Analogue 72

Analogue 72

Birth into the Great Age of the Eternal Now

Anyone who is born a child from the Bridal Chamber shall receive the Light, for if one does not receive it there, there is nowhere else to receive it. Those who welcome the Light are hidden from the world, and cannot, therefore, be controlled or troubled by it. Such beings have already received the Truth through the image of the icons and whether they leave this world or act within it in a public way, it has already become for them the Great Age of the Eternal Now whose fullness is no longer hidden by the darkness of night, but has burst forth revealing itself to them, to be hidden now, as Holy Light within Perfect Day.

This is the Good News of Philip

SYNOPSIS

• The summary of the journey of unfolding from spiritual birth as a result of union in the Bridal Chamber to its final consummation in the Eternal Now is a strange paradoxical reversal. 
• Receptivity of the summer’s Light is contrasted with the winter scene in Analogue 3.
• The place of conception and the reception of the Light is interior, not exterior. It is not from exoteric religion, but from its radical interiorization that one finds the pathway and ultimate key to the Center 
• The welcoming of Light is liberation from this world’s system which no longer controls us. 
• True knowledge and wisdom is received from the image of the icons.
• It is possible in this world to act from the Eternal Now, living in the Summer Time of the Great Age, while still inhabiting this temporal world. 
• The ultimate goal of Yeshua’s work and restoration has been reached, and we ourselves are invited to join the work and the company of the liberated, free beings. 
• An ultimate vocation is to bring our younger brothers and sisters into this same experience within the hidden chamber. 
• Ultimate Epiphany and Revelation is taking place in the Eternal Now, in the full light of day. It is no longer hidden in or by the dark.  

YouTube recording

COMMENTARY

The End of Prophecy

Here at the conclusion of this extraordinary Gospel, with its ancient and perhaps strangely arcane Jewish metaphors, is the ultimate eschatological vision of the prophetic traditions—the final outcome and end of all prophecy. In this brief paragraph, we are exposed to a form of prophetic speech that has been on the lips of the prophets for generations, and now, with permission, it is being spoken again. Yeshua was privy to this prophetic speech. It was also part of his extraordinary visionary experience. What he saw compelled him—driving him first into the wilderness and then further out of the wilderness back into the chaotic world on his Messianic mission. This mystical seeing and visionary experience inspired both his teaching and his work. It gave rise to the restorative powers that he practiced, which, out of love, allowed him to accept the pain and suffering of this world as he experienced it. Ultimately, it ended in his final act of self-giving. 

The entire field of prophetic history lies behind these words, which also propels us (and you, the reader), beyond our common understandings into the Reconciliation of All Things. There, in the eternal state of perfect rest within the Bridal Chamber, the horrors, sufferings, and tragedies of human history are held and resolved. Everything leads to the doors of that chamber where everything is welcomed and taken in to be transfigured. In that chamber are works of beauty and glory that are unimaginable to us now, who are still in the middle of things. This is the visionary seeing and the knowledge of prophets throughout their long tradition. In his day, Yeshua was himself its exemplar. This Gospel is said to contain his ultimate vision—seen in his own personal experience of the Bridal Chamber (perhaps known first as an intensity for forty days in the wilderness following his own baptism into these waters). This is what he had come to know and what he died for, giving up everything as an outpouring of love in order to make it so. 

Through the “wings” of that cross (which was the final act of self-giving), Yeshua charted the way forward from the experience of the Bridal Chamber, bringing to naught the terrible suffering of humankind by healing the original and open wound that has festered and haunted human history from its beginning. The realities of ignorance, alienation, selfishness, and ego-aggrandizement were directly addressed—taken into Yeshua’s own soul. His work was to to bring these to an end, pointing forward to the transcendent glory of humankind, making a way from the Bridal Chamber to the gates of heaven. There, at those gates, at the end of temporal history, the prophetic tradition sees the horrors of human history received, accepted and transformed. It is also there that the new world in the Great Age of the Eternal Now is ushered in and completed as the ultimate homeland for all humankind. The good news of this Gospel, however, is that these gates to Paradise have already been opened. There is a way or a path forward from where we presently are now in earth-time to those gates. They exist not only in the future, but here in the middle of time. 

