If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
– Gospel of Thomas, verse 70
Here is one way of understanding this.
What’s within me includes both wounds and gifts. And the saying applies to both.
If I don’t bring my wounds forth, into the light of awareness, it will destroy me. They will continue to operate in me, and influence how I perceive and act in the world. And if I do – if I bring awareness, love, kindness, gentle curiosity to my wounds – it will save me. The wounds are not only OK, but become gifts.
If I bring my gifts forth, if I develop and apply them, they will save me. They will benefit me and others. (If done with kindness and skill.) If I don’t bring my gifts forth, it may destroy me. It may remain as a gnawing discomfort in me.
In both cases, not bringing it forth tends to come from unquestioned fear. Continuing to not bring it forth means I am reinforcing those unquestioned fears. So those fears may be among the first I bring forth. I can bring them into awareness, meet them with kindness and love, and question the stories creating the fears.
I should also mention that the labels “wounds” and “gifts” are used in a conventional sense here, and it’s worth questioning these labels. Can I find a particular wound, or wounds in general? Can I find a particular gift, or gifts in general? When I look, can I find it outside of my own images, words, and sensations? And are those it?
INITIAL NOTES
– bring forth
— see what’s here, rest with it, find love for it etc. (healing, human side)
— live from your truth, guidance, live your gifts, what feels right (life, authenticity)
– don’t bring forth
— keep avoiding seeing, feeling, saying
— keep avoiding living from own truth, gifts, what feels right (bc of unquestioned fearful stories, unloved fears, wounds etc.)
……..
There are different ways of understanding this.
What’s within me is both (a) unresolved wounds, trauma, painful beliefs, identifications, and velcro, and (b) my gifts, skills, abilities, and passion.
……..
What’s within me is both wounds and gifts. It’s unresolved wounds, trauma, painful beliefs, identifications, and velcro. And my gifts, skills, abilities, and passion.
And the saying applies to both.
………
There are different ways of understanding this.
What’s within me is both wounds and gifts. And the saying applies to both.
If I don’t bring my wounds forth, into the light of awareness, it will destroy me. They will continue to operate in me, and influence how I perceive and act in the world. And if I do – if I bring awareness, love, kindness, gentle curiosity to my wounds – it will save me.
If I bring my gifts forth, if I develop and apply them, they will save me. They will benefit me and others. (If done with kindness and skill.) If I don’t bring my gifts forth, it may destroy me. It may remain as a gnawing discomfort in me.
In both cases, not bringing it forth tends to come from unquestioned fear. Continuing to not bring it forth means I am reinforcing those unquestioned fears. So those fears may be among the first I bring forth. I can bring them into awareness, meet them with kindness and love, and question the stories creating the fears.
If you don’t process the trauma cause by the knowledge of good and evil (dualism), what you don’t process will kill you.
If you process it (repent), then what you do process will save you.
It’s so true.