Gospel of Thomas

[sky]

[quote=anthony c]

Originally Posted by sky123

There are a few reasons. One being that i believe the ego has caused so much of my issues and fears that if i can let go of it most of my fears could just go. Secondly if the ego dies i could find out who i really am and what reality really is.

I don't know if the ego is really part of us or if it's just an illusion or what it is. Maybe if the ego dies you can find God, who knows.

A flexible ego is better than non, you cannot exist in the ( Real World) without an ego. You use it as a tool in your daily survival, but don't let it use you.

[anthony c]

[quote=sky123]

Originally Posted by anthony c

A flexible ego is better than non, you cannot exist in the ( Real World) without an ego. You use it as a tool in your daily survival, but don't let it use you.

Yeah it will always be there but as i understand it you let it go for interesting experiences in meditation.

Anyways that a different topic so...

Thanks for your info.

At last I got round to viewing this video and it does seem a very good introduction to this gospel. I found the text quite difficult to take in. The video rightly makes a thing of "verse 3" where the gnostic tone is revealed and which is why Constantine had it barred from the Bible (and tried to have every trace of these Apocryphal gospels destroyed).

The New Testament has to be seen in context - a highly edited document put together by Constantine. Though "decisions" about what to include were initially made at Nicene they were under Constantine's control - that's why he ordered 50 copies for proofing before it was distributed from the Church of Rome that he established.

He had seen the power of belief in God in his military travels before he became emperor and saw it as a means of control over an increasingly sprawling Roman empire with member states starting to break away. (History of the Decline and Fall.) The adoption of "Christianity" was one of many reforms he made.

It was important to portray God as the all-powerful; out there; watching, judging etc. Jesus was supposed to be the son of God, not a human so the Canonical gospels were chosen to support, nay, prove this. They gave the Roman Church this huge power to convince the ordinary person that its priests were nearer to God and were conferred with some god-like powers to control moral behaviour, and use fairly horrific means to enforce it.

So gospels like Thomas' and Mary Magdalene's had no place. They confirmed Jesus as an extremely wise human.

It always puzzled me why so few devout Christians never question why only the 4 Canonical gospels appear in the Bible when there were 12 disciples.

[django]

One problem with promoting the idea that the person can save themselves if they just have the right secret knowledge (from secret gospels) is that then it is their ego that is supposed to do the saving. The value of acknowledging the need for a 'saviour' is that the self-invested ego is allowed to die, and a new Self can be born.

[AHIYAH]

Originally Posted by django

One problem with promoting the idea that the person can save themselves if they just have the right secret knowledge (from secret gospels) is that then it is their ego that is supposed to do the saving. The value of acknowledging the need for a 'saviour' is that the self-invested ego is allowed to die, and a new Self can be born.

To add to would be to say "and to mature in the aforementioned Soul". With that in mind I would say Isaiah 54 is quite telling of the current events which is already now fully exposed. I think this song is fitting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFwm3Vi66A4
There's much Hebrew poetry in that chapter of Isaiah, and others ofc.
If you're willing to share your interpretation/interpretations I would like to take part in a discussion over it if you start a thread. Lets see what freedom is as it unfolds.

[AHIYAH]

[quote=anthony c]

Originally Posted by sky123

Yeah it will always be there but as i understand it you let it go for interesting experiences in meditation.

Anyways that a different topic so...

Thanks for your info.

Well all I can say is that that's the correct path you've chosen to take for the moment for all we know is that today is an improvement on yesterday. It's all about the transition in spiritual maturity with a mix of grace. No pressure.

[anthony c]

[quote=AHIYAH]

Originally Posted by anthony c

Well all I can say is that that's the correct path you've chosen to take for the moment for all we know is that today is an improvement on yesterday. It's all about the transition in spiritual maturity with a mix of grace. No pressure.

Thanks. All i can do for now and hope the path, the truth and my real self will be revealed to me in this lifetime if it's the only one i have.

[AHIYAH]

[quote=anthony c]

Originally Posted by AHIYAH

No sorry it makes a bit sense but don't understand most of it.

You say the curse/dead is taken out but you still say the bother, which i take as us, is still in bondage. If the curse is taken out aren't we suppose to be free??

What is this judgement you are talking about? you mean judgement for our sins?

Lastly do you really believe this beast is going to bring a flood?

A curse is laid by a Tapu person in Maori. Only a Tapu person can take out a Tapu/Curse from something. Now if another person comes along and tries to put a Tapu such as deceitfulness onto that something that has been cleansed the Tapu person(depending on who he/she is capable of) can take that Tapu he/she took out and put it on the deceitful one. Google the verse that goes 'Cast ye up, Cast ye up' etc. curse = stumbling stone and only a curse/stumbling stone can take out a curse/stumbling stone. This is only one process within processes. I'm free of being fooled by the enemy. Since you seem to be imprisoned all I can say is to sing the Heart of Bob Marley when he said 'Emancipate yourselfs from mental slavery' etc. there's judgements being made daily by everyone. We are to remember to do unto others as we'd have them do unto us. For by what measure you judge it will be measured back'. There have been things done that started a reality(karma) to happen that a lot of people don't see going on right in front of them, and its almost impossible to point it out to them but over time they change.
One must identify the problem/enemy in order to find a solution. From a biblical pov having an overview of the book of Daniel one can see clearly that a particular beast will be around until the end. The same beast is also mentioned in the book of Revelations when it said 'The beast that was and is not and yet is'. If Isaiah 54 is anything to go by it speaks volumes on its own. At them moment that flood you're asking about is already being removed as we speak.

[AHIYAH]

[quote=anthony c]

Originally Posted by AHIYAH

No you did not bore me.

I have been meditating for 4 years and still no inner voice has came though but maybe cause i was not really listening and also my mind is not that quiet for long.

I have been lately very interested in what people call "EGO death" and so have been reading a lot about it but sounds difficult cause it's something that is very sticky. Maybe that's why my inner voice is not coming through cause when you get rid of it, it's easier to connect with it.

Something to practice on...

Patience among others is a virtue and the virtue already exists in its unique form within you. There is a concept of death from Hebrew thought where the High Cohen/priest took the sins of the nation and put it on the animal to be sacrificed. The animal that is to be sacrificed even though it can stand on its own two feet it is considered dead. So a concept of an Ego Death can be one where even though it is alive it is quiet. There are times where an Ego is necessary to take out an Ego. It's just a process within processes. Everyone has that inner voice and ATM not everyone realises it even exists.

[AHIYAH]

[quote=anthony c]

Originally Posted by AHIYAH

Thanks. All i can do for now and hope the path, the truth and my real self will be revealed to me in this lifetime if it's the only one i have.

I wasn't sure how to respond to this. I do remember someone on SF said that many paths lead to the true path. Some might say lead back to the true path. As for this lifetime its a part of many lifetimes. It's common in Maori thought that our ancestors are always with us. With that if you were to make an impact on someone's life in that you guided them to the right path you would live on in that person and its like a long chain. It's all about being a part of the truth.