The fish has been an important Christian symbol for almost two thousand years. Much like the lion, the serpent, the dove, cattle, the bull, and the lamb, the fish is emphasized in several places in both the Old and New Testaments. It is easy to gloss over it’s symbolic meaning, but when studied, I believe it provides a master key to unlock a large portion of scriptural symbolism.
In order to properly understand the symbol of the fish, we will have to juxtapose it with other important symbols and see how they all fit together. But first I want to introduce Gaskell’s definition of fish:
Fish of the Sea and Lakes
“A symbol of facts of the lower experience, namely, concepts, percepts, ideas, feelings, emotions.”
We can extend the definition above to any external knowledge and belief systems. It is the knowledge that we assimilate through the senses, including what our parents taught us, what we learn in school, from our peers, books, and our political and religious systems. These are the fish that swim in the lakes and seas of our subconscious mind.
It is not that knowledge is bad. Quite the contrary. Knowledge is assimilated and analyzed through the mind and is necessary to develop the intellect. The problem comes when we identify ourselves with that knowledge, and take pride in it. Jesus rebuked the Pharisee for this reason. The Pharisee is like the rich man (lots of Torah intellectual knowledge), but was actually destitute and poor in spirit, or lacking in wisdom and understanding (the spirit and essence of the Torah).
How do we, as spiritual aspirants, avoid this trap?
Genesis chapter one tells us that the soul (higher mind, or heart) is to have dominion over knowledge. Remember, fish are the accumulated ideas, emotions, and belief systems the lower mind has acquired.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17).
The death described is an allegory for how consciousness becomes identified with the thought and the emotion itself instead of remaining aware of it as just a temporary experience.
Mind has the ability to consciously express itself as a complete soul unit, which is the allegorical Tree of Life.
Let’s move on to those scriptures which teach us how this process happens allegorically. As we’ll see, Jesus aims to transform Peter (the lower mind) to a fisher of men (the mind as a complete soul unit).
Without Christ, Peter (the lower mind) cast his net but cannot catch fish, meaning he does not yet have dominion over his own thoughts. But with the help of Christ, the spiritual energizing factor of the higher mind, Peter catches an abundance of fish! This signifies the higher mind having complete dominion and control over the mind’s lower vehicle of thought and emotion. Christ in this function is the divine life that is seeking to become ever more active in the soul (higher mind) of man. Peter, the natural man, must evolve. At a certain stage of spiritual evolution, we are all Peter in need of the spiritual influx of Christ, that anointing which can only operate in it’s full function through the power of the Holy Spirit, which IS the fullness of Christ’s unlimited power poured out from heaven into the mind. We’re also going to learn that at a certain stage of spiritual evolution, one of the twelves faculties of all mankind is a Jonah (limited lower mind), that becomes Simon Barjona (Peter), where Christ is recognized and the lower mind realizes, through a self aware process of cognition, its own limitation and the very great need for Christ to become more activated.
Peter and the Fish
Let’s look at Luke chapter five. Jesus is at the lake of Gennesaret preaching truth to the masses. He even climbs in Simon Peter’s ship and asks him to cast off from shore so he can teach from there. But when he is finished teaching to the masses (symbolic of the outer court), he turns his attention to the inner court, those nearest to him (specifically the faculty of mind that Peter signifies). The esoteric scene is now set to bring a plethora of spiritual concepts together!
From former blog posts you may remember that Peter signifies the lower mind; the mind that must be transformed, or renewed. How can we be sure that Peter signifies the lower mind? Jesus makes it clear when he rebukes Peter for trying to save him from Roman soldiers in Matthew 16:23:
“…for thou MINDEST not the things of God, but the things of men.”
Not only did Jesus also refer to him as Satan earlier (the momentary adversary of the higher mind), but the Apostle Paul rebuked him in Galatians as well for following the letter of the law. As we’ll see shortly, the natural man (lower mind) is imprisoned through its own knowledge. This imprisonment is separation / sin from the natural state of consciousness: identification with awareness, not thoughts themselves.
How so?
The lower mind, in its early stages of spiritual evolution, is veiled from the indwelling spirit. The lower mind is full of error because it identifies with beliefs, opinions, and ideas (it’s accumulated knowledge). This is Peter’s condition as he meets Jesus. As we begin the spiritual journey, we are ALL a Peter. But there is something special about Peter. While he symbolizes the lower mind, it is the lower mind which has evolved the capacity to recognize the indwelling Christ, and that it is this Lord that infuses the lower mind with its spiritual power. Let’s return to Luke chapter five to see this Biblical truth unveiled.
