It is a curious fact that in the whole Bible (including both Old and New Testaments), the word "consciousness" is never used. But the word "spirit" is used hundreds of times.
Yet Consciousness is the basis, the ground, of all being. Where "Spirit" is written, we could substitute "God/Goddess," "The All," "All That Is," or whatever we like. We can make such substitutions because ruach/pneuma = spirit = consciousness.
In Nagnopanishad XXII (published in this blog on Sept. 15 2020) we read that "Consciousness does not depend on the body; the body depends on Consciousness."
In Gospel of Thomas (GTh) Logion 29, we read "Jesus said: If the flesh has come into existence because of the spirit, it is a marvel; but if the spirit has come into existence because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. But I wonder at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty."
We are multidimensional beings. That is one of the secrets of life. Consciousness is also multidimensional. We live on planes/levels/worlds that have been called "Astral," "Ethereal," etc., and by other names in other cultures. We live on these planes simultaneously, When the body eventually dies, because that is what bodies do, the other planes of consciousness, which do not depend on the body, persist. But there is then a missing plane, the physical plane, and it must be replaced. It will be replaced, with another body. The set will then be complete once again.
The Gospel of Thomas begins thus: "These are the secret words which the Living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote. (1) And he said: Whoever finds the explanation of these words will not taste death." Logion 1 is literally true. Bodies come and go (Nagnopanishad XXIII), but "we" (multidimensional beings) don't die.
Text Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
