Drinking Jesus
Drinking Jesus
With a side order of Other-Power, your choice of Plato or Zen, and a complimentary dessert
1. Intro
1.1. After examining the crap out of the heretical Gospel of Thomas (here's a link), I've noticed a few central themes woven throughout the various verses. In this essay, I'd like to reorganize the Gospel of Thomas to better draw out those themes.
1.2. To aid me in my quest, I've adopted the terms "Self-Power" (jiriki) and "Other-Power" (tariki) from the Kyoto school philosopher Hajime Tanabe (who used them mostly with regard to Shinran and Amida Buddhism). I believe his thesis on Shinran can be applied to the Gnostic Jesus as portrayed in the Gospel of Thomas.
2. Other-Power vs. Self-Power
2.1. Self-Power, as I understand it, is anything that we do consciously. It's any power that we have "by our self".
2.2. Other-power is more metaphysical. It's when you commit suicide and allow various kinds of spirit-beings to enter your body and live inside you. That might require a bit more explanation...
3. Other-Power: Ionization
3.1. One example of Other-Power can be found in Plato's dialog between Socrates and Ion. Ion was a professional poetry reciter. In ancient Greece, people could make a living by reciting Homer's epic poetry. Apparently, young Ion was really good at recitation. When he would recite, he would really "move" the audience. He could make them scared or happy or excited just by speaking to them. And he himself would be "moved" by his performance. He'd even cry while reciting. It sounds like he would "get lost" in the moment, and visualize himself in Homer's work. He sounds like a passionate, dramatic actor by today's standards--a real artist! :)
3.2. Then along came Socrates. Socrates asked Ion a few questions along the lines of: "why would a grown man cry while reciting?" Ion, of course, couldn't explain himself rationally (at least not to Socrates' liking), so Socrates concluded that Ion must either be an insane person, or a puppet of the gods. Socrates reasoned that a divine being must enter Ion's body during certain parts of his speech, and this divine being must be the one responsible for Ion's sudden mood swings. For how else can you explain it?
3.3. If Ion is "moved" by his own performance, then someone must be "moving" him. That sort of makes sense in a crude sort of way... Well, not really, but it made sense to Socrates.
3.4. Socrates himself claimed to have a similar type of "daemon". Socrates had his own personal spirit-being that entered him (or was always inside of him) and told him what to do. Thus, it's not much of a stretch to say that Ion was probably "moved" by the same kind of thing.
3.5. That's how the Greeks explained the subconscious. They thought spirits entered people.
3.6. Did you know that the word "inspiration" comes from the words "spirit in you". To be "inspired" literally means "you have someone else's spirit working through you."
3.7. Michael Faraday chose the name "ion" for the "charged particles" he discovered. What is a charged particle? It's a particle that has been given a positive or negative charge from some Other-Power.
3.8. With regard to humans, I would define Other-Power thusly: it's when you do something, but you don't know why you're doing it. Reason cannot explain your actions because your actions aren't really "your" actions. You are not making conscious decisions. "You" are not really involved with what you're doing. You are acting spontaneously; instinctively. You are acting "without thinking." You do not seem to be in control of your body. You have "lost control," you have "let go," and you are letting your subconscious drive you. Thus, reasoned the ancients, if it's not "you" controlling yourself, then it must be someone else. Thus speaks the mytho-poetic mind.
3.9. Imagine if one could harness this Other-Power. Why, one would almost be able to "move" mountains...
3.10. (See section 4.2.2 from my Birth of God essay for more on the mytho-poetic mind).
3.11. I believe I, myself, have experienced "Other-Power," but I don't attribute it to spirits (or demons) (or daemons!) entering my body.
4. Other-Power: Kata
4.1. I tend not to understand a concept until I learn it 3 times in 3 different ways.
4.2. I think the first time I felt Other-Power was back in my karate days. I used to be a 3rd degree black belt in Isshin-Ryu karate. This karate style utilizes a teaching technique known as the "kata". A kata is a pre-arranged sequence of moves. It looks like a silly dance where you kick and punch every once in awhile. But every part of this dance is pre-defined. Every stance, every target, every block, every transition between blocks and kicks and punches and jumps, every turn, every eye-movement, every breath, everything! is predetermined and prearranged for you. To a new student, that's a lot to learn. And it can be pretty discouraging. "Why should I bother learning this crap?" "What does this have to do with defending myself?" "And why does it look so stupid?" Well, after a few years (or decades) of performing these precise movements, something magical happens. I suspect there are few people who can explain this to you (as it takes a long time to get to this level), and it's probably going to sound crazy, but here goes. Eventually, after years of perfecting your kata, your mind will be able to exit your body. Your body will become so patterned--so conditioned--to repeat those movements, that your body will appear to perform them without you. You can perform the kata without thinking about it. Some of the most complex punches and kicks and the strangest, most arbitrary arrangements of footwork become "second-nature" to you. They become instinct. You can do it without thinking. It's as if the spirit of some ancient Okinawan master has entered your body, and the two of you have become one.