A Bridge to the Great Age

Everything that has ever lived shall live again and forever in that Age. This vision is the blazing heart of Ultimate Reality, that was, is, and shall ever be, beyond our abilities to fully imagine it. Human language cannot adequately encompass or express this reality. Yet, as this Gospel says, as humble as they may be, we must use symbolic language, images, and their forms as we make our way through the ravages of time to the threshold of the doorway into that Reality. Ours is a unique, personal journey. As we find our way to our eternal home, ours is an intimate experience, and yet one we share it with multitudes of others as companions along the way. There is almost nothing like the final telling of this extraordinary prophetic vision. Words falter, falling short, and ultimately fail. Yet the vision remains. The light which guides us now is the same that guided Yeshua through the dark and terrible history of his time. Across the ages, amidst the unfolding of history, we often struggle to connect to this early vision. It is not easy for us to believe this, much less catch a glimpse of it and its beauty. Yet, this Gospel speaks of what binds us to Transcendence and Eternity and, as prophetic vision, helps to carry us across the bridge of time whose upright pillars are rooted in Eternity. We make our way through time from pre-Eternity to post-Eternity. These two continents outside time and space help to stabilize us on the bridge across them. We cross the expanse between eternities using the prophetic Light of this extraordinary seeing. 

Early in this text we were made to see a winter scene in which the seeds of Eternity were planted in the cold fields of time (Analogue 3). That winter scene was embedded in the summer’s vision of Eternity where the seeds, planted in time, sprouted and then later bore fruit which was harvested in the blazing light of summer. Here in this final passage, at the last, is the complete picture of that first vision told in full. What does it mean for us to be in a summertime in the Great Age of the Eternal Now? How are we coming into fullness as human-beings—ripe, mature, having reached perfection? It is hard to imagine it, perhaps, and yet its meaning can be outlined. Here is what Yeshua saw, and here is how Philip described it. 

The Birthings

Perhaps we could say that this is the third and final birth of a human being. The first was in paradise, before beginning our sojourn on Earth. We were born there in complete innocence; spiritually alive but naively unaware. Then, we were given the opportunity to pass through time and space, resulting in the possibility of maturing in a greater fullness. If we are here in time, then, according to this viewpoint, we chose to come here. It was not imposed. We had a say in that coming. When we began our passage out of Paradise, we were born here as biological children into the realm of time and space, manifesting all of its attributes, and sent on a journey across a psycho-spiritual wilderness—a fierce landscape.  

However, in the midst of that passage (or perhaps for some it shall be after completing it, or when the time is ripe and they are ready), we were given the opportunity for another awakening out of darkness into the light of full consciousness. This awakening or new birth becomes a mystical marriage between ourselves and the divine Self, and also between heaven and earth. This marks, then, a fresh beginning, a new (or third) birth in the Bridal Chamber from which the ultimate form of humanity emerges. It is this child (from out of the Anthropos—the divine humanity) which can receive the full Light of divine Consciousness. Such a conscious awareness can only be ignited and transmitted in that special chamber inside the holy Temple of being where heaven and earth, the human and the divine are united in perfect harmony. From there something entirely new (a deified being) is born and begins another, new journey. 

So there is the initial point of origination in Paradise. There is the birth into time and space. Then there is the spiritual birth from the Bridal Chamber where an altogether new growth begins and where deified and united beings emerge. It is clear that these births are points of emergence, but it is the final one out of which a mature completion becomes possible, resulting in our full maturation in Eternity. These are seemingly paradoxical relationships (wedding, uniting, birthing, and maturation, all combined in mysterious ways).  

Humans, given new birth … in the Bridal Chamber go invisible and cannot be detected in their essence, nor can they be controlled by the provisional nature of the human kosmos.

Cloak of Invisibility

Heretofore, human beings were controlled by their provisional state of birth in the cultural systems of this world. These human systems exercised authority over each being as they emerged and lived out the patterns of their lives in space and time. In this context, the final “new birth” appears to be a hidden reality, experienced within, concealing as it reveals. The true nature of the newly birthed human, born into Light, is both revealed, and yet concealed from the darkness and the systemic distortions of this world around it. 

Given the experience of new birth (birth from Above or transcendence) in the Bridal Chamber, humans go invisible and cannot be detected in their essence, nor can they be controlled by the provisional nature of the human world (its own kosmos). These beings are, however, released into a new fullness that is not perceptible to a world that relies on sensory input and rational analysis alone. They cannot be detected easily on those levels, or at all. The newly divinized reality lies outside of these planes, in dimensions above and beyond them and deeper still. They are only truly detectable to and by the heart. Such new-born beings are, therefore, released and liberated as they grow into and are integrated into Light. The next lines suggest that such an unfolding and integration into dimensions and realms of transcendence exit outside the normal ones that frame and define the soul in the normal world of human habitation. 

Truth of the Icons

This Gospel text suggests that throughout the journey, the image of Ultimate Reality and its symbolic representations (its icons) have been guiding humanity in an archetypal way. Here, in this analogue, they are on display again. When we think of a “written” icon (or an archetypal form) used in the sacred traditions, we understand that we are dealing with a revelation from Above that helps to guide humankind across the ages. As archetypes, these images are reflective of and are typically unique to the particular history and culture of the unique societies that express them. Nonetheless, they each hold and represent a significance that is also universal, though we may need to rediscover that meaning in subsequent histories and societies. 

