Logion 18: "The disciples asked Jesus: 'Tell us about the end. What will it be?'"

“The promise of the Paraclete is that the Paraclete will carry the promises of Jesus forward into the ever-changing realities that lie in store for people of faith. This means that as life changes, as new sufferings and new hopes emerge, you will receive a fresh promise and word from Jesus, conveyed to the community through the presence and work of the Paraclete. The functions of the Paraclete spelled out in verses 13-15—"guide you into all the truth," ... "declare to you all things that are to come," "take what is mine and declare it to you"—are all acts of open and bold speaking in the highest degree. The bold witness of the Paraclete ... carries Jesus' teachings into the future, will ensure that the disciples do not face the future alone (cf. 14:18), unequipped with the necessary words of Jesus.” (Fleer 2008, 70"

“But who talks about the Resurrection? Nobody talks about it today. They talk about the Doomsday because they can frighten people with that. They can take advantage of it and make money out of it. God, who has made this universe, feels love. Do you think He will destroy this great creation without giving us the fruit, without letting us know the fruit of His creation?

He is the wisest of the wise, the greatest compassionate source of love. How could He allow this universe to be destroyed, especially this Earth, which is His special present?

So do not believe in all these ideas of destruction and the last complete destruction. There are still a lot of plans. You are supposed to enjoy the blessings of the Divine for which He has created you.

So, now we have to come to the most important part which is evolution, which we should understand, because we know evolution through science.

When these three forces came into being, - before creating any earth or before creating this universe or anything, - first, they had to draw out a proper picture about it and a proper understanding of it, you see.

As before doing anything, say, we have to plan out things, we have a planning-commission, first of all, we sit down in a planning commission. In the same way, first, they had to form a stage where they just plan out the things. This stage we can call it as the Vaikuntha state. Because this is not the earliest thing, this is created later on. First, the planning state is known as the Vaikuntha state.

At this stage they created all the incarnations. Incarnations were not created after the Earth has been created, which is a very wrong idea. They created all the incarnations at the Vaikuntha state. Where your own eye never existed at that time, this Earth never existed and nothing existed that you see with your naked eyes now. But a state of existence, the first one, known as the Vaikuntha state, existed. In that Vaikuntha state the planning of the whole universe and the whole cosmos and all that was decided.

So, the first person who had to come on this was Shiva, because without him nothing can exist, but where to settle Him down, because He is to be reflected onto someone. If Shiva has to be reflected onto someone, you have to create a reflector. So, they had to, first, think of the one Primordial Being or, a - one huge identity you can call it, - known as Virat. They created Virat. This will be the Virata. This will be the complete form of the Primordial Being. This is the one I'm telling you about, this reflector. The first one. The God Almighty has to be reflected - so, first, let us create, first of all, the Primordial Being, the Virat.

In the Virat they created different incarnations. Incarnations are not created from human beings. I don't know why people think like that - they cannot be created by human beings. But they were first created. You see, evolution is all right from amoeba to human beings, but there is no evolution for incarnations. They are made like that from the very beginning.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
The Creation, New Delhi, India—20 February 1977.

“Now, let's see who is this God and what am I talking about. In the beginning it was just a Silence, complete Silence. And out of the Silence, when it awakened, the Silence was awakened. That Silence is called as Parama-Brahma in Sanskrit language.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Brighton, UK—15 November 1979



18. 36,9b - 17a
(1) The disciples said to Jesus:
“Tell us what our end will be.”
(2) Jesus said:
“Have you already discovered the beginning
that you are now asking about the end?
For where the beginning is,
there the end will be too.
(3) Blessed is he who will stand at the beginning.
And he will know the end,
and he will not taste death.”

The saying has two parts: a wise statement (gnomon) and a beatitude. In the first part Jesus answers the disciples' question about hope in death, and does so ironically, telling them that the question is not well posed. The disciples have asked about hope in their future death. Jesus changed the question: it is not about time but about place. The end and the beginning are one, because the Living One is perpetu ally present. There is only one source of life from its beginning to its end. The changes are visible on the periphery. In the center, in the very presence of God, the beginning and the end are identical. That is why the one who stands at the beginning also knows the end, and those who are reborn know the mystery of the beginning and of the end. God with his creative power stands at the beginning and at the end. "It is for thy sake that everything has come into being and everything will return to you," is said about the Invisible Spirit in the Apocryphon of John (NHC II/1; 9,7f.).70 The beginning of the next saying (19:1) presupposes the same idea: The beginning of human life is a beginning after the end, so that the end may turn into a new beginning.

A Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas
Petr Pokorny, T&T Clark; Reprint edition (December 22, 2011) p. 61



18a The disciples asked Jesus: Tell us about the end. What will it be? Jesus replied: Have you found the Beginning so that you now seek the end? The place of the Beginning will be the place of the end.
18b Blessed is anyone who will stand up in the Beginning and thereby know the end and never die.

The Gospel of Thomas often portrays the disciples as ignorant of, Jesus' fundamental message. As usual, here they act as foils, asking wrong question from the wrong perspective in order to provide a chance to correct them. Their question shows that they expect a future Kingdom-an expectation that has characterized orthodox Christians for two thousand years. Here Jesus rejects that form of Christianity. He insists on a reorientation toward the Beginning of time. Beginning is the first days of creation as described in Genesis 1-4. That is a special kind of time, time that is always present-time, even though it is not always perceived. You can find it right in front of you now. If you do not find it, it does not exist for you except in potential, and you remain in poverty even though you are surrounded by riches.

Saying 18b is a beatitude, affirming the blessing of all who have found the Beginning now and, simultaneously, who have experienced the end, for the ending is a return to the Beginning. Such people discovered their original form, the Image of God, and the Image of can never die.

“Whereas 'Q' emphasized the eschatological expectation of the future coming of the 'Kingdom of God,' The Gospel of Thomas in its oldest form, stressed the finding of wisdom, or of the 'Kingdom of the Father,' in the knowledge (gnosis) of oneself (cf. saying 3), guided by the sayings of Jesus. This understanding of salvation is similar to that expressed in many passages of the Gospel of John in which the finding of truth and life is bound to the words of Jesus (Jn 6:63; 8:5 1).” — Helmut Koester, "Introduction," in the Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 125

Stevan Davies, Gospel of Thomas Translated and Annotated
Shambhala Library, Dec 2004, pp. 24-5

Saying 18 The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come?” 2Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. 3Blessed is [SV: Congratulations to] the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

The saying presents a rich theological perspective relating to the goal and mode of living. The "end" about which the disciples ask presumably relates to their deaths. The irony in Jesus' response supports their misunderstanding. Jesus' response, however, argues that the proper "end" should be understood more accurately as "The goal," and he argues that the goal of human endeavor involves a return to the beginning. The beginning, however, exists perpetually: it is discussed in the present so that the end in the future will return to the beginning which presently exists ("The end will be where the beginning is"- my emphasis). The beginning, then, must be understood as a primordial place of origin that continues throughout time; the end returns a person in the future to that primordial point of origin. This saying presents a mythologized understanding of human origins and destiny common in ancient religion as a future return to a continually existent point of origin.

The saying also links this mythology with immortality in the macarism. The language shifts in the macarism to use code concepts: "to stand," "to know," and "not to taste death.” The searching of the dialogue has been replaced with the macarism that blesses "The one who stands" at the beginning. The articulated goal of the dialogue (finding the beginning) has been transformed into a status in relationship to the perpetually present point of origin: the truly understanding seeker may "stand" at the beginning and will thereby receive two benefits, namely, knowledge of the end and immortality. This macarism takes the myth of seeking the end in the beginning and turns it into a theological statement about the seeker: standing at the beginning brings both understanding and immortality.

This macarism also invokes other theological principles in the Gospel collection. The final statement "And will not taste death" recalls the earlier Saying 1 that affirms that finding the interpretation of the sayings confers immortality ("Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death"). The standing may be identified with the discovery of the interpretation of the saying. Moreover, the seeker's "standing" recalls the earlier stance of the believers in relationship to the hostile world (Saying 16) and the later stance of Jesus in the world to which he came (Saying 28). Such rich intertextual reference indicates that a complex theological process undergirds this saying and its meaning: the goal of human existence is to find the beginning which may be identified with the interpretation of these texts, to gain understanding and knowledge, to achieve immortality, to achieve a solid status with other seekers in the world and to imitate Jesus' stance in the world.

