I Am the Light Over All Things
The Teaching
Jesus said: “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”
Commentary
One of the most breathtaking statements in the entire corpus. It is pure Vedanta, the Atman is Brahman, consciousness is the ground of all manifestation. ‘Split a piece of wood; I am there’, the divine is not separate from matter, hidden behind it. It is IN the wood, in the stone.
This is what Taoism points to when Zhuangzi says the Tao is in the ant, in the grass, in the tile, everywhere, without exception. This is what Shinto calls the Kami, the sacred depth of natural forms.
The Hermetic Emerald Tablet’s ‘as above, so below’ is the same teaching: no division between the spiritual and material. The divine interpenetrates all things completely.
Themes
Connections 6
Arose apart
No known transmission between Gnosticism and Taoism while these teachings took shape.
Arose apart
No known transmission between Gnosticism and Shinto while these teachings took shape.
Arose apart
Both took shape before Gnosticism and Hermeticism were in documented contact (from 300 CE).
Unsure
Close parallels have been argued (Conze 1967; Pagels 1979). A route through Alexandria’s trade with India is possible, but undocumented.
Unsure
Close parallels have been argued (Conze 1967; Pagels 1979). A route through Alexandria’s trade with India is possible, but undocumented.