The Gnostic

Gospel of
Mary
Magdalene
Exploring the World Religions
Column, By James Bean
(ant!Mat"
#u$lished %rticle && Copyright
%ugust '()' && %ll Rights
Reser*ed
+Mary stood up, greeted them all,
and said to her $rethren, ,o not
-eep and do not grie*e nor $e
irresolute, for .is grace -ill $e
entirely -ith you and -ill protect
you/
+But rather, let us praise .is
greatness, for .e has prepared us
and made us into Men/
+When Mary said this, she turned
their hearts to the Good, and they
$egan to discuss the -ords of the
a*ior/
+#eter said to Mary, ister -e
0no- that the a*ior lo*ed you
more than the rest of -oman/
+Tell us the -ords of the a*ior
-hich you remem$er -hich you
0no-, $ut -e do not, nor ha*e -e
heard them/
+Mary ans-ered and said, What is
hidden from you 1 -ill proclaim
to you/+ (Gospel of Mary"
+Thou art $lessed $efore all
-omen on the earth, $ecause thou
shalt $e the fulness of all
fulnesses and the perfection of all
perfections/+ (2eshua to Mary
Magdalene in the Boo0 of #istis
ophia"
Were Mary Magdalene and
2eshua Married3
%s 1 $egin this exploration of the
teachings of Mary Magdalene,
also 0no-n as Miriam of Magdala
1 should first of all address the
4uestion of Mary5s relationship
-ith 2eshua (Jesus"/ 2ou might $e
interested in the actual historic
$asis for the $elief that Mary and
Jesus -ere married or at least
-ere more than friends/ While
there has $een much speculation
a$out this o*er the years, there is
an actual ancient text -hich
preser*es this understanding,
sho-ing that as far $ac0 as the
econd %,, pro$a$ly much
earlier then that, many held the
*ie- that Jesus and Mary had
some 0ind of special or intimate
relationship/ The text that
documents the $asis for this *ie-
is called the Gospel of #hilip, one
of the ne-ly disco*ered gospels
unearthed at 6ag .ammadi in
upper Egypt/ %t Gnosis/org you
can access the Gospel of #hilip
online/ #hilip is a holy $oo0 once
used $y a denomination 0no-n as
the 7alentinians, named after a
mystic and spiritual Master from
%lexandria $y the name of
7alentinius/
e*eral places in the $oo0 of
#hilip Mary Magdalene is
descri$ed as +the companion+ of
Christ, saying that 2eshua lo*ed
Mary, -as closer to Mary than the
other disciples, and also records
that 2eshua used to often 0iss
Mary on her mouth/ %ctually that
last part8 +often 0iss Mary on
the///9mouth:+, is a restoration of
the text, is li0ely -hat it said
according to Coptic scholars/ ;n
this page of #hillip in the original
Coptic papyrus it reads8 +used to
0iss her often on her 9//////:+, then
there is a lacuna or $rea0 in the
text -ith the last -ord missing/
Gi*en the other comments from
the disciples, -ho as0ed8 +Why do
you lo*e her more than us+, and
that Mary is +his companion+, 1
-ould say this is li0ely to $e an
accurate rendering/ %lso, the
surrounding context in the Gospel
of #hilip is a$out marriage, the
$ridal cham$er, and sexuality/
acraments, in particular the
sacrament of marriage, are a
ma<or theme in the Gospel of
#hilip/
Boo0s ;n Mary Magdalene
ome great $oo0s on this su$<ect
include8 +The Gospel of #hilip,
Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the
Gnosis of acred =nion+> +The
acred Em$race of Jesus and
Mary && The exual Mystery at
the .eart of the Christian
Tradition+, $oth authored $y Jean&
2*es ?eloup, and $oth are
pu$lished $y 1nner Traditions/ %
*ery 0ey $oo0 to ha*e, the one
has gathers together many of the
ancient texts and 4uotes attri$uted
to Mary is8 +The Gospels of Mary
&& The ecret Tradition of Mary
Magdalene the Companion of
Jesus+, $y Mar*in Meyer and
Esther %/ ,e Boer, .arper
Collins/ 1 find the $est translation
of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene
to $e contained in, +The Complete
Gospels+, edited $y Ro$ert J/
Miller, a great collection of -hat
sur*i*es of around t-enty gospels
from anti4uity/ The largest
num$er of chapters attri$uted to
Mary, a series of 4uestions of
Mary to Jesus along -ith her
mystical interpretation of the
.e$re- Boo0 of #salms and
another -or0 0no-n as the ;des
of olomon, can $e found in a
holy $oo0 called, +#istis ophia+,
translated $y G/R// Mead/
% Gnostic&Buddhist Connection3
The phrase +the Blessed ;ne+
appears in the Gospel of Mary
Magdalene8
+When the Blessed ;ne had said
this, he greeted them all, saying,
5#eace $e -ith you/ Recei*e my
peace to yoursel*es5+/
The thing is, the Buddha is
referred to as the Blessed ;ne in
countless Buddhist sutras/
+Compassionate ;ne+ is a popular
Buddhist phrase and someho-
also turns up in #istis ophia,
another Gnostic gospel8
+Jesus, the Compassionate,
ans-ered and said to Mary8 5Mary,
thou Blessed ;ne, -hom 1 -ill
complete in all the Mysteries of
the .eight 9inner planes or
hea*enly realms:, spea0 openly,
thou art she -hose heart is more
directed to the @ingdom of
.ea*en than all thy $rothers/5+
%nd Mary herself is also called a
+Blessed ;ne+ in another *erse of
#istis ophia8
+Mary, thou Blessed ;ne, thou
#leroma 9.ea*enly Aullness: or
