Sermon 12--Philip 10

Sermon 12--Philip 10

Call to Worship:

Galatians 3:28

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

John 17:21

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Several weeks ago, in Philip 4, we studied this section from Verse 23 of The Gospel of Philip:

“23. There are people who are afraid of rising naked.

This is because they want to rise in the flesh. Yet they do not understand that those who wear the flesh are naked

(before spirits and God). But those who undress themselves (of the flesh) in order to become naked (i.e. “naked” souls) — they are not naked anymore.

Neither flesh nor blood can enter the Abode of God.

So, what is that which will not enter? It is that which is on us. And what is that which will enter? It is that which belongs to Jesus and to His Blood.”

Remember that The Gospel of Philip has a lot to do with ceremony, especially the rite of baptism. The water of baptism is often referred to as a “flow”. Thus, we also read this passage, from the same section, which refers to baptism as robing oneself in the flow and fire:

“But in the Kingdom of Heaven, the garments of the chosen are on Those Who robed themselves in the Flow and Fire, on Those Who purified Themselves.”

Last week we heard:

“There is water in water, there is fire in chrism,”

The pairing of water and chrism is one more example of the way Philip constantly makes reference to higher and lower consciousness states; the flow of water represents the terrestrial level of baptism, and the spiritual fire of chrism (the act of anointing) represents the higher consciousness level of baptism, the level necessary for entry into the bridal chamber.

Today’s selection begins with more about being spiritually naked during the rite of baptism:

“101 Therefore, when he is about to go down into the water, he unclothes himself, in order that he may put on the living man.”

This sentence tells us that, during the rite of baptism, we have to strip off our terrestrial clothes in order to don the fiery spiritual array. The subject of nakedness is of interest to me, because the clothes we wear do more than hide our bodies. Remember, from my previous sermon, I quoted Frank Zappa, who said, “Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, and don’t kid yourself.” This is to say: we all align ourselves with some bumper sticker slogan or other, as a way of pledging ourselves to this or that social allegiance. And it does not stop with the clothes we wear on our bodies. I mean, it is not just the clothes we wear that we use to hide our nakedness from each other, but all kinds of other conventional props: posture, turns of phrase, social cliches, etiquette, and moral attitudes. Any kind of repression or suppression of our natural selves can be thought of as clothing some naked aspect of ourselves we want to keep secret. 

For instance, we hide behind our body language: most of us express ourselves with certain postures or physical habits which often contradict the words that come out of our mouths; we may say, “That noise doesn’t bother me,” while half-turning away, or covering one ear, etc. Our body language reveals the hidden subtext of our thoughts. Does anybody remember those Mad Magazine cartoons where the butler, bowing low and respectfully, is saying, “Welcome home, Master Jenkins,” while his shadow on the wall is stabbing Master Jenkins in the back? Many of us speak out of both sides of our mouths as a way of disguising what we really feel. We do it so often we don’t even notice we are doing it.

As an aspie, reading body language is not my forte, but I know that people are always sending mixed messages—they say one thing, and, with their bodies, imply something else. This is not even to mention the psychic factor: people are generally more psychic than they realize; we freely (though possibly unconsciously) read each others’ minds in all sorts of normal social interactions, such that subconscious messages from others are always registering on a teensy tip of our consciousness— messages of which our conscious minds may be completely unaware, but which our unconscious minds receive and understand completely. Many of our irrational responses to people may be traced back to this phenomenon—our conscious minds may be dumbfounded, but way back in the shadowland of consciousness we truly get it. 

Most people live comfortably this way--we learn how to glean the real message people are sending us, from a combination of their spoken words and their underlying, concealed words. We either unconsciously suppress a reaction to what we really see, or we consciously ignore what we really see--we lie to our conscious minds, offering ourselves rationalizations which closer scrutiny would reveal to be transparent subterfuges; meanwhile our unconscious minds squirrel away the real truth—a truth perhaps to be later hinted at in our body language, our Freudian slips, and our dreams. How skilled we become at disguising the truth in the emperor’s new clothes! The good news, expressed in Philip, is that in Heaven, there is nothing to hide behind— we all are completely visible to each other—hence, we may hope that, in heaven, there are none of the petty misunderstandings that plague us here on Earth.

Going on, Philip associates the ideas of terrestrial and spiritual nakedness with the natural body’s inability to cognize spiritual reality. He discusses the spiritual bridal chamber and its terrestrial analog in matrimonial union:

“103-104. Let me speak about the place where the

Children of the Bridal Chamber abide.

In this world there is a union of man and woman. This

is mergence of energy and calm. In the highest eon there is another form of a union, we just use the same words. In that eon other Consciousnesses abide, They are above all words, They are beyond anything coarse, dense. This is in the place where the Power (i.e. the Father) is; in the same place are the Chosen of the Power.

Those, Who are there, are not the one and other:

They all are One there. And those who live here cannot even leave their fleshly bodies…”

Note the dichotomous distinctions between: 

man and woman, 

energy and calm, 

Power (i.e. the Father) and Chosen of the Power.

These yang-yin pairings appear in just about any philosophy you can think of. Notice that the female principle is associated with calm and the chosen; this is consistent with the idea that the Holy Spirit, the Bride of Christ, is both feminine AND multiple—spiritually composite. It is the union of the Power and the Chosen that creates the pleroma.

Antonov comments:

“Philip explains the symbolism of the text: in the Bridal Chamber of God-the-Father, They do not have sex as incarnate people do. But They merge in Love and exist there as One.”