4.3. The art of thinking without thinking, or action without action (Wei Wu Wei) is a very Eastern concept. The Western mind experiences this, too, but never notices it--or never cares to notice it. We think it's trivial. When we drive our cars in a sleepy state and don't realize how we got home, we think to ourselves, "my car must know the way!", and we promptly forget about it. We have to forget about it. That "incident" with our car was only an aberration. That was an anomaly. That wasn't real. That's not how life normally functions.
4.4. But what if that experience--of diving without driving--what if that was a glimpse into the Real World? What if we could harness that? What if we could always live like that? What if we had just experienced "becoming one" with our surroundings? These are the questions of an Eastern mind. To experience life without the attachment of a Controlling Self--that is an Eastern ideal. To let yourself be completely "out of control" or "controlled by someone else," that is Western blasphemy.
5. On Explanations / Labels
5.1. Westerners need to explain everything. Let me explain. ;)
5.2. Westerners like to put labels on things. We like to assign names. Once we know something's name, we can pigeonhole it. We have power over it.
5.3. Westerners invented incantations and "spells". We used to worship words.
5.4. The Western God spoke a word and separated Light from Darkness. In the Beginning was the Word (and the Word was with God).
5.5. When you ask "where did everything come from?" The Westerner has an answer: God. When the Buddha was asked about such things, his response was: "such things are not tending to edification." Easterners don't label things the way we do. They try to look beyond labels, and beyond words. They cherish and glorify "No Thing" (the absence of all labels). If you try to explain the Tao, you will fail (it must be experienced). Same goes for trying to explain Zen (it must be experienced). If you actively seek enlightenment, you will never obtain it (you must seek without seeking).
6. Other-Power: Other Examples
6.1. I have 2 more examples of Other-Power, if you can bear with me. I've noticed Other-Power while playing the guitar (when my hands "move on their own" and somehow, magically, morph to the right spots or make the proper chord arrangements).
6.2. I've also noticed this Power late at night--usually just before I go to sleep. My mind will be all relaxed, my body will feel all tired and content, and all of a sudden, like a shot from a damn shotgun, some stray thought will shoot straight into my skull! Tiny gears have turned inside of me, and the final tumbler of a lock will fall into place at the right moment and an entire vault of light will open up inside me--if only for an instant--and I will feel overly compelled to awake from my slumber, get out of my bed, and write down this precious jewel of an idea. I can't explain why I do that, or how it happens. But I can experience it. And it feels strange--very clear and calming ... I know I would like to experience that kind of "mental orgasm" at will. But how do you harness it?
6.3. As Nietzsche once remarked, "a thought comes when 'it' wishes, and not when 'I' wish." And as Socrates once remarked, "true beliefs" must be tied down lest they escape us.
6.4. I think others have experienced similar moments of "inspiration". There's a popular Eminem song about "losing yourself" in the moment (you own it). "You better never let it go."
6.5. A friend of mine once told me that when she's dancing, it feels like her entire world disappears, and she becomes One with her surroundings. I thought she was insane at the time, but today I think I sort of understand.
6.6. If I experienced such things, and lived in a world littered with superstition and culturally accepted anthropomorphisms, I'd probably attribute all of this to some kind of spirit world, too.
7. Intro to Thomas
7.1. Orthodox Bibles contain 4 gospels (the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The gospel of Thomas is considered heretical and heterodox.
7.2. Orthodox Christians (by which I mean 99% of all Christians alive today--including Catholics and most forms of Protestants) talk about "being saved" and what it means to "save your soul" and "enter the kingdom of Heaven". Heterodox Christians (by which I mean those who once followed and circulated the teachings contained in the gospel of Thomas, and perhaps some of the famous Christian Mystics) talked about the same sorts of things. They used the same words (similar "syntax"), with different meanings (different "semantics").
8. Follow Jesus
8.1. For example, what does it mean to "follow Jesus"? This question seems straightforward enough. How would the Orthodox answer it? I think they'd say something like: "you follow Jesus by following his example and by following his teachings and by loving your neighbor as yourself." As Jesus states in the gospel of Matthew, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matt 19:21).
8.2. How would the Heterodox answer that question? What does it mean to them to "follow Jesus"? I think they'd say something like: "you follow Jesus by following his example: by dying to the Self (the way Jesus died), by being filled with Other-Power (the way Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit), and by being "born again" into the world (the way Jesus was reborn)."
8.3. The Heterodox believed in Other-Power. They thought a spirit could enter them and "move" them (similar to the way a spirit could enter Ion and change his emotions).
8.4. The Orthodox believed in a limited form of Other-Power. They thought Jesus alone experienced Other-Power, and became God. (Or they believe that Jesus always was God. There is some debate other this, but the question over whether Jesus was God or became God is irrelevant to this essay. What is relevant is that both of these views agree on one central theme: that Jesus alone had this "one-ness" type of connection with God).
