A man named Yeshua bar Josef healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, and raised the dead. He also taught that people should develop their own relationship with God, independent of religious leaders. The Romans executed him because of his actions and teachings. Despite this, 1.9 billion people today follow his teachings. His name changed in pronunciation over time until it evolved into the form we know today as Jesus. The “juh” of the letter J didn’t come into use in English until the sixteenth century. The original pronunciation of his name was Yeshua or Yeshooa, a derivative of the name Joshua. Today, people are revisiting Yeshua’s teachings with the realization that he had messages that can make a difference for humanity if we hear and learn from them. In this series of videos, Dr. R. Craig Hogan presents Yeshua’s teachings, as written in the Gospel of Thomas, which have been borne out by what we are learning today from communication with people in the afterlife about the nature of this life and the next.
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Transcript of the Video
The Gospel of Thomas, found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt and likely written in the late first or early second century, is considered the most significant ancient text from the site. It presents a collection of 114 sayings spoken by Yeshua, whose name has come down to us as Jesus. It contains no miracles, no Christmas story, and most notably, not a word about a crucifixion or resurrection.
Yeshua is not a messiah who died for the sins of the world. He is not a god. He is a wise teacher inspired by God who reveals this profound truth: within each of us is the divine “light” that is our true nature when all the Earth-realm facades are stripped away. As long as we do not realize this divine nature, we remain trapped in the material world that seduces us into ignorant beliefs about life and the afterlife. The sayings were likely recorded by followers of Yeshua’s teaching called Gnostics. The Gnostics taught that to fulfill our purpose on Earth, we must transcend this world by accepting the liberating knowledge found in Yeshua’s sayings. That is the gnosis, Greek for knowledge, that the Gnostics taught, which will enable us to grow in love, compassion, and wisdom so we all live in a Heaven on Earth now.
The writer of the Gospel of Thomas recorded the sayings being shared orally for decades among people who were followers of Yeshua. They sound strange and cryptic to the 21st century ear. We expect messages to be clear, short, and explicit. I taught business writing and communications for 40 years. I taught that writing must be so clear they cannot be misunderstood. The Gospel of Sayings are more like Buddhist koans. The meaning isn’t evident on first reading. The reader must interpret the hidden meaning. I will explain the meanings of the sayings in 21st century understanding with a background in our modern understanding of the nature of reality, the life after this life, and our spiritual natures.
Explanations of the first 10 teachings in the Gospel of Thomas are in this video. Links to the videos with the other 104 teachings are in the description below.
There is a death of the body, but WE will never taste death. We transition from this life to the next, where we continue our lives. Yeshua is saying that anyone who understands the true meaning of his words in this gospel will attain a state of understanding in which they have no fear of the body’s death. The fear is the taste of death. When people understand the truths in his sayings, they will no longer fear the death of the body, because no one dies.
Yeshua is saying that if someone is seeking the truth, they will find it in his message because they are open to receiving alternative knowledge that transcends what the world teaches. When they understand these truths, they will be disturbed because they don’t match what they have been reared on Earth to believe. It upends assumptions the world teaches about religion, who we are, and the nature of this life. But if the seekers persist, they will come to marvel at the new realizations that come to them. All of us who have come to these realizations about our eternal nature and the purpose of our time on Earth are delightfully surprised and amazed at what we discover. And in the end, he says, we will have understanding that is far above the assumptions all people are reared to believe about our lives on Earth and our relationships to one another. We will become changed people. The Greek word that appears in the New Testament Gospel texts for this change of perspective is “metanoia,” which means “a change of heart and mind.” Yeshua is saying we must not stop seeking until we have realized the truth that gives us this change of heart and mind.
We’re often asked, “Where is Heaven or Summerland?” We live in a realm where space is a dimension, so we speak of locations. The assumption people make is that Heaven must be located in some specific place in space and time. However, what Yeshua is saying is that it is not in some location. It is within us. We enter Heaven when we undergo a metanoia, a change of heart and mind. We can enter Heaven now because it is within us, not in some location, and not in the future. It is here, now, if we grow into realizing it. We enter Heaven by knowing ourselves. And when we know who we are in eternity, we will realize we are one with Our Universal Intelligence, the ground of all being. As long as we are not living with this fundamental understanding of who we are, we are living in poverty, even if by the world’s standards we have great wealth or position. We are that poverty from ignorance; it consumes us, so we are the poverty. But we become wealthy beyond measure if we know without doubt we are eternal beings, one with Our Universal Consciousness and with each other. That is the gnosis or knowledge that sets us free.
This saying is worded as many of the sayings are, with a metaphor that may seem extreme, but is meant to make the point explicitly. The metaphors that suggest people must assume a childlike ignorance and naivete to understand our purpose in this world are meant to illustrate that the world has corrupted our view of ourselves and of this life. The infant has none of the superstitions that keep people apart from one another, anxious about life, and fearful of the death of the body at the end of this life. People are taught by society to believe that the person dies with the body, that this world is all there is, so we must grab all we can from it at the expense of others’ needs, that other people are separate from us, and that we are ultimately alone in this life. These are falsehoods the baby doesn’t have. They are learned from our spiritually backward society. Yeshua is saying the uncorrupted mind of the infant is the primary state of mind; it is the first. The disturbing beliefs that we are separate from one another and will die are acquired from society; they are the last. Society suggests people with wealth and position are apparently first in society’s view, but if they hold these disturbing beliefs, they are really last. And when we realize our eternal nature and our oneness with all others, we will resume our position as the first. The saying ends with the statement that if a person does not have that understanding, they remain alone in existence, a single one. They are committing themselves to being alone in the universe when they do not have to be alone. They simply need to recognize their oneness with the Source and other people. No matter how lonely we are in life, we have brothers and sisters all around us anxious to love us. We just have to abandon the lie society has told us that we are separate from others.
