Sayings of the Gospel of Philip, accumulating as poetry with song.

LOVE POSSESSES NOTHING

Love possesses nothing, 

and holds everything.

Faith receives, and love gives. 

We are conceived through a kiss 

of pure spiritual embrace — 

we kiss each other, giving birth to each other, 

through the love that is in us.

Love possesses nothing, 

and holds everything.

Love is the wind by which we grow. 

Trust takes root in the soil of the heart, 

Hope is the water that nourishes, 

and Light ripens us toward the harvest.

Love possesses nothing, 

and holds everything.

True human beings are called 

to love in the world. 

It is love which makes us act. 

Our breath seeks another breath, 

as every clarity seeks its light.

Love and truth 

are beyond the heavens. 

A drunkenness and a balm, 

love heals us of the multitude 

of our wanderings.

Love the Teacher, 

so that what you engender 

will resemble the Teacher. 

Become like love, 

and love will settle in you.

Love possesses nothing, 

and holds everything. 

It says, “all of this is yours.”

William Britten

Love possesses nothing, for how could it when everything already belongs to it. It never says, “This is mine,” or “That belongs to me.” It says instead, “All of this is yours.” 
Gospel of Philip, Analogue 61, W Bauman

Love refuses nothing, and takes nothing; it is the highest and vastest freedom
All exists through love. It does not say “this is mine,” but “this is yours.” 
Gospel of Philip, Saying 110, LeLoup

Conceived

Faith [pistis] is receiving, and love [agapē] is giving.
None can receive without faith, and none can give without love.
We believe, and are capable of receiving; we give so as to experience love.
Whoever gives without love experiences nothing of interest.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 45, LeLoup

Those who are nourished by the word which comes to the mouth go toward their own realization.
The realized human is fertilized by a kiss, and is born through a kiss.
This is why we kiss each other, giving birth to each other
through the love [kharis], [also grace] that is in us.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 31, LeLoup

Grown

What is harvested in the world is composed of four elements: water, earth, wind, and light.
What God harvests is also composed of four elements: faith, hope, love, and contemplation.
Our earth is faith, for she gives us roots.
Water is our hope, for it slakes our thirst.
Wind is the love through which we grow; and light is the contemplation through which we ripen.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 115, LeLoup

In this world crops are cultivated and gathered into barns using four elements: soil, water, wind and light. Likewise God also cultivates the world through the elements of trust, hope, love and enlightenment.
Our soil is the heart where trust takes root. Hope is the water through which we are nourished. Love is the wind by which we grow, and enlightenment is the Light which causes us to ripen.
It is grace, then, which has caused the humble of the earth to reign over heaven. 
Gospel of Philip, Analogue 63, W Bauman

Acting

There is yet another race animated by the Breath:
These are the true human beings, the Sons of Man, the Sons of the Son.
These true human beings are called to love in the world.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 102, LeLoup

Our breath seeks another breath, our intelligence seeks intelligence, and every clarity seeks its light. If you become more clear, the Light will unite with you.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 113, LeLoup

Truth is our mother; knowledge is the promise of our union with her.
Those who do not go astray are called free by the world; the knowledge of truth lifts their heart, making them free of all bonds; it is love which makes them act.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 110, LeLoup

Healed

Spiritual love is truly a fragrance-filled wine meant to be enjoyed by all who receive it… Love shall cover a multitude of sins. 
Gospel of Philip, Analogue 61, W Bauman

Spiritual Love is a drunkenness and a balm; those who are anointed by it rejoice …
love heals us of the multitude of our wanderings. 
Gospel of Philip, Saying 111, LeLoup

Becoming

You who are with the Son of God do not love worldly things; love the Teacher, so that what you engender will resemble the Teacher, and not some other thing.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 112, LeLoup

Become more spiritual, and the Spirit will unite with you… If you become more clear, the Light will become a companion to you.  None of these realities can settle in you if you do not become like them through love.
Gospel of Philip, Saying 113, LeLo

“The mystics keep coming back to it on all paths, that love is not a permanent quality of God apart from any created order. It is something that is loomed and woven and spun like pure gold on the warp and weft of the created and uncreated dancing. And this was the hidden secret that they all talk about.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Holy Week 2024 in Rockland, 44:00, 01 — Cosmic Cost of Arising, Rockland 2024

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Quotations from the Gospels of Philip are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)

Quotations from the Gospel of Philip from Jean-Yves LeLoup, Gospel of Philip, (Inner Traditions: 2004)

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