gospel of Thomas 23

Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one."

Here, Jesus is stating rather simply that not everyone is ready for the spiritual journey. Not everyone is ready for enlightenment. In fact, those who are ready are rather few and far between. One in a thousand or two in ten thousand – these are the estimates that Jesus gives. And probably it's somewhere in that range still, to this day.

I shall choose you, he says. What Jesus really means when he says this, is he's looking out for those who are ready. And he won't bother about the people are not ready. He cannot do anything to help them. So he is keeping an eye open, and when he sees that one in a thousand, or maybe one in five thousand, when he sees that person he chooses that person. It's not really his choice, is it? He's just noticed that person is ready. And so Jesus will share his wisdom, his teachings with that person.

But such people are few and far between. And so when Jesus says this, one out of a thousand, two out of ten thousand, it's also a challenge, isn't it? He's really saying, are you that one, that one in a thousand? Are you ready? Are you really ready to undertake your spiritual journey? Are you ready to let go of all your attachments? Are you ready to throw away your beliefs? Are you ready to discard everything that you think you are, and yet you are not?

Are you ready for all that? Because most people are not. Most people will live their entire life without ever being ready. It takes great courage. It takes great stamina, fortitude. We're going to need all the resources within us, to see the journey through. So there's no point in dabbling around, as if it's a little hobby for the season. No. If we're really intent on undertaking this journey, we have to be very clear from the start: we have to give everything that we have to the undertaking. And we will then be that one in a thousand or one in five thousand people – the ones that Jesus was looking out for two thousand years ago. And the ones that masters to this day are keeping an eye out for. Who can I help? Who? Who is ready? It is not that the masters really are choosing people. No. The choice is being made by existence. It is a case of when the fruit is ripe, then it can be picked. So Jesus was looking out for those who were ripe, ready for enlightenment.

And Jesus goes on to say, they shall stand as a single one. Usually when we use this sort of phrase, we mean people will group together in a team with a common vision, a common aim. But that's not the meaning here. When Jesus says they shall stand as a single one, it means they're going to come home to that oneness, oneness with all that is. They will no longer feel separate. They will no longer believe themselves to be in a dualistic world. The separate I will disappear. The ego will dissolve. And these lucky few will stand, in the world, still alive, and yet, in a great oneness with existence.

So, are you ready? Are you ready to be that one in a thousand?