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    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality
    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality
    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality
    Ebook112 pages2 hours

    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality

    By Lee Hager and Steven Hager

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    About this ebook

    The Gospel of Thomas contains only 114 of Jesus’ sayings, but its powerful message has rocked conventional understanding of who Jesus was and what he taught. In Thomas, Jesus is not a savior, a messiah or a Christ. He does not die for anyone’s sins, and resurrection is not even mentioned. He is not considered the only-begotten Son of God, God incarnate or even a master over his followers. If he’s not portrayed in any of the roles that are customarily assigned to him, what part does he play?
    In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is a human who has had his spiritual eyes opened through gnosis, a direct, personal experience of the Divine. His teachings are based on an understanding of the universe that quantum research is currently confirming. When we listen, his words can correct the misperceptions that fill our world with fear. We all have a choice to make. We can take a “quantum” approach to Jesus’ teachings or cling to an outdated interpretation of his words that cannot be reconciled with scientific research.
    We’ve discovered that the synergy of science and spirituality has the power to transform your life. We invite you to join us in exploring Jesus’ parables and sayings from a quantum perspective. But like Jesus, it is not our intention to give you more words to follow, but to offer a reason for you to want to experience the Divine for yourself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLee Hager
    Release dateJul 25, 2011
    ISBN9780978526146
    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality
    Author

    Lee Hager

    Brought up in fundamentalist Christianity, Lee & Steven spent over twenty years as dedicated Christian teachers. Although their service to others was the most gratifying aspect of their lives, other important parts of the puzzle were missing. They were disappointed that their faith had not resulted in the deep and sustaining peace and joy they believed it should, and it failed to offer satisfying answers to their questions about God. Eventually their continued questioning resulted in excommunication. They continued their search for several years, but kept finding the same disappointing answers. Frustrated by severe illnesses, family and financial problems, and their seeming failure to find God, they made a suicide pact. Before carrying it out, they prayed one last time, but this prayer, and the result, was very different than anything they had experienced before.Instead of asking for what they wanted, they laid aside all their personal preferences and preconceived ideas. For the first time, they were willing to accept any message they received as long as it resulted in a connection with Source. The answer they got came from a most unlikely source: quantum physics. They suddenly realized that science and spirituality create a powerful synergy that can transform our lives. The misery and fear we each experience is the direct result of our misperception of the universe and our place in it. The Beginning of Fearlessness: Quantum Prodigal Son is a spiritual quest and scientific adventure written to help you let go of the misperceptions that have made you miserable.

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      Beautifully described! Very enlightening. Can see where the 12 Steps came from.

    Book preview

    The Gospel of Thomas - Lee Hager

    The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality

    Lee and Steven Hager

    Published by Oroborus Books, Smashwords Edition

    Copyright 2011 Lee and Steven Hager

    This book is available in print at most online retailers.

    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the authors. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the authors. All rights reserved.

    Discover other titles by Lee and Steven Hager at Smashwords.com including:

    The Beginning of Fearlessness: Quantum Prodigal Son

    Religious or Spiritual? How the Difference Can Affect Your Happiness

    Table of Contents

    Introduction

    Chapter One…..A Very Different Jesus

    Chapter Two…..What Is Gnosis?

    Chapter Three…..Quantum Physics Primer

    Chapter Four…..The First Few Puzzle Pieces

    Chapter Five…..Liberation

    Chapter Six…..What Is the Kingdom?

    Chapter Seven…..Here, There, Everywhere

    Chapter Eight…..Beings of Light

    Chapter Nine…..Two Masters

    Chapter Ten…..What No Eye Has Seen

    Afterword

    This book is dedicated to everyone who feels certain there must be something greater than what the eye sees, the ear hears, or the hand touches.

    A man should look for what is, not what he thinks should be—Albert Einstein

    The attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be—Alan Watts

    Without going outside you many know the whole world. Without looking through the window you may know the ways of heaven—Lau Tzu

    *************************

    Introduction

    What is a spiritual master? Why do they seem so different, so other-worldly? Where does their wisdom come from? When confronted with a master, we try to come to logical conclusions. Since they seem so very different, we quickly assume they must have come from outside our universe or been specially chosen by a supernatural power and given extraordinary gifts. But in this case, logic would have failed us.

    Ask any master and they will tell you they are an ordinary person who has had a direct, personal experience of the Divine. Moreover, they will encourage you to have the same experience. This is always shocking information, and few choose to accept it. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we need someone else to save us. Having our own direct experience of the Divine seems impossible, frightening or even arrogant. So instead of following in the master’s footsteps, we filter the master’s message through our own world view, dilute it and make it more palatable. In the process we lose the real message and try to limp along on the crumbs. We hope the master will become our savior and carry us on his/her back. But masters share their experience to show us the door is open, not to carry us through it. Their words are meant to inspire our own exploration and personal experience of the Divine, not serve as a substitute for it.

