(no subject)
Jan. 6th, 2004 10:34 amToday is the Feast of the Epiphany, the holiest day in the Gnostic calendar.
Last year in honor of this day I posted an excerpt from the Gospel of Truth. Today I will contemplate an interesting aspect of many post-ressurection encounters with Jesus. These concern an unrecognized savior, either unknown even to those who were closest to him, or hidden in the guise of different forms.
What could this mean? I sense here a rather intriguing mystery: the unrecognized savior, hiding in disguise even from those who knew him for months or years. Maybe the hinted meaning is not so difficult after all: anyone we encounter, no matter what his or her appearance, could be a manifestion of the divine. Maybe it also refers to my thoughts a couple of weeks ago, about how each of us are in turn are at times called upon to be the savior for someone else.
The Buddhists have a saying, that we should treat every person we encounter as if he or she is Buddha... because in a very real sense, we are.
First the canonical accounts, and then the most interesting non-canonical accounts, and then a miscellany of different accounts.
( canonical accounts: the unrecognized or unfamiliar Jesus )
( noncanonical sources: Prisca, Valentinus, Acts of John )
( additional noncanonical accounts )
Last year in honor of this day I posted an excerpt from the Gospel of Truth. Today I will contemplate an interesting aspect of many post-ressurection encounters with Jesus. These concern an unrecognized savior, either unknown even to those who were closest to him, or hidden in the guise of different forms.
What could this mean? I sense here a rather intriguing mystery: the unrecognized savior, hiding in disguise even from those who knew him for months or years. Maybe the hinted meaning is not so difficult after all: anyone we encounter, no matter what his or her appearance, could be a manifestion of the divine. Maybe it also refers to my thoughts a couple of weeks ago, about how each of us are in turn are at times called upon to be the savior for someone else.
The Buddhists have a saying, that we should treat every person we encounter as if he or she is Buddha... because in a very real sense, we are.
First the canonical accounts, and then the most interesting non-canonical accounts, and then a miscellany of different accounts.