Introduction To The Gospel Of Mary Magdalene

In this talk, I introduce the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, a timeless text which contains metaphysical and epistemological questions asked of the Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth by his disciples. Mary participates in the discussion, providing wisdom and inspiration. I quote some of the Gospel, and invite participants who resonate with it to check out my meditation inspired by Mary's description of the soul's ascension.

Transcript

So since I just recorded and posted a meditation on the Gospel of Mary Magdalene,

I wanted to talk about this incredible teaching and this incredible work that emerged from the deserts of Egypt in 1896 and has really only recently been made accessible to the wider public through translation as it of course wasn't written in English.

It was found in a Coptic dialect.

And I just want to start by noting of course that it is the the gospel,

The good news,

According to Mary Magdalene.

It is the only gospel that is attributed to a woman and a very controversial woman at that.

And it's also not included in in the Bible.

Now it's the reason for that we can only only guess to.

But along with the Gospel of Mary,

There have been a few other gospels that have emerged in the past hundred years from from the deserts of Egypt and northern Africa,

The Middle East.

The two that I'm familiar with the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel according to Philip.

There's another one that I'm not familiar with,

But I heard it's wonderful is the Gospel of truth.

And all of these are kind of lumped together and called the the Gnostic Gospels.

So Gnosticism is considered a it means to self knowledge.

So it's much like the Sanskrit path of yoga,

Jnana,

Or the self knowledge path.

So that's kind of what the the Gnostic Gospels are.

That's their prerogative really is to be a vehicle of self transformation and self knowledge.

And the the view that we get of Jesus of Yeshua in these Gospels is very different.

Or at least it's a different flavor of what we're already familiar with.

And he's considered here,

At least in the translations that I have had available to me,

To be not known so much as the Savior,

But more as the teacher.

So he is called Lord here,

But he is more engaged with as being a rabbi,

A teacher.

And that's that's very different in the fact that it's not about self abdication or pushing away and sort of original sin,

How dirty are you,

You have to do all these things to get clean and to become worthy.

The the message that is crystal clear coming through these passages is that all humans are are worthy and are endowed by their creator with a god like the the Greek here that's used is a godlike capacity for discernment in the Greek that is used as used as the news which is n o u s.

And I just want to read from from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene because it touches on this in a really,

Really beautiful way.

Just a moment.

So I guess I should also start by saying the Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a talk between it seems like around the time that Yeshua had he's already been crucified and he's been resurrected,

He is now talking to the disciples and giving them some some last teachings.

So the first,

Unfortunately,

Six pages are missing,

They were not drawn from the desert,

They were destroyed.

So we start on page seven,

Kind of like halfway through the discussion.

But it starts by saying what is matter?

What lasts forever?

The teacher answered all that is born all that is created.

All the elements of nature are interwoven and united with each other.

All that is composed shall be decomposed.

Everything returns to its roots.

Matter returns the origins of matter.

Those who have ears,

Let them hear.

So then Peter asks a question and Yeshua responds to him.

So they're having a bit of a discussion and then he departs.

And all of the disciples are in despair.

Besides Mary,

She,

She rises up and is described as embracing them all and begins to speak to her brothers.

She says do not remain in sorrow and doubt for his grace will guide you and comfort you.

Instead,

Let us praise his greatness for he prepared us for this.

He is calling upon us to become fully human.

And the Greek word for fully human is anthropos.

It doesn't just mean to be human and body or human in mind,

It means to have a human heart.

To be fully human is to integrate both your masculine and your feminine qualities,

And to really live in balance and in harmony,

Harmonium in Greek,

To live in balance in the mind and the heart and in the body,

An extension in the soul as well.

So upon saying this,

That some of the disciples asked her,

We know the teacher loved you differently from other women tell us what you remember of words that he told you which we might not have heard.

So then Mary goes on to describe a vision in which she met with the teacher.

And this is where he touches upon the noose or that finest point of,

Of knowing.

So Mary says,

I said to him,

Lord,

I see you now in this vision.

And he answered,

You are blessed,

For the sight of me does not disturb you.

There,

Where is the noose lies the treasure.

