MAY SEMINAR

The Logia or Sayings of Jesus in the Q Source and the Gospel of Thomas were written down two generations earlier than the Christian Gospels. Matthew and Luke copied from Q, so the lost manuscript is preserved in their texts. But the Logia preserved in Thomas were part of the inner-circle or initiatic Sayings of Yeshua reserved for private oral transmission or non-public writings like the Secret Gospel of Mark, of which only a fragment survives. They were not included in the Christian Gospels. With the tools of modern scholarship, however, they can be recovered from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas.

This Wesak Weekend, May 9-10, 2009 I shall offer a weekend seminar on The Gospel of Thomas and the Initiatic Teachings of Yeshua. We will meet at the Home Temple Yurt Sanctuary in Aromas, California, near Santa Cruz and Monterey, which seats 12 to 16 people comfortably at tables with padded chairs.

Sanctuary

The lectures will reconstruct and decode the Aramaic initiatic teachings of Yeshua that were the original basis for the Logia of the Gospel of Thomas.

So far, there are no published translations or commentaries on the Gospel of Thomas that are correct.

On the one hand, non-scholars are attracted to their misunderstanding of the third-century Syrian Gnosticism that was later added and spun off of the original first-century collection of authentic Aramaic davarim of Yeshua. Blissfully unaware of the anti-feministic and life-denying ascetic philosophy that underlies Coptic Thomas, they have published commentaries that project their own romantic ideas into the sayings. This makes for marketable pop philosophy, but is simply clueless.

On the other hand, scholarly translations of Thomas have been published by secular Egyptologists or denominational Christian seminary professors who are unfamiliar with the intertestamental Jewish Wisdom, Merkabah, Messianic, and Kabbalistic traditions underlying the historical teachings of Yeshua reflected in most of the sayings. Thomas has been academically misunderstood and translated as a Gnostic document only, with no attempt to recover its historical source.

In this seminar we will examine all 114 of the sayings, separate the authentic from the inauthentic, and attempt to understand the davarim as they were intended when given by Yeshua to his initiatic inner circle of disciples.

SCHEDULE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, MAY 9-10, 2009:

Saturday 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. with Tea/Snacks and Lunch provided
Sunday 10 A.M. - 1 P.M. with Tea/Snacks provided
Breaks: Two morning and two afternoon plus Lunch break Saturday

COST FOR TWO DAYS: $125

FOOD AND LODGING: We will help you find inexpensive local motels, restaurants, and transportation

REGISTRATION: There is a maximum of 16 spaces, so you must email us to reserve space(s) ASAP

PREPARATION: Please watch the following 20-minute introduction on YouTube, Parts One and Two. Note that the Seminar has been moved from the Easter Weekend to the Wesak Weekend one month later in May (not reflected in these thumbnails):