This is one doctrinal point which has been made several times in Philip, but which we have yet to make extensive comment on: the Holy Spirit is comprised of many individualities incorporated into ONE. Mainstream Christian theology rarely suggests the idea that in merging with the Father we become one with everybody else who has merged with the Father. It may have been implied at different times, but has never been affirmed as doctrine. The ONE-becoming suggested here is equated with carnal sex—by virtue of the “becoming one flesh” idea. In this case the spiritual “mergence” referred to repeatedly by Antonov is simply “becoming one spirit”—the pleroma. This is something we need to think about, because it is not emphasized in the sayings of Jesus. Above, we quoted John 17:21:

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Here is another saying of Jesus from The Gospel of John:

John 14:20 

^“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

From Corinthians we read these words of the Apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 6:16-17:

“Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.”

Thus, as we become one with Jesus, we thereby become one with the Father. But remember, this statement is made by Paul not Jesus. In any case, we must confess that the writings of Paul are, in many cases, more closely related to Gnosticism than many would like to admit.

I am moved to expand a bit on the concept of “one flesh”. The issue of gender is not insignificant when developing a doctrine of belief concerning the afterlife. On more than one occasion Jesus has said things like:

Matthew 22:30:

“For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”

The assumption here is that angels are sexually neutral. It may be that, on a transcendental level of consciousness, gender no longer plays a part, but, as we have seen, even the Creator is sometimes thought of as a Father/Mother God, so it is not unreasonable to suggest that gender distinctions exist on levels of existence higher than the mundane. In a dualistic universe how can we ignore the Ying/Yang quality of gender in all things physical, and maybe more than physical?

Gender identity operates on many levels with many characteristic outcomes. This fact was emphasized in my mind recently when I learned to attach the positive lead from my car jump-starter to the red post and the negative lead to the black post. The attraction of opposite charges and the repulsion of like charges is a pretty basic fact of life, and there is no reason to assume that this principle ceases in its operation as we climb the spiritual ladder. The interplay of positive and negative forces is choreographer of the great cosmic dance, at least as far as the eye can see. 

The dichotomy of the right and left hemispheres of the brain seems an apt analogy: the left brain, guardian of all integral logic systems, verbal structures, particle-like entities, is like the aggressive male creative force, and the right brain, all-embracing mother of emotion and intuition, is like the female procreative haven. As the song goes, “You can’t have one without the other.”

It has been said, many times over the years, about my teaching, that I teach the girls differently than I teach the boys. I have vehemently denied this, because I would never like it to be said that I allow favoritism to influence my teaching. However, I have watched myself closely recently, and I must admit that I MIGHT teach the girls differently. I have to finally admit that my associations with females often include a little bit of that plus/minus attraction, while the minus/minus repulsion with the boys makes me a little harder on them, a little less encompassing. I admit that I enjoy the flow of negative to positive energy between me and the girls, thus, I cannot deny that gender is a crucial ingredient in identity, mundane AND spiritual. I deny that gender identity is only or even mostly sexual, in the sense of carnal sensuality, but is rather a difference in perspective that colors our interactions with each other. 

I have read that soul travelers, out-of-body, have something like sexual encounters on more subtle planes, and I affirm that the animal magnetism I experience is more than merely physical. When I connect with someone spiritually, I am sure that gender plays a part. The confusion comes when our spiritual sensitivities are not sharpened by experience or insight.

Going on, Philip mentions this very difficulty, that many incarnated beings have, in consciously distinguishing their own sense of physicality from a recognition of their spiritual essence:

“105. Not all who have bodies are able to cognize their own Essence. And those who cannot cognize their own Essence cannot use the possibilities given to them for enjoyment. Only those who cognized their own Essence will enjoy truly.”

Antonov’s comment:

“To cognize the highest enjoyment, one has to make great efforts on self-development. Only the one who succeeds in the cognition of God-the-Father attains this.

The cognition of one’s own Essence is the realization of oneself (as a Consciousness) in the Abode of God-the-Father. He is our Higher I, which is cognized when we flow into Him.”

Notice the reference to “enjoyment”. I do not think this term is used in the casual way that we usually use the term. To me the operative word is “joy”; to me this is the key to the Christian life: JOY. All the theology and mysticism in the world cannot compete with the simple fact that spiritual enlightenment leads to joy, terrestrial joy or heavenly joy, there is no difference. In the Abode of God the Father, we receive the peace of Christ, the armor of God, the Power of the Resurrection, etc., but all is accomplished and received in an atmosphere of JOY. Thank you Jesus!

Speaking of the Armor of God, Philip now returns to the subject of the power of Heavenly apparel to control evil: 

“106. The Perfect Man cannot be captured (by evil spirits) and cannot be seen by them. Because they can capture only those whom they see.”

[Sidebar: Remember that the Sons of God may freely travel from one spiritual level to another; add to this the principle we have encountered often in Philip that: lower spirits cannot see higher spirits, but higher spirits, as they pass from higher to lower levels of consciousness, can see all the lower spirits. Thus, we, protected by the armor of God, may escape harassment by evil spirits, and we can, in the name of the Christ. rule them in their own environment. I have personally been attacked by lower spirits many times, especially when they notice I am off my guard, but they instantly flee when I invoke the name of Jesus. I have developed sensitivity to subtle influence because of my adventure with demon possession many years ago, and, although that was the most horrific episode in my life, I thank God that it has led to a heightened awareness of spiritual entities, high and low, who surround me, touch me, and instruct me.

