The Good Samaritan parable, with commentary from Cynthia Bourgeault and Maurice Nicoll.
“To a certain extent everyone asks for Good, as when a man puts an extra coal on the fire if it is cold. He does not expect any reward save the Good of the action. But nothing is more difficult to understand than what it means to act from Good in the sense of the Gospels, although the meaning is as practical and non−sentimental as putting on a coal if it is cold. To act from Truth, from knowledge, is easy to grasp. But Truth by itself is merciless and those who act from Truth alone are capable of doing the greatest harm to others. Let us glance at the Parable of the Good Samaritan which has had perhaps a greater effect on mankind than any of the other parables. It is most known. It can be understood as it stands. In fact, no other parable has passed, as it has, into common knowledge. This parable is about acting from Good and not from Truth. A Jew is lying wounded by robbers on the dangerous road between Jerusalem and Jericho. A Jewish priest passes and a Levite passes, and they do not help him. A Samaritan then passes and though the Jews and Samaritans have, on the side of Truth, nothing to do with one another, he stops and binds up the wounds of this injured man. The parable is given after the lawyer, seeking to tempt Christ, has asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life.” Maurice Nicoll, The New Man, p76.
The parable:
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, which both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come again, will repay thee. Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
(Luke x, 25−37)
“Christ says briefly: ‘Go and do in like manner.’ Do what? The parable is taken as meaning chiefly that one must be kind to those in distress. But it seems to mean more. It refers to the necessity of working on wrong attitudes. Why otherwise bring in a Samaritan, so hateful to a Jew ? The parable implies that freeing oneself from fixed prejudice and wrong attitude is needed before the stage of development called love of neighbor can be possible. And this means discarding a considerable amount of encrusted self-love.” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p1633.
“To act from compassion, to act from mercy, is to act from Good itself and not from any idea of reward. Truth alone has nothing to do with compassion, nothing to do with mercy. The most merciless and atrocious acts have been done in the name of Truth. For Truth divorced from Good has nothing real in it. It has nothing to check it, nothing to unite with it and give it any real being.” The New Man, p77.
“As you work on a path of altruism, there’s the need to be constantly working in the direction of making sure that the yearning to give comes from a purer and purer compassion in which you and your neighbor are deemed as equals. Or your neighbor as in the Samaritans is, you know, the one you’re helping is above you. So that altruism doesn’t become a game of condescension. It doesn’t become a game of entitlement, masking itself. It doesn’t become an easy game of making yourself feel virtuous. And as you can, watch those demons that will creep in and purify the motive in the ground of your beseeching.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Relearning Trust Sept 2022, 34:14 RT 06 Aft Teaching 9:27.
Logion 25
Yeshua said:
Love your brother and your sister as your soul;
protect them as you do the pupils of your eyes.
Read more Impressions of the Parables of Jesus.
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll refer to Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Eureka Editions:2020) unless stated otherwise.
Quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Jean-Yves Leloup, The Gospel of Thomas, Inner Traditions, 2005
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll’s The New Man refer to Martino Fine Books, Eastford CT, 2019
Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.
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