Gita-Krishna Gnostic Parallels
Sant Mat Mysticism Blog
The following is from the Bhagavad Gita along with some parallel passages I found: quotes from the Gospel of Thomas and other Gnostic scriptures I was reminded of when reading this section of the Gita.
Jai Guru,
James
Bhagavad Gita, from Chapters 7 and 8, along with some Gnostic Quotes
The Great Life
1 Hear now, Arjuna, how thou shalt have the full vision of me, if thy heart is set on me and if, striving for Yoga, I am thy refuge supreme.
2 And I will speak to thee of that wisdom and vision which, when known, there is nothing else for thee to know.
3 Among thousands of men perhaps one strives for perfection; and among thousands of those who strive perhaps one knows me in truth.
4 The visible forms of my nature are eight: earth, water, fire, air, ether; the mind, reason, and the sense of 'I'.
5 But beyond my visible nature is my invisible Spirit. This is the fountain of life whereby this universe has its being.
6 All things have their life in this Life, and I am their beginning and end.
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***** Parallel Passages: In the Gospel of Thomas, Saying # 23, Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."
Mandaean scriptures:
I lifted mine eyes to heaven
and my soul waited on the House of Life.
And the Life (God) who heard my cry
sent toward me a deliverer.
Life supported life,
Life found its own.
Its own self did Life find,
and my soul found that for which it had looked.
Renowned is Life and victorious.
In the Name of the Great Life,
Sublime Light be praised. *****
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Rest In Me
7 In this whole vast universe there is nothing higher than I. All the worlds have their rest in me. as many pearls upon a string.
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***** Parallel Passages: Gospel of Thomas 90: Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you
will find rest for yourselves." *****
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"I AM That I Am"
8 I am the taste of living waters and the light of the sun and the moon. I am 0M, the sacred word of the Vedas. sound in silence. heroism in men.
9 I am the pure fragrance that comes from the earth and the brightness of fire I am. I am the life of all living beings. and the austere life of those who train their souls.
10 And I am from everlasting the seed of eternal life. I am the intelligence of the intelligent. I am the beauty of the beautiful.
11 I am the power of those who are strong, when this power is free from passions and selfish desires. I am desire when this is pure, when this desire is not against righteousness.
12 And know that the three Gunas, the three states of the soul, come from me: peaceful light, restless life, and lifeless darkness. But I am not in them: they are in me.
13 How the whole world is under the delusion of these shadows of the soul, and knows not me though for ever I am!
14 My mysterious cloud of appearance is hard to pass beyond; but those who in truth come to me go beyond the world of shadows........
24 The unwise think that I am that form of my lower nature which is seen by mortal eyes: they know not my higher nature, imperishable and supreme.
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***** Parallel Passages: Gospel of Thomas 77: Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." Nag Hammadi, Thunder Perfect Mind:
I am the one who is honored,
and who is praised,
and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
And I am an alien and a citizen.
I am the substance
and the one who has no substance.
Those who are without association with me
are ignorant of me,
and those who are in my substance
are the ones who know me.
Those who are close to me
have been ignorant of me,
and those who are far away from me
are the ones who have known me.
On the day when I am close to you,
you are far away from me,
and on the day when I am far away from you,
I am close to you.
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The Mystery of the Kingdom
25 For my glory is not seen by all: I am hidden by my veil of mystery; and in its delusion the world knows me not, who was never born and for ever I am.
26 I know all that was and is and is to come, Arjuna; but no one in truth knows me.
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***** Parallel Passages: Gospel of Thomas 62: Jesus said, "I disclose my Mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] Mysteries." Pistis Sophia: "And may my song of praise, O Light, please thee, like an excellent Mystery which is received into the gates of light, which those who will repent, will recite, and whose light they will purify."
Pistis Sophia: "Seek the light, all of you, so that the power of your souls, which is within you, may live". *****
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27 All beings are born in delusion, the delusion of division which comes from desire and hate.
28 But there are men who do what is good, and whose sins have come to an end. They are free from the delusion of division, and they worship me with all their soul.
29 For those who take refuge in me and strive to be free from age and death, they know Brahman, they know Atman, and they know what Karma is.
Chapter Eight
ARJUNA's Questions: The Kingdom of the Light
I Who is Brahman? Who is Atman? And what is Karma, Spirit Supreme? What is the kingdom of the earth? And what is the kingdom of Light?
2 Who offers the sacrifice in the body? How is the offering made? And when the time to go comes, how do those whose soul is in harmony know thee?
KRISHNA Replies
3 Brahman is the Supreme, the Eternal. Atman is his Spirit in man. Karma is the force of creation, where from all things have their life.
4 Matter is the kingdom of the earth, which in time passes away; but the Spirit is the kingdom of Light. In this body I offer sacrifice, and my body is a sacrifice.
5 And he who at the end of his time leaves his body thinking of me, he in truth comes to my being: he in truth comes unto me.
