The Thunder, Perfect Mind: An Ancient Riddle of Beauty and Paradox

An audio recording of The Thunder, Perfect Mind from The Nag Hammadi Library.

The Nag Hammadi Library I’m a massive fan of Gnostic texts. My copy of the Gnostic Gospels is so worn and studied; it is truly one of my most treasured books. I was surprised to have never heard of this particular work before, but I’m grateful it was sent to me.

The wisdom feels prescient for a time where the reconciliation of paradox feels worth sitting with more deeply.

Everything feels as though it is, and it isn’t. It is beautiful, and it is awful. It is revealing, and it is concealing. It is powerful, and it is paralyzing. It is filled with information and illusion. But perhaps this is the nature of nature, and we will never be forever freed from the alternating currents of creation.

So, a little more about this poem:

“The Thunder, Perfect Mind is an exhortatory poem discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The Thunder, Perfect Mind (the title may alternately be translated The Thunder, Perfect Intellect) takes the form of an extended, riddling monologue, in which an immanent divine savior speaks a series of paradoxical statements alternating between first-person assertions of identity and direct address to the audience. These paradoxical utterances echo Greek identity riddles, a common poetic form in the Mediterranean. Moreover, it is a non-epistolic, non-narrative unmediated divine speech." (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Feel free to comment with your thoughts and what came up for you while listening to this ancient riddle. 👼🏼