The Tao of Christ is a podcast which explores the mystical roots of Christianity, which Jesus called the Kingdom of God, which church historian Evelyn Underhill...
The eighth saying in the Gospel of Thomas is a big fish story. Jesus said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"
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13:33
The Parable of the Two Selves (Gospel of Thomas)
Today we look at the seventh saying in the Gospel of Thomas, which is the Parable of the Lion and the Man. Jesus said, “Blessed is a lion that a man eats, because that lion will become human. Cursed is a man that a lion eats, because that lion will become human.”
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13:25
Jesus on Spiritual Practices (Gospel of Thomas)
In this episode I look at the sixth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. It reads: “His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."The topic is spiritual practice. I briefly mention the four spiritual disciplines that the disciples ask Jesus about in the gospel of Thomas. Then I look at the parallels in the New Testament gospels. Then we look at what Jesus says in the Gospel of Thomas about these and how that is alike and different from the other gospels.
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17:53
Right in Front of Your Face (Gospel of Thomas)
Today we look at the fifth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest." That is a translation of the Coptic text.The Greek version, which dated earlier, adds another line. Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face and that which has been hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not become clear and nothing buried that will not be raised.” Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri (200 AD)This talking about the revelation of the gospel of nonduality. It is saying it is both hidden and obvious at the same time.
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11:58
Learning from an Infant (Gospel of Thomas)
This episode looks at the fourth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus says, “A person old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and the person will live. For many of the first will be last and become a single one.” Anyone who is familiar with the New Testament gospels will hear similarities to the biblical sayings of Jesus that center on children. It is well-established that Jesus used children as examples of what it means to be in the Kingdom of Heaven – the Spiritual Realm, the Presence of God. The saying in the Gospel of Thomas adds a couple of details that bring us further into this teaching. Here he clearly teaches nonduality.This saying in the Gospel of Thomas is Jesus’ equivalent to the famous Zen koan about your original face. “What is your original face before you were born?” Jesus is directing our attention to what Buddhists call the Buddha Nature. What we might call our divine nature or the image of God. He is saying that we all know this original nature. Every child knows this. The spiritual search is rediscovering what we used to know.
The Tao of Christ is a podcast which explores the mystical roots of Christianity, which Jesus called the Kingdom of God, which church historian Evelyn Underhill called the Unitive Life, which Richard Rohr calls the Universal Christ, and which I refer to as Christian nonduality, unitive awareness, or union with God. This is the Tao of Christ.