gospel of Thomas 48

Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move Away,' and it will move away."

I'm rather curious as to the context in which Jesus said these words. It may be that he was simply trying to bring peace amongst quarrelling neighbours. For when we humans expend our energy fighting with one another, we achieve nothing. Our energy is wasted. Everything becomes destructive.

And yet when we are at peace with one another, we can achieve great things. We can work together. We can build. We can construct, create.

So it may be that Jesus was simply reminding some human beings to live in peace with one another.

But when I see these words, two make peace with each other in this one house, it brings to my mind a deeper, more mystical meaning.

A great part of the spiritual journey is to do with going beyond duality; seeing opposite pairs to be no more than two sides of one coin; to see the inherent unity in opposites; and ultimately, to drop the feeling of separation – the feeling of separation between outward things, but also the feeling of separation between oneself and the rest of existence: that great duality of me and not me.

These are also two who can make peace with each other in this one house. And when this peace is made, when this duality is transcended, when one no longer feels oneself to be separate from all that is, then a great relief comes to the being. And all that energy – which had hitherto been consumed in maintaining the feeling of separation – all that energy is freed up for greater things. And the feeling comes that anything is achievable. Nothing is impossible. There is the feeling that one could move mountains.

So when I read these words by Jesus, this is what they remind me of. If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, ‘move away,’ and it will move away. So it is when we have gone beyond duality. Nothing is impossible then.