Spiritual courage

Mary kissing Jesus´feet (14th century Italy)

Coming back to the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, it is interesting to notice the attitudes that Peter and Andrew show towards Mary, after her mystical discourse, part of which we saw on Thursday:

"How shall we go to the gentiles and preach the gospel of the kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?" Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, "Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for his grace will be entirely with you and will protect you. But rather let us praise his greatness, for he has  prepared us and made us into men." When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the [Savior]. 

 Peter said to Mary, 'Sister, I we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember - which you know (but) we do not, nor have we heard them." Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you will proclaim to you."

(…) [See her discourse on the whole text]

When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her. But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, "Say what you (wish to) say I about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas." Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things. He questioned them about the Savior: "Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge (and) not openly? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?"

Then Mary wept and said to Peter, "My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?" Levi answered and said to Peter, "Peter, you have always been  hot-tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect man and acquire him for ourselves as he commanded us, and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said. When [ ...] and they began to go forth [to] proclaim and to preach.

The fragments of the Gospel of Mary seem to indicate that she not only became a good teacher herself, but took responsibility to pass down the core of the teaching, encouraged by Jesus, his spiritual consort, who already let her speak at ease in presence of other disciples, as other Gospels indicate.

Curiously, Peter and Andrew seemed not happy with accepting the authority of a woman, what might be the reason why Chrisianity split; although in the catacombs of Italy there are Christian frescoes showing feminine figures in the middle of groups of listeners, what reveals the difference between the first Christianity (centuries I and II) and that of the later Church.

Interestingly enough, Andrew and Peter became two pillars of the institutional Church.

On the contrary, John and Mary focused “exclusively”, on the spiritual and transformative message of Yeshua, preaching with the example, rather than with words and obsolete laws. Precisely, if there is someone how embodied the teaching of Jesus, apart from him, are John and Mary Magdale, who were the only disciples who remained beside Jesus at the foot of the cross, together with his mother. Their love for him was strong enough to overcome the fear to be murdered as well, something that cannot be said of others. Peter, in particular, denied being a disciple three times, according to the Gospels. If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?", they thought. To which Mary adds: "Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for his grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.

In conclusion, both the canonical Gospels and Apocryphal texts like this one, seem to point to a different story, the one written on the hearts of Wisdom lovers, rather than on pillars of stone.

Jesus and the Essene Calendar

From Biblical data and other ancient sources, it can be firmly deduced that Jesus/Yeshua grew up in the Nazarene brotherhood, as many members of his family. They were called Nazarenes because they took nazarite vow. And thus were also connected with the Essenes, branches of the same Tree, with whom Yeshua might have had some early formation, in spite of not being a strict Essene:

And he came and dwelt in a city [polis, town, community] called Nazareth [1]: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene –Matthew 2:23

What had already been anticipated:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (netzar) shall grow out of his roots –Isaiah 11:1

The Nazarenes existed even before the Christian era, as pointed by Epiphanius [1] and they were connected to the Sacred Mount Carmel, headquarters of the Prophetic School of the Nazarite Elijah, in Northern Israel. News that were already in circulation among the oldest Christian monastic community, the first Carmelite order founded in such mountain in the XII century.

Now, in this article we have to pay attention to an interesting piece of information:

An apparent contradiction between the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and the Gospel of John inevitably leads to think that Jesus and his disciples celebrated Easter in accord to the Essene Solar calendar, and obviously without lamb, since the Essenes did not eat meat nor make animal sacrifices, considering the latter as a savage and non-spiritual custom, what Daniel called the abomination of desolation (Mt 24:15).

The first in pointing out the possibility of a Last Supper held under an Essene calendar was the French scholar A.Jaubert in her book The Date of the Last Supper (1965), but it did not cause much impact. However, the idea is now gaining support, even by Church scholars, such as the theologian Joseph Ratzinger, who in March 2007, when he was still Pope Benedict XVI, spoke clearly during the Angelus Message. The following passage is an extract of his discourse [5]:

In the narrations of the Evangelists, there is an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of John, on one hand, and what, on the other hand, Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us. According to John, Jesus died on the cross precisely at the moment in which, in the temple, the Passover lambs were being sacrificed. His death and the sacrifice of the lambs coincided. 



This means that he died on the eve of Passover, and that, therefore, he could not have personally celebrated the paschal supper; at least this is what it would seem. 



On the contrary, according to the three Synoptic Evangelists, the last supper of Jesus was a paschal supper, in its traditional form. He introduced the innovation of the gift of his body and blood. This contradiction, until a few years ago, seemed impossible to resolve. 



The majority of the exegetes thought that John did not want to communicate to us the true historical date of the death of Jesus, but had opted for a symbolic date to make the deeper truth more evident: Jesus is the new and true lamb that spilled his blood for us all. 


The discovery of the manuscripts of Qumran has led us to a convincing possible solution that, while not accepted by all, is highly probable. We can now say that what John referred to is historically correct. Jesus truly spilled his blood on the eve of Passover at the hour of the sacrifice of the lambs. 



