I wish I completely understood this years ago when I first read The Gospel of Mary, but the light dawns
slowly when obstacles of the mind insist that the truth cannot be so. So much indoctrination from one brand of religion to the other, including various spiritual concepts, can become so ingrained that when we do finally come across Truth, we are so tainted by false and intentional misinformation, that we can ramain lost, not being able to see the forest for the trees.
In recent posts, I have been referring to Jesus saying that the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU, which comes from Luke 17:21. This is also echoed in The Gospel of Mary (8,11-9,5).
“Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying, ‘Look over here’ or ‘Look over there.’ For the Child of Humanity exists within you. Follow it. Those who search for it will find it,” Jesus says, adding, “Go then, preach the good news about the kingdom. Do not lay down any rule beyond what I determined for you, nor promulgate law like the lawgiver, or else you might be dominated by it.” The Gospel of Mary in the Savior’s Farewell (8,11-9,5)
Do you now know where this kingdom of God is?
After Jesus said these things, he departed from them.
But these were not brave men. Instead of going out joyfully and preaching as the modern day bibles report it, they were distressed and wept greatly, beside themselves, frightened that what happened to Jesus might also happen to them – all, that is, except Mary. She comforts them and leads them into a discussion of the Savior’s teachings. This information comes from the introduction by Karen L. King to The Greek Gospel of Mary found in The International Edition The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, edited by Marvin Meyer.
Let’s think about this for a moment. Both in the traditional bible of today and in the sacred scriptures found at Nag Hammadi, we find Jesus saying the same thing, that the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU. I stress this because of the watering down into unrecognizable pablum that got translated into “the kingdom of God is ‘among you.’ Even today’s biblical experts are again putting back the word they changed, reinstituting the original WITHIN you in place of the maligned AMONG you, which means something else. The Hebrew-Greek-English Interlinear Bible, which goes back to the original writings in the scrolls, confirm that the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU.
Jesus also tells his disciples not to lay down any more human rules on his God-inspired doctrine, nor to rule by such concepts as the lawgiver. So many belief systems, churches and other control systems mandate the one and only way to preach, teach, heal, forgive, as if “they” (whoever they are) are the One, True Church, or faithful congregation, wearing all the Sunday-best clothes, shunning people who do not believe exactly as you do, and pridefully holding themselves above others, because they are somehow “chosen,” and the only ones to be “saved.”
After three years of teaching his disciples, and after his resurrection, the disciples still have questions. Jesus answers every question they ask, and offers them a farewell discourse before commissioning them to go out and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. Jesus has already told them, in Luke 17:21, that the kingdom of God is “WITHIN YOU.”
However, after Jesus departs, instead of going out joyfully, the disciples are weeping, frightened that what happened to him might also happen to them – all, that is, except Mary. She comforts them and leads them into a discussion of the Savior’s teachings. The Gospel of Mary (9,5-24)
Peter is the first to ask Mary to tell them any teaching that Jesus told her that the others do not know. Mary agrees and tells them about the rise of the soul past the powers of Darkness, Ignorance, Desire and Wrath, which result in seeking to keep the soul from ascending. When she is finished, she stands in silence, imitating the soul at rest. The Gospel of Mary (10, 1-10)
Then, as now, some of the men challenge her. Andrew, questions the “strangeness” of her teaching, followed by Peter, tripping on his ego, doubting that Jesus would give private instruction to a woman. By doing this, it showed the preference of Jesus to teach Mary the truths for which he came, over teaching the other disciples. The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19, 5)
Mary Magdalene comforts the disciples. She stands up and greets them all, addressing her brothers and sisters. Yes, other women were present at this time also.
“Do not weep and be distressed nor let your hearts be irresolute for his grace will be with you all and shelter you. Rather, we should praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us human beings*,” Mary Magdalene said, turning their hearts to the Good. The Gospel of Mary (9, 5-24)
“Sister, we know that the Savior loved you more than all other women. Tell us the words of the Savior that you remember, the things you know that we don’t because we haven’t heard them,” Peter says. The Gospel of Mary (10, 1-10)
Mary then teaches them what has been hidden from them. She recounts a vision she had of Jesus. When Mary told
Jesus of the vision she had of him, Jesus responded, “Blessed are you for not wavering at seeing me. For where the mind is, there is the treasure.” The Gospel of Mary (10, 10-23ff)
I don’t know about you, but I have spent most of my life searching for this “treasure,” this “pearl of value,” outside of myself in the various churches, theologies and ideologies, and the belief systems THEY promote, which was always OUTSIDE of me, not WITHIN me as Jesus teaches us.
