I’m the kind of person who rarely reads the introductory material of a book. Rather than “waste time” on the preface or introduction I’d rather jump to the meat of the material. When I opened my edition of Living Buddha, Living Christ, however, I saw the introduction was written by Elaine Pagels. Ms. Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University and has written extensively on the gnostic gospels. As such, I thought her introduction may hold valuable insights into the body of the book.
I was right.
Jesus said; “If those who lead you say to you, ‘Look, the Kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will get there first. If they say, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will get there first. Rather, the Kingdom inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the children of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, then you will dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.”
In another passage Jesus says “Since it has been said that you are my twin and my true companion, it is not fitting for you to be ignorant of yourself. So while you accompany me, although you do not yet understand it, you have already come to know, and you will be called “the one who knows himself.” For whomever has not known himself (sic) knows nothing, but he who knows himself has already understood the depth of all things.”
If you are unfamiliar with these bible passages you are not alone, because they are taken from the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. This gospel is believed to have been written ca 50 CE and, if that date is accurate, predates the earliest canonical gospel by some 20 years.
The so-called gnostic gospels (aka the Dead Sea Scrolls) were found in a cave at Nag Hammadi in 1947 (see picture). Gnostic works include the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Philip, the Dialog of the Savior, the Secret book of John, and the Apocalypse of Paul. None of these texts are part of the canonical works enshrined in our current bible. Reasons for their omission vary, but one common theme in these texts is the notion that the path to God can be found through introspection; by understanding that which is already within us, rather than through Jesus alone (and, by extension, the Church). As such, the gnostic gospels discount the assertion that Jesus is God and the only path to salvation.
It’s not hard to understand why the early church considered Gnosticism a heresy.
The gnostic texts also direct the disciple towards loving compassion of others. The Gospel of Truth admonishes us to “speak of the truth with those who seek for it, and of knowledge for those who have committed a sin in their error. Make firm the foot of those who have stumbled; give rest to those who are weary, and raise up those who wish to rise, and awaken those who sleep.”
Ms. Pagels seizes upon these texts to demonstrate the deep resonances between early elements of Christian thought and Buddhism and wonders if Thich Nhat Hanh was aware of the gnostic texts prior to authoring Living Buddha, Living Christ.
Christian philosophy is far more diverse than that espoused by the established Church. As we begin this study let’s open our minds to the entirety of Christian thought, unconstrained by ancient orthodoxy.
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