8.5. The Heterodox believed that everyone had that kind of "one-ness" connection with God. Indeed, the Heterodox believed they could become just like Jesus!
9. Thomas 108 = Drink Jesus
9.1. In the 108th verse from the Gospel of Thomas, we hear Jesus say: "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."
9.2. Now, that doesn't really sound like the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus never possessed anyone in the Bible! How amazingly contradictory and heretical this Gospel of Thomas truly is!
9.3. The idea of Jesus "becoming that person" or of Jesus becoming YOU is blasphemous to Orthodox ears. It's like saying: "you will become God."
9.4. But isn't that what Jesus did? Didn't Jesus claim to be God? The Orthodox Jesus certainly claimed to be the Son of God (Luke 22:70), and the Orthodox Jesus was almost killed on multiple occasions for "making himself equal with God" and "claiming to be God's Son" (John 5:18, John 10:36).
<< John 5:18 = For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
<< John 10:33 = "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." 34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? 35If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- 36what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 37Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
9.5. The near-death experience found in John 10 is important for 3 reasons.
9.5.1. First, we see the Jews trying to kill Jesus for claiming to be "God's Son".
9.5.2. Second, we see Jesus' explanation for why it's ok to be called "God's Son".
9.5.3. Third, we see Jesus claim that the Father is "in" him. [Connect Jesus' statement with the concept of Other-Power.] Jesus claims the Spirit of God is "in" him--and that that "power" lets him do miraculous things.
9.6. Notice the difference between the Orthodox and Heterodox conception of Other-Power. The Orthodox view seems to imply that "Jesus alone" experienced Other-Power. Jesus is "the One whom the Father set apart". And Jesus alone could produce miracles. The Heterodox view seems to imply that "everyone" can experience Other-Power. Everyone can become like Jesus. The same spirit that entered Jesus and made him God can enter you, too (and you, too, can become Jesus).
9.7. When I first read the gospel of Thomas, verse 108 stood out in my mind as being extremely different from the Bible's gospels. Here Jesus asks people to "drink from his mouth" and then, when they are done drinking, "hidden things" would be revealed to them. First, I'd like to point out that the idea of "hidden things" is not what makes this passage so different. The Orthodox Jesus also talked about "secret knowledge" and "hidden things" revealed certain people (see Matt 13:11, Mark 4:11, 4:34, Luke 8:10, 10:12).
<< Matt 13:11 = He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
<< Mark 4:11 = He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
<< Mark 4:34 = He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
<< Luke 8:10 = He [Jesus] said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables,
<< Luke 10:21 = .. "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ...
9.8. What I find strange about verse 108 is the fact that Jesus "becomes" you. What could be more alien from the Bible than that?
9.9. When I rephrase verse 108 using the concept of Other-Power, however, verse 108 appears to have a clear biblical parallel. The biblical Jesus also invited people to "drink from him". And, said Jesus, when they were done drinking from him, the Spirit would enter them (and they'd be able to feel this "living" power inside them).
<< John 7:37 = On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. 39 By this he meant the Spirit ....
9.10. The way I see it, if this verse from John 7 can be rationalized to fit into the Orthodox interpretation of Jesus, then so can Thomas 108. As it stands, I think both verses are best explained through the concept of Other-Power.
9.11. I'm also particularly interested in John 7:38 because it shows Jesus quoting Scripture. Jesus mentions, "living water" that will flow "from within." I have been unable to locate the scripture that Jesus was quoting. I don't think he's quoting biblical scripture. There is nothing in the Bible that talks about "living water flowing from within." The phrase "living water" can be found in the NIV (see Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13, Zechariah 14:8), and also in the KJV (Song of Solomon 4:15), MSG (Psalm 65:9, Proverbs 14:27), and YLT (Genesis 26:19) -- but none of those passages are talking about "living water" flowing from within you. In fact, of the 18 Bibles at my disposal (at the Bible Gateway), only 1 translation places a footnote on John 7:38's scriptural quotation. The NASB's footnote cross-references Isaiah 44:3, 55:1, 58:11 --none of which are talking about "living water" flowing from within.
9.12. Thus, it looks like the author of the Gospel of John is either making something up and calling it Scripture, or he's quoting from an apocryphal (or heretical) text.
9.13. Summary of 108
9.13.1. The Heterodox Jesus says he will "become" the person who drinks from his mouth.
9.13.2. The Orthodox Jesus says the same thing (if we view John 7 through the lens of Other-Power).
10. Other-Power: Zen
10.1. Before you can experience Other-Power, you have to let go of your conscious decision-making powers. You have to abandon Reason. You have to make a leap of Faith.
10.2. I see Other-Power as a euphemism for "living sub-consciously," or "living off your instincts," or "living in the now." It's when you don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself (Matt 6:34). It's when you live like a passersby (Thomas 42). It's when you live without rationalizing every little action you make (Mitchell 10:2). It's when you just do what that little "voice" in the back of your mind tells you to do. It's when you constantly do "the right thing". You don't know why you're doing the right thing (there's no conscious Reason involved), you just do it.