We are told in this passage that those who are birthed in and emerge from the Bridal Chamber have been assisted by these images and their energetic qualities. As active agents, assisting the process of the new birth for humankind, they act as guides and catalysts across the world’s difficult landscape. Their purpose is to be vehicles of Truth (unforgetting, as the original Greek word aletheia denotes) coming not simply into our world as such, but actively into the hearts of individuals ready to receive them. Icons and archetypes are, therefore, seen to be agents of transformation. This text even implies that they are designed as a kind of spermata (sperm) carrying and releasing divine Life into a living creature, forming the inner DNA structure for the new creation. All of these metaphors are, of course, consistent with the sexual imagery used in this Gospel which archetypically speaks of the powers and energies of the divine Life, as agents of theosis , used to create beings like itself.

Inhabitants of Eternity

Beings born spiritually in this way are no longer merely denizens of earth (though that is also one of their habitats, and may be a primary residence for a period of time), they are also now inhabitants and citizens of the heavens in Eternity. Even as they live here on earth, in the midst of time and space, they begin to transcend it, inhabiting another kind of time (or temporal zone) which is described as the Eternal Now—the Great Age that contains everything—past, present, and future. 

In this way, even in the midst of time and its limitations, it is transcended. One could also benefit from the language of realized eschatology where the End comes into and is realized in the middle of time. In this case, new-born beings, through the gateways of the Bridal Chamber, begin to manifest the nature and qualities of that realm into which they have passed. They have access now to the vertical axis, even though they may continue to exist along the horizontal axis and act along it in a public way. They are no longer simply “of this world,” and in that way they remain undetectable by the ordinary means of human observation and analysis. They exist perhaps less and less in time and more in the Eternal Now, which is no longer hidden but present to and resident within them in a fuller state of consciousness. Living in time they are also alive inside Eternity, and darkness can never put out this Light. 

The Revelation of Light in Perfect Day

When individuals describe heaven (coming to know it through Near Death Experience or through other mystical experiences), they speak of its Light in an entirely different way from that of the natural Sun of our Solar system. They speak of its brilliance as radiating from everything in perfection through an illumination exceeding that of the Sun and yet is not blinding. Its source is somehow hidden within each thing and yet it is revealing itself as a holy Light creating a perfect day. These are only words seeking to describe the indescribable. When human language attempts it, it inevitably stumbles, failing us. Nevertheless, it is in each case describing a realm of great welcoming love from which, once they have experienced it, no one wants to depart. 

This is also said to be in contrast to normal darkness in a room, where once a light is turned on, the light floods in and it becomes illuminated. Imagine, however, that the light source begins to radiate from each object in the room, and not just from one single source. For us, this would be miraculous and beyond our normal experience. This does, however, describe the mystical illuminations that are said to be experienced within the Bridal Chamber (that chamber on Earth and in us which is a copy of heaven where such illumination is normative). The ancient writings speak of the light that was within the Holy of Holies as never fading and always present, and as an energy for which one needs to be made ready. Those beings who are birthed in and step forth from this same chamber never leave that Light. Now it is theirs and they carry it always, radiating from within as Perfect Day. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Consider this possibility: any intimate mystical union with the divine Reality in the Bridal Chamber of your own soul (your heart’s most secret chamber) might also be considered to be a birthing event into Eternity. When you unite with God intimately in any way, you are cooperatively giving birth to your own Eternal Being in the mystical birthing room even here in duality. What do you know of this experience?
2. How do the visions in these analogues and conveyed throughout the Gospel of Philip resonate inside you? What is of particular importance? How do they expand your understanding of your own ultimate destiny as well as that of all humankind?
3. These passages are expressed in the mystical language of what has been described as First-Temple Mysticism within the Jewish community and teachings of Yeshua in the first century C.E. What communicates easily to you and what remains difficult to understand? Make a list of the words, phrases, and passages in each category. 
4. In their mystical literature, almost all sacred traditions speak of human transcendence, and of mystics who are carriers of higher consciousness—enlightened or light-beings. These terms may or may not necessarily describe the same reality or experience, but they do indicate a way of thinking and being that goes beyond ordinary human consciousness and understanding. Have you ever had a mystical experience or an experience of bliss in any form? Describe it. How was light or the transcending of normal consciousness a part of your experience? 
5. In the paragraphs of the commentary above which attempt to describe details of the text, what do you find to be most helpful? What is confusing or perhaps remains difficult for you? Mark those in some way. 
6. Have you ever felt that you were in some sense hidden from or invisible to the world around you? What is that experience? Have you ever met anyone whom you think moves in two realms at once—the horizontal and the vertical at the same time? When, where, and how have you experienced this?
7. What more do you want to know about these experiences? How are you being led into the intimacy of the Bridal Chamber in your own life? How might you be coming forth from it to live differently along two axes? What guidance do you need as you step into this new way of being human? What advice would you give to another person seeking to do so?

