Non-Duality in the Gospel of Thomas
"Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?"
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The Gospel of Thomas first moved me two years ago. A cover lifted from my eyes while reading sacred texts. I found something quite different from other gospels - no stories, wonders, just words. More precisely, logia: wise sayings with numbers, coming from the Greek λόγια (logia), plural of λόγιον (logion), meaning a holy or prophetic saying.
The word "apocryphal" comes from the Greek "apokryphos," meaning hidden or meant for few. This gospel, found in the Nag Hammadi papers in 1945, stayed buried for many years. It holds these logia credited to Jesus, written by Didymus Judas Thomas, kept outside the Bible because many saw it untrue to a common faith.
My thoughts on the text's shape keep showing its special nature: grouped sayings instead of flowing tales bring forth a fresh path to wisdom. Each logion unfolds like a flower in deep thought, beckoning us beyond mere words.
Non-Duality
The idea of non-duality struck deep in logion 22:
"When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the (Father's) domain]."
This passage stands clear: beyond joining opposites, it speaks of moving past all splits in reality. The mention of body parts and "images" points toward leaving behind the world of looks, urging us beyond passing shapes.
The text breaks down these splits with care: first through world-sized pairs (inner/outer, up/down), then through body pairs (male/female), ending in the breaking of body bounds and self-views.
A cup
This single view deepens further in logion 89:
"Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?"
Simple words hide endless depth here. Beyond clean cups lies an invite to see everything whole, where splits between in and out live only in mind.
The brilliance of this logion shines through common things teaching deep truth. A cup becomes the world in small, where every split exists only in minds that sort and divide.
Zen
This teaching through daily objects mirrors old Zen ways. The cup logion speaks of inner-outer oneness, much like the Zen riddle that changed my path:
A monk asked Joshu: "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"
Joshu replied: "Mu."
Every meeting with this "Mu" - meaning nothing - sweeps clean not just the question but all neat boxes of sacred and plain, being and void.
This echo rings through Master Nan-in's tea story too:
A learned man sought Nan-in's Zen wisdom. Nan-in poured tea. He filled the guest's cup full yet kept pouring. The learned man watched tea overflow until words burst: "It's full! No more can go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you overflow with knowing. How can I show you Zen until you empty your cup?'
These Zen tales share Thomas's method: strange paths leading minds beyond old tracks. Yet Thomas builds through questions while Zen breaks thought patterns right away.
And…so?
Three ancient moments speak one truth through my studies. Thomas breaks all splits in saying 22, then shows truth through simple cups in 89. Joshu's "Mu" shatters all divisions. Nan-in teaching wisdom through spilt tea.
Thomas's book still amazes me - creating silence where words might crowd. Like Zen riddles, these sayings ask not for understanding but for living presence. They mirror not the truth itself but my own mind's limits.
The deep insight came: these texts refuse quick answers. They build no towers of thought but open spaces where truth lives beyond words. Now I see them marking paths inward, not rules carved in stone.
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