Jesus said, “The images are manifest to man, but the light in them remains concealed in the image of the light of the father. He will become manifest, but his image will remain concealed by his light.”
You have looked upon the sun and seen the light of the sun. Yet never have you seen the sun itself, only the glory or light of the sun. You have seen the river of light flowing from the sun, but never have you actually seen the sun. The sun is hidden by the glory and light that streams forth from it. In the same way, no one has ever seen the heavenly Father. The glory or Light of the image of the Lord conceals the holy image. How much more the very essence of God itself? Beholding the presence of the Lord and gazing upon the image of Light, no one has ever seen the Living God, only the glory of God, the Light and Life that pours forth from the image of the holy Father-Mother.
Ain Sof, the One-Without-End, is the concealed of the concealed, the nameless and unknowable, ever hidden within and beyond the streams of Light and glory that continually pour forth from it. Indeed, it is this aspect of the Lord our God that we call the hidden God, while the holy Sefirot that span the four universes are the manifestation of the attributes or images through which God reveals something of itself. Yet the holy images or attributes that are manifest cannot be confused with Ain Sof, the One-Without-End, for although Ain Sof is within them and they emerge from and exist within Ain Sof, they do not define or limit Ain Sof in any way. Ain Sof remains totally transcendent of all images or attributes through which it is revealed.
For the elect who would receive the teachings and initiations of the secret wisdom and embark upon the mystical journey of Ma’aseh Merkavah, understanding this becomes very important so that, when entering into the Palace of Lights and the prophetic states of consciousness, the initiate should not be confused by the nature of their experience but rather gain true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The images beheld are not God itself. They are the Light and glory of the Lord God in the process of self-revelation. While the holy Sefirot or spiritual flows of the Divine powers reveal God, at the same time they completely veil or conceal the Lord. Just as we can use the analogy of the sun, so we can use the analogy of garments a person might wear. The garments reveal something of the person wearing them; yet they are not the person, let alone the soul and inner self of the person. It is the same with the holy Sefirot and image of the Lord. They are like garments of Ain Sof, which reveal something of Ain Sof, although Ain Sof is completely beyond.
The very term, the “Lord our God,” reflects the holy mystery of which the Master is speaking. For the “Lord” is the impersonal and hidden aspect of the Divine, and “our God” is the revealed and personal aspect; the Lord the transcendental aspect, and our God the immanent aspect. In the singing of the Shema, we affirm the truth of these two aspects of the Lord God, the transcendental and immanent as one and the same in nature and essence—hence, an essential and mysterious unity. Save through the production of images or forms of self-revelation, God could not make itself known to the human being and likewise the human being would have no way to link him or herself consciously with God. Such forms or images represent a self-limitation upon God, thereby concealing more than they reveal.
As this is true of the holy Sefirot and images beheld in prophetic states of consciousness, it is also true of the personalities of Divine incarnation. It is a confusion regarding this very mystery that lies at the core of orthodox Christianity and its grave misunderstanding of the nature of the Messiah, a confusion of the image or person (partzuf) that acts as the vehicle of revelation and transmission and that which is revealed and transmitted. Here the Lord Yeshua is warning against this mistake. Just as we can say God is love, but love is not God, so we can say the Messiah is Lord Yeshua, but Yeshua is not the soul of Messiah. It is a subtle and sublime distinction, yet necessary for a greater understanding of the holy mystery of the Messiah. Lord Yeshua and the Spirit of the Messiah are one, yet the fullness of the soul of the Messiah is beyond the person of the perfect Master.
Now, having said this, we may also speak of an inner level of this saying, for the Master is giving instruction to his disciples concerning an ascent of Merkavah through the holy Sefirot of Asiyah, Yetzirah and Beriyah into Atzilut. The images manifest to the human being are the holy Sefirot of the three lower universes, while the Light of the image of the Father is the upper universe of Atzilut, and the image of the Father is the universe of Adam Kadmon or the Human One. The Light and Life-power of the holy Sefirot of the lower universes is contained in the universe of Atzilut (the world of emanation or nearness). When the initiate enters into Atzilut, the Lord will reveal himself directly, yet the image of the Lord, the universe of the primordial human being, will be concealed.
In the preceding saying, when Yeshua speaks of one being near to him as being near to the fire, he plays upon the meaning of the word Atzilut, “nearness.” Atzilut is the universe of holy fire or Light. Thus the Master alludes to the soul of the Messiah embodied in himself as something of the Light of Adam Kadmon brought down through these various levels or dimensions into the physical or material dimension. With the statement that one who is far from him is far from Malkut (the Kingdom), he alludes to both the perfection and fulfillment of Malkut in the universe of Adam Kadmon, as well as an understanding of the physical universe and all creatures as the body of Adam Kadmon or the mystical body of the Messiah.
Here, I cannot go any further into these holy mysteries but can only give some gates through which one might pass into a deeper insight and understanding in their own sacred quest of contemplation and meditation. In fact, what the Master teaches in this one saying could easily fill volumes, and, indeed, already has. Verses 82 to 88 are among the most esoteric sayings in the Gospel of St. Thomas, containing the inmost secret teachings of the Master. They are intended to be contemplated independently and collectively according to the masters of the tradition.