Then I said to him,

Lord,

When someone meets you in a moment of vision,

Is it through the soul,

The psyche that they see?

Or is it through the spirit,

The human?

This the teacher answered,

It is neither through the soul nor the spirit,

But the noose between the two,

Which sees the vision.

And it is this which unfortunately,

We have some dot dot dot there,

We don't know what.

So that was page 10,

And page 11,

To 14 are missing.

So again,

We do not have a complete copy of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

But what we're left with there is that human beings aren't just made up of the Greek word for it is soma,

Or S O M,

A that the physical body,

Right?

We also have a soul,

A psyche and the spirit the fumma.

And here,

The spirit is often associated with the,

The breath of God,

Or that which is separate entirely from the physical body and is is really both eternal and of creator.

So it's like it's when,

When God in the Bible is told of creating Adam from clay,

Adam was this inert,

Dense,

Elemental creation until God breathed on Adam and gave of his spirit to Adam.

So that that spirit is really both from God and a part of God and to God it returns.

It's that enlivening factor and faculty which animates the physical form.

And in Greek scholarship,

It's the soul that the psyche which is both part of and is a constitute of the physical form,

Yet is also separate from it.

So both it is sort of that in the world,

But not of the world,

Just as spirit is the human.

So what the noose is exactly is,

I am not nearly an adequate scholar to guess.

But I kind of equate it to this this factor in Buddhism and yoga of its Bodhi or B-O-D-H-I,

And it's considered the highest faculty of knowing,

Again,

The faculty of discernment.

So it's not just a mental intelligence,

But it's very much a finest point of knowing the finest point of the soul is also what it's referred to.

So that is anyone's best guess.

If anyone is a scholar in this area,

I would certainly welcome more knowing and that more discussion in that realm.

So then pages 11 to 14 are missing and we come in on page 15.

And it is either Mary is talking about how either her soul or maybe she's still in a vision with Yeshua and he is describing the ascent of his soul after the crucifixion.

We don't know,

But Mary is describing to the other disciples this ascent of the soul through these different climates.

And for example,

It says,

And craving said,

I did not see you descend,

But now I see you rising.

Why do you lie since you belong to me?

And the soul answered,

I saw you though you did not see me nor recognize me.

I was with you as with a garment,

And you never felt me.

Having said this,

The soul left rejoicing greatly and entered the third climate.

So the second climate must be that of craving.

The third climate is that of ignorance.

And this is also really beautiful.

So I'll read from this too.

So enter the third climate known as ignorance and ignorant ignorance and quiet of the soul.

Where are you going?

You are dominated by wicked inclinations.

Indeed,

You lack discrimination and you are enslaved.

The soul answered,

Why do you judge me since I have made no judgment?

I have been dominated,

But I myself have not dominated.

I have not been recognized,

But I myself have recognized that all things which are composed shall be decomposed on earth and in heaven.

So again,

The soul is reiterating here.

What Yeshua said in the beginning of the this gospel,

That all which is composed will of course decompose.

The fourth climate has seven manifestations,

And they're all the manifestations of wrath.

And they oppress the soul with questions.

Where are you?

Where do you come from murderer?

Where are you going vagabond?

The soul answered that that which oppressed me has been slain.

That which encircled me has vanished.

My craving has faded,

And I am freed from ignorance.

I left the world with the aid of another world.

A design was erased by virtue of a higher design.

Henceforth,

I traveled toward repose where time rests into the eternity of time.

I go now into silence.

Having said all this,

Mary became silent for it was in silence that the teacher spoke to her.

And the gospel concludes with the male disciples speaking up and saying,

I can't believe that our teacher would would speak this way to a woman.

These ideas are so different from from what he shared with us and what we know Yeshua to have to have been about.

So they kind of bicker amongst themselves.

And then one of them speaks up and says,

You know,

We see you judging this woman just as our adversaries do.

Yet if the teacher held her worthy,

Who are you to reject her?

Surely the teacher knew her very well.

Therefore,

Let us atone and become fully human.

Anthropos.

So the teacher can take root in us.