10.3. I think that's what Zen Buddhism is all about: doing the "right thing" without thinking about it. It's about removing the Self from the Equation.
10.4. I think Zen is another description of Other-Power. Zen comes from the East. They have a different vocabulary in the East; a different family of languages; a different way of communicating ideas. Easterners do not talk about spirits entering your body. That's how the Greeks explained it. Instead, Easterners talk about a "sleeping spirit" that was already inside of your body. And they call you "Enlightened" when that spirit wakes up. The "sleeping spirit" inside of all of us, that's our True Self. That's our Buddha-Nature.
10.5. The title "Buddha" means "Awakened One". Buddhists talk about opening up their third eye (their Buddha eye), and viewing reality for what it really is. Most statues of the Buddha show him with a 3rd eye (above and between his two normal eyes). You, too, can become a Buddha when you "wake up" (when your sleeping spirit opens its Buddha eye).
10.6. Your entire world changes when you become awakened. You still live in the world, but you view the world differently. I think the term "Enlightenment" means: living in a constant state of Other-Power. The Heterodox Christians called it "entering the Kingdom of Heaven".
10.7. Notice the slight development from Plato's conception. Ion was able to experience Other-Power for a few short moments while he recited. But Zen Buddhists (and Heterodox Christians) want to feel like that--be moved by their inner spirit (or "become One with their surroundings")--at all times.
11. Thomas 70 = Saved Within
11.1. In the 70th verse from the Gospel of Thomas, we hear Jesus say: "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you."
11.2. Bring forth what from within? That doesn't sound like the biblical Jesus. And what is this talk about "saving us"? The biblical Jesus said nothing could save us except Jesus (and he said apart from Him, we can do nothing).
<< John 3:17 = For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
<< John 14:6 = Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
<< John 15:5 = "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
11.3. What is within us? I do not think Thomas is talking about Self-Power. Thomas does not say "you can save yourself". Thomas says "something else inside of you" will save you. You can't do this alone. You need this other thing. And that will save you.
11.4. It sounds like Thomas is talking about the "sleeping Spirit" inside of all of us (or the "Jesus" inside of all of us).
11.5. Using Heterodox language, who is Jesus? Or, more specifically, what is Jesus? Jesus is the sleeping spirit inside of all of us. Jesus is Ion's Other-Power. Jesus is your Buddha-Nature. Jesus is another name from an another ancient culture for "the subconscious". You can become Awakened--just as Jesus was Reborn--and then you can experience "living water" flowing from within.
11.6. Socrates tried to explain it. Christians tried to explain it. Buddhists tried to explain it. They all used different languages and different key-words. They all experienced some form of Other-Power that moved them in such a profound way that they wanted to communicate their experiences to others. [Similar to how I am moved to communicate this idea to you today].
12. Thomas 91 = Who is Jesus? / What is Jesus?
12.1. In the 91st verse from the Gospel of Thomas, someone says to Jesus, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you." He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment."
12.2. People ask Jesus who he is, and Jesus replies with "the one" in your presence, and talks about "examining the present moment". This is the response of a Zen Master. When you ask a Zen Master about Zen--when you ask them what Zen is--they will reply with something that makes almost no sense: they reply with something about the present moment. Have they ignored your question? Or were you asking the wrong question?
12.3. There's also a minor parallel regarding "the present moment" in the Bible. In the Gospel of Luke (and only in the Gospel of Luke), Jesus mocks his enemies for not understanding.
<< Luke 12:56 = Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?
12.4. There are also several places in the Bible where people ask Jesus who he is (see Matt 11:3, Luke 7:20, John 8:25, 9:36, etc). But the Orthodox interpretation is always different. The Orthodox thought Jesus was a real person. He was their teacher. He was the one they all tried to follow.
12.5. But if you look at "Jesus" from the Heterodox interpretation, all of those things also apply. The Heterodox thought Jesus was a real person (because they became Jesus). And the Heterodox thought Jesus was the one they should follow (they should submit to Other-Power). They should not follow their own will (or their own thoughts or their own desires). Instead, they'd strive to "do the right thing"--even though that can't be fully explained. They tried to follow that little voice in the back of their heads. They just named that voice "Jesus".
13. Thomas 24 = Light Within
13.1. Verse 24 from the Gospel of Thomas says: "His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it." He said to them, "Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."
13.2. Here Jesus talks about a "light within". And the gospel implies that that is the place where Jesus is. Jesus is in the "light within." If you seek Jesus, look within yourself.
13.3. There are similar-sounding passages about "the light within" in the Bible. But the Bible's verses lack meaning (when compared to the Other-Power interpretation of Thomas' passages). The Bible's verses regarding "the light within" are not illustrated as a response to a question. They have been stripped of all context. They appear in the Bible as a random stream of sayings (similar in style to most of the Gospel of Thomas).
