A Wisdom teaching from the Gospels of Thomas and Philip on the nature of time, origin and return, the now and the eternal. From our collection of songs from poems.

Split the Wood

Where the beginning is,
the end will also be.

Abide in the beginning —
you came from there,
and you will return.

Split the wood.
Turn the stone.
There you are.

Out of her you have come,
and back to her you are returning,
child of the Living One,
born where light is born of Light,
clothed in clear light,
and in that light, you see.

Split the wood.
Turn the stone.
There you are.

It is movement,
and it is rest.
The light that shines on everyone
is hidden in everyone —
revealed and hidden
by the same light.

Split the wood.
Turn the stone.
There you are.

When you come to stand
in your place of origin,
gaze upon the icon of your own being —
the one that never dies,
and never quite appears —
will you be able to stand it?

Split the wood.
Turn the stone.
There you are.

Towards the source, everything unfolds.
Find repose within you.
Those who are born within
bear the same name.
Rest.

Split the wood.
Turn the stone.
There you are.

William Britten

His student said to him, “So, tell us, then, what our end and destiny will be?”

Yeshua answered, “Have you already discovered your origin, so that you are now free to seek after your end? It is only at your source that you will find your destiny. Blessed are those who come to stand in their place of origination, for it is there that they will know their end—never tasting death.”

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 18, L Bauman

Blessed are those who are before existing; for those who are were, and will be.

That which is inside, in the secret of all, is fullness. Beyond it is nothing; it contains all.

Gospel of Philip, Saying 57, LeLoup 

Blessed are those chosen and unified. The Realm of the Kingdom is theirs. For out of her you have come, and back to her you are returning.

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 49, L Bauman

Truth did not come into the world naked, but veiled with images and archetypes… In passing through the image, the bridegroom is led into the truth which is the renewal of all things in their integrity.

The mysteries of Truth are manifested to us in the form of archetypes or images.

Gospel of Philip, Sayings 67 and 124, LeLoup 

Images are revealed to humanity while the light within them is hidden by the brilliance of the Father’s light. It is God who is being revealed, but the image of God remains concealed by the blaze of light.

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 83, L Bauman

When you see your own likeness projected into time it makes you happy. But when the time comes that you are able to look upon the icon of your own being which came into existence at the beginning, and neither dies nor has been fully revealed, will you be able to stand it?

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 84, L Bauman

“Rather than learning to train the body to bear the beams of love, we just lower the decibels to the whole system, where we live our life numbed out. And Christianity is not a religion that can be lived numbed out.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Rebuilding Trust Feb 2022, 41:59 Day3.1-Reflections-on-Zhikr.

Before Christ, several came forth. They could no longer return to whence they came… Christ came. Those who had come in, he brought out; and those who had gone out, he brought in.

Gospel of Philip, Saying 70, LeLoup 

…those who are born in the bridal chamber are in repose. They need nothing else; contemplation suffices them.

Gospel of Philip, Saying 87,  LeLoup

Suppose you are asked, “Where have you come from?” say, “We have come from the Light at its source, from the place where it came forth and was manifest as Image and Icon.” If you are asked, “Are you that Light?” say, “We are its children, and chosen by the Source, the Living Father.” If you are questioned, “But what is the sign of the Source within you?” say, “It is movement and it is rest.”

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 50, L Bauman

All the children of the Bridal Chamber bear the same name—Rest.

Gospel of Philip, Analogue 52, W Bauman

Yeshua said:
I am the Light that shines on everyone.
I am the All.
The All came forth from me and the All came into me. 

Split the wood, and I am there. 
Turn over the stone,
and there you will find me.

Gospel of Thomas, Logion 77, LeLoup

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

Jean-Yves Leloup, The Gospel of Thomas, Inner Traditions, 2005

Jean-Yves Leloup, The Gospel of Philip, Inner Traditions, 2003

Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.

Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Philip.

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