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The Gospel of Judas
ajani_mgo
Veteran
Amazing text...
So would anyone like to share their views on this?
So would anyone like to share their views on this?
0
Comments
Since I've been renewed my practice of Buddhism since last Fall, as this gospel has come to light I did a little snooping (read: procrastinating) and found some key tenants of gnosticism, some of which sound very 'Buddhist':
1. The Gnostics posited an original spiritual unity that came to be split into a plurality.
As a result of the precosmic division the universe was created. This was done by a leader possessing inferior spiritual powers and who often resembled the Old Testament Jehovah.
2. A female emanation of God was involved in the cosmic creation (albeit in a much more positive role than the leader).
3. In the cosmos, space and time have a malevolent character and may be personified as demonic beings separating people from God.
4. In the cosmos, space and time have a malevolent character and may be personified as demonic beings separating people from God.
5. For man, the universe is a vast prison. He is enslaved both by the physical laws of nature and by such moral laws as the Mosaic code.
6. Personkind may be personified as Adam, who lies in the deep sleep of ignorance, his powers of spiritual self-awareness stupefied by materiality.
7. Within each natural person is an "inner person," a fallen spark of the divine substance. Since this exists in each person, we have the possibility of awakening from our stupefaction.
8. What effects the awakening is not obedience, faith, or good works, but knowledge.
9. Before the awakening, we all undergo troubled dreams.
10. Man does not attain the knowledge that awakens him from these dreams by cognition but through revelatory experience, and this knowledge is not information but a modification of the sensate being.
11. The awakening (i.e., the salvation) of any individual is a cosmic event.
12. Since the effort is to restore the wholeness and unity of the Godhead, active rebellion against the moral law of the Old Testament is enjoined upon everyone.
This list is courtesy What is a Gnostic?
What struck me in particular is the notion that gnosticism also values "waking up" from the delusion...
Peace
"Let any one of you who is strong enough among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face."
means kinda alot to me. It seems to be what I feel Jesus actually thought (Now I'm a Gnostic!)
Goodstuff, QZ. Just out of curiosity, were 3 & 4 supposed to be the same? Sorry I'm such a stickler.
A few comments:
2) I believe the feminine here is Sophia (or Wisdom) and that there is language in the original Hebrew rendering of Genesis which might indicate this.
6) Adam Kadmon is a similar concept in Kabalah which represents Primordial Man (Adam) and pure awareness. It is associated with Ayin or no-thing-ness which is associated with Keter, the highest sefirot (emanation aspect) of God in Lurianic Kabalah.
7) This also has parallels in Kabalah.
8) I think knowledge here refers to 'gnosis' rather than anything intellectual.
In regards to this statement:
I think this could be interpreted in a way that means we each must bring out our own (innate) inner perfection (or inner Christ) in order to stand before the Ultimate. This could have a parallel with the idea of buddhadhatu (buddha nature).
Anyway, it's time for me to go home. Talk to you later.
_/\_
metta
As for Ajani:
This sounds curiously to me like the "those of you who are innoscent cast the first stone" incident when the crowd of people were going to stone someone--a woman adulterer perhaps--when Jesus came on the scene and shamed all the rabble with their stones. It seems to me that it's a challenge for us to make ourselves into perfect humans. But I haven't read the book, nor do I know the context.
Re: Jesus' words, there is a cool book available online for free download that excerpts all of JC's words from the synoptic gospels. They cut away all the story and just let the words float--pretty cool really. Unfortunately, it's rendered from King James, not the most accurate not easy to understand, but nice & flowery. I think it's here. Scroll all the way down. You can download all or just selected chapters.
Peace
I bought the official book by NGC The Gospel of Judas yesterday! WOOHOO!!!
And yes, not1not2, why didn't I think of that? In a way I agree with you! :rockon:
Have you yet come across the Gospel of Thomas?
They could.
Indeed, the whole Jesus story may be a parable pointing solely to the fact of gnosis as a reality for all humans.
this time I'm not joking...
regards.
Xrayman
n.
1. An object, such as the style of a sundial, that projects a shadow used as an indicator.
2. The geometric figure that remains after a parallelogram has been removed from a similar but larger parallelogram with which it shares a corner.
[Latin gnmn, from Greek, interpreter, pointer of a sundial, from gignskein, to know. See gn- in Indo-European Roots.]
Gnos·tic Audio pronunciation of "Gnostic" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nstk)
adj.
1. gnostic Of, relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge.
2. Of or relating to Gnosticism.
n.
A believer in Gnosticism.
[Late Latin Gnsticus, a Gnostic, from Late Greek Gnstikos, from Greek gnstikos, concerning knowledge, from gnsis, knowledge.
There may well be a link, as someone who points the way with their know-how.....?
The Indo-Eurpean root word is g^n (I'm not sure of the signs used). We find it in ken, knowledge,etc.
You know how you have really hardened criminals, not a good bone in their bodies, who perpetrate the most heinous crimes...But somehow, their mothers still think the sun shines out from their deepest darkest depths....?
I can only hypothesise, but I figure something like that happened here....
"No, really, he is such a good boy, he phones me every week...brings me flowers and chocolates....he's just very misunderstood....He and JC were 'like that' (cross fingers together), you know, really, he was JC's closest friend and confidant...."
His mamma probably wrote to a relative, and the relative told someone else, and that got passed on... and so, the chinese whispers grew.....
Bit tongue-in-cheek, but then again, who knows....? :wtf: :tonguec:
Found an article on it here you might be interested to have a gander at....!
Thus have I heard, that, on the night after Jesus was buried and all the disciples ran away, Mary the Mother of Jesus went.......to visit Judas' mother because they had both lost their sons.
Brigid
Maybe these texts will reveal all... *deep sigh*! :poke:
PMPL!!
Apparently, the epithet 'iscariot' is most likely a mistranslation. Some of the Essene texts refer to Judas as Judas Siccarius. A siccarius was a type of long-bladed dagger, somewhat like a stilletto, and the inference of the name suggests it was synonymous with 'assassin', showing Judas' association with the events leading to Christs' demise. Another one that always fascinates me is that Jesus is referred to as the Nazarene- (From Nazareth), but according to historical records, Nazareth wasn't built until some 300 years after Christs' time. The likeliest explanation is that it's another mistranslation- this time of the word 'Nazarean'. The Nazareans were a subsect of the Essenes that were prevalent at the time of Christ, so they are the most likely candidates for this explanation.
Anyway, digressing a little, since Nirvana is a mind-state, does anyone want to speculate about the neurocognitive structure of an enlightened mind? :P
I speculate that the cerebullum cortex would have to be pernamently deactivated and the limbic system would be pernamently releasing endomorphines, as the mind finally connects the neurons involved in "EVERYTHING" of Life to "Happiness", a really difficult thing to do since fears and many other external events may hinder with this linkage. But once the mind is "enlightened", this linkage is self-repetitive as the endomorphines keep on being released as it is fired and firing by these neurons again and again and again. Of course, compassion and empathy is still felt through the usual means of memes.