Going on, Philip equates the term we have been using, “the armor of God” with “the perfect light”:]

“There is no way to acquire this boon but by being dressed in the Perfect Light and by becoming the Perfect

Light. If one becomes dressed in It, one merges with It.

Such is the Perfect Light.”

Thus, we escape demonic influence by donning the perfect light of the armor of God.

Antonov’s comment:

“One should seek salvation from evil spirits not in the “protective magic”, not in cursing them, not in the methods of “bioenergetical protection” or in the incantation of sorcerers, but in Mergence with God.”

Philip now goes on to contemplate the true nature of death:

“107. It is necessary that we become men of Spirit before we leave this world (i.e. before the end of this incarnation).

The one who acquired everything in this world, being its master, will not be able to become a master in another world.

Jesus cognized the whole Path up to the end. But, nevertheless, He came to this world as a simple man (i.e.

He did not behave like a “master”).”

This paragraph is suffused with deep meaning, not to mention doctrinal significance. It reiterates the idea, I have suggested before, that Jesus did not preach reincarnation-- not because it doesn’t exist, but because He wanted people to enter the Abode of God the Father NOW, not later; He wanted people to become spiritual BEFORE death. The passage also affirms the idea that treasure on Earth is nothing compared to Treasure stored up in Heaven; that mastery on Earth does not equal mastery in Heaven, but actually the opposite—mastery on Earth leads to nothing but a lower consciousness level in the afterlife.

Going on, Philip mentions how spirit may consecrate flesh, and moreover, how a spiritually enlightened being may use his power to cross dimensional barriers to bring higher energy into as low a physical entity as a piece of bread:

“108. The Holy Man is holy entirely, down to the body.

If one gives bread to the Holy Man, the Holy Man consecrates it, as well as water or anything else that may be given. All this becomes purified. And how will the Holy

Man not purify bodies also?”

Thus, if a holy man can sanctify bread, how much more significantly may he sanctify the bodies of supplicants seeking salvation through Jesus Christ. Notice the similarity between this section and the famous passage from Luke:

Luke 12:27-28

“27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Going on, Philip compares spiritual baptism to a kind of death:

“109. When performing baptism, Jesus “poured” life into bodies and “poured” death out from them.

Therefore, we submerge now in the Flow (of Life), but not in (the flow of) death, so that we are not carried away by it to the spirits of this world. When these spirits blow, desolation happens. When the Holy Spirit blows, bliss comes.”

I love the line, 

“When performing baptism, Jesus “poured” life into bodies and “poured” death out from them.”

Just as the inter-dimensional soul travel of enlightened beings chases away evil in its natural habitat, so does the baptism of the Christ banish death from the bodies of penitent supplicants. We would do well to remember, as we suffer the pains and dissolution of old age, that our physical bodies will be replaced by spiritual bodies that cannot suffer and cannot die. We tend to relate to our physical conditions as real, and our carnal enslavements as permanent. Philip encourages us to remember that the spiritual state offers us freedom from every carnal chain.

“110. The one who cognized the Truth is free. The free one does not commit sin: because the one who commits sin becomes a slave of sin (i.e. burdens one’s own destiny, first of all).

The true knowledge is like a mother and a father (i.e. like wise teachers, advisers, and guardians of their child).

Those who are not capable of sinning are said to have attained freedom. The knowledge of the Truth raises them even more. This makes them both free and above this world.”

We are reminded that we ought to be IN the world, but not OF the world. The world holds us in its enslaving grip, but spiritual knowledge FREES us from this grip, allowing us to travel from height to height in mergence with the Father. How wonderful to see all below as a fantasy, a dream of carnal illusion from which our freedom has awakened us.

The next section affirms the idea that the truth can make you free, only here TRUTH is equated with LOVE:

“But only love creates. The one who becomes free thanks to knowledge, because of Love remains a slave of those who have not managed to attain the Freedom of knowledge yet. Such one brings the knowledge to them and this develops them because it calls them to the Freedom.”

I especially like the idea that, “one becomes free thanks to knowledge”. This touches on the many, many times I have contemplated the epistemological limits of “knowledge”. We have asked the question many times, “What is spiritual knowledge, and how can we express it? Furthermore, what is the relationship of expression to essence? What is it about knowledge that calls us to freedom? How far below the ultimate TRUTH can expression fall before the limitations of verbal expression no longer call us to Freedom, but paint a false face on what we think we know?”

To EXPRESS anything some form of LANGUAGE must be employed. We have often brought up the point that LANGUAGE plays a BIG part in defining a certain kind of knowledge; that is to say, we know that language can never encapsulate the BIG picture, but the language of Truth is a part of the TRUTH, because language is at the heart of consciousness. As Julian Jaynes has declared, the holographic diffraction of the radiation coming from the Right and Left brain (the bicameral mind) results in the effect we call consciousness; and this level of consciousness is the essence of what we can KNOW in this world. The wave-like oscillation of significance that is characteristic of mundane consciousness makes KNOWLEDGE a fluid force that doesn’t like to be pinned –down (particle-ized?) The travel of conscious attention up and down a graduated continuum of consciousness states makes for a complicated scenario of shifting significances and symbologies.

It is so nice to have the matter simplified by the word LOVE. The following passage is a glowing meditation on the selfless character of love:

“Love takes nothing: how can it take something? Everything belongs to it. It does not say, “This is mine! And this is mine!” But it says: “This is yours!”

