“Some are afraid that they will ascend from death naked, and they want to climb back to life in their flesh. They are unaware that those who wear their flesh are naked, and those who strip are not naked. ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god.’ What will we not inherit? The flesh we wear on us. Then both are wrong. You say the flesh won’t ascend. Tell me, what will rise so I can honor you? You say spirit in the flesh and light in the flesh. What is the flesh? You say there is nothing outside the flesh. Then rise in the flesh, since everything exists in it. In this world those wearing garments are better than garments. In heaven the garments are better than the wearers.

“Through water and fire this wide realm is purified, and the visible cleaned by the visible, and the hidden by the hidden, but there are elements concealed in the visible. …

“The heavenly man has more children than a man on earth. If the offspring of Adam are many and die, how many more are the offspring of perfect beings who do not die and are born each second? The father makes a child. The child cannot make a son. He has not the power to make children. One recently born is not a parent. The son has brothers and sisters, not children. In this world there is a natural order to birth, and one is nourished by ordinary means. We are nourished by the promise of heaven, from the mouth of the word. If the word emanated from the mouth, it is perfect. By a kiss the perfect conceive and give birth. That is why we kiss. From the grace in others we conceive. …

“It is impossible to see anything in the real realm unless you become it. Not so in the world. You see the sun without being the sun, see sky and earth but are not them. This is the truth of the world. In the other truth you are what you see. If you see spirit, you are spirit. If you look at the anointed, you are the anointed. If you see the father, you will be father. In this world you see everything but yourself, but there, you look at yourself and are what you see.”

-The Gospel of Philip

Ascending Naked

You have to read and understand the entire sentence here to realize that what it means by “naked” is without the physical body. Those who believe they can ascend while still in the physical body need to read scripture more closely.

Nothing Outside the Flesh

Some people believe their physical body is all they have, so it must be able to ascend into Heaven, but they are wrong. Only the Soul ascends into Heaven, and then only if it has been properly prepared and nurtured.

Purified by Water and Fire

Yes, we are purified by water and fire, but not the physical elements bearing those names. This is an allegorical reference. We are purified by God’s Word and God’s Light. That is the water and fire that purifies the Soul.

More Children

How can a person in heaven have more children than a person on Earth? How can they have any children with no physical body? It is because when you have succeeded in ascending to Heaven, you become one with God, one with the All, therefore, all souls are your brothers and sisters, all are your children, all are your spouses because all are in the One.

Impossible to See

Philip says it is impossible to see anything in the real realm of spirit unless you become it. I think that may be an exaggeration. We can see spirits at times when we practice spiritual development techniques. Perhaps what Philip means is that we cannot really understand the spiritual until we are part of it. It’s like a primitive person seeing a car for the first time. They do see it in a limited way, but they don’t understand it.

“Speak concerning the truth to those who seek it and of knowledge to those who, in their error, have committed sins. Make sure-footed those who stumble, and stretch forth your hands to the sick. Nourish the hungry, and set at ease those who are troubled. Raise up and awaken those who sleep. You are this understanding that seizes you. If the strong follow this course, they are even stronger. Turn your attention to yourselves. Do not be concerned with other things, namely, that which you have cast forth from yourselves, that which you have dismissed. Do not return to them to eat them. Do not be moth-eaten. Do not be worm-eaten, for you have already shaken it off. Do not be a place of the devil, for you have already destroyed him. Do not strengthen your last obstacles, because that is reprehensible. For the lawless one is nothing. He harms himself more than the law. For that one does his works because he is a lawless person. But this one, because he is a righteous person, does his works among others. Do the will of the father, then, for you are from him. For the father is sweet and his will is good. He knows the things that are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them.”

-The Gospel of Peace

Speak to Those Who Seek

We should share our spiritual knowledge with others, but only to a point. Some spiritual knowledge can be shared with all, but some must be reserved only for those who are ready to comprehend the true meaning and who will use the knowledge to do God’s Will and not just whatever they want. As for those who have “committed sins,” we all have at some time so it applies to everyone.