<< Matt 6:22 = "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
<< Luke 11:34 = Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."
13.4. I've also found an Other-Power type of passage in the Gospel of John. In John 14, Thomas asks Jesus, "where are you going?", and Jesus responds with something about the Father being within him. As I've mentioned before, the Gospel of John is typically interpreted as saying: "only Jesus" can experience Other-Power.
<< John 14:5 = Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" ...10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
14. Thomas 77 = Where is Jesus?
14.1. In the 77th verse from the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
14.2. This verse is commonly interpreted as an example of pantheistic (the belief that Jesus is physically inside of wood and stone). But when you read some of the other verses from the Gospel of Thomas (which I've listed above), a different kind of context emerges. Verse 77 could also be saying: "When you go about your daily life, Jesus will be with you." When you go out and split wood, Jesus is with you. When you go out and lift stones, Jesus is with you. Verse 77 says Jesus will be with you no matter what you do.
14.3. How can Jesus always be with us? It's possible because Jesus is the "light within" us. Jesus is how we experience the present moment. Jesus is that little voice in the back of your head. Jesus is your subconscious.
14.4. Also note: The biblical Jesus also claimed to be the "light of the world" (see John 8:12, 9:5), and the Bible says "through him" all things were made.
<< John 1:2 = He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
14.5. And the Bible also says Jesus "gives light" to every man coming into the world. (Very similar to saying Jesus is the "light within").
<< John 1:9 = The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
15. Spread the Word!
15.1. Once you experience the greatness of Other-Power, you're not going to be able to stop yourself from telling everyone about it. But therein lies the problem. How you explain this to someone? How do you take an incredibly personal experience, and communicate it accurately?
15.2. To those who experience Other-Power, it feels like they have died (their old Controlling Self that likes to Label Things is no longer telling them what to do). So, basically, all you need to do is tell people they must die and be reborn before they can experience this great experience! That's not an easy concept to sell!
15.3. Before you can experience this wonderful kingdom on earth, you need to abandon conscious decision-making. You need to let go of Reason. You need to "go beyond" Reason.
15.4. This is the problem I've always had with Zen Buddhism. It always sounded like intellectual suicide to me. How do you reason with someone and tell them to stop reasoning? Zen Buddhists tell me that my life will be better once I adopt this practice. I tell them my life is already better in spite of that practice! No one wants to stop thinking! --especially Westerners!
15.5. But you need to stop thinking before you can experience "thinking without thinking". You need to "let go" of the Self. You need to "let go" of your conscious creation of the Self. You need to forget what you know, or what you think you know. You need to get over your problems and get over yourself. You need to learn to trust your inner-being (your sub-conscious) (your inner Self) (your sleeping Jesus).
15.6. Zen masters teach this concept of "letting go" through the use of koans. A koan is a short story (or parable) that doesn't make any sense. It's counter-intuitive, paradoxical, and really freaking annoying if you try to explain it away or label it with Reason. Below are some famous Zen koans (from the book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones).15.6.1. p163 = A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen master: "Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?" Joshu answered: "Mu."
<< [Mu is the negative symbol in Chinese, meaning "No thing" or "Nay."]
15.6.2. p169 = Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When anyone asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy would raise his finger. Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. He seized him and cut off his finger. The boy cried and ran away. Gutei called and stopped him. When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei raised up his own finger. In that instant the boy was enlightened. When Gutei was about to pass from this world he gathered his monks around him. "I attained my finger-Zen," he said, "from my teacher Tenryu, and in my whole life I could not exhaust it." Then he passed away.
15.6.3. p175 = A monk told Joshu: "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me." Joshu asked: "Have you eaten your rice porridge?" The monk replied: "I have eaten." Joshu said: "Then you had better wash your bowl." At that moment the monk was enlightened.
15.6.4. p182 = Zuigan called out to himself every day: "Master." Then he answered himself: "Yes, sir?" And after that he added: "Become sober." Again he answered: "Yes, sir." "And after that," he continued, "do not be deceived by others." "Yes, sir; yes, sir," he answered.
15.6.5. p185 = Nasen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: "If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat." No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces. That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out. Nansen said: "If you had been there, you could have saved the cat."
15.6.6. p208 = Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said: "The flag is moving." The other said: "The wind is moving." The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He told them: "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving."
15.6.7. If you grapple with a koan long enough, eventually you will abandon Reason. They are like little verbal black holes that suck up all your Reason, and leave your mind empty and void. And when you've emptied yourself, you have made room for Other-Power to enter you. Of course, Buddhists don't say it like that. They'll say Other-Power was already within you, and emptying yourself merely helps "wake it up".
16. Thomas 22 = Zen Koans?
16.1. In the 22nd verse from the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus observes some nursing babes and says to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."
16.2. Jesus told his disciples a koan.
16.3. When the disciples do all of these impossible-sounding things, only then will they enter the kingdom. When the disciples merge opposites (that is, when their minds let go of the contradictions Jesus offers them), only then will they experience Other-Power.