In this chapter of Luke, Jesus is the higher self. He climbs into the “ship” of Peter on the “lake.” The lake, or waters, represent the lower mind which is easily stirred up by the external influences of our life and the knowledge it has accumulated. The lake is the astral waters within the mind, where thoughts, emotions, ideas, and concepts are constantly moving within the lower mind’s illusory nature. Just as wind causes waves and currents and changing lake and sea beds, so do emotions, ideas, and concepts churn around in the lower mind of our subconscious affecting the sea and lake beds of our personalities.
The “ship” represents the lower mind floating on the lake of our subconscious. We all have a ship in our minds too. It is the aspect of your mind where Christ expands it’s spiritual influence. Jesus, the higher self, is within Peter’s ship. The esoteric scene that is about to unfold reveals how the higher self makes itself known to the lower mind that recognizes and accepts it’s authority.
Notice what happens:
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” (Luke 5:4).
The higher self leads Peter, or the lower mind, to cast its “net” into the “deep.” The mental qualities of the lower self have to be gathered together and “caught” at the command of the higher self. There’s a lot of accumulated stuff swimming around in our subconscious minds. This reveals the idea that all of our thoughts, emotions, ideas, opinions, and belief systems have to be captured and directed by the influence of indwelling Christ. We know that this happens through the power of conscious thought in the lower mind, because Jesus gave Peter the “keys” to unlock the kingdom within. In other words, it all begins with the conscious input of correct thought into the subconscious. The lower mind must condition itself to the influence of the higher mind. Let’s continue with Luke chapter 5:
“And Simon answered unto him, Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5).
The lower mind admits its confusion. It fishes for the truth in the knowledge accumulated in the subconscious, but to no avail. The lower mind cannot find the truth within its own thoughts, opinions, and belief systems. That is because the truth cannot be found through our external experience of reality and the knowledge acquired there. It cannot be found through the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or through the world of duality, which is a constant changing illusory environment. Yes, we can learn lots of facts and ideas, but they are just that. What good do facts and ideas and opinions of the external world do for the inner man? Sure, they can bring more knowledge (riches), but they cannot impart life that is beyond that knowledge.
Let’s continue and reread the last statement of verse five again:
“…Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
Peter is willing to test the power of the higher mind through faith, and put his trust in something other than his own facts, opinions, ideas, and beliefs. This shows the willingness of that natural mind that is able to take a leap of faith and trust in the higher over the lower.
“And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake” (Luke 5:6).
The casting of the net is symbolic of man’s lower mind that toils within itself to find answers. It represents the dark period of our lives, when we aren’t satisfied with the knowledge that the world can give us, even as we try over and over to figure out life based on external circumstances. It is the mind’s absence of light (intuition) in all it’s thoughts, opinions, emotions, etc. Knowledge remains dark until it is illuminated by the higher mind.
Jesus said when the eye becomes single the entire body is filled with light! A great secret to understanding this process is that knowledge is not bad, but that knowledge must be transformed also into understanding. The rich man is destitute and poor until his riches (knowledge) is illuminated by the indwelling Christ. It is not the knowledge itself that is important, it is understanding the cause and effect behind all facts, opinions, and ideas of this world that true understanding is achieved. Then knowledge is transformed into understanding (silver) and wisdom (gold). The union of this process is what’s known as love. The love aspect is known as higher emotions, because higher emotion is the vehicle of unity (non-judgment) between different ideas, opinions, and concepts. And it can work with the intellect. One who perceives with the single eye (pineal gland) unites love and wisdom, which is wisdom and love united in the higher mind.
That power of control over our thoughts is the beginning of the birthing of Christ in the mind. Let’s see how this works in the rest of Luke chapter five:
“When Simon peter saw it [the multitude of fish that Jesus’ command caught], he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
I cannot emphasize how important this scripture is in encompassing the entire spiritualization process that begins in the lower mind. Why did Peter recognize Christ as Lord here? What was the catalyst? It was the catching of the fish! Nothing more and nothing less. That which the lower mind toils for, but cannot succeed in finding truth through, until the lower mind recognizes it is the Christ mind which has the ability to turn knowledge into understanding.
This signifies that the natural mind realizes it’s sin (that it is separated from the higher self, Christ), and that it is only the Christ through the higher mind that can make sin, or separateness recognizable, and heal the mind itself. It is the power of the indwelling Christ that illuminates this knowledge to us, not from an external process, but through an inner one. And how is this accomplished?
Let’s look at another Gospel. We have a similar version of this story in John chapter 21, with a few key differences. Here, Jesus commanded them to cast the net on the “right” side of the ship. This means that the mind ceases to analyze external thoughts, opinions, and ideas from the left brain. It goes within, to the right side, which is towards the east, the rising sun. Remember, Jesus sits at the right hand of the father and is the illuminating light of consciousness.
John chapter 21 also states that Peter caught 153 in the net, and this time the net does not break.
