10 The Platonic Wisdom of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

1. 10 The Platonic Wisdom of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene 1

2. Review The Simpsons: Critique of External Religion, in the light of Kant�s theory of morality Buffy: reconsideration of the multidimensional metaphysics of traditional religion: Kant�s early cosmology and his later theory of noumena/phenomena Woody Allen: Do we live in an intrinsically cold universe? Or is this the projection of our dog-eat-dog society? Matrix and Star Wars: Reworking of the Christ figure, with a love relation moving to the fore: Plato and Hegel Contrasts with Mel Gibson�s Passion of the Christ: the solitary Savior The Da Vinci Code: This love relation is the suppressed truth of Platonic wisdom in early Christianity 2

3. Platonism for the masses? Nietzsche/Heidegger thesis on Plato and Christianity But this is really about a Stoicism, and a Stoical-otherworldly (dualistic) Christianity (Council of Nicea) Platonism is about the return of the sacred in a world that has spun out of control due to the chaos/darkness of matter/egotism Need to return to our authentic selfhood: as eternal, interconnected spirits/Spirit living physical lives Soul Mate love as essence of authentic selfhood 3

4. Aristophanes� speech in The Symposium �[H]uman nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love.� �Wherefore, if we would praise him who has given to us the benefit, we must praise the god Love, who is our greatest benefactor, both leading us in this life back to our own nature, and giving us high hopes for the future, for he promises that if we are pious [=fulfill our duty/destiny], he will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed.� 4

5. Hegel and the dialectical critique of Stoicism Stoic solution to the Master/Slave dialectic 1) I am the one (says Johnny); no I am the one (says Suzy) 2) Suzy becomes the boss (Master-slave) 3) Johnny�s Stoic solution: put aside individual desires and live for the universal (=be a good slave and respect your master) 5

6. How does morality arise? = Origin of morality: choose the universal over the desires of the particular ego Implicit in the fact that ego is a universal Recall Kant�s theory of how to know what one�s duty is: 1) there is the general maxim implicit in the particular desire; 2) can it be willed as a universal law? Kant presents opposition of duty and desire as an eternal truth; Hegel sees this state of affairs as part of a process 6

7. Death of the separate ego 4) Skeptical reply: you are just making a virtue of necessity Skeptic�s position is empty; depends on negating the Stoic The skeptic is left with egotism (but Han Solo nevertheless does what is right) 5) > Unhappy consciousness I, this fleeting ego, am nothing (abandonment) The Truth is an unknowable Beyond 6) Crucifixion of the Ego: death of the God Beyond recognition that the negative is a moment within the Infinite Implicit birth of Spirit: I that is We 7

8. Kant�s critique of Stoicism Morality = duty, not desire Stoic: duty is happiness Kant: no, there ought to be happiness as a consequence of morality => We need to find love in our lives Some evidence for this in history: political progress But still a long way to go to reach the Highest Good 8

9. From Kant to Hegel For Kant the opposition of universal duty and individual desire is a given condition of consciousness Happiness as an unrealized �ought-to-be� For Hegel: this is the contemporary moment or stage of the evolution of consciousness We see the inevitability of the realization of �Spirit� as the underlying meaning of our history The underlying truth: We are the One. 9

10. The Unhappy consciousness of Neo and Anakin Unhappiness/emptiness of Stoicism/Skepticism leads to the Unhappy Consciousness I am nothing The Truth is an incomprehensible Beyond (external religion) Moral consciousness by itself is unhappy as Kant argues =Neo without Trinity =Anakin without Padme 10

11. Descent of the Holy Spirit The Death of God: Christianity implicitly overcomes this separation with its idea that God becomes one with humanity External God dies along with its source: the ego What is reborn is Spirit (symbol: Pentecost) A community whose basis is mutual respect and support (universal love) This is what Plato defends! (Philosophy of the Republic before the Empire) 11

