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#2671 - Friday, December 15, 2006 -
Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nondual
Highlights
"...rumors were starting to
spread that the mother of Jesus was a virgin. I could imagine
Jesus and his disciples sitting around a table laughing at such
rumors."
Today's issue is a posting from Michael Gluckman's blog, Knowledge and Religion. You can go to Michael's blog and make comments or ask questions.
http://meditationonwisdom.typepad.com/
Here is a quote from the Gospel of Philip:
Some said,
"Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit." They are in
error. They do not know what they are saying. When did just
a virgin ever conceive a man?
The Nag Hammadi Library,
In English
© E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
Since this is the
Christmas season, it’s a good time to mention the Nag
Hammadi library. The Nag Hammadi Library is the gospels that were
edited out of the New Testament as we know it today. The Library
includes The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Philip, and The
Gospel of Mary plus many more works. These books are part of the
a group of texts found in Egypt in the last century.
Although these texts are
not included in the New Testament today, they give a great sense
of what Jesus was really teaching. If you are curious, and would
like to read more, here is a link to the Gospel of Thomas:
http://www.geocities.com/mwgrondin/5thGospl.htm
Even at the time when
Philip was alive, rumors were starting to spread that the mother
of Jesus was a virgin. I could imagine Jesus and his disciples
sitting around a table laughing at such rumors.
The only thing that may
have made them sad is that people actually believed these rumors.
Jesus may have thought, “Here they have the opportunity to
find the source of Consciousness and Bliss, to awaken to the very
essence of the universe, and what to they do, they throw barriers
in their own way. Barriers such as you have to be the product of
a virgin birth to wake up.”
Anyway, here’s the
good news, we all come from a virgin birth. That’s because
we were not born. And because we were not born we will never die.
Now we mix ourselves up
with the things that we see like a body and mind. Because they
are born and die, we think that we are born and die. But what we
don’t notice is that we are aware of all of the changes that
occur in our body and our mind. Where do we stand so that we can
see these changes?
The secret here is that
these changes are not changes to us. They are changes to things
that we see. We are not the objects that we see like a mind, body
or thought of ‘I’. We are the ultimate subject, the
Awareness.
The Awareness is
changeless and still. Here’s the proof. You notice that your
body changes as you grow older, right? You notice when your mind
is sharp and when it is dull; when you know something and when
you are ignorant, right?
If you were changing, as
well as the mind and body, how would you know about these
changes. The place that you stand is still, and from this
stillness you notice the change. And then you throw your identity
out into the change and take yourself to be that.
Now you cannot stand and
look at Awareness as though it were a seperate object. You know
Awareness because you are that. So die to your limitations.
Return your identity to its source. Then you will know the secret
of the virgin birth. Not as some theory but as your direct and
immediate experience.
Let’s end this blog
by letting Philip explain this.
It is not possible for anyone to
see anything of the
things that actually exist, unless he becomes like
them. This is not the way with man in the world:
he sees the sun without being a sun; and he sees
the heaven and the earth and all other things, but
he is not these things. This is quite in keeping with
the truth.
But you saw so
many thing of that place and you became
those things. You saw the Spirit, you became spirit.
You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the
Father, you shall become Father.
So in this place you see everything
and do not see
yourself, but in that place you do see yourself and
what you see you shall become.
The Nag Hammadi Library, In English
© E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
That place is the place where you abide now. Find it and you will be free.
We wish everyone a happy
holiday season and we hope that you wake up to the real present,
which is right in your own heart.
Next we will talk more
about letting go of what you see. So stay tuned. You will find
more information at: www.light-up-your-life.com. If you enjoy this blog, tell your friends.
Best Wishes,
Michael