153…
1 + 5 + 3 =9
Nine, according to Gaskell:
“The number three is the number of perfection and completeness. Nine, which is three squared, refers to the attainment of perfection on the three lower planes.”
In Luke, it was early in Jesus’ ministry and the disciples were undisciplined and still being gathered. In John we have a spiritual evolution of MIND in the text. It is after Jesus’ ministry on earth (the lower nature and mind). Peter is the one that brings the net of fish up, but there is something different about the natural mind now. It has walked with the indwelling Christ for some time, and it is ready to become the “evolved personality.” This is why Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times (three signifying the discipline of all three qualities of the lower nature). The natural mind has finally gathered together it’s mental qualities and is ready for the next stage of spiritual growth on the mental plane. It now has the ability to bring the lower mind under disciplined control. Nine then refers to the three perfected of the lower plane. The three are the lower mental, emotional, and physical aspects of man. The mind has gained discipline over all three: sensations, emotions, and thoughts. The mind now has dominion over the fish of the lake and the sea!
Of course this does not mean that the lower mind is perfect. Peter will continue to make mistakes, which is why Paul rebukes him later on. The Apostle Paul symbolizes a further evolution of the mind, which is the actual birthing of Christ in the mind. This process follows the lower mind which has taken control over its course of thought, speech, and action through conscious will power. And this process is what is meant through concentration of the mind, which is a discipline of the thoughts that precedes true meditation.
Fish as a symbol of the Old Testament
The Old Testament version of this healing in the lower mind takes place in Ezekiel. Before we proceed there are some things we should discuss about the Book of Ezekiel. Similar to the Gospel of John, which goes deeper in the esoteric sense than the rest of the Gospels, Ezekiel does the same. In fact, the Book of Ezekiel almost didn’t make it into the Biblical canon, and many Jewish boys were hindered from studying it until they reached a certain mature age. In certain Jewish mystical traditions it was forbidden completely to the uninitiated. Why? Because it is a highly esoteric book containing concepts that require a certain spiritual maturity to understand.
First a scripture about the healing waters which flow from underneath the altar within the Holy of Holies.
“And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of FISH, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live wither the river cometh” (Ezekiel 47:9).
This river of living water coming from man’s innermost being, the higher self, is the same idea taught through Jesus in the New Testament. Remember the woman at the deep well who wanted water? Jesus told her the water from that well would make her thirst again. Jesus tells her that he could provide the water of truth that would keep her from thirsting again. But in Ezekiel, notice that this river of water heals the very great multitude of fish. Another example of the subconscious and conscious mind healed through the unity of wisdom and love?
Ezekiel’s temple by the way, with all it’s passages and structures, is a map of the human brain 🙂 The altar in the Holy of Holies, at the very center of the temple (brain), is the pineal gland again.
Simon son of Bar Jonah
I wanted to conclude by showing how awesome the entire Bible fits together and the continuity between the Old and New Testaments. Notice how after Peter recognizes the Christ as the Son of the Father, Christ states:
“…blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood (the natural mind) hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father (spirit) which is in heaven (the realm of the higher mind)” Matthew 16:17.
Jesus is referring to Peter as Simon Barjona because he is associating him with the son of Jonah of the Old Testament. Not a literal son, but the son of the soul in evolutionary progression, in much the same way that John the Baptist was an evolved Elijah who had to come.
Jonah of the Old Testament was cast in the sea and swallowed by a great fish. Do you see the similarities here? Jonah is the natural mind in a period of evolution as well. Peter is the more advanced natural mind who finally is ready to recognize the Christ, while Jonah is symbolic of the mind that is meant to eventually be consummated by the Christ, which is accomplished through Peter’s actions finally. It is interesting that at the end of the Book of Jonah, Jonah is still quite angry with the Ninevites. God gives him a slight rebuke at the end, and then it is over. The Book of Jonah is only four short chapters, and it ends on a very sad note. God questions Jonah at the end and points out the fact that the Ninevites are spared because they can’t tell their left hand from their right. This refers to the mixed up state of the mind that is still quite divided. I don’t have time here to delve into all the symbols of Jonah here, but if you think hard enough, I bet you can find many more similarities in the story.
One more side note to tie in an extra knot: Jesus said no sign would be given except that Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the whale/fish. This is the evolution of mind, and the stories of Jonah and Peter unveil the spiritual evolution process of just one of the faculties of mind in conjunction with the other eleven (disciples). The Bible is so perfectly connected and reveals a deep psychological process of the mind. If only modern psychologists began to see the validity of the Biblical stories in this light, the Bible would become more authoritative than anything Freud and others have accomplished.
I hope this article has given you some food for thought.
Blessings.
Thanks Josh.
Jesus sends away the money changers :. Putting a value to things is adding to separation.