16.4. There are a few fragments of Jesus' "List of Opposites" in the Bible. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus says "anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10:15). That doesn't make any sense. Mark's Jesus offers no explanation. The next biblical gospel (chronologically speaking) offers a slight explanation. Matthew's Jesus connects the "adult to child" passage with a teaching about humility (see Matthew 18:3-4). But that doesn't really explain the passage either.
<< Matt 18:3 = And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
16.5. It sounds like Jesus wanted his followers to go "beyond reason". It sounds like he wanted them to make a leap of Faith. Granted, the idea of taking a "leap of Faith" can apply equally to both Heterodox and Orthodox Christianity. Perhaps that's why the "adult to child" saying can be found (at least partly) in both the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
16.6. I would also like to point out that the earliest canonical gospel (the Gospel of Mark), Jesus spoke only in parables. In the later gospels (chronologically speaking), Jesus speaks openly to the public without using parables.
<< Mark 4:34 = He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
17. Thomas 22, 23, 48, 106 = Two into One?
17.1. Perhaps there's more to verse 22 than just being a sort of Christianized koan. St. Paul wrote something that sounds surprisingly similar to Thomas 22. Paul talked about a few different kinds of opposites being "merged" into one in Christ. Paul wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28). Perhaps Paul was talking about the same thing that Thomas was talking about.
17.2. Also, the very next verse in the Gospel of Thomas mentions two people standing as one. Perhaps that's what verse 22 was talking about.
<< Thomas 23 = Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."
17.3. There's also a verse from Thomas that says when two people make peace (when they stand as one), they can move mountains (they can do the impossible).
<< Thomas 48 = Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move from here!' and it will move."
<< Note the similarity to the Bible's Matt 18:19 = "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
17.4. And there's another verse from Thomas that says when you make the "two into one", you can move mountains (you can do the impossible).
<< Thomas 106 = Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move."
17.5. Children of Adam
17.5.1. Verse 106 adds a curious catch-phrase, the "children of Adam". That phrase isn't found elsewhere in Thomas (nor is it found anywhere in the Bible). But the Hebrew word for "Adam" means "Man" (as in mankind). Thus, the phrase "children of Adam" is technically equivalent to the phrase "Sons of Man". I just did a quick google search for different translations of the Gospel of Thomas, and found Thomas O. Lambdin's translation (here). Lambdin's translation uses the phrase "sons of man" for verse 106.
17.5.2. Isn't that interesting?
17.5.3. If verse 106 can be translated into: making the "two into one" will turn you into a Son of Man, then verse 106 sounds a lot like verse 108! Does it feel like we're doing math yet? ;)
17.5.4. Verse 108 said you could become like Jesus. Verse 106 says you can become a Son of Man! Verse 106 says you need to make the "two into one". Verse 108 says you need to "drink from Jesus' mouth".
17.5.5. Perhaps the phrase "two into one" means the same thing as "merging with Christ" via Other-Power.
17.5.6. In equation form: Jesus + You = Awakened Being; the 2 become 1.
17.6. Well now I have multiple meanings for the phrase "two into one". Does it mean "standing as one" or does it mean "becoming one" via Other-Power? Or does it mean both?
17.7. I think the same problem over the phrase "two into one" can be found in the Bible.
17.8. First, we see the concept of Other-Power in the Bible when Jesus says he and his Father are one.
<< John 10:30 = I and the Father are one." ... 38 the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
17.9. Second, we see Jesus pray that his followers might be "one" the same way that he and his Father are "one".
<< John 17:11 = I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me-so that they may be one as we are one. ... 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
17.10. Summary of 22, 23, 48, 106
17.10.1. Both the Heterodox and Orthodox seek unity with Christ, and then unity with other members of the group.
17.10.2. Of course, the phrase "unity with Christ" seems to mean different things for each group. To the Heterodox it means "becoming like Christ". To the Orthodox it means "acting like Christ".
17.10.3. LOL! Even when I try to summarize the differences, the two groups sound more similar than different. I do think there's a difference between the groups, it's just very difficult to pin-point that difference!
18. Heterodoxical Befuddlementation
18.1. When the Heterodox position is dressed up in christianese (when it's explained using Orthodox Christian terms), it's almost indistinguishable from the Orthodox position. But when you break it down to the bare-bones meaning behind it (when you draw out the semantics), you can see that the two are radically different.
18.2. Main Difference
18.2.1. The main difference I see between the Heterodox and Orthodox Christians is over the nature of teachers. In the Orthodox view, there is one Teacher, the Christ. Everyone else is a student. Everyone else's job is to learn and behave. The very definition of a "good person" in the Orthodox view is this: follow everything your Teacher tells you.
