Analogue 11: The Hidden Treasure

Analogue 11

No one hides a thing of great value in something that will attract attention, but folk will often put objects of worth into a container that is worth little or nothing. Likewise, the soul—a precious thing—has come to exist in a humble body. 

SYNOPSIS 

• This may be one of Yeshua's wisdom sayings hitherto unknown but perhaps alluded to and included in the Paul’s Epistle (II Corinthians 4:7), and also found in the Gospel of Thomas 29, 109.
• The esoteric reality and the exoteric manifestation.
• This is an esoteric teaching concerning the existence of the soul and its ultimate value which may indicate a new discovery or revelation being made concerning in the inner nature of humankind.
• The treasury of the soul, or soul treasure, which is both treasure in the soul, and the soul as treasure. 
• Treasure hidden in clay vessels as a metaphor for how the divine has concealed the inner value of something and confused the outer mind.
• In light of the discussion in analogue 10, the soul is being singled out for resurrection and not simply the physical body.
• Questions are being raised about soul-resurrection and physical (somatic) resurrection. 

COMMENTARY 

The Value of the Soul 

This short analogue may in truth be drawn directly not only from the wisdom teachings of Yeshua himself, but from his own mouth, perhaps word for word. There is a similar saying found in the writings of Paul (II Corinthians 4:7). The fact that it appears in a similar but extended form in Philip indicates that its source may be from a teaching, illustrated by Yeshua himself to instruct his students on the value of their own inner being (their souls). It begins to clarify what the soul actuality is, which appears to make a fresh distinction between soul and spirit as opposed to the material and physical body. These distinctions become known as the tripartite nature of human being. If this his historically true, then clearly this significant inner trinity can be assigned to the wisdom tradition of Yeshua himself, and contains a universal truth about the temporal and the eternal natures resident together and interacting within us. 

There is something of immense value in every human being, which is the divine nature within. This divine element is understood to be in or held by the soul. The soul is or carries this hidden dimension animating and expressing itself through the body. It is covered, contained or layered over by the physical form, but it remains itself appearing just below the surface structure of the body, expressing something of its own inner essence there. We each of course possess such a soul within a human body (which a precious instrument in its own right)—delicate and yet resilient. Our bodies, however, are clearly not the whole of us, and most certainly not the most significant or most important part of who we consider ourselves to be. We often attend to the needs and maintenance of the body as if it were everything, requiring our greatest attention, but we know that we are not our body. It is true that the body must have constant care, but as perceived in the wisdom tradition, it exists only at the surface of our being whose deep structure is out of sight and is itself larger (that is containing more dimensions) than the body. The soul is more complex. It is cosmic in design and possessing infinite elements that are mysterious even now to us. We are often surprised by what appears inside our own experience (in thought, feeling, and willed action).

The Infrastructure of the Soul 

The soul of our being, manifesting through the body, is part of that deeper human infrastructure that constitutes who we are. The soul, of course, expresses our uniqueness partly due to the social construction of our egos and personalities, but Traditional Wisdom suggests that it also contains far deeper elements which are divine donations that comes not from our earthly birth, but from eternity with us before we were born. The soul is said to be stamped with the divine image. Think of it perhaps like watermarks on a sheet of paper prior to its ordinary use, remaining indelible and everlasting—a precious thing, and only detectable when held up to the light. 

In that sense, we contain divine treasure. Our souls inwardly carry these eternal elements and features (its treasure) which the body both hides and reveals. These elements may also be inaccessible to the soul’s rational mind, but they are available to and can be known by the kardial core. The impermanence of the body, understood here to be an ‘earthen vessel’ which will fracture and crumble away in time, is the humble container. The soul is sturdier and longer lasting than the body, so that this understanding can lead to an important revaluation of both who we are and how we attend to ourselves in this world. This saying from the wisdom of Yeshua (and its attendant consequences) will help to focus the direction of the later teachings of this Gospel text, which centers on the interior treasure found there. As we shall see these are not inert, but active and dynamic as we shall see.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 

1. How do you understand and experience the realities inside yourself that are different from your awareness of your body? How do you perceive this: Are you your body, or are you different from your body? What is your uniqueness apart from your physical form and features? How would you describe your psychological uniqueness?
2. Can you detect the external features or realities of your being as distinct from the interior dimensions? How do you know or come to experience them and their differences? How do they interact with one another? 
3. Is the soul simply the body animated (a body that is alive), or is it something higher or deeper than the body? How might you describe its height and its depth? 
4. What are the features, similarities and differences that you have come to know about your inner self from that of others? What terms and names do you give them—based perhaps on a school of psychology? 
5. Given that this text understands the soul to be entirely different and in some ways apart from the body, how would you describe and define your own soul as distinct and more spiritual and yet also an earthly mixture? What are these features and proclivities you have come to know? 
6. According to Philip (and perhaps the teachings of Yeshua himself) why is your soul a precious thing? Do you notice that parts of it are hidden, perhaps even from you? In your mind what are the elements of its valued treasury? How would you describe these? 
7. How might you better attend and care for your soul? How might you neglect it in favor of the body? Does the soul ever “act out” to get attention from your own conscious awareness?

Notes for Reference and Study

1. The writings of early Christianity and the entire Bible contain a complex vocabulary concerning the nature and composition of a human being. Among them are the terms sometimes used for body like temple (Hekel) and for the soul sentience or the life of the soul (nephesh in Hebrew). It perhaps can be said that through the centuries and into the modern era, human beings have been learning more and more about the complexity of their own being and their interior realities. In the language of Sophia Perennis it is said to be a microcosm of the microcosm and there highly complex, even mysterious. This inner complexity is known as a “little cosmos” (we might think of it as being in some ways like a solar system containing many bodies or objects which are centers of gravity, possessing their own unique character) but saturated with consciousness manifest in various forms.
2. Understood in this way, the soul is enfleshed by a biological and material form we experience as our physical body that is full of one specific kind of life, biological. Sacred tradition says that the soul can also be “embodied” or clothed with other forms of life and become a celestial or light-body. (See I Corinthians 15).
3. In various sacred traditions, the soul is also described as the intermediate entity between heaven and earth (and also between the material and spiritual worlds) containing both as well as our own individual and unique identities but also our common humanity. Modern psychology explores the soul’s characteristics and depth, and the word it uses for itself comes from the Greek word for soul, psyche. We are still trying to understand this complexity in contemporary terms with various schools of psychological thought naming the multiple elements and their complex interactions (think of Freudian and Jungian psychology, just to name two).
4. Below are simple diagrams which help to explicate the inner complexity of human being.

Diagrams of the Soul

Notes for the Translation

• The words, "attract attention," translate a phrase that means ostentatious or grandiose.
• The term, "humble," also means lowly or unassuming.