First part describes in a Western style the Buddhist practice of vipasana and annapannasati. And then you continue.
Offer the output of the 5 senses on the altar (pineal) of Christ can be done practically by ‘Chinese breathing’. (an adaptation of breathing described in the Yellow Book)..
As always I enjoy your insights. It makes sense.
More and more I realize that I live my world in the cocoon of my own perception. That perception is fed by story telling. While still being a ‘Peter’ my stories (the ones I tell myself) start to change. Some stories, though, are very resistant to change. Real life happens and unknown story lines present themselves. The faults we see in others reflect our own state of mind.
A quote of Samuel Weor just came in my inbox :
“The greatest joy for the Gnostic is to celebrate the discovery of some of his defects.”
Thanks Josh, for chopping up your book. And feeding it to us part by part. 🙂
Josh..
Thanks for this great article, really enjoyed it immensely. It is packed with so many nuggets of clarity-understanding. For anyone starting their esoteric Bible voyage, this article will surely prove beneficial going forward.
Meditation, Josh, as we know, is an ancient tradition which predates all the major religions, including Christianity. When you write: “The Bible is so perfectly connected and reveals a deep psychological process of the mind” — this makes perfect sense. For, the Bible, being instructional in mind application and Christ consciousness development, would have to uphold throughout all generational periods of humankind — the universal Principles contained in the Bible have never and will never change.
You write: ”The mental qualities of the lower self have to be gathered together and “caught” at the command of the higher self”. True. This is also mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita, ch. 6–15. It states: ” Ever thus collecting himself, the yogi of disciplined mind attains to peace, the supreme liberation that abides in Me”. In other words, when we sit to meditate, we collect or gather the mind, body senses from where there is a tendency to feast off lower mind content for ego entertainment. “Collecting’ inwardly will be needed many, many times during meditation. “Collecting” thus, is how the mind eventually becomes disciplined, mature, when higher and lower self befriend mutually.
Thanks again, Josh. Oh, and, great pic used at top of article!!!
Raymond, always enjoy your comments as well. Thanks for bringing additional clarity and validity to this article through the Bhagavad-Gita. Meditation brings resolve and fortitude to the mind and body.
You state: ““Collecting” thus, is how the mind eventually becomes disciplined, mature, when higher and lower self befriend mutually.”
Awesome! Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Thanks, Leo. Always appreciate your comments.
It is important to me that the Bible be returned to its proper place of importance. I favor it over many other spiritual texts (not completely) because once we get some of the basic symbols down, we can see it is not a book of spiritualism of the New Age movement, where one seeks to learn special abilities, awaken kundalini, or acquire some special psychic ability, all which can be dangerous. It is a simple instruction manual to improve in the areas that truly raise consciousness:
Developing wisdom, self discipline over thought and emotion, improving the mind, having patience, and a selfless attitude towards life where one learns to connect to higher spirituality through the way one treats his or her neighbor. It doesn’t show us how to “get” something, but allows for a natural development and evolution of the soul. It proffers compassion over psychic development (and in fact condemns much of those things taught in New Age philosophy). It is about the development and balance of heart and mind.
The Bible doesn’t push formulas for meditation, but talks about meditation in a way that improves one’s relationship to his or her greater self by discipline and control. It is about natural spiritual evolution, not forced psychic evolution, which is just another way of emphasizing the lower self.
Thanks Josh,
I missed this comment. After reading todays post i was about to comment like ‘it is all theory and no practice’ and above all no sharing of real life experience. Then I decided to do another read of the whole thread, just in case i missed something.
You know me, i like to bake the bread and taste it.
Lately i am wondering a lot if something of the spirit can be put into practice on a daily basis. It seems hard and that made me reflect on my own actions in the past few years. There are still amygdala hi-jacks, but the realizations are there. If have noticed that looking in a neutral way at my own (mis)-behaviour is paramount in effecting a positive change.
I agree that Bible texts holds more practical advice (for me in these times) than other sacred texts. Even if comments on SOS contradict it apparently stirs up enough in me to contribute in a change of attitude.
Kind regards,
Leo.
Hi Josh,
This is an article which you write in a philosophical context which somehow does not speak to me, no matter how often I read it. It obviously is something of the mind and you know my feelings about that. I am sure that what you write is valuable and is a – not the only – true interpretation but my way of understanding and expressing things is different. Therefore I will not comment on the article as such but only on the one item that does mean something to me, the word fish, which has a lot of meaning, which you also partly address already.
A fish is a symbol that has been used in many different forms in the Bible and in Christianity. To start with the last it has been used as a visible symbol for the Greek word ichtus, which means fish, as Iesos Christos hUios Theou Soter, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. The U is the capital here as the h in Greek is a comma and not a letter. This fish symbol was used in order to recognize each other as Christians during times that Christians were persecuted. Nowadays some Christians put this symbol on their cars in order to show that they are Christians.