12. Dialectic of Republic and Empire 1) Platonic Republic Against divisions based on egotism Put virtue first; bodily goals second 2) Empire: I (really) am the one (Darth Sidious) Stoic dualistic response (light versus dark) 3) Christian republicanism within the Empire Jesus� Strategy of the Mustard Seed (unity of male and female produces the seed of life�the Vesica Pisces Gnostic Platonic interpretation of Jesus and Mary Magdalene 4) Imperial Christianity Jesus as Solitary Savior The Church has his/God�s representative on earth 12

13. Modern intellectualism/scientism: leads to the dark side Modern stage of Hegel�s dialectic: Modern empiricism of science v. Life/Love Reductionism of abstract science kills the living organism Faust�s bargain with the devil: emptiness of the solitary intellect > turn to the darkness of physical love This antithesis of (male) intellect and (female) feeling is modern form of Stoicism Outcome: death of Faust�s beloved 13

14. Religion and Philosophy Religion = feeling expressed in pictures Orthodox theology emphasizes (logically incoherent) beliefs, not feeling Philosophy = Intellect Skeptical critique of orthodox theology > anti-religious Enlightenment = dry, spiritless knowing (Faust) = Repeat of Stoic/Skeptic opposition > Need a philosophy that works with feeling Otherwise � ? turn to dark, anti-scientific passions of fundamentalist (thoughtless) religion 14

15. Avatar and Hegel on Romanticism and Dialectical Science See 31-46 of Avatar slides 15

16. Two forms of Christianity 1) �Orthodoxy� of Council of Nicea External Savior of helpless, sinful humanity (original sin) Church as necessary mediator between God and Man =Religion of the Empire 2) �Gnostic� Christianity: like Socrates/Plato, Jesus is a teacher of inner knowing: we can save ourselves 16

17. Gospel of Mary Magdalene Peter : �What is the sin of the world?� Jesus : �There is no such thing as sin.� Sin consists in �adultery� or illicit mixing of matter and spirit. �This is why you get sick and die: because you love what deceives you.� References Plato�s Allegory of the Cave Implicit message: who is really the one who commits adultery? 17

18. Where is the Son of Man? Jesus: �Acquire my peace within yourselves! Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying, �Look over here! Or �Look over there! For the child of true Humanity [literally, the Son of Man] exists within you. Follow it! Those who search for it will find it. Go then, preach the good news about the Realm [literally, 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.� 18

19. Human consciousness is consciousness of humanity The �Kingdom� is within each of us, if we connect with our true humanity�i.e., our connection with each other (Spirit, the Force) The human individual is humanity (the species) become conscious of itself Hegel on the nature of human consciousness V. plant/animal consciousness (individual separate from the species) 19

20. Animals and Humans 1) The Hive/Hill Mind: no individuality (see Antz) 2) The Cow chewing its cud: lives for itself as an individual: no conscious concern for the cow species in general Species operates unconsciously in the form of instinct 3) Human: individual in conflict with species: desire and duty Unity with humanity: noumenal (Kant) Does not coerce, but summons, appeals�leaves one free to choose 20

21. Plato on the Relation of Virtue to Wealth The command of the Oracle at Delphi Socrates: �And I think that no better piece of fortune has ever befallen you in Athens than my service to God. For I spend my whole life in going about and persuading you all to give your first and chiefest care to the perfection of your souls, and not till you have done that to think of your bodies, or your wealth; and telling you that virtue does not come from wealth, but that wealth, and every other good thing which men have, whether in public, or in private, comes from virtue.� (Apology) 21

22. Versus Stoical separation of soul and body Priority of soul over body > health for the individual, prosperity for the city Duty first, desire second > a happy, prosperous world (realization of the Highest Good) Incorrect priority: body first: egotism > Destruction of the city Incorrect priority of Stoicism: Soul only, not body; inner only, not outer 22

