Vision of Mary Magdalene. Art Museum of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Anonymous
PODCAST #28
The Ascent Vision of Mary Magdalene
“A Great Wagon,” by RUMI
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.”
“... for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii
FROM THE GOSPEL OF THE BELOVED COMPANION:
41: 1 At the end of that week, when all the disciples had gathered in the house at Bethany, the Migdalah came to them and told them what she had seen and what Yeshua had said.
2: But they were grieved and wept greatly saying, how shall we go on and preach the gospel of the kingdom of the Son of Humanity? If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?
3: Then the Migdalah stood up, greeted them all and raising her right hand, said to her brethren. “Only from the truth, I tell you do not weep and do not grieve or be irresolute for his grace and that of the one who sent him will be entirely with you and will protect you. But rather let us praise his greatness for he has prepared us and made us truly human.
4: When the Migdalah had said this she turned their hearts to the good, and they began to discuss the words of Yeshua. Simon, Kefa said to the Migdalah,”Sister, we know that he loved you more than any other among women. Tell us the words of the rabbi, which you remember, which you know, and understand, but we do not nor have we heard them.
42:1 The Migdalah answered and said, “what is hidden from you, I will proclaim to you.” And she began to speak to them. The words that Yeshua had given her.
2: “My master spoke thus to me. He said, ‘Miryam blessed are you who came into being before coming into being, and whose eyes are set upon the kingdom, who from the beginning has understood and followed my teachings. Only from the truth. I tell you, there is a great tree within you that does not change, summer or winter, and its leaves do not fall. Whosoever listens to my words and ascends to its crown will not taste death, but will know the truth of eternal life.’
3: Then he showed me a vision in which he saw a great tree that seemed to reach into the heavens; And as I saw these things, he said, ‘the roots of this tree are in the earth, which is your body. And the trunk extends upward through the five regions of humanity to the crown, which is the kingdom of the spirit.
4: There are eight boughs upon this tree and each bough bears its own fruit, which you must eat in all his fullness as the fruit of the tree in the garden caused Adam and Hava to fall into darkness, so this fruit will grant you the light of the spirit that is eternal life. Between each bough is a gate and a guardian who challenges the unworthy, who try to pass.
5: The leaves at the bottom of the tree are thick and plentiful. So no light penetrates to illuminate the way. But fear not for, I am the way and the light, and I tell you that as one ascends the tree, the leaves that block one from the light are fewer. So it is possible to see all more clearly. Those who seek to ascend must free themselves of the world. If you do not free yourself from the world, you will die in the darkness that is the root of the tree. But if you free yourself, you will rise and reach the light. That is the eternal life of the spirit.’
6: And as he said, these things, I felt my soul ascend saw the first great bough that bears the fruit of love and compassion, the foundation of all things. And I knew that before you can eat of this fruit and gain its nourishment, you must be free of all judgment and wrath. When you have freed yourself of these burdens, you may eat of the fruit and so gain the love and compassion that will allow you to pass the first of seven guardians. And I heard the voice of the Lord of wrath calling to me, but I denied him and he had no part of me.
7:. So I saw my soul ascend again, and he showed me the second great bough weighed down with the fruit of wisdom and understanding. And I saw that before you can taste of its bounty, you must be free of all ignorance and intolerance. Only then can you eat of the fruit and so pass upward unhindered through the second of the seven Gates. And I heard the voice of ignorance call to me, but I knew him not. And so my soul did thus unchallenged.
8: Then my master showed me the third grade bough, which bears the fruit of honor and humility. Only one free of all duplicity and arrogance may partake of its nourishment. And arrogance called to me saying, ‘you are not worthy, go back.’ But my soul was deaf to him and so moved onward and upward into increasing light.
9: And then there came the fourth bow blossoming with the fruit of strength and courage. And I heard him tell me that to eat of this fruit, you must have freed yourself from the weakness of the flesh and confronted and conquered the illusion of your fears.
And the master of this world stood before me and claimed me as his own, but I denied him and he had no part of me only.
10: Then my master told me when you have rejected the deceiver, can you pass through the hardest of all and attain the fifth bough and the fruit of clarity and truth only then will, you know, the clarity and truth of your soul and knowing yourself for the first time, understand that you are a child of the living spirit. And as my soul moved upward, I realized that I could no longer hear the voice of the world as I realized that I could no longer hear the voice of the world, as all had become as silence.
11: Then in the light above, I saw the sixth bough, the one that bore the fruit of power and healing. My master told me that when you truly have eaten of the fruit of the clarity and truth of yourself, then could you partake of the fruit of power and healing, the power to heal your own soul and thereby make it ready to ascend to the seventh bow, where it will be field by the fruits of light and goodness.
12: And I saw my soul, now free of all darkness ascend again, to be filled with the light and goodness that is the spirit. And I was filled with a fierce joy as my soul turned to fire and flew upwards in the flames from once my master showed me the eighth and final bough upon which burned the fruit of the grace and beauty of the spirit.
13: And I felt my soul and all that I could see dissolve and vanish into a brilliant light and a likeness unto the sun. In the light. I beheld a woman of extraordinary beauty, clothed in garments of brilliant white. The figure extended its arms, and I felt my soul drawn into its embrace and in that moment I was freed from the world, and I realized that the fetter of forgetfulness was temporary. From now on,I shall rest through the course of the time of the age in silence. And then, as from a great distance, I heard the voice of my master tell me, ‘Miryam, whom I have called the Migdala, now you have seen the all, and have known the truth of yourself; The truth is I AM. Now you have become the completion of completions’”.