gospel of Thomas 89

Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not realise that he who made the inside is the same one who made the outside?"

Ordinarily, most people are living in two worlds – at least that's their feeling for life. There is the outside world, which is a shared space, where interactions happen with other people and the world around. And then there is the inner world: a private world, which seems inaccessible to anyone else.

And of these two spaces, the one where we spend most time is actually that inner world: our memories; our hopes and desires for the future; our fantasies; all the worries and concerns we have; and all those little secrets that we dwell on and don't want to share with others. For most, there's a huge complex web of stories in this inner world.

And yet, when it comes to action, we tend to focus always on the outer world. That is where the problem is. That is where things need to change. And this is what Jesus means when he says, why do you wash the outside of the cup? Why do we put so much effort into changing things on the outside, when we haven't done our homework? We haven't cleaned up the inside. And whilst the inside is in such a mess, the outside will always appear to be in a mess too.

For actually what we see on the outside is but a projection of things on the inside – things that we have not yet fully acknowledged. So the real work, the real work is to clean the inside of the cup. We need to look inside ourself. We need to acknowledge that mess, that chaos of the inner world, and start to sort it out.

We can overcome those traumas of the past. We can get that energy out of our system. We can become more integrated on the inside. And with that integration, there will be a feeling of being clean – once we have dropped our self judgements; once we have accepted what is there within us; once we have looked into our shadow, and acknowledged its existence: all those dark little secrets that we are ashamed of. All of this needs to come into the light.

And then, then when we have cleaned the inside of the cup, then we will be in a position to interact with the outside in a healthy way. But already the outside will be looking clean to us. For those projections can no longer take place.

I very much like this saying of Jesus. For it also reminds me that we are cups. Each of us is a vessel. And actually, our work on the spiritual path is to empty ourself – over and over again, every day, every moment, become empty; become clean on the inside. For in that emptiness, we are filled: we are filled with the moment; we are filled with life; we are filled with spirit. But if we are already full up with our own dramas, our own stories and anxieties, then there is no space left, and we cannot be filled by existence in the same way.

Jesus also says, that he who made the inside is the same as he who made the outside. And we should always remember this: that which we consider to be private, personal, our own inner world, has come from existence too. It has come from the same source as the outer, manifest world that we see around us. And because they both come from the same source, they are not two separate worlds. They are but one world. It is only our mind that makes this division between the inner and the outer.

And when, when we have cleaned the inside of the cup, we will feel it this way: the inner and the outer, undivided; one space, one world, one life.