111. Spiritual love is like wine and myrrh. Those enjoy it who were blessed (by God).

But others also enjoy it — those who stay with the blessed ones. But if the blessed go away, those who are not blessed fall back to their stench. The Samaritan gave nothing but wine and oil to the wounded man. And it was nothing else but blessing. Thus he healed the wounds.

And love covers a multitude of sins.”

Notice the reference to the Samaritan; of course this is a reference to the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke. I mention it because, in the Gnostic gospels, material from the other gospels characteristically make an appearance. This means that the author(s) of Philip were either familiar with the synoptic gospels, or were at least aware of the many stories circulating about Jesus in what must have been a very rich oral tradition. By this I simply remind us that ALL of the gospels were written at a later date that when the described events actually, happened so these reports MUST have existed in some oral form before they were written down. This makes a strong argument that the composition of The Gospel of Philip was very likely contemporaneous with the composition of the other accepted New Testament scriptures.

Let us reread this passage: 

“Love takes nothing: how can it take something? Everything belongs to it. It does not say, “This is mine! And this is mine!” But it says: “This is yours!”  

Notice how similar this is to the famous section from 1^st Corinthians:

“1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

The passage in 1^st Corinthians raises the term “love” to a very high-minded, supernatural level. The following section from Philip continues to develop the analogy between the type of spiritual love (charity), referred to in Corinthians, to worldly love and worldly progeny; this section uses the same sort of quasi-humorous literary technique that has distinguished Philip from other more relentlessly solemn spiritual writings. It is hard to take seriously the idea that children will not resemble their biological father, but rather the man the mother had in mind during conception (who may not have been the actual father). This is the same line of reasoning that declares that the offspring of unlike (adulterous) parents will be deformed. In any case, whether we take these suggestions literally or not, we are directed to see how things below are echoes of things above.

“112. Those born by a woman resemble the man she loved. If he was her husband, they resemble the husband. If he was her lover, they resemble the lover. It happens that she unites with the husband, as she is obliged to do, but her heart is with her lover with whom she also unites, then her children resemble the lover.”

Remember that earlier in Philip 6 we read that an adulterous marriage (a marriage of souls too unlike to be compatible in any positively fruitful way) may result in flawed offspring. First a reminder from Philip:

“He who has been created is beautiful, but you would not find his sons noble creations. If he were not created, but begotten, you would find that his seed was noble. But now he was created (and) he begot. What nobility is this? First, adultery came into being, afterward murder. And he was begotten in adultery, for he was the child of the Serpent. So he became a murderer, just like his father, and he killed his brother. Indeed, every act of sexual intercourse which has occurred between those unlike one another is adultery.”

Now Antonov’s commentary:

“Adultery is the sexual intercourse between people that God does not approve. This notion has nothing to do with the one used by “pastors” of many Churches to intimidate their “flock”, “pastors” who try to control people’s destinies on behalf of God, though God did not entrust this to them! From God’s standpoint, there is a concept of adultery. And He can even punish for committing it, as we have read in this fragment, by incarnating a devilish soul in the body of a child to be born, or through birth of ugly children, imbeciles, and so on.”

The following section contemplates, in ever deeper detail, the attraction of like to like, and the repulsion of unlike by unlike entities in the universe. It’s a simple idea, but an idea that we easily lose track of in our daily battle with terrestrial compromises and mistaken identity. Using a simple analogy, Philip calls our attention to the fact that we become what we are closest to:

“But you, who are with the Son of God, do not get attached also to that which is worldly! Rather be only with the Lord, so that those begotten by you be not similar to worldly people but similar to the Lord!

A human being unites with a human being, a horse — with a horse, a donkey — with a donkey. Representatives of any species unite with those similar to them. In the same way, the Spirit unites with the Spirit, and Logos — with Logos, and the Light — with the Light.

If you become a human being — a human being will love you. If you become the Spirit — the Spirit will unite with you. If you become Logos — you will unite with Logos.

If you become the Light — the Light will unite with you.

If you become one of earthly rulers — the earthly rulers will associate with you. If you become a horse, or a donkey, or a cow, or a dog, or a sheep, or any other animal whether smaller or bigger, you will not be able to associate either with human, or with the Spirit, or with Logos, or with the Light, or with earthly rulers, or with those who are under their rule. They will not lie in bed with you and will not accept your love.”

The Amish folk of Pennsylvania have made this doctrine into a central guideline for the structure of their society: don’t associate with evil things lest you become evil yourself. Perhaps, most of us say, these Amish people have gone too far in rejecting the modern world; but who can deny that association with evil makes us evil?

A long time ago, I heard a lecture by Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He said, among other things that, when somebody cuts you off on the freeway you should give them the finger; but he also said that to play somebody else’s game, personally, socially, or politically, you have to identify with that person—you have to take a little bit of that person into your own head. If you two are like-minded, all is well, but if you two are opposed in some way, and you are getting into the other’s head as a matter of convenience or compromise, you are giving up a piece of yourself, a piece that you might not ever be able to get back. To Ken Kesey the words, “To thine own self be true,” were not an empty slogan, but a rallying cry for people to look at reality with the fresh untainted clarity of a personal now, and not the social definitions and agreement inherent in every bumper sticker on the road. The true non-conformist is not one who rejects a mainstream consensus, but, rather, one who chooses, instead, the road less traveled by. In all things, truly spiritual choices are positive elected inventions, not negative rejections.

