A Different Self
The Gospel of Thomas encourages us to know ourselves in a different way.
V3 We live in poverty
V3 is a Master Verse that sets the tone for what is to come. We are told that if we do not know ourselves then 'we shall live in poverty' and, worse still, 'we are that poverty'. This is evocative stuff. The idea that our inner world is a place of poverty is not something we would necessarily identify with but it is uniquely insightful. Is it conceivable that our moderrn-day epidemic of mental health issues arise from not knowing who and what we are?
To come to know oneself has a very specific meaning in the Gospel of Thomas. It is more usefully referenced as as a 'transformation of our knowing'. In Thomas Jesus references the Unitive Experience, a deep awareness that we are each integrally part of an undivided whole. It is in this realisation of our larger identity that we finally recognise the subtler aspects of our presence here and our inherent connectivity to everything that is not us.