Richard Valantasis, The Gospel of Thomas
Routledge; 1 edition (June 27, 1997) p. 85-7

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THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SPIRIT-PARACLETE
The fulfillment of the promised divine eschatological instruction

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (1923-2011) was Christian by birth, Hindu by marriage, and Paraclete by duty.
“The Paraclete will come (15:26; 16:7, 8, 13) as Jesus has come into the world (5:43; 16:28; 18:37)... The Paraclete will take the things of Christ (the things that are mine, ek tou emou) and declare them (16:14-15). Bishop Fison describes the humility of the Spirit, 'The true Holy Spirit of God does not advertise Herself: She effaces Herself and advertises Jesus.' ...
It is by the outgoing activity of the Spirit that the divine life communicates itself in and to the creation. The Spirit is God-in-relations. The Paraclete is the divine self-expression which will be and abide with you, and be in you (14:16-17). The Spirit's work is described in terms of utterance: teach you, didasko (14:26), remind you, hypomimnesko (14:26), testify, martyro (15:26), prove wrong, elencho (16:8), guide into truth, hodego (16:13), speak, laleo (16:13, twice), declare, anangello (16:13, 14, 15). The johannine terms describe verbal actions which intend a response in others who will receive (lambano), see (theoreo), or know (ginosko) the Spirit. Such speech-terms link the Spirit with the divine Word. The Spirit's initiatives imply God's personal engagement with humanity. The Spirit comes to be with others; the teaching Spirit implies a community of learners; forgetful persons need a prompter to remind them; one testifies expecting heed to be paid; one speaks and declares in order to be heard. The articulate Spirit is the correlative of the listening, Spirit-informed community.
The final Paraclete passage closes with a threefold repetition of the verb she will declare (anangello), 16:13-15. The Spirit will declare the things that are to come (v.13), and she will declare what is Christ's (vv. 14, 15). The things of Christ are a message that must be heralded...
The intention of the Spirit of truth is the restoration of an alienated, deceived humanity... The teaching role of the Paraclete tends to be remembered as a major emphasis of the Farewell Discourses, yet only 14:26 says She will teach you all things. (Teaching is, however, implied when 16:13-15 says that the Spirit will guide you into all truth, and will speak and declare.) Franz Mussner remarks that the word used in 14:26, didaskein, "means literally 'teach, instruct,' but in John it nearly always means to reveal.” (Stevick 2011, 292-7)

 
 









 

“But today is the day I declare that I am the one who has to save the humanity. I declare I am the one who is Adishakti, who is the Mother of all the Mothers, who is the Primordial Mother, the Shakti, the desire of God, who has incarnated on this Earth to give its meaning to itself; to this creation, to human beings and I am sure through My Love and patience and My powers I am going to achieve it.

I was the one who was born again and again. But now in my complete form and complete powers I have come on this Earth not only for salvation of human beings, not only for their emancipation, but for granting them the Kingdom of Heaven, the joy, the bliss that your Father wants to bestow upon you.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
London, UK—December 2, 1979

“I am the one about which Christ has talked... I am the Holy Spirit who has incarnated on this Earth for your realization.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
New York, USA—September 30, 1981

“Tell all the nations and tell all the people all over the Great Message that the Time of Resurrection is here. Now, at this time, and that you are capable of doing it.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
Cowley Manor Seminar, UK—July 31, 1982

Guest: “Hello Mother.”
Shri Mataji: “Yes.”
Guest: “I wanted to know, is the Cool Breeze (Pneuma) that you have spoken about, you feel on the hands the Cool Wind of the Holy Spirit, as spoken about in the Bible?”
Shri Mataji: “Yes. Yes, yes, same thing, same thing. You have done the good job now, I must say.”
Interviewer: “Is it the Holy Spirit?”
Shri Mataji: “Yes, of course, is the Holy Spirit.”
Guest: “Aha... I am feeling it now on my hand through the [not clear]”
Shri Mataji: “It’s good.”
Interviewer: “Did you want to say anything more than that?”
Guest: “No, I just... That’s all I wanted to know because I...”
Shri Mataji: “Because you are thoughtless now. Enjoy yourself.”
Guest: “Thank you.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Talkback Radio 2UE, Sydney, Australia—March 31, 1981

(The guest experienced the Cool Breeze [Pneuma/Prana/Chi] of the Spirit through the baptism [second birth by Spirit/Kundalini awakening]” given by the Comforter Shri Mataji over the radio. )