Going on with Philip’s discussion of freedom:

“114. Those who were slaves against their will may get freedom. But those to whom the freedom was granted by the mercy of the lord, but who, nevertheless, put themselves into slavery again, — they will no longer be able to become free.”

Antonov’s comment:

“Christ showed people the Path to the full Liberation in the

Abode of God-the-Father. But only a few accepted this offer. Well, this is a grievous choice of others…”

The concept of the “unforgivable sin” plays into this. Remember that in Hebrews we read that once a devotee has seen the light, and then turned away from it, he may not return. 

Hebrews 6:4-6:

“4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 

5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 

6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

Also, notice the similarity here to the idea from Matthew:

Matthew 22:14

“14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

This presentation of Philip verses 101-114, has focused on the various modalities of identity in the vast continuum of consciousness levels of existence. We talked about our clothes as emblems of our inner life, we talked about the effect spiritual baptism makes on our projected identity, we talked about gender identity, and we talked about oneness.

The thing that so interests me about The Gospel of Philip is that it discusses so many subtleties of structure of the spiritual universe which are not developed on the synoptic gospels. As I have mentioned before, there is more of that kind of thing to be found in the letters of Paul, but the Gnostic perspective of Philip goes pretty far beyond anything we find in the New Testament, and much of it CONTRADICTS what we read in the New Testament. The great thing is that these details of doctrine, that I have wondered about for years, are openly discussed in Philip, in practically the same language in which I have been thinking about them. Remember, Philip is to be thought of as a catechesis, so its reason for being is centrally and ultimately as an instruction manual. The final two sermons I will give on Philip delve into even finer distinctions of consciousness states, and will finish up with a grand finale of ecstatic descriptions of the bridal chamber.

Let us pray. Jesus, the universe is so wide we shrink before even a flimsy, modest summary of its magnitude. Without You we would be lost in space, but with You we are safe in the heart’s core of being. Amen. 

