gospel of Thomas 69

Jesus said, "Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have truly come to know the father. Blessed are the hungry, for the belly of him who desires will be filled."

I have a sinking feeling when I read teachings that seem to be encouraging us to suffer. It is words such as these that led Christianity to be the most morbid religion ever. It became miserable for centuries, weighing down people. And I don't think Jesus has helped much with this saying.

Blessed are those who are persecuted within themselves. He's talking about the way we judge ourselves, the way our superego comes in and attacks us, whenever we happen to be enjoying ourself, or allowing ourselves to live in an uninhibited way. This sort of thing has crippled humanity for far too long. And it's time we threw away and tore up teachings like this.

Certainly our suffering can help us to discover the truth, to get to the core of who we are. It is often the impetus that pushes us into the spiritual journey in the first place – suffering. But let's not put it on too high a pedestal. It may have a role to play, to give us some incentive to seek, to search for the truth. But then, having started on the journey, we can let go of that incentive. We don't have to cling to our persecution, our self-judgements, our self-hatred, the loathing within us. It's ugly, horrible, and unnecessary. We should drop it all. We can still know God without all that.

So I disagree with Jesus in the first part of this saying. In the second part he says those who are hungry are blessed because their bellies will be filled. And it's true: if you have a hunger for the truth, if the flame of your spirituality is wanting to grow within you, then you are lucky. Because once we start to bring our energy to that side of our life, certainly we will be filled: with light, with truth, with beauty.

So here I tend to agree with Jesus. Those who are searching, seeking, are fortunate. And many of them, in time, will come home to who they really are, and dwell once more in the essence of all that is. These are the people I call the lucky ones... The lucky ones.