Sri Shantananda Saraswati
Invocation
Om May no harm be done Here, May this desire be motivated by Love. May what is not beneficent wither to obscurity.
Under Revision 18th January 2024.
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Our Commentary on The Non-Dual Philosophy of
The Gospel Of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is extra to the canonical gospels in the New Testament of the bible. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried and hidden after the declaration of a strict canon of Christian scripture, where any works that were not selected for inclusion in the new testament were ordered to be destroyed. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD as a collection of sayings of Jesus.
There are various reasons given or suggested by the academics as to why not all the gospels and sayings attributed to the disciples and Jesus were included in the New Testament in its initial construction. Some texts were not being used for public church services, they were meant to be read by a select few only. It is also thought they spoke of the mysterious way to finding enlightenment through understanding the hidden meanings in Jesus’ words. This would not have been seen as suitable by the officials making the final selection for inclusion in the new bible.
For example.
In saying 13 of this very Gospel of Thomas, Jesus asks a question of his disciples in order to test their higher understanding. From each of their answers it was clear to Jesus that Thomas alone had become enlightened enough to receive higher knowledge.
Jesus took Thomas into another room and told him of 3 higher truths. When they returned Simon Peter and Matthew asked Thomas what Jesus had told him.
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me…”
The meaning is, not everyone is ready for higher knowledge. Indeed, the selection committee members themselves might have had difficulty interpretating the more subtle sayings. They might have considered it best to leave out anything controversial.
It is thought all excluded works were ordered to be destroyed to ensure only a standardised bible was used for all services. The majority of the saying in the Gospel of Thomas have similar versions included in in the Gospels of Mathew, Mark Luke and John.
All verses of the Thomas Gospel.
Ohm peace, peace, peace.
Ancient image of Adi Shankara teaching.