gospel of Thomas 17

Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."

Here Jesus is using the language of the mystics, and the language of the Zen masters. Here we can see that spirituality transcends all these different religions and traditions. Here, Jesus is touching the mystery of life.

And he says he'll give it to you: what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched. Our essence is not available to the senses. The senses are for the outer world, the manifest world, the things around us. And our spiritual journey is to the innermost part of our being, to our very essence.

And it has never occurred to the human mind. This is so beautiful. We live so much of our life in the mind, with thoughts, with words, with concepts. Jesus says, what he has to offer has never occurred to the human mind. It is not of the mind. It is not accessible to the mind. It cannot be imagined by the mind. It cannot be captured in words, in thoughts. It cannot even be conveyed that way – merely hinted at, pointed at.

Jesus, like all the masters, is arousing our curiosity. He is luring us, tempting us, seducing us, into looking inside ourself. To exploring for ourself, until we come upon the truth, the truth that is deep within us. This is what Jesus is doing here. He's saying, there is something, there is a gift, a gemstone, something which you cannot even imagine with your mind. It has never occurred to the human mind.

And Jesus is going to give it to you. That's not strictly true. It's already yours. It's already in you. But you haven't seen it perhaps. You haven't rediscovered it. You haven't acknowledged it. Your energy has not yet come home. And Jesus can help you come home. Jesus, like any of the other masters, is pouring his whole energy into helping you come back to that place within yourself which is untouched by the ups and downs of life, by the whirl of activity that is all around; that knows nothing of birth and death; that is not troubled in any way by anything. This is what Jesus is helping us to find.

And in this simple little saying, he is giving us this great clue. Don't worry about looking outside with the senses. That's not the way you're going to find it. And don't worry about what's going on in your mind. For the human mind has never touched this place. Your enlightenment is nothing to do with your thoughts. It is in a different realm altogether.

So here Jesus is really telling us where not to look. Don't worry about the senses or the thoughts. These are not the places where you will find the gift, the gift of your true nature, your essential self.