gospel of Thomas 5

Jesus said, "Recognise what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."

This is another beautiful saying from Jesus. And it's typical of why I like the Gospel of Thomas so much, because it does not shy away from paradox. Every enlightened master is living in paradox. The truth has been seen to be paradoxical. And so the teachings convey something of the paradox.

But before enlightenment, we struggle with paradox. And we tend to steer clear of it. It's one of the reasons why the Gospel of Thomas did not make it into the Bible. It is full of paradox, as I am sure the teachings of Jesus were.

And here is another little saying from Jesus which carries something of paradox. He said, that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. This seems a little mysterious. Something is hidden from us and yet it will become plain, clear. 

And this is how it feels. With our seeking we are looking for the truth: the truth about life, about existence, and about ourself. And all this does become plain to us. But only after the seeking. And the seeking is no more than recognising that which is in sight. We look around – outside, but more importantly inside. And we see what is really there, with honesty, without pretence.

And recognising what is really there, in all its shades – the beautiful and the ugly, the light and the dark – recognising it all, admitting it all, accepting it all, opens up the space, the space within ourself. For that which had been hidden, hidden by our own illusions, our own pretences, that which had been so hidden, becomes clear. The truth is revealed to us.

Jesus said, there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest. And this is the beauty of it, the whole spiritual journey, is that paradise on earth comes to us. It is revealed. It becomes manifest. And all of this when we are receptive to it. 

And the way for that receptivity to come into being, is through recognition of what is. Whatever is, in the moment. It may be different to what was here yesterday. It may be a fleeting thing, about to disappear. But if we stay present, and honestly acknowledge what is happening for us in the moment, then this great receptivity comes. And that receptive, womb like space within us, is filled, filled to overflowing with that which had been hidden: the glory of existence, the glory of being.