    The direct personal experience opens the sage’s eyes and they see the universe as it actually is, not as they had been conditioned to see it. Jesus was one of these masters. Unfortunately unless a follower also has a direct experience they cannot fully understand what the master is saying, and they must interpret the master’s words through their own perception.

    Sadly, we have no accurate eye-witness accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings. Instead, we have the words of many of his followers, some who understood what he was saying and many who didn’t. Some of the information is contained in the gnostic gospels, some in the New Testament. Neither of these sources is more accurate than the other or more authentic. Since that’s the case, how can we follow Jesus’ footsteps?

    Cutting edge research in quantum physics presents a compelling picture of the structure and operation of the universe that’s startlingly different from the universe we thought we lived in. Although this information appears to be catapulting us into a new era of understanding, it has been available for centuries. Spiritual masters found that when they experienced the Divine, they also saw the universe as it actually is. As their misperceptions were replaced with truth, they understood everything in a new way. When we look at Jesus’ teachings in light of quantum research, it becomes obvious that Jesus saw and understood the universe as it actually is. Since it was impossible for him to speak in terms of quantum physics, he tailored his message to his audience as best he could.

    As we read accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings, two very different pictures of Jesus emerge. One image corresponds with quantum research; the other cannot be reconciled with our quantum universe. One set of information is presented by those who emulated Jesus and experienced the Divine for themselves. The other set reflects the apocalyptic views prevalent in Jesus’ day. It reflects a passionate desire for a savior that would release the Jews from their Roman oppressors and restore their theocratic nation. When Jesus died, his apocalyptic followers were left with two choices. They could look at Jesus’ message from a different perspective, or they could manipulate Jesus’ story and teachings to fit their new circumstances.

    We also have a choice to make. Are we willing to take a quantum approach to Jesus’ teachings? Do we want to find out what Jesus’ had to say about our universe? Or will we cling to an outdated view that cannot be reconciled with scientific research? Einstein recognized, Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind. Saint Thomas Aquinas agreed saying, Revelation comes in two books-the Bible and Nature…a mistake about nature results in a mistake about God.

    We’ve discovered that the synergy of science and spirituality has the power to transform your life. We invite you to join us in exploring Jesus’ parables and sayings from a quantum perspective. But like Jesus, it is not our intention to give you more words to follow, but to offer a reason for you to want to experience the Divine for yourself.

    *************************

    Chapter One~~~A Very Different Jesus

    The Gospel of Thomas contains only 114 of Jesus’ sayings, but its powerful message has rocked conventional understanding of who Jesus was and what he taught. In Thomas, Jesus is not a savior, a messiah or a Christ. He does not die for anyone’s sins, and resurrection is not even mentioned. He is not considered the only-begotten Son of God, God incarnate or even a master over his followers. If he’s not portrayed in any of the roles that are customarily assigned to him, what part does he play?

    The Gospel of Thomas quotes Jesus as saying, I am not your master…He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am; I myself will become he…When you come to know yourselves…you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. Jesus is a master, but like all true masters, he knows that he is master over no one but himself. He offers what he has experienced, but only as a jumping off point for his followers’ own spiritual quest. The gnostic Gospel of Truth confirms Jesus’ position as a wisdom teacher saying, He became a guide, a person of rest who was busy in places of instruction. He came forward and spoke the word as a teacher.

    Later in the Gospel of Truth the writer adds, He appeared, informing them of the Father, the illimitable, and he inspired them with what is in the mind…For a doctor rushes to where there is sickness, since that is the doctor’s wish. It’s not surprising to see Jesus portrayed as a healer, but in the gnostic gospels the healing work Jesus undertakes is not the miraculous sort so prevalent in the New Testament. And it’s not a temporary physical healing, but a permanent healing of the misperceptions that keep humanity locked in misery.

    Thomas opens by telling us, Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death. Here Jesus focuses on healing the mind because he’s discovered the mind is the place where problems originate, and also where they’re healed. Instead of having faith in the person of Jesus, salvation was found by unraveling and understanding his message, by exchanging misperception for truth. This gnostic message confirms Jesus’ words in the New Testament at John 8:32, And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

    In the New Testament, sin is considered an inescapable, inherited deficiency that causes us to fall short of perfection and condemns all humanity to death because, …sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned. (Romans 5:12) Hebrews

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