Sermon 11 – Philip 9

Sermon 11 – Philip 9 Verses 81-101 This week we will review a large section of Philip that concerns itself with the Baptism, Anointing, and the Resurrection in the Bridal Chamber, with some background that looks into primordial first causes. We will discuss the many appearances and interpretations of the word “body”, and we will look at the expression “blissful calm”. Verse 81 exposes the subject with a reflection on Jesus’s impact on John the Baptist’s ministry on the River Jordan: “81. On the bank of Jordan, Jesus revealed (to John the Baptist) the Primordial Consciousness of theKingdom of Heaven, Which was before the beginning of everything. Later He appeared (to John) again. Then He manifested Himself as a Son (of the Heavenly Father). Then He was blessed (by God-the-Father to serve people). Then He was taken by the Father (from this world). Then He began to take (to God-the-Father).” As usual there is a slightly higher level of clarity in the Isenburg translation: “81. Jesus appeared [in his glory in the baptism in the] Jordan - the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who was begotten before everything, was begotten anew. He who was once anointed, was anointed anew. He who was redeemed, in turn redeemed (others).” The theme of the proselyte and the Son is once more reprised in these two simple sentences:  “He who was once anointed, was anointed anew. He who was redeemed, in turn redeemed (others).” With the image of the River Jordan in mind, it is not difficult to interpret the Baptism of Jesus, by John, as a “new begetting”. The expression “begotten anew” seems to point to the ceaseless cyclical repetition of events in the material AND heavenly realms, as events unfold in the mind and memory of God. Thus, a unity of everything (the pleroma) is catalyzed, as an ACT, in the Bridal Chamber. By this I mean that the connection between Earth and Heaven is forged by a physical action—virtuous activity creates a link between the terrestrial man and the Divine Man. Below we will encounter the expressions, “the act of meditation and the object of meditation merge into oneness”, and “, from THE ACT OF ANOINTING COMES THE RESURRECTION.” As we have expected from the outset of our review of Philip, there is a great deal here about the ceremonial aspects of an acquired enlightenment—enlightenment acquired through the performance of ceremonial acts. Going on, we discover a meditation on the transformation of the physical body, into a spiritual body, in the Bridal Chamber: “82. Since it is allowed to me to reveal this mystery, I say: the Father of everything united (in the Bridal Chamber) with the Bride Who afterwards came down (to crucified Jesus), and the Light illuminated Him then. And He (leaving that place) came to the Great Bridal Chamber. Therefore, His body, which appeared in the next days, came out from the Bridal Chamber. This body was similar to a body born from a unity of husband and wife (i.e. similar to a usually born body). Jesus made in it (in His new body) everything similar to the image (of a usual body). It is necessary that each disciple enter the Chamber of the Father.” We have discussed several times the different ways the word “body” can be interpreted. As usual, with Philip, the existence of a higher and a lower body, or an old body and a new body, is suggested. Going on, we return to the old gag of the feminine Holy Spirit begetting in the womb a feminine virgin. This is just a joke, to be sure, but, as Antonov has suggested, these humorous jibes are purposeful, in that they make the reader think a bit about first causes. “83. Adam came into being from two virgins: from the (Holy) Spirit and from the uninhabited Earth. Therefore, Christ was born from (only) one virgin to rectify the mistake which occurred in the beginning.” The two-virgin problem makes me wonder about this sentence: “Christ was born from (only) one virgin to rectify the mistake which occurred in the beginning.” I wonder Who is referred to as the ONE virgin: Mary or the Holy Spirit? Antonov’s Commentary suggests that the idea of Adam coming from two virgins is merely another of Philip’s humorous ironies, but Isenburg’s Translation develops the virgin concept a little more allegorically, a little more meaningfully: “82. Indeed, one must utter a mystery. The Father of everything united with the virgin who came down, and a fire shone for him on that day. He appeared in the great bridal chamber. Therefore his body came into being on that very day. It left the bridal chamber as one who came into being from the bridegroom and the bride. So Jesus established everything in it through these. It is fitting for each of the disciples to enter into his rest.  83 Adam came into being from two virgins, from the Spirit and from the virgin earth. Christ therefore, was born from a virgin to rectify the Fall which occurred in the beginning.”  What follows is another parable. This section reprises the idea Philip has proposed, many times, that life in the original Garden of Eden was an animal-like existence. Adam ate from the tree and vine just like animals, thus producing animal offspring; the last line of the verse mentions that God created Men –this without actually naming the OTHER tree –the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: “84. There are two trees in the midst of paradise. From one of them originate animals, from another — men. Adam ate of the tree which originates animals. He became an animal and then brought forth animals. Therefore at present, animals like Adam are held in respect. So, the tree of which Adam ate a fruit is the tree of animals. This is why his children became so numerous. And all of them also ate the fruits of the tree of animals. As a result, the fruits of the tree of animals begot numerous people-animals who now honor only man-animal. But God creates Men. (And these) Men create God.” Of extreme interest is the line, “But God creates Men. (And these) Men create God.” We have often heard the cynical remark that “God was created in Man’s image”, meaning that God is an imaginary invention of Human Beings unable to handle the big philosophical questions of life, like morality and death. That is certainly not the case here. In this case, it is the flow back and forth from the Mundane to the Divine that is referred to, and Men creating God is the action of Men BECOMING God, RETURNING to God. Antonov’s Commentary: “The most part of this fragment is irony, this time — bitter. Such a mood of Phillip is especially understandable because of the recent killing of Man-Christ by people-animals. But the last paragraph in the end of the parable deserved to be analyzed seriously. From God-the-Father Men-Christs come. They hasten the evolution of individual consciousnesses on the Earth, and by this They contribute to fast arrival of the high quality “Food” into God-the-Father.” The next verse is clearly another slam against the Roman polytheistic culture—and, again, the author(s) does it through the use of sarcasm. “85. Worldly people also create “gods” and worship their creations. So let these “gods” worship these people— it will be just!” The irony of this passage is somewhat obscured by Antonov’s language. Isenburg translates the last sentence as simply: “It would be fitting for the gods to worship men!”  