gospel of Thomas 20

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like."

He said to them, "It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."

This is what every seeker wants to know: what is it like? What is paradise like? What is the kingdom of heaven like? Tell us about it. What is enlightenment like? We haven't yet tasted it, and we want to know. We want to be told. What is it like?

And nobody can ever put it into words, not even Jesus. For the kingdom of heaven is living life, here, in the world, in our natural state – the state before words came into being; the state before thoughts and concepts overwhelmed us. We have lost touch with that natural state. And yet it remains within us as a seed, as a potential waiting to flower.

Jesus compares it to a mustard seed – the smallest of all seeds. When we begin to touch this point within us, our very essence, it feels infinitesimal, a tiny thing – the tiniest of seeds. But when we are ready, we become that tilled soil that Jesus refers to. And then that seed begins to grow. And it produces a great plant. It flowers, into our liberation. A tree is born. A vast rainforest tree comes from that tiny seed.

That is our natural state: to be vast, as vast as the ocean, as vast as existence itself. And once we come home to that place within us, once our own plant has grown fully, then of course, we have a space which becomes a shelter for others, a shelter for birds of the sky. It's a nice analogy. Birds will go and shelter in a tree. And here Jesus is comparing ourselves to such a tree. Others will come and shelter in this space.

So here, Jesus has used a beautiful little analogy: for the potential within us being like a mustard seed. That seed is the kingdom of heaven, before we have realised it. And after realisation, the kingdom of heaven becomes a great plant. But it is the same energy. The seed and the plant are one, one heaven, before and after realisation.