Jesus said, Among those born of women, from Adam until John the Baptist, there is no one so superior to John the Baptist that his eyes should not be lowered (before him). Yet I have said, whichever one of you comes to be a child will be acquainted with the kingdom and will become superior to John. (46)
The only way to become great in the kingdom of God is to enter it. How? When Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3), he was speaking of regaining our primal nature and condition of unity with God. The word translated “converted” is strepho which means to turn back in the sense of returning to where we were before. We must recover what the Zen Buddhists call our “original face.” That is why as our example Jesus prayed: “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5). The path to perfection is the path of return. This, too, is the way of the yogi.
Read the next article in the Gospel of Thomas for Yogis: Impossible Duality
Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke)
Swami Nirmalananda Giri, founder of Light of the Spirit Monastery, has spent over six decades immersed in the study and practice of Yoga and and the spiritual traditions of East and West. He is the author of more than 30 books on meditation, practical spiritual life and Sanatana Dharma.
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