Antonov’s Commentary: “This is irony about pagans inventing gods for themselves. So let the invented “gods” look after these people!” Going on with Philip, the author(s) ponder once again the qualitative distinction between the activity of Earthly Men and Divine Men: “86. The deeds of man result from man’s power. Therefore, they are regarded as efforts. But man also begets children, which are conceived in calm. The power of man is manifested in deeds, and calm —in children. You may find that man is similar to God in this respect. Because God also performs His deeds (in the Creation) thanks to His Power, but it is in Calm that He begets His Children.” Antonov’s Commentary: “The sexual function can be realized fully only in the deep calm of both partners. Therefore, Philip speaks about children as about the result of the calm of people. The state of God-the-Father in the Bridal Chamber is the deepest tender Calm. His Sons and Daughters come from It.” I have put off commenting on the use of the word “calm”, even though it has been used, significantly, in a previous section. Verse 63 includes this statement: “While we live in this world, it is necessary for us to acquire the Resurrection, so that when we strip off the flesh, we may be found in Calm, but not walk outside.” Verse 87 goes on to state: “87. In this world, the slaves serve the free, but in the other world, the free will serve these slaves. However, the Sons of the Bridal Chamber will serve the sons of earthly marriages. The Sons of the Bridal Chamber have one and the same name. Calm is Their common estate. And They are in need of nothing.” Antonov’s Commentary expands: “In this fragment there are three profound themes connected together by the common literal “pattern”. In the first part, there is a theme about the predetermination of the future destiny according to our present behavior. Thus, haughtiness, arrogance, violent attitude, cruelty — disgusting manifestations of the hypertrophied “I” in some people— will be destroyed in them by God through placing these people in the situation of slaves subjected to power of similar to them people-animals. If such vicious people do not want to struggle with their vices voluntarily, God will have to destroy these vices in them using other disgusting people. But the Holy Spirits gladly bring Their Love to people, serving them. All Who have settled in the eon of God-the-Father and merged with Him are the Father. They have attained everything possible to attain in the universe. And They exist in the blissful highest Calm.” From Quotations on: Shamatha - Calm Abiding we read: “Calm abiding is a powerful tool to be used in the service of enhancing the force of the wisdom realizing the emptiness of inherent existence so that it can overcome intellectually acquired and innate conceptions of inherent existence. The aim is to undo the ideational process behind afflictive emotions and then to remove even the appearance of inherent existence that prevents the attainment of the Christ Consciousness. The details of the process of achieving calm abiding yield a picture of how the human condition is viewed in these traditions. Humans are trapped in a situation of repeated suffering not just by false assent to the seeming solidity of objects but also by a mind that is so mired in the extremes of either being too loose or too tight that attempts at correction push the mind between these two extremes. Also, the very structure of the ordinary mind prevents manifestation of certain chronic psychic problems, such that when this structure is disturbed by attempting to focus it and develop powers of concentration, deeply seated problems appear with greater force and others newly manifest. Also, the mere fact that mindfulness and introspection need to be developed means that even though at present we have small versions of these, we have little idea of their potential--we are in a state of deprivation, sometimes arrogantly convinced of our wholeness and sometimes disparagingly reluctant to take cognizance of our potential.” From Ask-Angels.com we read: “As you let your mind become calm and you shift your awareness within, you are able to tune into your oneness and interconnectedness with everything, with God, Source, the Universe, All That Is. Recognize that you are not separate, you are one. Separation is illusion. Oneness is truth. Love is the foundation. And thereby, returning to the perspective and awareness of love, you transcend illusion, you release the layers, the clouds and the chaos created by remaining solely in illusion. And you witness the underlying strength, beauty and peace of being in alignment with your oneness with God, with love, with the universe, with everything. The illusion of the physical is persistent. The duality created by the mind is strong. The events and hardships and challenges of life pull you back into the illusion which feels real, which looks real, but is not the highest truth from which you are able to view your experience. The highest truth is oneness with God, with Creative Source, with Love. And you are able to always experience this, and it changes everything. It changes your perception, it changes how you feel. It changes how you view yourself, how you relate to others, and it changes what manifests and unfolds in your life.” From Wikipedia we read: “Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि, Hindi pronunciation: [səˈmaːd̪ʱi]), also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness. It is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still. It is a state of being totally aware of the present moment; a one-pointedness of mind. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Various interpretations for the term's etymology are possible: sam, "together"; a, "toward"; stem of dadhati, "puts, places": "a putting or joining together;" sam, "together" or "integrated"; ā, "towards"; dhā, "to get, to hold": "to acquire integration or wholeness, or truth" (samāpatti); sam, "uniformly" or "fully"; adhi, "to get established: : a state wherein one establishes himself to the fullest extent in the Supreme consciousness; samā, "even"; dhi, "intellect": a state of total equilibrium of a detached intellect. sam, "perfect," "complete." dhi, "consciousness": a state of being where "all distinctions between the person who is the subjective meditator, the act of meditation and the object of meditation merge into oneness." Clearly Cosmic Calm is a vast subject, and deserves its own sermon. For now we will hold that thought in reserve and go back to Philip who returns to the subject of death and resurrection: “90. Those who say that they will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not receive the Resurrection while being incarnate, they will receive nothing after leaving their bodies. It is the same with baptism: it is significant only if it is received by the incarnate.” Antonov’s Commentary: “For changing oneself, one needs to have a material body, which is a “transformer” of energies. Without a material body, a non-incarnate soul exists in the state in which it was at the end of its last incarnation. It cannot move to another eon on its will, and no one can do this for it.” The next verse is the only one in this gospel in which the author identifies himself as Philip: “91. It is I, Apostle Philip, saying: Joseph the carpenter planted a garden because he needed wood for his handicraft. It was he who made a cross from the trees, which he himself planted. And the Child of his semen was hung to that which he had planted. The Child of his semen was Jesus, and the planted —the cross. “92. The true tree of life is in the middle of paradise. It is an olive tree, from which blessings come. It is from this tree that the Resurrection is.” Isenburg’s translation substitutes for the word “blessings”, the word “chrism”: “However, it is from the olive tree that we got the chrism, and from the chrism, the resurrection.” From a previous sermon we learned that: “It is not crystal clear what is meant by, “There is water in water, there is fire in chrism,” but I think we can safely say that the sense in which the “chrism” is used here refers to the “ACT of anointing”, not the actual mixture of oil and balsam; thus, “there is fire in the ACT of anointing.” From this verse we read that from the chrism comes the resurrection—thus, from THE ACT OF ANOINTING COMES THE RESURRECTION. This is a powerful statement, as it definitely states that the resurrection is the end product of AN ACT. Antonov’s Commentary: “The idea of the previous fragment continues: it was necessary for Joseph to look after not the material trees (or not only after them) but after the paradisiacal tree of life, growing beyond this world. Then he could gain the Resurrection.” The next verse of Philip includes one of the most startling expressions in the book: the expression : “corpse-eater”. “93. This world is a corpse-eater. And all that is eaten (by humans) is contemptible as well. But the Truth is a life-eater. Therefore, no one who is nourished by the Truth can die. Jesus came from that place, and He brought food from there. And to those who desired, He gave thus the (True) Life, and they did not die.” Isenburg’s translation is almost identical, but it is a little clearer. “93. This world is a corpse-eater. All the things eaten in it themselves die also. Truth is a life-eater. Therefore no one nourished by truth will die. It was from that place that Jesus came and brought food. To those who so desired, he gave life, that they might not die.” This striking expression “corpse-eater” is explicated in several places, and appears in variant forms in several other gospels. In the Gospel of Thomas we read: “Jesus said, "Whoever has become acquainted with the world has found a corpse, and the world is not worthy of the one who has found the corpse.”” In the Manichaean Kephalaia (the book of ancient Iranian religious discourses) we read: “The worlds that are [above] are of soul and of spirit, but [the worlds that are] below are of body and [of] carcass [. . .]