In the Bible it has been used as feelings, emotions, as also Gaskell seems to have usedit according to your article. In this case it is connected with the term water, the natural habitat of fish, and water is mayim, the meaning of the character Mem, which is also the number forty. In this case it is found in the Bible in a lot of hidden ways wherever the forty surfaces. Of course the fact that quite a few of the disciples were fishers has everything to do with this hidden meaning.
After the fishes have been caught, then the emphasis is put on the need to ‘eat’ them as well. So first we have to ‘catch’ everything in our lives that has to be examined and processed and then indeed to examine and work through it all.
Where you use the example of Peter (is it only Peter?) throwing out the net ‘on the other side’ you use the word ‘abundant’ for the number of fishes they caught. It is indeed abundant but I do not think that this is the deeper meaning here. It does not just say ‘many’ fishes but 153, a precise number which can be divided in seventeen phases (1 + 2 + 3 + …. + 16 + 17). If you add up all the numbers from one until and including seventeen, you end up with 153.
Seventeen is the numerical value of the word tov, which means good, but which according to prof. Weinreb is also the last bitter phase before something new and good starts (Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold as a slave to Egyptian merchants and as a slave ended up in prison but finally became second to the pharaoh only because he remained or became master over his emotions).
So, to return with this in mind to the number of 153 fishes that had to be processed and ‘eaten’, which took the whole seventeen phases of the bitter process of the seventeen, those disciples (not only Peter) had to work through a lot of stuff under the guidance of the Christ that had awakened in them.
You single out Peter within the context of the whole of the article but this process has to be gone through by all of them and by all of us also.
Of course this does not take anything away from what you show here but does give this particular phase a little more intensity and effort.
As a kind of anecdote to the Joseph story in the Bible the following: it has been relived to the letter almost by a son of a Moroccan Muslim father and a Dutch Christian mother. He had to go to Morocco for business and within a few days after his arrival he was picked up by the authorities there for something he had nothing to do with. He was thrown into a dirty, cockroach-infested prison cell with around twenty others and started to care for them as well as he could. He was finally accepted by them and in the later stages was treated with respect by the prison guards as well. He just was a blessing to all around him. After four or five years he was finally released and proven not-guilty and he was allowed to return to the Netherlands from where his mother had written to him every day. And guess what his name is: yes, Joseph.
Hi Anny.
Thanks for your added analysis and the cool story about Joseph!
About me specifically mentioning Peter – Yes, I chose not to include the other disciples and their role here for two reasons:
1) The length
2) Peter is the focus of the fish symbol. He is Simon Bar Jona, and we all understand about Jonah and the big fish. Also, Peter, or the lower mind, recognizes the Christ because of the fish Jesus instructed them on how to catch. Yes, the other disciples are present, but it is only Peter that represents the lower mind itself which accumulates knowledge, but is confused by it until Christ puts that knowledge into proper perspective.
The other disciples present 11 other faculties of the mind. For example, there is doubt (Thomas), higher intellect (James), Love and unity of mind principles, (John), etc. Even Judas has an important part to play within the lower mind. While the disciples must all go through the process, it is talking about the 12 faculties of mind which are involved in each one of us specifically as they are collected and gathered together, just as Jesus said he desires to gather together the undisciplined and disciplined qualities of the mind as a hen gathers her chics. All thoughts and emotion must be brought under the dominion of the Christ mind.
You also state: “Seventeen is the numerical value of the word tov, which means good, but which according to prof. Weinreb is also the last bitter phase before something new and good starts (Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold as a slave to Egyptian merchants and as a slave ended up in prison but finally became second to the pharaoh only because he remained or became master over his emotions).”
Yes, same principle here! The bitter phase is our adversity, which the story of Job also shows us as his three friends are the physical, emotional, and mental nature of the lower mind which only “heard of God,” but after Job’s experience he experienced God.
Thanks again, Anny!
Hi Josh,
Thanks for your reply to my comment.
You see Peter as the focus of the fish symbol. As a principle? Why? Because Gaskell or others think so? I do not like it so much when people say “this is the way it is”. Undoubtedly I do so myself as well sometimes but in the end it is how I or somebody else thinks about a certain subject and not necessarily the absolute and only truth that others therefore have to accept.
And you see Peter as the lower mind. Again, why? Because some system has allotted that position to him, or because of your own conclusions? You know how I feel about that. I base my opinions, rightly or wrongly, purely on my own conclusions, and mostly based on Hebrew numerology of the meaning of certain words or names.
In this case that name is Simeon bar Jonah, and I do not link that to Jonah, the prophet. I link it to the meaning of the name itself.
