Inspired by the Gospel of Thomas

I originally shot this footage the summer of 2004 with an intention that did not come to fruition. Without any type of inspiration I stored the 16mm black and white non sync footage in one of my kitchen cabinets and began working on other projects. During the summer of 2007, I got the privilege to Production Assist with a media group who needed someone to edit an interview with the author Andrew Harvey concerning his religious philosophies and his book, "A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides". The interview was profound and thought provoking. Editing the two hour interview into a five minute segment was frustrating due to cutting out so much important information and profound due to the discovery of unknown religious / social philosophies. That editing experience lead me to read his book, which inspired me to make use of that 16mm black and white non sync footage I stored three years prior. I edited the 16mm black and white non-sync footage into the Short Film, "Inspired by the Gospel of Thomas.", which projects a modern interpretation of; one of the greatest prophets known as, Jesus and his teachings / philosophies concerning life and his (mockery of all versions of the spiritual journey that places the ultimate experience beyond this world, into some transcedent "other where." All the patriarchal religions and mystical transmission systems - including those conceived in Jesus' honor-subtly devalue the immanent in favor of the transcendent. This addiction to transcendence with it's rhetoric of "the world as an illusion" keeps intact the status quo in all its misery, horror, and injustice. Jesus ridicules and exposes this evasion of the inherent glory of life and of the world and the stifling of revolutionary vision, ardor, and energy that it entails. He knows that if the Divine is located outside human experience and the world, then the vast powers that enable the realized mystic to "reign over everything" cannot flood the real world to transform its awful conditions. What Jesus' reallization had given him was a comprehensive vision of what he calls the kingdom as both within and outside himself-both "within" himself as divine consciousness, with all it's attendant powers, and "without" himself as divine presence in every detail of creation and as divine potential for the transformation of every aspect of world-life into that of the living Kingdom of God's love and justice.) - Excerpt from the "Gospel of Thomas." is taken from the book " A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides" by Andrew Harvey. Short film created by Garry Gaines.