our attention on, and question, everything. If we simply accept everything that feels good, our senses will remain weak, and we shall remain in ignorance of the five trees in paradise.
Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death, in other words they will experience eternal life, unbroken by reincarnation.