thou all&$lessed #leroma, -ho
-ill $e $lessed among all
generations+/
Those are the ones 1 ha*e noticed,
and 15m sure there must $e lots
more/ These four examples could
ma0e one -onder if perhaps there
might ha*e $een a slight Buddhist
influence in the West during those
days/
The 7ery +Eastern+ ounding
Mystical Teachings of Mary
Magdalene
% saying of 2eshua found in the
Gospel of Mary8
+When the Blessed ;ne had said
this, he greeted them all/ 5#eace $e
-ith youB5 he said/ 5%c4uire my
peace -ithin yoursel*es/ Be on
your guard so that no one
decei*es you $y saying, 5?oo0
o*er hereB5 or 5?oo0 o*er thereB5
Aor the eed of True .umanity
exists -ithin you/ Aollo- itB
Those -ho search for it -ill find
it/+
ome commentary found in a
footnote of the same translation
adds8
+The disciples must search -ithin
themsel*es, to find the eed of
True .umanity that is -ithin each
person/ They must guard against
those -ho try to lead them astray
$y re4uiring that a person
conform to -hat is outside/+ (The
Complete Gospels, Ro$ert J/
Miller"
Regarding +the eed of True
.umanity+, another translation
renders that as +on of Man+ or
+on of %dam+, +the on of Man
is -ithin you+/ The Eastern term
is +atman+, the true self or pirit
of ?ife -ithin/
Aor the mystic&soul there is no
need to construct out-ard temples
made of -ood and stone, as the
human $ody itself is already a
temple of the pirit/ 15m sure this
+-ithin you+ message of the
Gnostic or mystical gospels is one
of the reasons -hy they -ere not
politically useful to some in
anti4uity, and thus they -ere
$anned/ The saying a$o*e reflects
a theme found in the teachings of
countless mystics and Masters,
that the focus is +-ithin+, not
else-here in the outer -orld of
the fi*e senses/ Thus
contemplati*e meditation for
mystics ser*es as a 0ind of
+portal+ or +door-ay+ to the
,i*ine/ 1n the poetry of the 1ndian
mystic ,adu it says8
+God is -ithin the self> .e is
close to the -orshiper/ But
lea*ing .im aside, men ser*e
external constructions, lamenteth
,adu/ This is the mos4ue, this is
the temple, so has the Master
sho-n/ The ser*ice and salutation
are performed -ithin/ With
happiness and $liss -ithin, there
is happiness and $liss in all
places/ Without happiness and
$liss -ithin, none -as seen happy/
The treasure is no-here to $e
found, that treasure is -ithin
e*eryone/ There are t-o hearts
inside, one o$scure and the other
lustrous/ Within the o$scure heart
nothing is *isi$le, $ut -ithin the
lustrous the upreme Being is
re*ealed/ 1 found the true home
-ithin the house itself/ Entering
the state of $lissful meditation,
d-ell -ithin/ Thus hath the
Master disco*ered and taught/ Aor
the sa0e of that home, 1 -andered
e*ery-here, $ut the ?ord has $een
re*ealed -ithin my *ery self/ The
doors of the palace ha*e $een
thro-n open, the E*erlasting
%$ode has $een sho-n/ %ll fears,
dou$ts and delusions ha*e
disappeared/ That state of $liss
has it entered, -here the self,
transcending the $ody, ascends/+
(ant ,adu ,ayal, Criterion
#u$lications, 6e- ,elhi"
Mary -as an apostle or Master
-ho -as a *isionary, one -ho sa-
many *isions of *arious inner
planes or hea*enly regions during
her meditations/ % $eautiful
passage from the Gospel of Mary
a$out a soul Mary sa- during one
of her *isions -hen she -as
exploring the econd .ea*en/
This soul -as $eing 4uestioned $y
a $eing or po-er gi*en the name
+,esire+8
+The soul ans-ered saying, 2ou
did not see me nor did you 0no-
me/ 2ou mistoo0 the garment 1
-ore for my true self/ %nd you
did not recogniCe me/+
There is a similar passage in one
of the Mandaean Gnostic texts
from 1ra4 that goes something
li0e8
+The soul says, 51 d-elt in your
midst $ut you ne*er recogniCed
me, you ne*er really 0ne- me/5+
.o- easy it is to only see the
surface, to in fact $e -asting
a-ay -hole lifetimes $eing a
surface&d-eller, neither 0no-ing
one5s self nor seeing the true
identity of others as souls/ 1n truth
-e are all particles of ?ight
d-elling -ithin $odies, -e are
6otes that ma0e up a di*ine
symphony8
+%ll $eautiful forms and tones of
this -orld are mere reflections of
some aspect of that ultimate
?o*e&Music of the Great Creati*e
Word/ Within the *ast complex of
creation, each indi*idual spirit is
himselfDherself a spar0 of that
Eternal ong of ?o*e/+ (George
%rns$y Jones"
1n Gnostic scriptures such as the
Gospel of Mary, unenlightened
human existence is portrayed as a
0ind of night of the li*ing dead,
souls li*ing in a -orld of sleep
caught up in dreams of illusion,
trapped in spiritual ignorance
some-here in time, limited to
only a couple of dimensions,
tethered to material existence
seemingly una$le to $ecome
a-are of anything more/ ;ne of
my fa*orite passages from Mary
is -hen a li$erated soul exclaims8
+1 -as set loose from a -orld and
from the chain of forgetfulness
that exists in timeB+
%nother +Mary+ further to the
East $y the name Mira Bai once
said,
+My mind, $irth after $irth,
lost in slum$er,
%-o0e on hearing the ound
my Master ga*e/+