Apech

good points ... I think that only those who are willing to post specially written material and subject themselves to questions would be allowed ... so spam would be a no-no ... and we already have plenty of self promoters and spam as it is ...

Hardly anyone looks at articles posted in ppfs ... if people are going to go to the trouble of writing them then they want to get some interest.

Hi, These are excellent a doable ideas ... I have a blog where I put my pdf articles and also post them on TBs usually in my ppf. Its usually info on Ancient Egyptian Religion. My reservation(s) about this in the sense of filling the current hole of posting detailed and informative subject matter is the lack of any Q&A (except perhaps in the ppf - but then its not publicly searchable). I've posted threads in Hermetic on Egyptian symbolism and so on which allowed questions and also I am managing to sustain a thread on the Gospel on Thomas as a verse by verse discussion. But I only think this is working because Hermetic is a minority channel and I as steward have kept on top by asking people not to post anything too tangential ... most people are responsive to this and I haven't had to do much except hide one post which the mods agreed was basically spam. Had I tried to do this in general dis. then it would have been hopeless and the level playing field would have prevented me doing anything about the 'christianity is a load of puke' brigade. The other reservation about your ideas is it takes off board the good content. I would like to see TBs have a resource of useful, high level but accessible information about the various schools and practices available. I would like to see it organised in a way that people can easily search it and interrogate it. I suppose this could be a linked but separate board ... but I really don't see why we can't have our cake and eat it on this one. I know you don't agree Trunk but I just thought I'd give my 2p. (2c.)

yes I've heard of bitcoin.

That's why they called him Buzz ... maybe.

there's a yin qi controversy raging across TBs and you guys are discussing the moon landings ...

I believe in Cod.

I googled and I found this: http://thetaobums.com/topic/13432-how-to-gather-yin-chi/?p=173792

Listening to that is fairly convincing to me that he did meet someone and that at the stage of the recording he had stepped back from this knowledge as it was too much for him. His later works are really reinterpretations by him of the message he was given ... and become increasingly elaborated and perhaps more and more invented ... but I have to say everything up to the Eagles Gift is extraordinary and inspiring (and as far as my knowledge goes completely accurate). Later books also are good I'm not discounting them but I think he began to invent a little too much by then ....

Moving on ... or moving back (?)

I like the alternate translations and transliterations ... can you give links as resource for others please.

I really wish I understood what this is about.

nah!

... maybe he needs to branch out a little ....

puzzle

squiggle.

Its Koine Greek presumably. The lingua franca of the ancient middle east/Roman Empire.

I loved Castaneda's books and read the with complete involvement and acceptance - because what he said rang so true to me. By the time of Magical Passes I was quite pissed off with what he had done - which I thought very commercial and disrespectful to his audience. By the time of his death I was less keen. However I would say, made up or not, the ideas are so powerful that there has to be some kind of truth behind the words. I'm glad I was so open at the beginning because if I had read them with a skeptical view I think I would have missed a lot. I also feel that he did meet someone who taught him something - just an instinctive thing really.

16) Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary." This is how I have been taught to interpret this passage (or ones like it). Jesus as the embodiment of the Messiah function is inheriting an ancient tradition of Hermes/Mercury/Thoth etc. in that wisdom, understanding, communication bring peace and reconciliation to a given situation. As in Christ = Prince of peace. So one would think that Jesus was incarnated to bring peace on earth. However here he is talking about the World … which literally means the 'whirled' that is the spinning process of the created universe … The World is the environment in which we are cast to learn lessons. So Jesus says that he is casting fire (spiritual energy), sword (the word of truth) and war (the struggle of forces against one another) into the World. That means he is upping the intensity of the learning process for the benefit of beings with the world. The house is 'being' - which could mean the universe or a single entity like you and me. In this house there are five. These are the different aspects or levels of being. Namely, the physical body, the affective like/dislike pleasure/pain level, the serial counting mind, the conceptual level and will or initiative. Two of these battle the other three. This, in an individual would mean that will or intention and governing concepts battle with the serial mentation (stream of scattered thoughts), like and dislike and physical inertia. So our best intentions to do good which arise from our will and our ideas on what is right and true are in a struggle with the habitual tendencies in our thoughts, feelings and our physical body inertia. As a being we are the 'son' while the power which made us and determines our fate is the Father. We find in life a tension between our private purpose as individuals and 'life' or the will of God. We struggle along to come to terms with this through acceptance and understanding of the 'bigger picture' or perhaps the greater good which seems on the face of it to be against us. Solitary … well this could mean Sol - itary … like the sun, that is a unified being. So they, meaning the parts involved in the struggle will 'stand' that is come to resolution through unity … and being alone = All one … (see Plotinus).

@goatguy interesting but why do you use expression like silly riddle or childish riddle for the idea of hidden deeper meaning in the text?

... and now for something jolly ...

***** Steward Missive **** I am trying to keep this thread for discussing the Gospel of Thomas verse by verse. I appreciate that there a views regarding the provenance and authenticity of this and other apocryphal works. But what we are doing is taking it as a text and discussing it verse by verse. Compare this to discussing the content of the TTC say, without debating whether there was such a person as Lao Tzu and when and where he lived and so on. Feel free to start another thread on the Bible and its content and excluded texts - but can we keep this for discussion of the latest verse please. *** Apech as Steward of Hermetic Subforum ***

Hi, This thread is for discussing verse by verse the Gospel of Thomas. Please could you start a new thread for comments like this. Thank you. A.