NOTES FOR FURTHER STUDY 

AND REFERENCE

 

1. The descriptions that are given in this Gospel are about Light at its Source whose radiance brings life, awakening, and transformation to the creatures whom it touches. In writings from the great sacred traditions, this ancient trope is expressed by multitudes of mystics across the ages. In the Abrahamic faiths the original and eternal Light is often described as “Oriental Light”—coming from its arising in the East, shinning West, and then reaching its full zenith in the heavens, never to set again. Every manifestation of reality is, therefore, a form of this light, perhaps embodied in matter, which nonetheless contains some degree of its origins as source and core. As the early Christian expressions of this teaching went East from Palestine into Asia, it was called by those peoples, the “religion of Light” (See the following: Philip Jenkins. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Gold Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and How It Died. NY: Harper, 2008. Martin Palmer. The Jesus Sutras: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity. NY: Ballantine Wellspring, 2001. Ray Riegert and Thomas Moore. The Lost Sutras of Jesus: Unlocking the Ancient Wisdom of the Xian Monks. Berkeley, California: Seastone, 2003). Later expressions of mysticism in each of the three Abrahamic faiths would describe the unfolding of Light from its Source in a language of great beauty, imagination, poetry and vision. Sometimes they described it as a cascade of emanations from the light Source. In Christianity, the Dionysian tradition and its corpus were an important early source for this description. In Judaism, the teachings of the Kabbalah that were enshrined in the Zohar and other texts spread as important mystical teachings available for those ready for them within the Jewish tradition. In Islam, texts from the Sufi traditions of Suhrawardi, Jalaluddin Rumi, Ibn al-‘Arabi, and many others known as “illuminationist” (Ishraqiyyun) spread across the Muslim world and continue to enlighten it to this day. We are the recipients of this widespread and universal understanding whose roots go back to and beyond Philip, and are resident in Sophia Perennis—the long history of Perennial Wisdom. 
2. Throughout this Gospel, the template of the first Temple, both earthly and heavenly, has guided much of the imagery used to illustrate the text. Here in this final analogue, we are brought into the inner sanctum, the most Holy Place (called the Holy of Holies) where we witness spiritual birth (the transcendent light emerging into a new, human life-form). All of these metaphors reflect, however, the existence of a higher reality—the court of heaven and the divine Presence at the center-point of Ultimate Reality. In the aphorisms of Hermeticism and the Emerald Tablet, as above, so below directly applies here. Higher and lower realities reflect one another, giving us an understanding of the many dimensions of spiritual space, time and history, transcendence, and the deep immanence within the kardial site where these converge in human experience. What is reflected in the past is present now. What is divine becomes a part of human being. Heaven and earth are brought together into perfect unity and oneness. Even though distinctions are still made between beings and realms, yet they each inter-penetrate and infuse one another as Interbeing. 
3. Traditional Christian mysticism, described for example by Evelyn Underhill (see her text Mysticism), speaks about the final stage of mystical union, called henosis, in Greek. Having passed through catharsis (purification) and photismos (illumination) the final stage in the process of spiritual evolution is oneness with the divine Reality itself. This final passage in the Gospel of Philip is undoubtedly an early description of this same experience, and is clearly tied to the earthly experience of the Messiah himself. His baptism and anointing led to this final embrace, about which he speaks and prays in John 17 (another remarkable expression of the experience of oneness which he says is meant to be shared). The Gospel of Thomas is filled with similar phraseology, again pointing toward this ultimate experience of mystical marriage or union. The literature of mystical Christianity and the mysticism of other sacred traditions expresses similar language with the same intensity, though the many metaphors may differ. Beyond the metaphors, however, the invitation is to move into this experience, seeking deeper intimacy with the divine Presence in a remarkable relationship of love, direct, personal-knowing, and ultimate oneness. 

Notes on the Translation

• The term “child” translates the original word “son.”
• The word “welcome” translates the same word for “receive” used throughout this passage.
• The word “controlled” might also be understood as seized or restrained.
• The phrase “image of the icons” is used to translate the Greek term “eikon” which also means image.
• The phrase “the Great Age of the Eternal Now” translates the full Greek phrase of “the Age of the Ages.”