“The roots of evil go deep down into the same bedrock as the roots of evolution. They grow like the tares and wheat, as the Bible says.” Cynthia Bourgeault
Logion 57
Yeshua says…
God’s realm is like this:
A farmer planted good seed in his field,
but at night enemies came and sowed it with weeds.
When he found out
he did not allow them to be pulled up
saying, “No, you might uproot the grain
along with the weeds.
Wait till harvest.
It will be perfectly apparent then
which ones are the weeds,
and you may pull them out easily and burn them.”
“The explanation of the meaning of tares is made clear. It is, first of all, all errors, all things that cause stumbling, in connection with the teaching of the Kingdom or higher level of the development of Man; and second, it is all those who act wrongly within the teaching. The tares are the seed of the evil one, because they represent both the wrong teaching itself and the wrong results arising from it (owing to the sleep of Man). The same applies to the seed of the Kingdom, or the wheat, which is both the true teaching itself and the results of it acting on those who are planted on the good soil. The phrase often translated as ‘end of the world’ means ‘consummation of the age’. The destruction of the material earth is not meant. So far we have seen, in our attempt to understand something about the Kingdom of Heaven and the teaching concerning it, that men are sown on the earth differently, that they form the material for the Kingdom, that the true teaching about the Kingdom and how to reach it, which in its turn is sown upon men’s minds, becomes mingled with false views owing to the sleep of Man, and this so inextricably that a separation cannot be made until the ‘end of the world’—that is, until the ‘consummation of the age’. What does an age mean? An age is a period of time characterized by a particular teaching about inner evolution or the level of the Kingdom of Heaven. It comes to an end, and a new form of the same teaching is then sown, adjusted to the prevalent conditions. A new harvest appears but always mingled with tares. A new reaping and a new separation is made, and the process is again repeated. Each form of the teaching about the Kingdom, from its inception to its culmination, is an age. Each action of the teaching is a selective action. Those who have, in any particular age, received the teaching about inner evolution and have followed it, thirty−, sixty− or one hundred−fold, are the harvest; and they attain ‘eternal’ life on the level of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Maurice Nicoll, The New Man, p211-212
“Once the seed of the Kingdom of Heaven is sown on Man it becomes changed from the start and is falsified by being mixed with old views and old ways of thought—and so tares are sown side by side with the wheat.” Maurice Nicoll, The New Man, p221
“The roots of evil go deep down into the same bedrock as the roots of evolution. They grow like the wheats and tares together as the Bible says.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Claymont 2019 Dec Gurdjieff-Teilhard, 50:45 13 – Wednesday Evening Q&A.
An elder said: “No wickedness which is not translated into action is wickedness; no righteousness which was not translated into action is righteousness. A man who has neither good nor bad is like the land of Sodom and Gomorrah because it is salty, producing neither crop nor weed, whereas the good ground brings forth wheat and tares.” John Wortley, The anonymous sayings of the Desert Fathers, n515, p349.
“Another parable he set before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he saith, Nay; Jest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew, xiii, 24-30)
Christ later explains the meaning of this parable:
“He answered and said to them: He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew xiii.37-43)
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll’s The New Man refer to Martino Fine Books, Eastford CT, 2019
Quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)
Read more Impressions on the Parables of Jesus
Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.
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