Post by Rogier van Vlissingen on Oct 12, 2006 2:53:46 GMT -5
YIR/PGoTH:
"
These are the hidden sayings that the living J spoke and Didymus Thomas recorded:
1. And he said, "Whosoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.
"
Form:
there is complete agreement between versions here.
Content:
The most relevant comment seems to be about the "hidden." I relate this to the statement that he taught in parables, but to his apostles individually he explained everything. This notion of secret teachings was an ego distortion that was later exploited in various cults and religions making hay with initiation rites etc., when clearly the intention is that if only we turn to him, the "hidden" meaning will be so no longer, and naturally we will learn the truth of "Your Immortal Self." (Title of a recent bestseller on spirituality.) "will not taste death" just sounds a bit antiquated today, but we can get easily used to that if we imagine ourselves with J and his apostles 2000 years ago, and get comfortable with
the surroundings and the images.
The nice thing is that while the "hidden" is prone to a paranoid ego mis-interpretation, in the "whosoever discovers" it seems clear that the door is open to whoever wants to bother with the truth.
Here is what Pursah says on page 74 in DU:
" I'll use the numbers now, although my version didn't have numbers, and this saying was numbered "1" later because people weren't sure whether I had said it or J did. I was the one who said and wrote it, and it was supposed to be part of this brief introduction, not labeled as a saying of J. The word hidden simply means that many of these sayings were spoken by J, either in private or to a very small group of people. It does not mean that it was his intention to hide things.
One will not taste death because, as pointed out earlier, J was showing us the way to life - meaning that what we were experiencing here on earth was not life, even though we assumed it was. He was the living J because he had attained true enlightenment - his oneness with God. Living in this case does not refer to him being in a body, even though it appeared he was. It's a reference to the resurrection of the mind, as alluded to earlier - and also referred to a saying from my Gospel that I won't talk about until a later visit. Also, the word living here would have nothing to do with a resurrected body, even though J did appear to us after the crucifixion."
"
These are the hidden sayings that the living J spoke and Didymus Thomas recorded:
1. And he said, "Whosoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.
"
Form:
there is complete agreement between versions here.
Content:
The most relevant comment seems to be about the "hidden." I relate this to the statement that he taught in parables, but to his apostles individually he explained everything. This notion of secret teachings was an ego distortion that was later exploited in various cults and religions making hay with initiation rites etc., when clearly the intention is that if only we turn to him, the "hidden" meaning will be so no longer, and naturally we will learn the truth of "Your Immortal Self." (Title of a recent bestseller on spirituality.) "will not taste death" just sounds a bit antiquated today, but we can get easily used to that if we imagine ourselves with J and his apostles 2000 years ago, and get comfortable with
the surroundings and the images.
The nice thing is that while the "hidden" is prone to a paranoid ego mis-interpretation, in the "whosoever discovers" it seems clear that the door is open to whoever wants to bother with the truth.
Here is what Pursah says on page 74 in DU:
" I'll use the numbers now, although my version didn't have numbers, and this saying was numbered "1" later because people weren't sure whether I had said it or J did. I was the one who said and wrote it, and it was supposed to be part of this brief introduction, not labeled as a saying of J. The word hidden simply means that many of these sayings were spoken by J, either in private or to a very small group of people. It does not mean that it was his intention to hide things.
One will not taste death because, as pointed out earlier, J was showing us the way to life - meaning that what we were experiencing here on earth was not life, even though we assumed it was. He was the living J because he had attained true enlightenment - his oneness with God. Living in this case does not refer to him being in a body, even though it appeared he was. It's a reference to the resurrection of the mind, as alluded to earlier - and also referred to a saying from my Gospel that I won't talk about until a later visit. Also, the word living here would have nothing to do with a resurrected body, even though J did appear to us after the crucifixion."