You've given me much to think about. I am curious, did you ever read the Gospel of Thomas, and if so, do you find it contradicts or support your position here? My sense when I read Thomas is that it fully supports your view.
I love the Gospel of Thomas! I think it very much speaks to this same concept. Also, the Gospel of Phillip speaks of the “Bridal chamber” representing the mystical reunion of the soul with its divine counterpart, symbolizing ultimate spiritual wholeness and union with God. The gospel of Mary emphasizes how an awakened soul moves past earthly illusions to find rest in the ultimate divine being. And the Apocryphon of John details the emanation of the divine spark and explains how the soul can shed its material illusions to reunite with the pure, unfallen divine realm.
100% agree with that assertion. The Gospel of Thomas is one of the more Gnostic texts, and he hits this target dead on! But that’s the thing, the Gospels are gnostic, and we miss that to our detriment.
"See past the illusion of ego...embody the I AM". This sounds contradictory to me.
My thesis is that the root problem in Western thought is the focus on "I/my". I call it the "I/my problem", and trace it back all the way to the Akedah where Abraham was willing to child sacrifice his son--against all fatherly duty and social morality--for the PERSONAL god in HIS head.
After the Akedah the "I/my" focus grows in Western thought: Augustine's personal god... Descartes' "I think therefore I am"... Locke's "MY property"... up to Nietzsche's "MY will"... which eventually becomes today's "MY PERSONAL truth". The Christians and the transgenders argue as though they're opposites, but to my they are just two faces of the "I/my problem".
The reason this matters is that Western society is not a collection of "I"s. It's not healthy society of "we". When we reject the idea that we are each but a node in a web of people--a society--we become just a "prisoner's dilemma" of all against all (we're here already) and this means that mutual non cooperation ("Nash Equilibrium") is the best outcome we'll ever get. That's sad.
I have an essay on this on my own Substack if you're interested.
This is one of the more challenging ones to really grok and it’s taken us a long time to really get the words down. Especially in stripping off the interpretation Christianity gave us. But when we do, it just seems so patently obvious yet disapointing because so many people are leaving so much empowering on the table.
You can tell you guys took your time and were intentional in your word selection with this one. Great approach to writing and living! Stay empowered my brother 👊🏻
You've given me much to think about. I am curious, did you ever read the Gospel of Thomas, and if so, do you find it contradicts or support your position here? My sense when I read Thomas is that it fully supports your view.
I love the Gospel of Thomas! I think it very much speaks to this same concept. Also, the Gospel of Phillip speaks of the “Bridal chamber” representing the mystical reunion of the soul with its divine counterpart, symbolizing ultimate spiritual wholeness and union with God. The gospel of Mary emphasizes how an awakened soul moves past earthly illusions to find rest in the ultimate divine being. And the Apocryphon of John details the emanation of the divine spark and explains how the soul can shed its material illusions to reunite with the pure, unfallen divine realm.
100% agree with that assertion. The Gospel of Thomas is one of the more Gnostic texts, and he hits this target dead on! But that’s the thing, the Gospels are gnostic, and we miss that to our detriment.
Talk about great timing, Michael.
Great timing for what? Don’t leave me in suspense!
Soon! Lol! 🤌😘
Make sure you link to this! 🤓
Heard.
"See past the illusion of ego...embody the I AM". This sounds contradictory to me.
My thesis is that the root problem in Western thought is the focus on "I/my". I call it the "I/my problem", and trace it back all the way to the Akedah where Abraham was willing to child sacrifice his son--against all fatherly duty and social morality--for the PERSONAL god in HIS head.
After the Akedah the "I/my" focus grows in Western thought: Augustine's personal god... Descartes' "I think therefore I am"... Locke's "MY property"... up to Nietzsche's "MY will"... which eventually becomes today's "MY PERSONAL truth". The Christians and the transgenders argue as though they're opposites, but to my they are just two faces of the "I/my problem".
The reason this matters is that Western society is not a collection of "I"s. It's not healthy society of "we". When we reject the idea that we are each but a node in a web of people--a society--we become just a "prisoner's dilemma" of all against all (we're here already) and this means that mutual non cooperation ("Nash Equilibrium") is the best outcome we'll ever get. That's sad.
I have an essay on this on my own Substack if you're interested.
Sure, hit me with it.
Great stuff guys. An article I’m going to go back and read a few times.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is one of the more challenging ones to really grok and it’s taken us a long time to really get the words down. Especially in stripping off the interpretation Christianity gave us. But when we do, it just seems so patently obvious yet disapointing because so many people are leaving so much empowering on the table.
You can tell you guys took your time and were intentional in your word selection with this one. Great approach to writing and living! Stay empowered my brother 👊🏻
Secret of the Golden Flower , Wilhelm, with intro by Jung (I think), gels great here! Thanks Michael!!
I’ve now got that on my list. Thanks!