In the name Simeon we find the verb Shema as in the Shema Israel … that Zvi Ish-Shalom explained so beautifully “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, is One God”. To really hear means focus on this with all your strength and all your attention. It is what Solomon asked from God, to be able to hear and really understand what God required from him.
And returning to the name Simeon we also find there the Nun of the number 50 of higher awareness, which will be the result of this ‘hearing’.
Besides that he is the son of Jonah, which I do not relate to the run-away Jonah who ended up in the belly of a fish, but to the meaning of the name Jonah itself, which is Dove, the symbol and spirit of peace.
All this is his program; that is who he is meant to be and will turn into in the end. As a fisher (of men) of course he is still in the learning period but that goal is what he is on his way toward. To make him – or indeed anyone – into a symbol of lower mind feels denigrating to me. You know that I dislike using the word mind anyway because to me it obviously means something different than to you.
The same applies to Judas (Yehuda!). You write: “Even Judas has an important part to play within the lower mind” as if it would be totally unexpected if he were to play a major role in the story around Jesus’ crucifixion, and if so then it had to be a negative one.
However, also Judas appears to have played a totally different role in this whole process than has been attributed to him. This became clear after the Gospel of Judas had been found and translated. He proved to have been one of the closest friends and associates of Jesus and did what he did in the end at the express wish of Jesus himself, in spite of what all that would mean for himself afterwards. No wonder that he committed suicide then because he could not live with the prospect of being seen as the traitor who betrayed Jesus for the rest of his life, as the other disciples did not know about any of this. I read about all that years ago and do not quite remember the details but what ended up in the Bible is not necessarily always the historical truth, as you yourself also know of course (if this even is a historical fact anyway).
That is why I focus on the meaning of the names, which all always symbolize something and which are less easy to manipulate. That is why the essence of the message is sometimes found in the names. And the name Yehuda contains the essence of praise, of thanks (toda, even in today’s Hebrew) and hod, honour, majesty, surrounded by the first and the last letters of the name YHWH.
Of course you are in no way obliged to accept my view of things but you do know my dislike of people being put down, even if only symbolically. I am just allergic to it, I am afraid. So be it.
Hi Anny.
It seems to me that both our ideas about Judas might merge perfectly by seeing him in the same light as the video you shared with SOS recently from Youtube about God being both beyond form and form, beyond creation and creation, spirit and matter:
Judas symbolizes the furthest stage of involution before heading back up again into the evolutionary stage. Something interesting to consider. I don’t have the time to show how this is hinted at scripturally at the moment, but perhaps I can plan a blog post on it soon.
About Gaskell:
You pose a pertinent question. Paul has often asked me the same thing. While I hold no man in high esteem, I do hold his work in high esteem. Probably because when I was first introduced to his work every definition he had resonated with me. His work also helped me to fill in some bigger puzzle pieces. I was thankful to have found Gaskell before Blavatsky because Blavatsky’s works are difficult to read and comprehend, but Gaskell gave me a good background and I was surprised at how much they agreed on. In fact, almost to the letter. It was then that I began to see patterns between all the ancient major religions and their sacred texts with more depth and clarity.
What I find fascinating about Gaskell’s work, Anny, is that the symbols found in the Old and New Testaments were used universally long before in all the sacred religious text. Gaskell provides the scriptures side by side often comparing the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita. This gave me the confidence to see that old the ancient religious text stemmed from one common source, probably from both oral tradition and texts we no longer have access to. Then Blavatsky showed further evidence for this, but in a detailed and methodical way. When one does a comparative study it becomes easy to see the evolution of Biblical thought from the Gnostics to the later church fathers, as well as the correlations to mystical Hebrew texts such as the Zohar. The Zohar, the Vedas, and the Bhagavad Gita are almost identical. The Tree of Life as taught in Kabbalah is really no different than the 7 divisions of humanity’s soul as taught in the East. Of course there are a few variations, but this isn’t because they teach different things, but rather some go into more detail as to man’s higher and lower natures.
I enjoyed your thoughts on Jonah and Peter. I think we are saying much of the same thing but in different ways. More on this to come.
Josh
Hi Josh,
Thanks for your reply. It is interesting what you write about Gaskell. I did not know that about him and therefore misjudged him. I love it too to look at subjects from all different sides and traditions. It is what I have been doing myself as well, although through isolated bits and pieces and not with a certain purpose. In the nineties we used to have spiritual programs on TV about the different religions in the Netherlands, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, organized and produced by the concerning faith groups themselves. This was very interesting and informative and indeed I discovered that we all had much in common.
Of course I had experienced a lot of that myself in Belfast/London as an au pair, living with an orthodox Jewish family, in Israel with Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze neighbours, and later in Vietnam with our Buddhist daughter in law and her family and friends. And of course also (the family of) the Vietnamese daughter in law who lives here in our town.
