Mysticism & Gospel of Thomas – No. 70 – The Three Worlds

Vers - The Three Worlds

Jesus said, "If you cultivate what is in you, what you have will save you. But if you do not have it in you, what you do not have in you will kill you."

Comment

With these paradoxical-sounding words, the seeker of light is faced with the decision of either relying on his divine self as his only real possession and being saved from ignorance, transience and bondage to suffering - or, in ignorance of his self, relying on his ego, which he does not really possess because it belongs to him only temporarily, but not essentially, in order to die with it. This distinction between the outer and inner man, between the outer world and the inner world, is only the beginning.

On closer inspection, the inner world turns out to be twofold, so that we recognize ourselves in three worlds at once: in the world of appearance, the world of the senses, things and conditions, in the world of truth, in which we are more human than in the outer world and from which we essentially live and draw our strength, and in the world of God, which encompasses the other two and to which we belong through our divine self, Christ within us. A deeper look reveals that these three realms are not separate and independent from each other, but rather interpenetrate each other. Only the unawakened see separation where in truth there is unity.