6 For on whomsoever one thinks at the last moment of life, unto him in truth he goes, through sympathy with his nature.
7 Think of me therefore at all times; remember thou me and fight. And with mind and reason on me, thou shalt in truth come to me.
8 For if a man thinks of the Spirit Supreme with a mind that wanders not, because it has been trained in Yoga, he goes to that Spirit of Light.
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***** Parallel Passages: Pistis Sophia: "Do not cease seeking day or night, and do not let yourselves relax until you have found all the
Mysteries of the Kingdom of Light, which will purify you and make you into Pure Light and lead you into the Kingdom of Light."
Manda-d-Hiya -- Gnosis of the Great Life (God) -- the great heavenly redeemer in the Mandaean Scriptures says:
From the Place of Light I came forth,
from you, Bright Habitation.
I come to touch hearts,
to measure and try all minds,
to see in whose heart I dwell.
Whoever thinks of me, of him I think;
whoever calls my Name,
his name I will call.
Whosoever prays my prayer from the earth,
his prayer I will offer from the Place of Light.
I came and found the truthful and believing hearts.
When I was not dwelling among them,
yet my Name was on their lips.
I took them and guided them up to the World of Light.
I became the Illuminator of the Worlds of Light.
I became a king to the Nazoreans,
who receive praise and stability through my Name.
And by my Name they ascend to the Place of the Light.
As for the elect righteous who put me on as a garment,
their eyes were filled with Light,
and Manda-d-Hiya [Knowledge of Life]
was established in their hearts.
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The Power Between the Eye-brows -- Third Eye -- The Seat of the Soul
9 He who remembers the Poet. the Creator, who rules all
10 things from all time, smaller than the smallest atom, but upholding this vast universe, who shines like the sun beyond darkness, far far beyond human thought; and at the time of his departure is in union of love and the power of Yoga and, with a mind that wanders not, keeps the power of his life between his eye-brows, he goes to that Spirit Supreme, the Supreme Spirit of light.
11 Hear now of that Path which the seers of the Veda call the Eternal, and which is reached by those who, in peace from earthly passions, live a life of holiness and strive for perfection.
12 If when a man leaves his earthly body he is in the silence of Yoga and, closing the doors of the soul, he keeps the mind in his heart, and places in the head the breath of life.
Sound -- The Word
13 And remembering me he utters OM, the eternal WORD of Brahman, he goes to the Path Supreme.
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***** Acts of John: "Who else is Christ but the Sound of God?"
Gospel of Thomas 108: Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." *****
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14 Those who in the devotion of Yoga rest all their soul ever on me, very soon come unto me.
15 And when those great spirits are in me, the Abode of joy supreme, they never return again to this world of human sorrow.
16 For all the worlds pass away, even the world of Brahma. the Creator: they pass away and return. But he who comes unto me goes no more from death to death.
The Day and Night of Brahma
17 They who know that the vast day of Brahma, the god of creation, ever lasts a thousand ages; and that his night lasts also a thousand ages - they know in truth day and night.
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***** Parallels: Saint Paul, Second Peter 3: 8: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day".*****
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18 When that day comes, all the visible creation arises from the Invisible; and all creation disappears into the Invisible when the night of darkness comes.
19 Thus the infinity of beings which live again and again all powerlessly disappear when the night of darkness comes; and they all return again at the rising of the day.
20 But beyond this creation, visible and invisible, there is an Invisible, higher, Eternal; and when all things pass away this remains for ever and ever.
21 This Invisible is called the Everlasting and is the highest End supreme. Those who reach him never return. This is my supreme abode.
22 This Spirit Supreme, Arjuna, is attained by an ever-living love. In him all things have their life, and from him all things have come.
23 Hear now of a time of light when Yogis go to eternal Life; and hear of a time of darkness when they return to death on earth.
24 If they depart in the flame, the light, the day, the bright weeks of the moon and the months of increasing light of the sun, those who know Brahman go unto Brahman.
25 But if they depart in the smoke, the night, the dark weeks of the moon and the months of decreasing days of the sun, they enter the lunar light, and return to the world of death.
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***** Parallel Passages: Pistis Sophia: "Then Jesus rose or ascended to the height, giving light exceedingly, with (a) light to which there was no measure". *****
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The "Two Paths" or "Two Ways"
26 These are the two paths that are for ever: the path of light and the path of darkness. The one leads to the land of never-returning: the other returns to sorrow.
27 The Yogi who knows these two paths lives nevermore in delusion. Therefore ever and for ever be thou one in Yoga, Arjuna.
28 There is a reward that comes from the Vedas, or from sacrifice, from an austere life or from holy gifts. But a far greater reward is attained by the Yogi who knows the truth of Light and darkness: he attains his Everlasting Home.
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***** Parallel Passages: Letter of Barnabas: "There are two Ways of teaching and power, one of Light and one of Darkness". Gospel of Thomas 49: Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."
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