Also this comparison with the religion of Ancient Egypt is interesting and you probably remember that at least three times one of the commenters to some of my articles compared things I wrote with things in the Egyptian mythology, quoting several passages out of many different books. He must be an expert in this field.
The Bhavagad Gita I read years ago and I remember recognizing similarities but I did not really make a study of it. The bits and pieces I read from the Zohar did not appeal to me at all, so I did not take the trouble to examine it extensively. Neither did I examine the Kaballa myself. The knowledge I did gain about it is from a book by prof. Weinreb, who explained it much more clearly than those ancient documents themselves. It did supply me with the necessary building blocks though in order to be able to constrct the model I developed over a couple of years.
That is all for now. It has been very hot here for more than two weeks now (and no airconditioning and still very long days with a burning sun) so I’ll get back to bed again where at least I have a fan since a few days.
From old testament to new, are all “stories” in the bible about meditation? About “going up” in the “mountain” and archiving Christ spark, the 7 chakras and becoming a god man…? And if we don’t do it or follow that path basically we fail our purpose in life which makes totally sense but my question is… Why such a big book to just repeat over and over the same message? It’s the idea i have about it but maybe I’m missing a lot..?
Bruno…
In a sense, yes. But many of the stories get very specific and show how the process works on very deep levels. The stories all build upon one another showing the evolution of spirit manifesting through the soul. For example, Cain and Abel show the beginning of the evolution process, but later we get much more detailed and we learn additional information about the soul and mind of man, how it evolves, and how the process works.
And do not worry about failing in your purpose by missing being super spiritual. Being super spiritual is often the most simplest of a task like being present in the moment, working on positive thought and developing the higher emotions by understanding the causes and effects behind the experiences. Disciplining the mind, emotions, and body is an important step but we can still enjoy the process. We don’t have to look at it as “work,” although sometimes it will be and it is hard. Living for the will and not desire is often very difficult, but when we succeed the rewards are great even when not noticed except over long periods of time.
Hello Joshua and fellow SOS folks.
You’ve given more substance to chew on when I thought I understood what the fish stood for. The more I read and study, the more fish are added to my lake. I find myself looking over my lake with a net saying, “Here fishy fishy….here fishy fishy.
If you see me walking down the street in galoshes and a net, just mind your business, I’m just working on myself.
I pray all are doing well.
Ken
Lol enjoyed the comment. Thanks Ken.
Thanks Joshua for another interesting article.
I”m sorry I”m a bit late on this. I agree pretty much with all that’s been said but I found Anny’s take, particularly interesting.
The word for fish in Greek is ichthis which indeed represents Jesus Christ, God, son the saviour but it is also a symbolism of the soul. I also found interesting what Anny wrote about the number 17 which she connected to Joseph.
She says “It does not just say ‘many’ fishes but 153, a precise number which can be divided in seventeen phases (1 + 2 + 3 + …. + 16 + 17). If you add up all the numbers from one until and including seventeen, you end up with 153. Seventeen is the numerical value of the word tov, which means good, but which according to prof. Weinreb is also the last bitter phase before something new and good starts (Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold as a slave to Egyptian merchants and as a slave ended up in prison but finally became second to the pharaoh only because he remained or became master over his emotions).”
I wanted to add a little more on this if I may. When Joseph was sold to the Egyptian merchants, the brothers took a goat and dipped Joseph’s coat into its blood and presented it to their father. This points to atonement day whereby 2 kids of goats are presented as sin offerings and Aaron cast lots, one for the Lord and one as a scapegoat. Atonement day falls on the 10th day of the 7th month, 10+7= 17.
This was the only time Aaron was able to enter within the veil, into the holy of holies, into a new and living way, after he made atonement for sins.
Also when Jesus was crucified, it was during a feast whereby they were able to set a prisoner free (scapegoat) and the other one crucified (sacrificed). Barabas in Hebrew means “son of the father”
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:24.
Joseph was at enmity with his brothers and it is the journey of the righteous soul which is sacrificed and descends into the world of duality finding itself in conflict. The 2 goats represent one person, through sacrifice one is able to set the mind free to work out its salvation, recognise its plight and begin an upward ascent. Not until reconciling of the lower self with the higher self can the sacrifice truly be accepted.
Aaron enters in within the veil, within the world of ignorance into the world of enlightenment, Holy of Holies, “the heavens themselves” after reconciliation.
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
If we dissect the dimensions of the Ark vertically into 3 sections, each section is 100 by 50 by 30. By taking the zeros away we have 153. We mustn’t forget that Jesus was 200 cubits from the shore, also pointing to the Ark.
