gospel of Thomas 29

Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty."

In this saying, Jesus is showing us where our true wealth lies. What is really important in us? Is it the body, or is it the spirit? And it is clear that Jesus knows that the spirit is the important part, the really valuable part.

What Jesus calls the spirit, I call our essence – the core of who we are. It has nothing to do with the physical body. It has nothing to do with the thinking mind, of words and thoughts, concepts, ideas. It is much more fundamental than all of that. If you cannot relate to the word spirit, and if the essence is not meaningful to you yet, we can also use the word consciousness. But don't think of consciousness as thoughts in words. Consciousness is a much greater phenomenon than that. The thinking mind is a tiny little part of our consciousness – an almost insignificant part of who we are. And we could say the same about the physical body, once we have got back in touch with our essence.

So what is Jesus saying? If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. There's this question, isn't there: we have the physical world of the body and the spiritual world. We could say the world of consciousness if that means more to you – it's not quite the same thing, but close enough. And with Western science, consciousness is a big problem. In fact, the scientific method has nothing to say about consciousness. It is outside the domain of science. And that's the great limitation of the scientific method.

The basic rule of science is that it is objective, that is, we observe something, something on the outside of who we are. And that way, when everyone, or near enough everyone, agrees on what is being observed – when it is repeatable, verifiable – then it is called truth by Western science. It's a beautiful technique. It yields many benefits. But its domain is very limited. And it has turned everything upside down. It has made the physical world a fundamental truth, and of consciousness, all it can say is consciousness arises as a secondary phenomenon in the brain, because of electrical activity there. It's a very weak argument. On that basis, any old electrical equipment is conscious.

Anyway, Jesus says if the spirit is fundamental, and the flesh came into being because of it, then it's a wonder. Yes, my feeling is it's this way around, and it is a wonder. But of course, people who are living in the physical world like to argue that it's the other way around: the physical world is the fundamental truth. It gives us a sense of comfort. We can touch things. Everything is tangible. Everything can be understood. It's a great illusion but that's the way most people live in the world.

Jesus says, if the spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. So even if Western science is correct and the physical world is the fundamental thing, then it's an even greater wonder, that the spirit came into being. Again, if the spirit is a step too far for you, think of consciousness. It's amazing: this consciousness – which is our life – it has come into being as a secondary phenomenon because of the physical material world? It's amazing. If it's that way around, it is an even greater wonder. And Jesus puts it so aptly: Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty. 

When you come back to rest in your essence, you will know where the value of life is. You'll know for yourself, what is wealth. And all the rest is seen as poverty. Everything in the physical world is nothing compared to your essence. It's trivial. It's of no consequence at all.

And so Jesus compares the physical body to poverty, and our essence to a great wealth. This will be your feeling too, when you come home to yourself.