. For this reason, then, he . . . the powers of heaven; he has sealed them upon their bodies and their carcasses that are in the lands. . . .” In Luke 17:37 we read: “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” In Mattew 24:28 we read: “For wheresoever the carcas is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman commenting on The Gospel of Thomas write: "Knowing the world is equivalent to finding a corpse (or, in the parallel Saying, a body); this knowledge and this discovery are evidently regarded as good, for the world is not worthy of the discoverer. Knowing the world, then, must be truly knowing it for what it is. But we must also consider one more saying. The world is not worthy of the one 'who will find himself.'  We conclude that Saying 57, like these variants we have cited, is based on the verse which in Matthew 10:39  ("He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.); and the verses in Mark 8:34-35  (34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.)  These verses follow the verses cited in Saying 56.  'He who finds his soul [life] will lose it, and he who loses his soul for my sake will find it.'  Either Thomas simply mystifies his readers by speaking of a corpse or he uses 'corpse' as the equivalent for 'body' and hence for 'self.' The Naassenes (a Christian Gnostic sect from around 100 AD known only through the writings of Hippolytus of Rome) used 'corpse' of the spiritual man." The beginning of the next fragment is damaged, so Antonov does not attempt a translation. Isenburg offers us this version: “94. God [plants the] garden. Man [tends the] garden. This garden is the place where they will say to me, "[...] eat this or do not eat that, just as you wish." In the place where I will eat all things is the Tree of Knowledge. That one killed Adam, but here the Tree of Knowledge made men alive. The law was the tree. It has power to give the knowledge of good and evil. It neither removed him from evil, nor did it set him in the good, but it created death for those who ate of it. For when he said, "Eat this, do not eat that", it became the beginning of death.”  As I have mentioned, the Gnostic writers are always seeking after first causes. This digression back to the Garden of Eden is just such a deeply meaningful digression. Antonov Comments: “Philip plays in this parable with the biblical story about paradise. God-Teacher shows people both what is good and what is bad. Moreover, having explained to people the principles of advancement towards the Highest Goal, He provides them with the freedom of will — the freedom of choice of where and how to go. People have to go by themselves, finding the  correct Path, developing themselves through this. God only suggests the Path— secretly or obviously, sometimes jokingly. And the choices are made usually by people. This provides people with the experience, maturity, and wisdom. Having obtained wisdom, one can overcome all difficulties and through such a struggle become Perfect. Only for such a person God-the-Father will open the door to His Bridal Chamber.” For the remainder of this presentation, I will use the Isenburg translation, exclusively, but I will continue to interject the Antonov commentary. “95. The chrism is superior to baptism, for it is from the word "Chrism" that we have been called "Christians," certainly not because of the word "baptism". And it is because of the chrism that "the Christ" has his name. For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses everything. He possesses the resurrection, the light, the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber; he merely accepted the gift. 96. The Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.  The Lord said it well: "Some have entered the Kingdom of Heaven laughing, and they have come out [...] because [...] a Christian, [...]. And as soon as [...] went down into the water, he came [...] everything (of this world), [...] because he [...] a trifle, but [...] full of contempt for this [...] the Kingdom of Heaven [...] If he despises [...], and scorns it as a trifle, [...] out laughing. So it is also with the bread and the cup and the oil, even though there is another one superior to these.  99. The world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire. For the world never was imperishable, nor, for that matter, was he who made the world. For things are not imperishable, but sons are. Nothing will be able to receive imperishability if it does not first become a son. But he who has not the ability to receive, how much more will he be unable to give?” Antonov’s Commentary: The first part of the fragment is just a joke, which serves as an artistic beginning of the parable. Then there is a point that the only valuable fruits of all the activity in the entire Creation are Those Who have gained absolute Imperishability and Eternity — the Sons and Daughters of the Heavenly Father, i.e. Those Who have entered His Bridal Chamber. In the end of the fragment, there is an idea that the one who strives to help others must first help oneself through efforts on self-development: the one who can do nothing — how can such one help others?” “100. The cup of prayer contains wine and water, since it is appointed as the type of the blood for which thanks is given. And it is full of the Holy Spirit, and it belongs to the wholly perfect man. When we drink this, we shall receive for ourselves the perfect man. The living water is a body. It is necessary that we put on the living man.” Antonov’s Commentary: “To drink the Cup of Christ does not mean to take communion in a church, even if one does it a hundred times. To drink the Cup of Christ means to walk His entire Path up to the Bridal Chamber, and go through His Calvary.” “101. Therefore, when he is about to go down into the water, he unclothes himself, in order that he may put on the living man.”  Antonov’s Commentary: “The Body of the Holy Spirit is an image that helps meditative perception of the integrity of the Holy Spirit. He is indeed Living, Perceiving, Loving, Guiding, Speaking.” In order to experience the Body of the Holy Spirit, one has to become “naked”, to get rid of all shells and layers which are coarser than the Holy Spirit. Thus we find ourselves in the same eon where He is and receive the baptism, birth, and blessing in this eon.” To summarize this section of Philip, we heard remarks on 1.the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, climaxing in the statement, “THE ACT OF ANOINTING COMES THE RESURRECTION,” 2.we discussed different interpretations of the word, “body”, 3. the issue of the mundane Man and the Divine Man was reviewed beginning with Adam the Animal-Man, 4.we had a long discussion of the subject of Cosmic Calm that attends the creation of God’s children, 5.and, finally, we witnessed some subtleties surrounding the ceremony of baptism. In all these discussions we discover the central issue of Mundane versus Divine Consciousness. If we were as clear about these things as Philip is, how blessed we would be. Let us pray: Jesus continue to lead our puny brains down the path to enlightened knowledge of Heaven which resides in all places where our eyes are open. Amen.