 Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas–11—by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 Guarding the Flame
“Jesus said, ‘I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.’” (10) Fire
In the East fire is not regarded as a mere source of heat, but of transformation. It is further believed that fire’s natural or proper abode is in the higher regions, and that it has the power to transfer material substances into those regions by reducing them to their subtle components. This concept is the basis of the Vedic fire sacrifices and is found in other religions where candles and lamps are offered before sacred depictions or in places of worship. A great number of Vedic hymns are addressed to Agni (fire) as the “mouth” of divinity, the gateway to supernal existence. Tapasya
It is no surprise then that the ancient yogis spoke of spiritual practice as “tapasya”–the generation of heat (tapa). Especially through meditation we enkindle the fire of divine consciousness. The Svestasvatara Upanishad speaks of it in this way: “As the form of fire when latent in its source is not seen and yet its seed is not destroyed, but may be seized again and again in its source by means of the drill [a pointed stick whirled to produce fire for the Vedic sacrifices], so it is in both cases. The Self has to be seized in the body by means of the Syllable Om. By making one’s body the lower friction stick and the Syllable Om the upper friction stick, by practicing the friction of meditation one may see the hidden God, as it were.” The Brahma Upanishad: “Having made oneself the lower arani, and the Pranava the upper arani and rubbing them together through the practice of meditation, see the Lord in His hidden reality.” Dhyanabindu Upanishad: “Making the atman the lower arani and Om the upper arani, and practicing the friction of meditation, one should apply himself to the best of his strength to the resonance of the sound of Omkara.” Kaivalya Upanishad: “By making his own inner sense [i.e., awareness] the lower arani and the Pranava the upper arani, the accomplished adept completely burns up and reduces to ashes his ignorance of the atman.”
Meditation is thus the fire which transfers our consciousness unto the heights. The mission of Jesus
In the context of what we have just been considering, we can see that Jesus did not come to teach a dogmatic philosophy or reveal himself as a new god to be worshipped. Rather he came to establish a Way to realize God. He was a yogi come to teach yoga to questing souls. That is why he said at the end of his life: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world…. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” It is Om, the Name of God, that unites us with God–for it, too, is God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Jesus was intent on his disciples adherence to the Divine Name. He also said in prayer: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name.” And: “I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” He was truly “guarding it until it blazes,” though in time the fire was lost. Yet is still shines in India and from there throughout the world. Guarding our own fire
We must enkindle and then guard our own fire until it blazes forth in divine illumination. Like Jesus we must say: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” And like Saint Paul: “We are labourers together with God.”
For “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
1) Svetasvatara Upanishad 1:13,14 [Go back]
2) >Brahma Upanishad 4 [Go back] 3) Dhyanabindu Upanishad 22, 23 [Go back]
4) Kaivalya Upanishad 11 [Go back]
5) John 17:6,11 [Go back]
6) John 1:1 [Go back]
7) John 17:12 [Go back]
8) John 17:26 [Go back]
9) John 5:17 [Go back]
10) I Corinthians 3:9 [Go back]
11) Proverbs 4:18 [Go back]
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