Stretch Forth your Hands to the Sick

There are three kinds of illnesses: physical, mental, and spiritual. When people are physically sick, they may not be able to practice spiritual development. The same is true for the mentally sick. Most of all, however, those who are spiritually sick will not want to engage in spiritual development or may be engaging in a sort of spiritual development with the wrong kind of spirits. As a popular meme being shared on social media says, demons and devils are spirits too. So to stretch fort our hands to the sick primarily means that we should try to awaken them to the need for spiritual development and to have the proper attitude so they are communicating with Angels, not demons.

Awaken Those Who Sleep

This is similar to the sickness problem. Those who sleep are the ones who have the potential for significant spiritual growth but don’t know it. It would also include those who thing the time for spiritual development is after the death of the physical body. We need to awaken them to the fact that spiritual development needs to be done now and always. It isn’t something you can do for a week or two and then you are done.

“As we gracefully transition from the meditation and visualization practices that unravel the sublime Clear Light of Reality, it is time to gently steer our minds toward the profound philosophical doctrines embedded within the Chikhai Bardo¹. One of the first doctrines we encounter illuminates the intrinsic purity and luminosity of the mind, often referred to as “Rigpa” in Tibetan Buddhism. This state, akin to the vastness of the clear sky unmarred by passing clouds, is the inherent nature of the mind. Recognizing and resting in this nature is key to liberation. We are guided through practices such as sky-gazing, where we allow our minds to merge with the vast openness, experiencing the unobstructed nature of Rigpa, and witnessing the transient nature of phenomena without attachment or aversion. We then delve into the transient nature of life, as vividly portrayed in the Chikhai Bardo. Here, we learn that embracing impermanence opens the heart to the infinite possibilities of each moment and fosters a deep appreciation for the preciousness of human life. Visualizing an ever-flowing river, we internalize the fluidity and transient nature of existence, fostering a deeper acceptance of change and loss.

“At the heart of the Chikhai Bardo’s philosophical wisdom is the teaching of liberation through recognition. The teachings resonate as a call to awaken to our intrinsic purity and to see through the illusions that veil our true selves. Meditating on a rainbow, practitioners explore the transient and ungraspable beauty of phenomena, inviting a non-dualistic perception of reality. The resonance of compassion and the cultivation of Bodhicitta play a significant role in guiding our journey. The melody of altruistic love and intention for enlightenment is enriched and emphasized, leading us through shadows and into the warm embrace of enlightenment.”

-Guide to the Tibetan Book of the Dead

Purity of Mind

Purity of Mind is important for spiritual development. What that means is that we practice thinking in terms of peace, love, tolerance, and joy while pushing away thoughts of anger, jealousy, and violence. There is also the idea of clearing the mind of all thought when engaging in spiritual practices, but that is easier said than done. Learning to avoid negative thinking is the first step.

Sky Gazing

The author of this book may not know what is being hinted at here, but spiritual development doesn’t come from randomly looking at things in the sky. You have to look at the sun in a proper way that is safe (never stare at the sun!) with the idea of eventually seeing beyond the physical sun to the Spiritual Sun. It is the Light from the Spiritual Sun that awakens and develops the spirit and soul.

Transient Nature of Phenomena

One thing materialists fail to grasp is that everything physical is transient. Some things may last only minutes, while others last for billions of years, yet nothing physical is eternal. Only the spiritual is eternal. That is why developing our spiritual Self is so important.

See Through Illusion

There are several levels of illusion (or veils) that we need to see through. Just within the physical realm we see people are distracted from the truth with pleasant things they are told are important when they are not. Trust me when I say that God doesn’t care one bit who wins the football game or the hockey game. We are told that such things are important so we allow ourselves to be distracted away from what is really important. Just on the physical level, the wealthy and powerful want to keep the rest of us distracted from their greedy activities.

Beyond the physical, we need to see the spiritual. It has been veiled from us for a long time, but the veils are now being lifted and slowly some people are awakening to the truth.

Altruistic Love

One other important thing that spiritual students need to develop is altruistic love or the love of all that God has created. It is difficult for some to grasp, but we need to learn that we can love a person even while disliking their behavior. God doesn’t like a lot of the things we do, but because he loves all of us, he can forgive wrong behavior (that doesn’t mean there won’t be a karmic debt to be paid). If you have a pet, sometimes the pet will misbehave by doing something like peeing in the house or chewing on the furniture. We don’t stop loving the pet because it occasionally misbehaves. That is how we must treat all people and all beings.