Mysticism & Gospel of Thomas – No. 53 – Clearing of the Being

Verse - Clearing of the Being

His disciples asked him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He said to them, "If it were useful, the father would have caused the child to be born circumcised. But true circumcision in the spirit is of full benefit."

Comment

Like the corresponding words of the Sermon on the Mount, this word rejects all customs and rituals that are only carried out externally, washing and eating rules, fasting and other things, and makes it clear that symbolic, spiritual instructions, if taken literally, are misunderstood in a way that is contrary to nature and the spirit. Paul referred to the same word of the Lord:

This is not a circumcision that takes place externally on the flesh, but rather that which is carried out in the spirit.

As Moses already understood correctly, this means the circumcision of the heart: the radical elimination of bad thoughts and attitudes, similar to the pruning and thinning of fruit trees, the clearing of the being, its liberation from everything that is not in keeping with it, as a prerequisite for proper progress on the path inward.