How many times have you church hopped, or church shopped because they did not teach or preach what you knew to be true?
Mary Magdalene asked Jesus after her vision, “So now, Lord, does a person who sees a vision see it with the soul or with the spirit?” The Gospel of Mary (10, 10-23ff)
“The Savior answered, ‘A person does not see with the soul or with the spirit. Rather, the mind, which exists between these two, sees the vision, and that is (… the rest is missing). The Gospel of Mary (10, 10-23ff)
Mary describes the Ascent of the Soul as the vision she had demonstrated the heart’s Desire. The soul answers Desire, saying we mistake the garment it wears as the true self, something we do not readily recognize. The Gospel of Mary (15, 1-17,9)
In this vision, Mary then sees the third power called Ignorance, which the soul with knowledge, brings to nothing by an educated response. Ignorance tells the soul it is bound by wickedness. Here, Ignorance condemns the soul because of its “adulterous” relation with the body that binds it, but the soul, who understands the fleeting nature of the body and the world, rejects the judgment of Ignorance. Judgment here is not understood as the capacity for spiritual discernment, but as condemnation as Matthew 7:1 where Jesus says, “Stop Judging that you also may not be judged.” The Gospel of Mary (15, 1-17,9)
As the soul rises in this vision, it meets the fourth power, which had seven forms: Darkness, Desire, Ignorance, Zeal for Death, Kingdom of the Flesh, Foolish Wisdom, and lastly, Wisdom of the Wrathful Person. These are the seven powers of Wrath. The soul surpasses these powers in its Ascent. The Gospel of Mary (15, 1-17,9)
Mary Magdalene explains to the disciples that Wrath charges the soul with acts of violence:killing its own body by deserting the material world and destroying the realms of the powers during its Ascent. The soul acknowledges that all that binds it has been destroyed, but it interprets these acts as being freed from desire and ignorance. It had achieved true rest in silence. The Gospel of Mary (15, 1-17,9)
Mary continues with the vision, that the soul has been freed from Ignorance, with the knowledge that the kingdom of God dwells WITHIN all who receive this teaching, putting an end to Ignorance. The Gospel of Mary (15, 1-17,9)
It is this knowledge of understanding that the kingdom of God is WITHIN US, as taught by Jesus in multiple recorded statments by him, that disipates Ignorance. If you do not allow your mind to know what Jesus taught, ALL of what Jesus taught, you remain in Ignorance.
The first thing that Andrew does is to doubt what Mary Magdalene has told them, calling her words “strange ideas.” Andrew also heard Jesus say this before in Luke 17:21, but his mind was closed to what the words of Jesus meant. The understanding of the meaning that the kingdom of God is WITHIN US is completely opposite to what political and religion dominated control systems had indoctrinated for eons. The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19,5)
Peter jumps on the doubt-bandwagon, asking if Jesus would have spoken to a women in private, which is odd, given his original questioning in the first place, with his asking for more teachings that Jesus might have given her, that he did not give to them. The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19,5)
Levi comes to the aid of Mary, telling Peter, “Peter, you have always been a wrathful person. Now I see you contending against the woman like adversaries. For the Savior made her worthy, who are you then for your part to reject her? Assuredly the Savior’s knowledge of her is completely reliable. That is why he loved her more than us. The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19,5)
“Rather, we should be ashamed. We should clothe ourselves with the perfect human, acquire it for ourselves as he commanded us, and announce the good news, not laying down any other rule or law that differs from what the Savior said.” The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19,5)
The Gospel of Mary concludes with these words, “After he said these things, they started going out to teach and to preach.” The Gospel of Mary (17, 10-19,5)
* The footnote in this translation renders “man” in the broader concept to mean all of humanity, or “human beings.” Unlike in The Gospel of Thomas, where the original word “male” does refer to a masculine gendered person. In The Gospel of Mary, it is “man.” Since in The Gospel of Mary both men and women disciples are made “men,” the intent is generic (human beings).
Namaste