Second Guest: “I just want to ask Mother about a quotation from the Bible.”
Interviewer: “Yes, what’s that?”
Guest: “It says, ‘But the comfort of the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in My name would teach you all things.’ I would like to ask Her about that.”
Interviewer: “Could you just repeat the quotation again?”
Guest: “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things.”
Interviewer: “And that’s from where?”
Guest: “John chapter 14, verse 26.”
Shri Mataji: “I think you should take your realization and then you will know the answer to it. Because, logically if it points out to one person, then you have to reach the conclusion, isn’t it? That’s a logical way of looking at things. But I am not going to say anything or claim anything. It is better you people find out yourself.”
Interviewer: “Does that answer your question?”
Guest: “Is the, is the Comforter on the Earth at the present time? Has the Comforter incarnated? Mataji should be able to tell us this because She said that through these vibrations on Her hands, She ...”
Shri Mataji: “Yes, She is very much here and She’s talking to you now. Can you believe that?”
Guest: “Well, I feel something cool [Pneuma/Prana/Chi] on my hand. Is that some indication of the ...?”
Shri Mataji: “Yes, very much so. So that’s the proof of the thing. You’ve already started feeling it in your hands.”
Guest: “Can I?”
Shri Mataji: “Ask the question, ‘Mother, are you the Comforter?’”
Guest: “Mother, are you the Comforter?”
Shri Mataji: “Ask it thrice.”
Guest: “Mother, are you the Comforter?”
Shri Mataji: “Again.”
Guest: “Mother, are you the Comforter?”
Shri Mataji: “Now, what do you get?”
Guest: “Oh, I feel this kind of cool tingling [Pneuma/Prana/Chi] passing all through my body.”
Shri Mataji: “That’s the answer now.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Talkback Radio 2UE, Sydney, Australia—March 31, 1981

(Another guest also experienced the Cool Breeze [Pneuma/Prana/Chi] of the Spirit through the baptism [second birth by Spirit/Kundalini awakening]” given by the Comforter Shri Mataji over the radio. )

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (1923-2011): Christian by birth, Hindu by marriage and Paraclete by duty.
“The Paraclete and the disciples (vv. 25-26): The theme of departure (cf. vv. 1-6; vv. 18-24) returns. There are two "times" in the experience of the disciples: the now as Jesus speaks to them (v. 25) and the future time when the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of Jesus, will be with them (v. 26). The Paraclete will replace Jesus' physical presence, teaching them all things and recalling for them everything he has said (v. 26). As Jesus is the Sent One of the Father (cf. 4:34; 5:23; 24, 30, 37; 6:38-40; 7:16; 8:16, 18, 26; 12:44-49), so is the Paraclete sent by the Father. The mission and purpose of the former Paraclete, Jesus (cf. 14:13-14), who speaks and teaches "his own" will continue into the mission and purpose of the "other Paraclete" (cf. v. 16) who teaches and brings back the memory of all that Jesus has said. The time of Jesus is intimately linked with the time after Jesus, and the accepted meaning of a departure has been undermined. The inability of the disciples to understand the words and deeds of Jesus will be overcome as they "remember" what he had said (cf. 2:22) and what had been written of him and done to him (cf. 12:16). The "remembering" will be the fruit of the presence of the Paraclete with the disciples in the in-between-time. In v. 16 Jesus focused on the inability of the world to know the Paraclete, but in v. 26 the gift of the Paraclete to "his own" is developed. As Jesus was with the disciples (v. 25), so will the Paraclete be with the disciples in the midst of hostility and rejection (v. 16). As the story has insisted that Jesus' teaching has revealed God to his disciples, so will the Paraclete recall and continue Jesus' revelation of God to the disciples (v. 26).” (Harrington 1998, 412)

“This is the transformation that has worked, of which Christ has talked, Mohammed Sahib has talked, everybody has talked about this particular time when people will get transformed.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
Chistmas Puja, Ganapatipule, India—25 December 1997

“The Resurrection of Christ has to now be collective Resurrection. This is what is Mahayoga. Has to be the collective Resurrection.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
Easter Puja, London, UK—11 April 1982

“Today, Sahaja Yaga has reached the state of Mahayoga, which is en-masse evolution manifested through it. It is this day’s Yuga Dharma. It is the way the Last Judgment is taking place. Announce it to all the seekers of truth, to all the nations of the world, so that nobody misses the blessings of the divine to achieve their meaning, their absolute, their Spirit.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
MAHA AVATAR, ISSUE 1, JUL-SEP 1980

“The main thing that one has to understand is that the time has come for you to get all that is promised in the scriptures, not only in the Bible but all all the scriptures of the world. The time has come today that you have to become a Christian, a Brahmin, a Pir, through your Kundalini awakening only. There is no other way. And that your Last Judgment is also now.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh

“You see, the Holy Ghost is the Mother. When they say about the Holy Ghost, She is the Mother... Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture — has to be there. Now, the Mother's character is that She is the one who is the Womb, She is the one who is the Mother Earth, and She is the one who nourishes you. She nourishes us. You know that. And this Feminine thing in every human being resides as this Kundalini.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Radio Interview, Santa Cruz, USA—1 October 1983

“But there is a Primordial Mother which was accepted by all the religions; even the Jews had it... In India, this is called as Adi Shakti. In every religion they had this Mother who was the Primordial Mother.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
TV Interview, Los Angeles, USA—11 October 1993