People in today’s world have been taught from childhood the untrue notions that this world is all there is to reality, that when people die, they are gone forever or have gone into a mysterious realm we don’t understand and can’t reach. People are taught that we cannot communicate with people whose bodies have died. These are falsehoods. People intuitively understand that we continue to live after the body dies. People commonly talk about Mom being with us or Uncle Tom looking down on us. And large numbers of people have spontaneous afterlife communications. One study found that 70% of widows and widowers report afterlife communication with their spouses now in the afterlife. These are the natural truths that are in front of our face. But the falsehoods prevail, leaving people believing their loved ones are gone and unreachable. Yeshua is saying that the intuition that Mom and Uncle Tom are alive, just in a different place, is the reality. It is the truth that we intuitively know: it is in front of our face. When we accept that truth, we understand that our loved ones are alive and well in the afterlife, and we can communicate with our loved ones there. These truths will be revealed. They cannot remain hidden as humanity matures in its understanding of spiritual truths. Yeshua promised that we will all come to realize we are eternal beings having a temporary physical experience.
The earliest followers of Yeshua were all Jews, bound by explicit dietary restrictions and requirements of the Temple. They were unsure about Yeshua’s teachings about these subjects. In this saying, Yeshua tells the disciples not to be concerned about outward appearances and practices. He tells them not to perform the practices while their thoughts don’t reflect their outward actions. That will make the practices into lies they perform grudgingly. He says their inner motivations, which they may believe are hidden, are fully disclosed before Our Universal Intelligence. He implies that these hypocrisies will eventually be revealed. Acts of faith should be performed willingly and joyfully, as a true expression of humility and charity.
The lion is basic instincts that are foul. When the person tames them, they are still part of the person, just tamed so they are beneficial. When the base instincts take over the person, the person is dominated by their foul nature, and thus the person is dominated by all the base instincts.
This Saying presents a paradox to illustrate a spiritual concept. The “lion” symbolizes the wild, bestial nature or the passions, while the “human” represents the higher, rational, and spiritual self. When the human eats the lion, the lower nature is consumed and transformed into the higher. It is a spiritual victory. Conversely, if the lion eats the human. the higher self is subsumed by the lower-level passions. This is a foul or wretched outcome, But the text adds a twist: “the lion still will become human,” meaning that even if the person is overwhelmed by lower-level passions, the lion, the divine nature within the human, is the person’s true nature, ultimately elevating the person above the lower nature. The Saying champions the deliberate spiritual effort to conquer and sublimate our lower instincts, realizing that even if the person has backslidden into the lower impulses, the person is still divine by nature.
Here, the wise fisher is a metaphor for Our Universal Intelligence. The fish are individuals on Earth. The act of drawing up the net is the revelation of people’s lives. Most people are at some common level of spiritual development in becoming loving and compassionate. They are small fish. One fish in the net is revealed to be spiritually mature, filled with love and compassion. That is the large fish. Our goal in life is to become spiritually mature, so we can live happy, fulfilled lives together in love, peace, and joy. We are all growing in love and compassion, even those whose self-absorbed, base instincts dominate their lives, causing their lives to be filled with turmoil, conflict, anger, and self-seeking. For now, the individual who has reached the mature level of spiritual development is valued for their growth. The others are thrown back to continue their development. None are condemned for their level of growth, even if they are very small fish who have low-level spiritual development. All are given time to grow and are destined to become spiritually mature large fish.
This parable presents the Sower as a metaphor for Our Universal Intelligence. People are born into Earth School to learn lessons, grow in love and compassion, and enjoy life. All have lives planned to enable them to advance to the highest level of spiritual development they can during this short life. All begin as seeds evenly matched in the sower’s hand. The seeds are sown without regard for where they fall. Where they fall depends on the person’s efforts in Earth School. The outcomes are within their control. Some people live spiritually impoverished lives, as though they were struggling on a hard-surfaced road or rocks, or are living among thorns. Others live fruitful, fulfilling lives. They are placing themselves in fertile soil. The seeds are cast at random. We then have control over our lives: to live in spiritual poverty or spiritual abundance. We choose where our seeds fall.
Yeshua’s message was intended by Our Universal Intelligence to change humanity. Yeshua knew that his message would have dramatic repercussions for life on Earth. Now, 2,000 years later, the flame he lit is burning, but confined, like the light of a candle in a dense, dark forest. When humanity embraces the message he taught, the revolution in humankind’s understanding will cause the flame to ignite a blaze in human consciousness. People will abandon much of what they now value that motivates them. The fire will consume all the ignorance and religious superstition that now dominate Earth. Today, as the fire is just beginning to grow, people who speak about the nature of reality and our place in eternity are too often regarded as delusional and naïve. When all of humankind understands that we are eternal spiritual beings together in a temporary physical existence, the blaze will consume the ignorance and superstition still sustained by materialism, religious doctrine, and societal ignorance. The blaze will be a revolution in human consciousness.
Conclusion
These teachings by Yeshua bar Yosef have been lost in today’s Christian church, which bases its doctrines on narrow interpretations of the four canonical gospels. From the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century CE, the church evolved into an organization intent on controlling the lives of its converts. The church and its priests were in charge. No personal beliefs about Yeshua’s message would be tolerated. The Nag Hammadi Gnostic documents teach clearly that Christians may communicate directly with the divine without the intervening control of a church. Yeshua’s mission was to show humanity the way that would lead to enjoying lives filled with love, peace, and joy. We are just now realizing this wonderful message in the Gnostic writings that was lost for 2,0000 years.
