Gospel of Thomas , coda 7

Gospel of Thomas, coda 7

“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is a lion that a man eats, because the lion will become human.  Cursed is a man that a lion eats, because that lion will become human.’”

This coda doesn’t read like one would like it.  Logic dictates that coda 7b should read “Cursed is the man that a lion eats, because that man will become a lion.” 

What happens when a person eats an animal?  That person incorporates the meat of that animal into the human body.   That’s in the physical sense.   The lion in this case represents ignorance, evil, and the physical, animal nature.   When the human person devours the lion he transforms ignorance, evil, and animal nature into awareness, goodness, and spirituality.   In the process the person overcomes ignorance, evil, and animal nature.  When the lion devours the human, ignorance, evil, and animal nature overtake the person and turn him into something less than human.

This coda implies that it is possible for the person to obtain mastery over ignorance, evil, and animal nature.  Awareness, goodness, and higher nature are obtainable.  At the same time it is possible to give in to ignorance, evil, and animal nature.  There is a process to obtaining this mastery.  One’s ignorance has to be acknowledged.  One’s predilection for evil has to be faced.  One’s animal nature, instincts and desires must be owned, and then bridled and tamed.  The digestive metaphor is a good one because digestion breaks down food which is integrated into the body systems and becomes part of that body system. 

Given that one’s conscience is well formed, an increase in awareness naturally leads to an increase in goodness which produces a more refined or godly nature.

Most spiritual systems, oriental or occidental, east or west, postulate that while physical, psychological, and spiritual development occur continuously, birth through death, physical development figures more earlier in life, then moral development figures more, and then on the foundation of the mores formed, the spiritual enters prominently in the foreground.    It is unfortunate when one’s development stays merely physical.   Then one wants their physical needs met, for food, sex, survival, and safety.  The development of the psychological, ethical, and moral person is an advance.  However, many people never proceed beyond this psychological and moral level.   They develop codes to live by and seek to apply them as rules for living.  They are bothered by what seems to be the relative morality of those who see gray where they see black and white when it comes to ethical issues.   They never become spiritually, aware and free.  They never see the spectrum of color in the gray that spans between black and white.  

The person who eats the lion and fully integrates the lion into his humanity emanates this full-spectrum light.  Such a person is truly a being of light.  The person who is eaten by the lion is dark or without light.  He is unconscious, living a stimulus-response and primitive-instinctual life, rather than conscious, living a responsible, self-aware-choice life.