Let us grow as he demanded of us and walk forth to spread the good news without trying to lay down any new rules or laws other than those that he witnessed.

Having said these words,

They all went forth to spread the gospel.

And that's the gospel according to Mary.

So just in those little excerpts,

And again,

Unfortunately,

Most of many critical pages of the Gospel of Mary are missing.

But just from those little excerpts,

We are left with the impression that whoever wrote this,

Whoever inspired this teaching,

This gospel,

Was really willing to consider and ask the hard questions,

The metaphysical questions,

The epistemological questions,

Wasn't just caught up on rules and law and this world,

Right?

It was they were clearly less worried about how to act and more concerned of what exists that then I should act in according to.

And the flavor of this is very mystical.

And in my understanding and my study,

It seems that this is a mystical root of what has become Christianity.

And the flavors that we see here are very similar to the mystical threads of truth and threads of learning and wisdom that you see in yoga and mystical Hinduism and mystical Islam,

Mystical,

All the major religions,

Really Judaism and the Kabbalah and Sufism and Islam.

And it does not seem from these teachings that Yeshua was putting the disciples up to just going out and spreading the good news of the resurrection and never-ending life,

But of spreading the good news that we are all anthropos,

We are all fully human if we only realize it,

And that he provided teachings to realize that,

To realize that you and Creator are one.

And that at the same time without Creator,

We would be nothing.

That we are both the created and the witness of all creation.

So I hope that this talk at least inspires,

Again I'm not a scholar of ancient early Christian literature or culture or anything of the sort,

But I hope that just a little,

This is perhaps offered some grounding both into your own meditation practice and the flavors of Christianity,

Or if you consider yourself a Christian or a disciple of Christ,

Wherever you're at,

Or if you're not at all in that realm.

But I know for me personally that the Gnostic Gospels actually opened the door for me to once again enter the Christian realm and to seek out the Christian community in the form of a church.

So may these teachings really meet you wherever they're at.

When I share them with my students,

The resounding feedback that I get is,

Wow,

That's really timeless.

And whatever your position on Christianity or Jesus or Mary Magdalene,

There's certainly quite a bit of discrepancy and visions and ways to take her.

So wherever you're at in all of this,

May it just inspire you to do your own research and dig a little bit deeper and just let the wisdom teachings meet you wherever you're at and imbibe your spiritual life with more depth and with more grounding and more just enrichment.

Thank you.

Reviews

Clear and beautiful 🕊️♾️🪶Thank You Asha

Thank you 🙏🏽 this was the perfect starting place as Mary Magdalene has been showing up for me a lot 🌹

Just stumbled on this talk of yours, after having meditated again, 4 years later, through your guidance, on these words of Mary Magdalene.
For those who have ears, they will hear…
We will know (nous) what we need to know when we need to know it…
Thank you🙏🏻🌟✨🌟💫🌟🙏🏻

A lovely and empowering discussion of the honor and respect that Jesus had for Mary Magdalene❤️ I used to feel upset reading the words of the other disciples in this Gospel. Listening to your soft explanations of the meaning of her message helped me to feel gratitude that this Gospel emerged to shine ✨️ light on the role of the Feminine in the teachings of Jesus.

Thank you 🙏

Amazing

Thank you for this talk and your meditation. I had felt the church was no longer serving my truth seeking and worried I could no longer call myself a christian. Studying the gnostic texts and especially the gospel of Mary has given me the opportunity to reconsider and I feel I am growing a more personal relationship with Jesus through Mary Magdalen.💚

Beautiful. Thank you.

I’ve actually had this book for some years but haven’t read it. As a deep long time believer in the divine feminine I felt it necessary to discover what the patriarchal church omitted. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and understanding of this overlooked book. It has been the catalyst for me to open the pages and read it in the depths of this winter

I learned so much. Thank you, Asha, for taking time to discuss this gnostic gospel with us - and delve into its meaning as well.

Very helpful in sharing more truth from this precious disciple. Thank you for opening up another piece of truth.

Very interesting. Makes one think & desire to gather even more information & knowledge. Thank you for this very informative lecture. 🙏🙏💕

Outstanding, affirms me. Thank you.