Jesus said, Show me the stone which the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone. (66)
As with many portions of the Gospel of Thomas, this passage has a verbal affinity with parts of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. But there, as in relation to the previous verse, it is in relation to the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the majority of the people of Israel. This, however, is quite different in its intention.
Basically Jesus is saying that what the world rejects God accepts, and what the world accepts, God rejects. That is a bit bald, but the principle is just that. Saint James wrote quite clearly: “Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). And it works the other way, as well. In the Aquarian Gospel Jesus says that the more the world approves of someone, the less merit they truly have in the spirit. I have been observing this since my teen years. The liking or disliking of negative and ignorant people is an accurate index to the true character of those they like or dislike. What they dislike is good and what they like is harmful. That sounds very simplistic, and it is because those that Buddha calls “run-of-the-mill” are simplistic in most things. Though Yogananda rightly commented: “Human beings are skillful in their ignorance.”
This is just about all that can be said. I could cite examples, but it would better if you considered your own experience and drew your own conclusions.
Read the next article in the Gospel of Thomas for Yogis: All–and Nothing
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.
Learn more »