The length of the tabernacle, the Ark and the temples can be broken down into 3 sections. The Holy Place always consists of 2 parts, the duality and the Holy of Holies within the veil is the other 3rd, the union, the marriage, the teaching from within.
Joshua says: “But when he is finished teaching to the masses (symbolic of the outer court), he turns his attention to the inner court, those nearest to him (specifically the faculty of mind that Peter signifies).
The outer courtyard of the tabernacle is 100 by 50 pointing to the feeding of the 5,000 because Jesus commanded they be sat in groups of 100’s and 50’s.
There were 5 loaves which represent the 5 books of Moses, the law or even the tree of knowledge of good and evil, hence the 2 fishes. Only when one has received this knowledge which breaks down the ego and the world of illusion will one be able to enter into the Holy of Holies as Joshua so eloquently says
“The esoteric scene is now set to bring a plethora of spiritual concepts together! and begin a spiritual teaching from within”
One can now take from the tree of life and not die, referring to the 7 wheat loaves, the bread of life. The 5 loaves are barley which represents a bland taste, the bread of affliction where the journey is bitter to begin with because it goes against the carnal side of man until one recognises the sweetness that comes after, that is why the feeding of the 4,000 has 7 wheat loaves representing a sweeter type of bread.
Also for me, Judas represents my own conscience and committing suicide is
my own conscience convicting me once I have understood, or have become aware after the crucifixion takes place when the lower ego is put to death, in humbleness.
Hi Kris,
Thanks for your comment, which referred to mine, and for all your interesting information which mostly was new for me too. Where did you learn all this information as I do not remember prof. Weinreb, from whom I originally learned about gematria, mentioning any of this.
As for the Ark, for this I have learned another explanation from him, which of course does not necessarily negate yours.
The Hebrew word for Ark is teba, whích also means ‘word’.
The measurements of the Ark were 30, 300, 50 (breadth, length, height) cubits (?) which is lashon, or language, as a word.
So the Ark stands for Word and Language in that case.
Thanks Anny for your comment
I have been studying the old and new testaments for many years now and have used software like bibleworks which is an amazing tool for navigating the bible including translations. It gives the root to words and translation of words from original text. There is also a website twelveloaves.com which uses numbers and meaning of names in a fascinating way albeit you need patience to read it. You may find it interesting with your background of numbers.
In the past four years I have been following sos and this has given me a completely different aspect and has opened my horizons. On the back of Joshua’s advise I have read the Gita, Upanishads and Dhammapada, which I would recommend to anyone on a spiritual journey. Sos has made me realise that there are many different ways to reach higher consciousness and all have their own merit. Joshua has allowed this website to become a platform to share ideas and experiences and I am very grateful to him and he does a great job in explaining things. I especially look forward to yours, Raymond’s and Paul’s comments and it is amazing that whatever angle you come from they are all interlinked in one form or another.
The numbers in scripture are particularly interesting to me because they give a deeper meaning and it connects the old and new testament together. The meaning of words also is very important. The numbers and meanings of names both in Hebrew and Greek allows for a deeper, more meaningful esoteric explanation to emerge.
‘Peter, you are the rock on which i will build my church’
Your idea is so clear (to me) and it puts the attention back to where it should be.
Without enabling, expanding the Peter within, our House will tumble.
Fortifying it will enable a stronghold to be established that wards off the dangers of everyday’s life.
It refers, imo, to the same thing as the first tan dian, the Chinese powerhouse.
Covid would have no chance to be even a scare if our first power house is ‘in order’.
Yes, i like the practical side of SOS.
This is about ‘gut feeling’ (= lower mind) going hand in hand with ‘higher mind’s. And for the Chinese these centers are actually located higher in the physical body. Check out ‘ba gua’ if you will.
Regards,
Leo.
Hi Kris,
I would not put my lower ego to ‘death’ because you might loose something precious there. ‘throwing away the baby with the bathwater’.
I subdue my ‘lower ego’ to a higher ‘knowing’. And in that way i can be in the world and not of it.
Can i be successful ? Trial and error. Falling and standing up again. A recent encounter with an adversary showed me i can still be revengeful.
l will look into that trying to be neutral.
Hi Leo,
thanks for your comment.
I did not mean literally to put the ego to death but to subdue it so that it has no power over you which is the purpose of the journey. It takes a long period to bring our thoughts and emotions in line with the true inner self through our experiences. It is crucifying the old man with his deeds in order to raise the inner man, new man with his deeds.
In the same way you cannot literally quench the spirit which is immortality but the lower ego can suppress it. 1 Thes 5:19.
Hi Josh, it’s mom. I was just bragging about you and giving your blog to my doctors who are very interested. I just finished your last blog. The picture of you in the mountains is beautiful with that ray of sun. I enjoyed this article so much. It was fascinating! I am so proud of you! Keep writing!