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Gospel of Truth · 16 of 18

The Place of Rest

1.Of the place where each one originated he will speak, and to the place where he obtained his founding he will rush to return once more, and to take from that place, the place where he came to exist, tasting from that place, even obtaining sustenance, gaining growth, and his individual place of repose is his fullness.

2.Consequently, every emanation from the Father is a fullness, and regarding all of his emanations, their root is inside the one who made all of them to grow up inside himself.

3.He assigned them their destinations.

4.Consequently, each one was revealed, in order that by their own individual thought ‹…›, because the place to where they convey their thought, that place is their root, ‹being› what lifts them up into all of the heights, to the Father.

5.They possess his head, because it is repose for them, and they are sustained, approaching near him, as it is said, “They share his face by kisses,” but they are not revealed in this manner, given that they themselves were not lifted up.

6.They lacked not the glory of the Father, and they did not think of him as being small, or resentful, or wrathful.

7.Instead, he lacks evil, he is untroubled, he is sweet, knowing all spaces before they existed, and he had no need to be instructed.

8.This is how it is with those who possess from above, by the infinite majesty, those expectantly waiting for the only one, even the perfect one, who will be there with them, and they do not descend to Hades, nor do they possess jealousy, nor profound sorrow, nor death inside them, but resting themselves inside the one who is resting, they are not disturbed, nor are they caught in the fence around the truth, but they themselves are the truth, and the Father dwells inside them, and they are inside the Father, because they are perfect, without division inside the one who is good in truth, deficient in nothing, but resting, renewed in the Spirit, and they will heed their root, because they will engage themselves in these things where his root will be located, and he will not experience the loss of his soul.

9.This is the place of the blessed. This is their place.

Asked of Guide

Why is the 'place of rest' described as both inside the Father and the individual's root?

The chapter says each emanation’s root is “inside the one who made all of them,” so the place of rest is literally the origin-point within the Father where each being was founded and from which it gains sustenance and growth. It portrays reunion as return to that originating ground: tasting, obtaining sustenance, and “heeding their root” because their fullness and repose come from dwelling in the Father.

Because those who possess from above are “perfect, without division” and the Father “dwells inside them,” the Father and the individual root are reciprocal: the Father contains the emanations and the emanations contain the Father. This mirrors themes in Plato’s Timaeus about participation and in John’s Gospel (e.g. “abide in me”) where belonging and origin are the same act of resting together.

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Echoes elsewhere

Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem · Swedenborgone; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:22-23, 26). From this it is evident that they are "perfect" when the Lord is in them. These aThe Writings of St. Francis · ChristianityHis abode and dwelling in them, 4 and they shall be children of the heavenly Father 5 whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Sophia of Jesus Christ · Gnosticismevil intention, and all of them have been disgraced, and have ‹not› risen from their ignorance. 13. This is why, then, I came to this place, that they could be joined with that Spi