However, he celebrated Passover with his disciples probably according to the calendar of Qumran, that is to say, at least one day earlier -- he celebrated without a lamb, like the Qumran community who did not recognize the Temple of Herod and was waiting for a new temple. 

Therefore, Jesus celebrated Passover without a lamb, no, not without a lamb: Instead of the lamb he gave himself, his body and his blood.

This and other surprising connections start giving a completely different picture of the beginnings of Christianity, and as time goes by, old dogmatic beliefs will fall apart, leaving way to a more coherent and inspiring vision.

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[1] Nazaret does not appear recognized as a city of Ist century. Not even Flavius Josephus, the great historian of the epoch, mentions it, despite making a detailed list of 45 cities of Galilea, including Jafa, which is near the place known today as Nazaret, popularized by Helene, mother of Christianity. Helene gave orders to build an altar in what was regarded as the grotto where Mary received the Anunciation of the Angel Gabriel. And she probably convinced her dear son Constantine to declare romanized Christianity the official religion of the Empire. Unfortunately she forgot to tell him and the official Church, not to massacre the Nazarenes, Ebionites and Donatists that did not think as the Roman Church.

[2] "They [the Nazarenes] do not call themselves Nazarenes either [...] existed before Christ and did not know Christ...were jews by nationality, knew the Law of Moses, but declaredthat the [additional Jewish] custums were fictions instituted by the fathers. This was the difference between the Nazarenes and the other [Nazarene jews]–Epiphanius, Against Heresies / Panarion XIX, 5, 6

[3] Source: http://www.piercedhearts.org/benedict_xvi/angelus/mar_25_07.htm

Non Dual Heart

Gospel of Mary. Oxyrrhincus Papyrus

Attuned to the previous article on meditation, here we have a passage of the famous Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which was discovered in 1896, and is contained in a 5^th century papyrus. Later it also appeared in the Nag Hammadi library. 

It appears connected to contemplative traditions and the mystic message of Yeshua, who seems to have handed down the deepest part of the teaching to Mary Magdalene, as this gospel suggests.

[...] (pp. 1-6 missing) will matter then be [destroyed] or not?"  The Savior said,  "All natures, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots. For the nature of matter is resolved into the (roots) of its nature alone. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Peter said to him, "Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?" , The Savior said, "There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery [attachment to charicatures of reality], which is called 'sin.'  That is why the Good came into your midst, to the (essence) of every nature, in order to restore it to its root." Then he continued and said, "That is why you' [become sick] and die, for [. ..] of the one who [. ..He who] , understands, let him understand. [Matter gave birth to] a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from (something) contrary to nature. Then there arise a disturbance in the whole body. That is why I said to you, 'Be of good courage,' and if you are discouraged (be) encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' 

When the blessed one had said this, he greeted them all, saying, "Peace be with you. Receive my peace to yourselves. Beware that no one lead you astray, saying, 'Lo here!' or 'Lo' there!' For the Son of Man is within you. Follow after him! Those who seek him will find him. Go then and preach the gospel of the kingdom. Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed for you, and do not give a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it."  When he had said this, he departed.

The nature of these teaching becomes more and more obvious as one gets familiar with the art of dwelling in the silence of the invisible Heart of reality, without trying to run away from life, but rather reconciling inner and outer. Hence we are told: 'Be of good courage,' and if you are discouraged (be) encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature. By allowing everything to take place, letting the awareness expand, one soon realizes all perceptions dissolve into a deep Presence, which is not taken by the whirpool of the external and internal chaos, or as Jesus and Mary put it, being a heart free from "adultery". By adopting this open attitude, every impression, including our obstacles, become an opportunity to be free. That is why the Good came into your midst, to the (essence) of every nature, in order to restore it to its root."

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More reflections on the Gospel of Mary can be found in a later post: March 3 2015. 

This translation of the gospel can be found in http://gnosis.org/library/marygosp.htm

There is however a much more attuned version mentioned in http://www.parabola.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=389:the-gospel-of-mary-magdalene

From Head to Heart

Any form of meditation that only has the mind as foundation can only lead to dead ends, stale states of indifference that bypass the "sweet, spacious and loving serenity" underlying the chaos where we live. Only a proper approach joining mind and body in the solar plexus and heart can really boost spiritual transformation. As an old spiritual proverb says, the longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart.

This motion from the head to the heart and plexus must start as the constant act of inhabiting the body, letting go of thoughts and emotions, of releasing tensions or at least allowing them to be in space, until they dissolve naturally. 

Wisdom that seems to be suggested in a passage of the New Testament: ...have the same mindset as Jesus Christ; who in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of the servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he emptied himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2, 5-8). 

When this act of "letting go" and "openness" takes place, we are aware naturally and the "magnetic centre" of heart-plexus reconciles mind and body, connecting us to a deeper level of feeling.

Even though this attentional type of meditation is not deep contemplation, it can lay the foundation for moments of deep insight, in which one is simply taken, effortlessly.

This is without doubt the best way of starting the day, sitting to enjoy the miracle of spacing in the loving heart, rather than sitting to suffer and struggle against thoughts.

Those interested in this subject will surely find interesting the following talks by the teacher Cynthia Bourgeault, even though it´s just a very basic level: