 Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas–8—by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 Eat Or Be Eaten
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.’” (7) The lion-faced power
It would be impossible to figure out the meaning of this by mere reasoning, however symbolical we might try to be. We must understand the historical situation in the Mediterranean world at the time these words were spoken. More than one school of esoteric thought spoke of “the lion-faced power.” Some schools meant the Negative Power within the cosmos. Saint Peter had this in mind when he wrote: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith.” Others meant the “raw power” of the cosmos with which we can do as we will, as long as we can control (master) it–for if we cannot, it will overcome us instead of us overcoming it. Others considered the lion-faced power to be both the raw material of the universe and at the same time an intelligent Providence which reacted according to the motivation or purpose of those who would tap it. That is, those whose intention was negative or foolish would be reacted to in a way that might appear to be punishment or retribution, but was really only a mirroring of their inner mind and outer deeds. If they were destructive then they would be destroyed; if harmful they would be harmed; if beneficial they would be benefited; if divine they would be divinized. Those who approached matter in the consciousness or perspective of spirit would find “the world” to be spirit. Those who treated it as dead or unconscious would themselves become dead–unconscious. So to approach the Power was hazardous for the ignorant or the ill-intentioned.
There is no such thing as a pure object. That is, everything within the cosmos is within us, is subjective to a very real degree. Whatever we do to an external object occurs to its counterpart within us–occurs to us. In a way that has already been outlined above, but it is good to express it in a different way so we get the idea: nothing is trivial; we must approach life and the world within which we live with utter seriousness of intention.
Whenever we interact, even mentally, with the world, we “devour” it in the sense that we assimilate it through the reaction that takes place inwardly. Just as we assimilate and utilize the food we eat, so it is with any contact we have with the world–and especially if we tap into the deeper levels of existence. Christian perspective
Christians also were aware of the lion-faced power and its dilemma for the actively questing soul as the text known as the Pistis Sophia shows. A very much later indication of this awareness is to be found, interestingly enough, in the tarot deck designed by A. E. Waite, the English nineteenth/twentieth century Christian esotericist.
Perhaps the most common and perilous approach to the lion-faced power is the contracting of relationships. For then we are integrating with another living reflection of the cosmos in all its complexity–and perplexity. (Superficial, sex-oriented people think that the favoring of monastic life within a spiritual tradition is based on a rejection of sex, when in actuality it is the solitariness of the “untouched and untouching” monastic life that is the real secret of its spiritual power–and safety. The same is true of the dedicated yogi.) Knowing this, the celibate Waite designed the card known as The Two of Cups accordingly. He directed the artist Pamela Coleman Smith to show a man and woman standing facing one another and exchanging cups. The scene is very tranquil and shows both depth and delicacy of feeling–both rare in most instances, and therefore all the more relevant to those evolved enough to be seeking understanding of human life so as to aspire to divine life.
But there is something else in the picture. Right between the two cups is seen a caduceus, a staff of Aescalepius, the healer of the gods, with its two intertwined serpents symbolizing the inner power of both the lovers as well as the positive and negative force inherent in all things, deeds, and thoughts. Above the caduceus, borne aloft on powerful wings, broods the face of a lion, a face both powerful and ominous, even threatening. However tranquil the picture may be, it reveals tremendous risk and danger. It is the character and intent of the two cupbearers that will determine the reaction of this overshadowing Presence. And this is true of us in all situations. None of us can legitimately say: “It is my life; I will do with it what I want.” It is not our life at all. It is only borrowed from the Power, and we must live accordingly every moment. Blessing or cursing
So now, with this as background, let us look at the words of Jesus: “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.”
The sole purpose of the creation is the liberation of the individual spirits. Even though we may smile with genteel contempt at the earlier Christian idea that the sun goes around the earth, which is the center of the entire cosmos, and that everything upon the earth is for either the domination or the enjoyment of human beings, the bedrock truth is this: it is all manifested for the liberation of the evolving spirit. Of course, that includes every single atom, each of which is a potential divinity. Human beings are but a part of creation’s intent. The Sufi poet, Rumi, wrote:
A stone I died and rose again a plant.
A plant I died and rose an animal;
I died an animal and was born a man.
Why should I fear? What have I lost by death?
As man, death sweeps me from this world of men
That I may wear an angel’s wings in heaven;
Yet e’en as angel may I not abide,
For nought abideth save the face of God.
Thus o’er the angels’ world I wing my way
Onwards and upwards, unto boundless lights;
Then let me be as nought, for in my heart
Rings as a harp-song that we must return to Him.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of many great Americans whose belief in reincarnation is overlooked, wrote in his poem, The Chambered Nautilus:
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea! Eat or be eaten
It is true: relativity either “eats” us or we “eat” it. We consume it or are consumed by it. The first is growth and eventual liberation, the second is a sliding backwards and increased bondage.
There are three processes of the spirit-intelligence in relation to relative existence: involution, evolution, and devolution. First we enter fully into relative existence and take on a vehicle for function therein. This is involution. Hopefully we so function as to develop our awareness and move onward into increasingly complex body-vehicles which increasingly express our consciousness-nature. This is evolution. If we misfunction within creation, we stagnate and regress. This is devolution. Those who “eat” the lion master it (or at least the part of it that they are working on at the time) and make it part of their expanding manifestation. Those who are “eaten” by the lion are lessened or contracted by it and expelled back down the path of evolution. It thus increases (regains) its mastery-dominance to some degree and is “blessed” while the devolved soul is “cursed” by its very situation.
From this we can see that it is the Lion-faced Power which we mistake for both God and the Devil (Satan). Both experiences are illusions, Divinity being completely beyond that Power. And yet it is a manifestation of Deity. It will take a great deal more evolution on our part before we comprehend this fully. Until then we must keep on “eating” and nevermore be “eaten.”
1) I Peter 5:8,9 [Go back]
2) “The yogi should retire into a solitary place, and live alone” (Bhagavad Gita 6:10). “Turn all your thought toward solitude, spurning rhe noise of the crowd, its fruitless commotion” (Bhagavad Gita 13:10). “When [a] man seeks solitude,…that man is ready for oneness with Brahman” (Bhagavad Gita 18:53). [Go back]
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