The Thomas Gospel is a very interesting text for studying the teachings of Jesus. As it was only discovered in 1945 in Egypt, it remains free from any censuring, as opposed to the official gospels of the Bible.
The Thomas Gospel was written during the lifetime of Jesus or shortly afterwards, presumably by the apostle Thomas. It consists of 114 sayings that are presented without particular order, probably as they have been noted down or remembered.
Surprisingly, the teachings that Jesus presents in these sayings corresponds very strongly to the overall yoga philosophy that originates with the vedic texts. There is particular correlation with the Jnana Yoga developed by Shankara, among others.
This correlation is not immediately obvious, as in many sayings the teachings are hidden in stories and riddles. That was quite usual in those times and might also have been protecting Jesus from the Pharisees and the sensitivities of the ancient Jewish people. However, upon closer study, the teachings come forward with absolute clarity.
http://users.misericordia.edu//davies/thomas/Trans.htm1 And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
2 Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"
3 Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
4 Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. (The seven day old child is yet without name, without ego, without separation.
It knows reality (the place of life), because duality has not yet set in. The answer to life (the place of life) lies in the living, in the pure being (will live). So, many of those who believe that they are ahead of others, older, wiser (the first), will find themselves behind (the last), because they have lost the innocent, carefree, trusting attitude of the newborn.
Yet first and last are temporary illusions, just characters in a play where all is well that ends well, as all are one and the same and all originate from the One and will return to the One (will become a single one).)
For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."
18 The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come?"
Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is.
Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."
22 Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom."
They said to him, "Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies?"
Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."
(Like nr. 4 referring to the egoless nature of a baby. Also, the image comes forward of the ones that achieve enlightenment being those that drink the knowledge that is offered (Jesus saw some babies nursing). The nipple is there, the milk is there, the mouth is there, the only thing that ever gives trouble is that baby not wanting to drink.
Enlightenment (the Father's Kingdom) means to stop discriminating, embracing absolute union (two/one, inner/outer, male/female,.). It also means to fully understand that all that we perceive is created by us, fashioned by us, that a hand is no hand except through us, a foot no foot, a likeness no likeness.
For the baby, there is no difference between the experiencing, the one who experiences and that which is experienced. There is no image without the perceiver, which as such is the imaginator or creator. All creation is imagination. When that is perfectly clear, then everything will be seen as entirely dependent on the self, the Supreme - rather than the opposite - and the deepest peace will manifest (you will enter the Kingdom).)