The Paraclete Shri Mataji (1923-2011)

Total number of Recorded Talks 3058, Public Programs 1178, Pujas 651 and Other (private conversations) 1249

“What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? Its Signs have already come. What good will their Reminder be to them when it does arrive?” (Qur'n, 47:18) “As the above verse indicates, God has revealed some of Doomsday's signs in the Qur'n. In Surat az-Zukhruf 43:61, God informs us that 'He [Jesus] is a Sign of the Hour. Have no doubt about it...' Thus we can say, based particularly on Islamic sources but also on the Old Testament and the New Testament, that we are living in the End Times.” Harun Yahya

Good News (An Naba) of Resurrection (Al-Qiyamah): Videos 3474, Audios 1945, Transcripts 3262 and Events 2413

“Concerning what are they disputing?
Concerning the Great News. [5889]
About which they cannot agree.
Verily, they shall soon (come to) know!
Verily, verily they shall soon (come to) know!”

surah 78:1-5 An Naba (The Great News)
5889. Great News: usually understood to mean the News or Message of the Resurrection.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'n
Amana Corporation, 1989

[Moderator]: “Any other questions?”
[Audience]: “Pardon me for asking this question, but, earlier you talked about the Resurrection and you mentioned about the scriptures, where like in the Hindus scriptures they talk about the Kalki Avatar who will come for the Resurrection, and for the Christians, I know they talk about the return of Christ and all the religions talk about this Resurrection and the belief in the coming of the Messiah. So I just want to know since you say you are going to give the resurrection to us, what is your station?”
Shri Mataji: “In Russia?”
[Audience]: “And are you the promised Messiah? Shri Mataji, are you?”
Shri Mataji: “I see now I am not going to tell you anything about myself, to be very frank. Because see Christ said He was the Son of God, and they crucified Him. I don't want to get crucified. You have to find out. When you become the Spirit you will know what I am. I don't want to say anything about myself.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
Toronto, Canada—October 5, 1993
“Jesus then goes on the offensive against the scribes and Pharisees, pronouncing seven woes against them (Matt. 23:1-36). The final woe identifiers them with all those in Israel's history who have murdered and opposed the prophets. From Abel to Zechariah, all the blood of the righteous will come on them as they typologically fulfill this pattern in the murder of Jesus (23:29-36). They are the wicked tenants who think to kill the son and take his inheritance (21:38). They are seed of the serpent, a brood of vipers (23:33). Their house (the temple?) is desolate, and they will not see Jesus again until they bless him as he comes in the name of the Lord (23:37-39). Somehow, through the judgments Jesus announces against them, salvation will apparently come even for the people of Israel. As Olmstead puts it, Matthew "dares to hope for the day when many of Israel's sons and daughters will embrace Israel's Messiah (23:39), and in that hope engages in a continued mission in her.”” Hamilton 2010, 377

“It is the Mother who can awaken the Kundalini, and that the Kundalini is your own Mother. She is the Holy Ghost within you, the Adi Shakti, and She Herself achieves your transformation. By any talk, by any rationality, by anything, it cannot be done.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi

“She is your pure Mother. She is the Mother who is individually with you. Forget your concepts, and forget your identifications. Please try to understand She is your Mother, waiting for ages to give you your real birth. She is the Holy Ghost within you. She has to give you your realization, and She's just waiting and waiting to do it.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh
Sydney, Australia—Mar 22 1981

“The Kundalini is your own mother; your individual mother. And She has tape-recorded all your past and your aspirations. Everything! And She rises because She wants to give you your second birth. But She is your individual mother. You don't share Her with anybody else. Yours is a different, somebody else's is different because the tape-recording is different. We say She is the reflection of the Adi Shakti who is called as Holy Ghost in the Bible.”

THE MOTHER: Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi
Press Conference July 08 1999—London, UK

“The Great Goddess is both wholly transcendent and fully immanent: beyond space and time, she is yet embodied within all existent beings; without form as pure, infinite consciousness (cit) ... She is the universal, cosmic energy known as Sakti, and the psychophysical, guiding force designated as the Kundalini (Serpent Power) resident within each individual. She is eternal, without origin or birth, yet she is born in this world in age after age, to support those who seek her assistance. Precisely to provide comfort and guidance to her devotees, she presents herself in the Devi Gita to reveal the truths leading both to worldly happiness and to the supreme spiritual goals: dwelling in her Jeweled Island and mergence into her own perfect being.” (Brown, 1998, 2)

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