As Shared by Mary Magdalene with the Other Disciples
This might seem a bit of a stretch, but the 42nd chapter of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene tells us how she escaped from the world of illusion into a blissful state of consciousness and union with Jesus.
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.
42:2 “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 KNOW THE TRUTH OF ETERNAL LIFE.’
42:3 THEN HE SHOWED ME A VISION IN WHICH I SAW A GREAT TREE THAT SEEMED TO REACH UNTO THE HEAVENS; AND AS I SAW THESE THINGS, HE SAID, ‘THE ROOTS OF THIS TREE ARE IN THE EARTH, WHICH IS YOUR BODY. THE TRUNK EXTENDS UPWARD THROUGH THE FIVE REGIONS OF HUMANITY TO THE CROWN, WHICH IS THE KINGDOM OF THE SPIRIT.
42:4 THERE ARE EIGHT GREAT BOUGHS UPON THIS TREE AND EACH BOUGH BEARS ITS OWN FRUIT, WHICH YOU MUST EAT IN ALL ITS FULLNESS. AS THE FRUIT OF THE TREE IN THE GARDEN CAUSED ADAM AND CHAV’VAH TO FALL INTO DARKNESS, SO THIS FRUIT WILL GRANT TO 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.
42:5 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.’
42:6 AND AS HE SAID THESE THINGS, I FELT MY SOUL ASCEND AND 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 IN ME.
42:7 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.
42:8 THEN MY MASTER SHOWED ME THE THIRD GREAT BOUGH, WHICH BEARS THE FRUIT OF HONOR AND HUMILITY. ONLY WHEN FREE OF ALL DUPLICITY AND ARROGANCE MAY YOU 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.
42:9 AND THEN THERE CAME THE FOURTH BOUGH, 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 THE WORLD STOOD BEFORE ME AND CLAIMED ME AS HIS OWN, BUT I DENIED HIM AND HE HAD NO PART OF ME.
42:10 ONLY THEN, MY MASTER TOLD ME, WHEN YOU HAVE REJECTED THE DECEIVER, CAN YOU PASS THROUGH THE HARDEST GATE OF ALL, TO 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 ALL HAD BECOME AS SILENCE.
42:11 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 BOUGH, WHERE IT WILL BE FILLED BY THE FRUITS OF LIGHT AND GOODNESS.
42:12 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 WHENCE MY MASTER SHOWED ME THE EIGHTH AND FINAL BOUGH, UPON WHICH BURNED THE FRUIT OF THE GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE SPIRIT.
42:13 AND I FELT MY SOUL AND ALL THAT I COULD SEE DISSOLVE AND VANISH IN A BRILLIANT LIGHT, IN A LIKENESS UNTO THE SUN. AND 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 IF FROM A GREAT DISTANCE, I HEARD THE VOICE OF MY MASTER TELL ME, ‘MIRYAM, WHOM I HAVE CALLED THE MIGDALAH, NOW YOU HAVE SEEN THE ALL, AND HAVE KNOWN THE TRUTH OF YOUR SELF; THE TRUTH THAT IS I AM. NOW YOU HAVE BECOME THE COMPLETION OF COMPLETIONS.’ AND THUS, THE VISION ENDED.
42:14 THIS IS WHAT MY MASTER HAS TOLD AND SHOWN ME. AND ONLY FROM THE TRUTH I TELL YOU, THAT ALL THAT I HAVE REVEALED TO YOU IS TRUE.”
42:15 WHEN THE MIGDALAH HAD TOLD OF ALL THAT YESHUA HAD SAID AND DONE, SHE FELL SILENT, SINCE IT WAS IN THAT SILENCE THAT YESHUA HAD SPOKEN WITH HER AND REVEALED THESE TRUTHS.
Quillan, Jehanne de. The Gospel of the Beloved Companion: The Complete Gospel of Mary Magdalene (pp. 77-80). Éditions Athara. Kindle Edition.
Here ends this lesson.
A movement and a rest.
cdsmiller17 
Jesus seems to have provided Mary Magdalene with ‘passwords’ to answer the Guardians of the seven gates. But only three of them are quoted in the Secret Gospel of Mary:
“Pages 11–14 are missing from the manuscript. We pick up the story again, farther into Mary’s teaching, as she describes the ascent of the soul:
And then Desire said, ‘I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie, since you belong to me?’
The soul answered and said, ‘I saw you, but you did not see me or know me. To you I was only a garment, and you did not recognize me.’
After the soul said this, she left, rejoicing greatly. Then the soul approached the third power, called ignorance. The power questioned the soul, saying, ‘Where are you going? You are bound by wickedness, you are bound, so do not pass judgment.’
The soul said, ‘Why do you pass judgment on me, though I have not passed judgment? I was bound, but I have not bound. I was not recognized, but I have recognized that all is to be dissolved, both what is earthly and what is heavenly.’
When the soul overcame the third power, she ascended, and saw the fourth power. It took seven forms: The first form is darkness, the second, desire, the third, ignorance, the fourth, death wish, the fifth, fleshly kingdom, the sixth, foolish fleshly wisdom, the seventh, angry person’s wisdom.
These are the seven powers of wrath. The powers asked the soul, ‘Where are you coming from, killer of humans, and where are you going, destroyer of realms?’ ”
The soul answered and said, ‘What binds me is slain, what surrounds me is destroyed, my desire is gone, ignorance is dead. In a world I was freed through another world, and in an image I was freed through a heavenly image. The fetter of forgetfulness is temporary. From now on I shall rest, through the course of the time of the age in silence.’ ”
When Miryam said this, she became silent, since the savior had spoken this much to her.”
Quillan, Jehanne de. The Gospel of the Beloved Companion: The Complete Gospel of Mary Magdalene (pp. 108-109). Éditions Athara. Kindle Edition.
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In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus gave the disciples a similar series of ‘passwords’:
3.13 Jesus said: “If they say to you, ‘From where have you come?’ Tell them, ‘We have come from the light, the place where the light came into being by his hand himself. He [stood], and he revealed himself in their image.’ If they say to you: ‘Are you him?’ say, ‘We are his sons, and we are the chosen of the living father.’ If they ask you, ‘What is the sign of your Father in you?’ tell them, ‘It is a movement and a rest.’” (Th. 50)
Laurie, S.P.. The Thomas Code: Solving the mystery of the Gospel of Thomas (p. 256). Hypostasis Ltd. Kindle Edition.
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