<< Matt 23:10 = Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
18.2.2. The very definition of a "good person" in the Heterodox view is this: follow everything your Teacher tells you, and then become a better Teacher than they ever were. The Heterodox didn't want to just follow Christ, they wanted to become Christ. They wanted to be bigger than Jesus! They anticipated John Lennon by a few thousand years! ;)
18.2.3. The very notion of becoming "better than your teacher" is a foreign concept to Western ears. We have no examples of this. But there's one famous Zen story about it. It goes something like this: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!"
18.2.4. In Zen, a teacher is like a ladder that should be pushed away once you've reached the height of their wisdom. A teacher is like a safety raft that should be discarded when the student learns to swim. Once the teacher has taught you their lesson, they have fulfilled their purpose. It is now your job to learn from that lesson and move on with your life.
18.2.5. Orthodox Christianity, by contrast, says Jesus is the ladder that should never be pushed away. Jesus is seen as a sort of "bridge" between God and Man. Christians can't push that away! "Overcoming your teacher" is such a foreign concept to the West, that, historically, the Jews have been looked down upon for being "Christ killers"! This western slogan of degradation is an eastern ideal! Killing the Buddha is a good thing in the East, but it's contemptuous blasphemy in the West.
<< Matt 10:24 = "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
18.2.6. When you learn from your teacher, and "move on" with your life, what are you going to do? After you kill your Buddha, what comes next? There is no rational explanation for what comes next. There are no clever word-games or "labels" that we can apply to what comes next. When we abandon our Teachers, we enter a world that is not yet defined. We enter a world without Labels. And a world without Labels scares the crap out of most Westerners. Westerners worship Words! We need labels! Tell me what comes next!
18.2.7. Heterodox Christians are trying to live in the world of "what comes next". They seek an undefined state of constant Other-Power. They want to live beyond words. They want to be fully submerged in the unconscious. The world of "what comes next" is their Kingdom of Heaven. This is fundamentally opposed to the Orthodox interpretation.
18.3. Overly Complicated?
18.3.1. The Heterodox worldview sounds overly complicated when you try to explain it with words. But the same thing happens when you try to explain Zen.
18.3.2. I've heard people argue that Gnostic Christianity (or, Heterodox Christianity, as I've been calling it), must have developed later than Orthodox Christianity because Gnosticism "sounds more complicated" (and therefore, must have developed after the simple-sounding Orthodox view).
18.3.3. This argument, however, fails to consider that Gnostic Christianity is not about words and explanations and things that sound complicated. It's about experience. It's about becoming a Christ. It's beyond Word-Worship and labels and explanations. And therein lies its simplicity.
18.3.4. Confusion will arise whenever this idea is communicated (whenever this idea is put into words). As I've asked before in this essay: What is the best way to communicate it? Through koans? Through parables? Through allegories? Or is there a better way to teach this Undefinable lifestyle?
19. Thomas 13 = Beyond Words
19.1. The 13th verse from the Gospel of Thomas brings a lot of these ideas together. It's one of the most bizarre passages in the gospel. But now that I've explained (or tried to explain) each of the parts in this passage, I think we can put them together and derive some meaning from unlucky number 13.
19.2. Verse 13 = Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like." Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended." And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."
19.3. Does any of that make sense yet?
19.3.1. First, notice that Jesus rewards Thomas for giving the correct "answer" to the question "what is Jesus?" What is Thomas' reward? Jesus takes Thomas aside and teaches him the highest (most secret) Truths. What was Thomas' answer? The correct answer was: "Jesus" cannot be explained with words. Jesus is beyond words. This is how Zen Masters answer the question "what is Zen?"
19.3.2. Second, notice that Thomas is no longer a student (Jesus is no longer his teacher). Why? Because Thomas has drunk from his mouth (remember verse 108?). When you drink from Jesus' mouth, you become like Jesus. Therefore, you're no longer a student. You're Jesus! Thomas has learned all he can from his Teacher, thus it is time to discard (or move beyond) the student-teacher relationship. Thomas has killed his Buddha. Thomas has removed his training wheels. And now the two (Thomas and Jesus) have become One.
19.3.3. Third, notice how Thomas cannot tell the others what Jesus told him. I don't think I've explained that part yet.
19.4. why can't you explain it?
19.4.1. Why can't Thomas explain to his friends what he's learned? This might be related to the first theme in this verse: that the greatest Truths are beyond words.
19.4.2. But it could also be related to the idea of "killing your teacher." Since Thomas has become just like Jesus, when Thomas explains the deepest Truths to them, he will no longer be their teacher. They will kill their Buddha, and then they, too will "die" to their Selves.
19.4.3. But this part of verse 13 could also be related to something completely different. :) It reminds me of Plato's allegory of the cave. In Plato's story, when the Enlightened man leaves the cave, and finds the True source of light, he returns to the cave and tries to tell everybody about it. And what do the people do when they hear him? They kill him.
