Happiness and Joyousness
Happiness
is one of the themes Jesus speaks of most often in the Gospel
of Thomas. Only knowing and finding occur more often. The theme
of happiness comes in ten of the sayings, which are scattered
throughout the Gospel. What it must imply is that as Jesus and
his disciples travelled around during his ministry, this must
have been a frequently recurring theme. It may be unexpected
that Jesus spoke of it so often—but there are many aspects
of the Gospel of Thomas that come as a surprise to us.
Actually
'happiness' is not an adequate word for what is meant, for it
can be confused with jollity or even excitement. Joyousness is
perhaps better, and blessedness or bliss also contribute to the
right idea. Even so, none of these words can be taken on their
own. As so often happens in the Gospel of Thomas these words are
symbols, or pointers to something more profound than any one of
them can communicate.
Even so, happiness and to be happy in English may not immediately
carry the intended meaning. It is not so much merriment as joy
or bliss, associated with a profound contentment that leads to
a repose. It does not appear so much as laughter (although it
may come as a great challenge to us to visualize Jesus laughing
with his disciples) but as a poise and radiance. It is derived
not from a response to external events but from a condition or
state of being within. It may be regarded as a flowering of the
Self, so that any of the sayings 'Happy is he who does so-and-so'
is a pointer towards coming to an awareness of what lies within.
When
the Teachings in the Gospel of Thomas are truly mastered it will
be found that the source of this Real Happiness lies within us.
It does not come from anything outside, it does not have to be given
us, it does not have to be made, we do not have to make it, we only
need to become aware of it
Essays
- Hidden & Clues
The Gospel of Thomas starts with 'These are the hidden logia'.
Admittedly this not said by Jesus, nevertheless the key-word is one used
frequently by him, therefore it behoves us to recognize
the intended meaning and its implications. It turns out that
it may be one of the words of the lost language of parables that
carries a distinctive meaning.
- Coherence
In 'Jesus untouched by the Church' the description of an experiment of sorting cards to make groups
of sayings with like-for-like meanings, it is written "it was discovered
that a coherent set of spiritual Teachings were revealed"
- Searching
Gospel of Thomas is for people who are searching—searching
for inner peace, tranquillity, timeless certainties, happiness and
joyousness in this life, in the here and now. It is for those who
at some time in their lives even if not now search for answers to
mankind's most fundamental questions "From whence did I come? To
where will I go?" It may even go some way to give solace to those
who search for release from suffering—the greatest scourge
of mankind.
- Stone
Maurice Nicoll, one of the great spiritual teachers of the West
during our times, writes in his book 'The New Man' (1950) "All sacred
writings contain an outer and an inner meaning. Behind the literal
words lies another range of meaning, another form of knowledge.
According to an old-age tradition, Man was once in touch with this
inner knowledge and inner meaning"
- Monakhos
There are three significant words in Thomas that have come down
to us in untranslated Greek. We cannot tell whether they were originally
spoken in Aramaic, but by their very nature that seems unlikely.
Therefore they were spoken by Jesus in Greek, and it means that
when he used them he was speaking to the Hellenists. Thomas did
not have to translate them, they were not translated into Coptic,
and they cannot be translated into English. All we can do is to
try to grasp the meanings that Jesus intended.
- Metanoia
This is another Greek word used by Jesus that has come down
to us without ever having been translated is Métanoïa. Nor, like
the other two, can it be adequately translated into English.
We just have to try to seek out the meaning Jesus intended.
- Makarios
Another of our untranslated and untranslatable Greek words
in Thomas is makarios. It is used in the beatitudes of the N.T. Gospels, where
it is almost always rendered as 'blessed'. This rendering of the
word can be very misleading, for it can be confused with 'blest',
an entirely different word. The difference lies in the person concerned.
A state of blessedness exists within a person; being blest involves
another person outside oneself.
- Empty Desert
In our little island in a temperate climate we can have no real
awareness of an empty, uninhabited desert. Wherever you are a
person or house is likely to be seen. Whichever way you look
there will be trees and beyond them some hills will arise. But
even though the climate of Palestine was more temperate in Jesus'
time, he and all his listeners must have been fully aware of
the desert around them and deeply aware of its emptiness.
- Knowing not Belief
Here is a typical Teaching that was discovered in the Gospel. In 'Jesus untouched by the Church' the sayings
that are relevant to this particular Teaching are grouped together,
without being in any way altered. These are typeset to show they are our words, not those of Jesus.
They are merely to prompt the reader's understanding, but it is for the
reader to discern the real significance of the Teaching.
- Happiness and Joyousness
Happiness is one of the themes Jesus speaks of most often in the Gospel
of Thomas. Only knowing and finding occur more often. The theme of happiness
comes in ten of the sayings, which are scattered
throughout the Gospel. What it must imply is that as Jesus and
his disciples travelled around during his ministry, this must
have been a frequently recurring theme. It may be unexpected
that Jesus spoke of it so often—but there are many aspects
of the Gospel of Thomas that come as a surprise to us.
