Gospel of Thomas: Logion 21

Miriam said,

"Then tell us, Master, what your students are like.

How would you describe them?"

He answered,

"They are like small children

living in a field not their own.

When the landlords return and demand,

'Give us back our field!'

the children return it by simply stripping themselves

and standing naked before them.

So then, I must also tell you this:

If a householder knows for sure

that thieves are coming to steal his goods,

he will keep careful watch before they get there

to prevent them from tunneling in and taking his possessions.

You too, from your beginnings,

must keep a watchful eye on the cosmos,

binding great power to yourselves

so that thieves cannot find a way to get to you.

Pay attention then.

Any outside help you look for they will try to seize first.

May there be someone among you who truly understands this.

So listen carefully, if you have an ear for this!

When the fruit was ripe, ready to burst,

the harvester came quickly, sickle in hand, and took it.

Gospel of Thomas: Logion 20

His students said to him,

"Tell us about this kingdom of yours in the heavens.

What is it like?"

Yeshua answered them,

"Let me compare it to a mustard seed,

the smallest of all seeds.

When it falls into prepared ground,

it grows into a great tree

capable of sheltering the birds of the sky."

Gospel of Thomas: Logion 19

Yeshua says...

Blessed are all who come to live

at the point of arising--

their "genesis,"

before they came into temporality.

If you become my students,

listening deeply to my words,

even these stones will serve you.

And in paradise five evergreen trees await you.

They do not change in summer

nor shed their leaves in winter.

If you come to know them,

you will not know the taste of death.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 18

His students said to him,

So, tell us, then,

what our end

and destiny will be?

Yeshua answered,

“Have you already discovered your origin

so that you are now free to seek after your end?

It is only at your source

that you will find your destiny.

Blessed are those who come to stand

in their place of origination,

for it is there that they will know their end—

never tasting death.”

Gospel of Thomas: Logion 17

Yeshua says,

What your own eyes cannot see,

your human ears do not hear,

your physical hands cannot touch,

and what is inconceivable to the human mind—

that I will give to you!

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 16

Yeshua says,

Some of you are thinking perhaps

that I have come into the cosmos

to bring it peace.

No! You do not yet realize that I have come

to throw it into utter chaos

through burning, blade, and battle.

Five will be living in one household.

Three will face off against two, and two against three.

Parents will rise up against children,

and children against their parents,

until at last they shall stand as one on their own feet.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 15

Yeshua says,

When the time comes

and you are able

to look upon the Unborn One,

fall prostrate in worship,

for you have found your own true Father,

(your Source and Origin at last).

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 14

Yeshua says...

If you fast
you will only be giving birth to sin in yourself.
If you pray,
your prayers will come back to haunt you.
If you give to charity,
you will create evil within your own spirit.

If, however, you travel through a region
and they welcome you,
eat whatever is put in front of you,
and heal their sick.
For it is not what goes into your mouth which contaminates you,
but what comes out of it.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 13

Yeshua asked his students,

Tell me, then, who am I like?

To whom will you compare me?

Simon Peter said, “You are like a just angel.”

Matthew said, “You are a philosopher of wisdom.”

Thomas said, “Master, I cannot find words

to express who you really are.”

Yeshua said, “Thomas, it is no longer necessary

for me to be your Master, for you are drinking

from the gushing spring I have opened for you,

and you have become intoxicated.”

Then Yeshua took Thomas aside

and spoke three sayings to him in private.

When Thomas returned to the company of his companions

they, of course, asked him,

“What did Yeshua say to you?”

“If I were to tell you

even one of the things he spoke to me,” Thomas replied,

“you would pick up these rocks and stone me,

and then fire would blaze out of them and burn you.”

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 11

Yeshua says,

The sky and all that lies

in the dimensions above it

will cease to exist.

The dead know nothing of life,

and the living will never die.

When you consume that which is already dead,

you are turning it back into life.

So, then, when you too re-emerge into the Light,

what will you do?

For on the day when you were created one,

you also became two,

but when you come to realize your twoness again,

what will you do?

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 12

His students said,

We know we cannot hold on to you

so who will lead us then?

Yeshua said,

“Wherever it is that you find yourselves,

turn to James, one of the Just

for whom heaven and earth

have come into being.”

(Note: This image originally published as Psalm 6)

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 10

Yeshua says,

See, I have sown fire into the cosmos,

and I shall guard it carefully

until it blazes.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 9

Yeshua says,

A farmer went out to plant,

scattering seed everywhere.

Some fell on the surface of the road.

Birds came and ate it.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground

and could not take root in the earth,

or send grain heavenward,

and so never germinated.

Still other seed fell among weeds and brambles

which choked it out, and insects devoured it.

Some, however, fell onto fertile soil

which produced fruit of high quality

yielding as much as sixty and

one-hundred and twenty percent.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 6

His students asked him,

Do you want us to fast?

How shall we pray?

Should we give offerings?

From what foods must we abstain?

Yeshua answered,

“Stop lying.

Do not do what you hate,

because everything here lies open before heaven.

Nothing hidden will remain secret,

for the veil will be stripped away

from what lies concealed behind it.”

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 4

Yeshua says,

A person of advanced age must go immediately

and ask an infant born just seven days

about life’s source.

Such asking leads to life

when what is first becomes last.

United they become a single whole.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 5

Yeshua says,

Come to know the One

in the presence before you,

and everything hidden

from you will be revealed.

For there is nothing concealed

that will not be revealed,

and nothing buried that will not be raised.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 3

Yeshua says,

If your spiritual guides say to you,

“Look, the Divine Realm is in the sky,”

well then the birds will get there ahead of you.

If they say, “It is in the sea,” then the fish

will precede you.

No, Divine Reality exists inside and all around you.

Only when you have come to know your true Self

will you be fully known—

realizing at last that you are a child of the Living One.

If however you never come to know who you truly are,

you are a poverty-stricken being,

and it is your “self”which lies impoverished.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 1

I who write this am Thomas, the Double, the Twin.
Yeshua, the Living Master spoke,
and his secret sayings I have written down.

I assure you, whoever grasps their meaning
will not know the taste of death.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 2

Yeshua says...

If you are searching, you must not stop until you find.
When you find, however, you will become troubled.
Your confusion will give way to wonder.
In wonder you will reign over all things.
Your sovereignty will be your rest.

The Gospel of Thomas: Logion 8

Yeshua says...

A true human being
can be compared to a wise fisherman
who casts his net into the sea
and draws it up from below full of small fish.
Hidden among them
is one large, exceptional fish
which he seizes immediately,
throwing back all the rest without a second thought.
Whoever has ears let them understand this.