19.4.4. This is part of the main problem I've been facing throughout this essay. How do you communicate this idea to others? If you try to put it into words, people won't understand it (or they'll kill you for sounding so blasphemous). Remember the outcry over John Lennon's use of the phrase "bigger than Jesus?" He was nearly lynched! There are a lot of people who are not ready to hear such "blasphemy".
19.4.5. For this concept to make sense to people, they need to experience it. In other words (pun), there is no real way to communicate this idea with "words." :(
19.4.6. So what is the best way to communicate it? Through koans? Through parables? Or through everyday examples from our everyday lives? I think that last way is possible. I think that makes a lot of sense. Especially considering the wisest saying from the Gospel of Thomas...
20. Thomas 84 = What Makes You Happy?
20.1. In the 84th verse from the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. ... "
20.2. I love that. It sounds like something I would say. (That's probably why I love it). ;)
20.3. That statement does not sound like anything in the Bible. It sounds much too cynical: happiness is derived from seeing things that remind you of you. It sounds like something from the Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Pierce. Here are a few definitions that mimic verse 84:20.3.1. ABSURDITY, n. = A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
20.3.2. ADMIRATION, n. = Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves.
20.3.3. BIGOT, n. = One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.
20.3.4. CALAMITY, n. = A more than commonly plain and unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering. Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
20.3.5. COMMENDATION, n. = The tribute that we pay to achievements that resembles, but do not equal, our own.
20.3.6. EGOTIST, n. = A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.
20.3.7. EVANGELIST, n. = A bearer of good tidings, particularly (in a religious sense) such as assure us of our own salvation and the damnation of our neighbors.
20.3.8. GREAT, adj. = ... [from a poem by Arion Spurl Doke]
Each reckons greatness to consist
In that in which he heads the list,
20.3.9. HAG, n. = An elderly lady whom you do not happen to like; sometimes called, also, a hen, or cat. ...
20.3.10. HATRED, n. = A sentiment appropriate to the occasion of another's superiority.
20.3.11. HEAVEN, n. = A place where the wicked cease from troubling you with talk of their personal affairs, and the good listen with attention while you expound your own.
20.3.12. I = is the first letter of the alphabet, the first word of the language, the first thought of the mind, the first object of affection. ...
20.3.13. IGNORAMUS, n. = A person unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to yourself, and having certain other kinds that you know nothing about.
20.3.14. IMPIETY, n. = Your irreverence toward my deity.
20.3.15. INEXPEDIENT, adj. = Not calculated to advance one's interests.
20.3.16. LOQUACITY, n. = A disorder which renders the sufferer unable to curb his tongue when you wish to talk.
20.3.17. MAD, adj. = Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual.
20.3.18. OBSTINATE, adj. = Inaccessible to the truth as it is manifest in the splendor and stress of our advocacy. ...
20.3.19. OFFENSIVE, adj. = Generating disagreeable emotions or sensations, as the advance of an army against its enemy.
20.3.20. PHYSIOGNOMY, n. = The art of determining the character of another by the resemblances and differences between his face and our own, which is the standard of excellence.
20.3.21. RASH, adj. = Insensible to the value of our advice.
20.3.22. REASONABLE, adj. = Accessible to the infection of our own opinions. Hospitable to persuasion, dissuasion and evasion.
20.3.23. SELF-EVIDENT, adj. = Evident to one's self and to nobody else.
20.3.24. SELFISH, adj. = Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others.
20.4. I suppose there is a slight parallel with verse 84 in the Bible:
<< John 10:4 = ... his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
20.5. Follow the Familiar
20.5.1. We follow whatever's familiar. We like things that resemble us. That's why the best way to convert someone is to act just like them. As St. Paul once wrote:
<< 1 Cor 9:19 = Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
20.5.2. What, therefore, is the best way to spread the Gospel of Other-Power? Is it through koans or parables? Or through familiar-sounding examples?
20.5.3. The best way to spread the message of "dying to oneself" and being "reborn" is by talking about something that everyone is familiar with. To communicate this, you need a Hometown Hero. You need somebody who's "just like" your audience. Two-thousand years ago, if you wanted to spread this message, you needed a carpenter's son from Galilee.
20.6. Birth of Christianity
20.6.1. Perhaps that's where the Jesus story originally came from. Perhaps it started out as an allegory (like Plato's allegory of the cave). Perhaps it started out as a way to communicate the greatest feeling one can experience: the feeling of Other-Power.
20.6.2. But Other-Power is hard to explain. Is it a spirit that enters you? Or a sleeping spirit inside of you? Either way, Other-Power is beyond words. It can only be experienced. Whenever you try to communicate this concept through words, something is going to get lost in the translation.
21. Outro
I have a feeling this essay will eventually grow. I already have 5 major sections from Thomas I'd like to include, and I'd like to expand this essay to include Nietzsche (who always sounded very Zen-like to me). But as of right now, I think the main gist of what I wanted to say has been said. The meat has been laid on the table. I have exposed Other-Power to the wolves. So now, I invite feedback from everyone about this essay! And now I can finally enter the world of "What Comes Next?".