23. Quest for the true Self Within each of us is �the Son of Man� (�the child of true humanity�) Jesus� preferred title: Son of Man (85 times in 4 Gospels; not Son of God) = the true self is our inner connection to all of humanity Seek and you will find Mary: Jesus �has made us true human beings.� 23

24. Plato, Kant, and Hegel Plato �soul� is the inner divinity, which recognizes the divinity in the other person Kant: morality expresses our �noumenal� connection with humanity: �the divine human within us� As opposed to our phenomenal separation, the self-interested individual, dog-eat-dog homo economicus, the object of the social sciences Hegel: Dialectical history of the ego (separation, �cleavage�) Underlying truth: Spirit, unity of I and We 24

25. Descent of the Good Gospel of Mary: �that the Good came among you, pursuing (the good) which belongs to every nature. It will set it within its root.� Plato: The philosopher pursues (rises up to) the Good (the True, the Beautiful) The Philosopher returns (descends) to the cave (darkness of illusion) Gospel of Mary the Good comes among us; descends into our world And teaches those in bondage to illusion how properly to pursue the good, by finding the root of goodness within themselves (true humanity) 25

26. Jesus as Platonic philosopher What is goodness? Our interconnection with all of humanity Jesus consciously embodies this Good He teaches us how to find it within ourselves He teaches us how we have �sinned� by committing metaphysical adultery: identifying with our separate bodies and pursuing an matter-based agenda that divides us from one another. 26

27. Freedom from the powers of darkness The soul forgets its true nature Commits metaphysical adultery by identifying with the body and separation (ego) Falls under the Powers that rule the world Darkness Desire Ignorance Wrath 27

28. Path to the dark side Yoda to Anakin: �Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.� But why are we afraid? How overcome fear? Gospel of Mary: darkness descends on the person when she forgets her true nature�her connection with humanity she believes she is empty and worthless, incapable of knowing Truth (Unhappy Consciousness) and so falls under the spell of the powers of darkness (desire, ignorance, wrath, etc.) 28

29. Overcoming Desire Power of Desire: �I did not see you go down, yet now I see you go up. So why did you lie since you belong to me?� Desire sees the soul rising up above it How is that possible if the soul did not first descend? Soul: �I saw you. You did not see me nor did you know me. You (mis)took the garment (I wore) for my (true) self. And you did not recognize me.� Desire did not see the soul descending because it mistook the soul for its body 29

30. Metaphysics and Politics of Reincarnation If the soul ascends beyond the body, it must have first descended into it. = Plato�s theory of the soul, not Aristotle�s hylomorphism, allows for immortality, reincarnation Kant�s postulate of morality Paradoxically, the Church adopts Aristotle�s theory, with �the resurrection of the body� = one lifetime only to be saved Otherwise eternal damnation! (= fear-based religion) 30

31. Role of Knowledge Knowledge connects the individual soul to the universal (spirit): like Plato�s philos-sophos, not abstract knowledge Hegel�s dialectical knowledge, providing concepts for feelings and images Jesus: don�t go beyond this, setting up detailed laws new forms of slavery to requirements of institutional religion Levi at conclusion: �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.� 31

32. What is the meaning of the relationship between Jesus and Mary? Peter: she is an ordinary woman with a special relation to Jesus (e.g., his wife) But she does not have deeper spiritual knowledge. Levi: �Peter, you have always been a wrathful person. Now I see you contending against the woman like the Adversaries. Assuredly the Savior�s knowledge of her is completely reliable. That is why he loved her more than us.� = Peter is guilty real adultery; he is acting like the dark powers, enslaving us to new laws beyond what Jesus laid down: only men can teach. 32

33. Three Gnostic theories of the Meaning of Mary 1) Gospel of Thomas Jesus: I will make her male 2) Gospel of Mary The soul has no gender 3) Gospel of Philip The Masculine spirit seeks Wisdom, the sacred feminine 33

34. Peter and Mary according to Thomas Simon Peter said to them, �Make Mary leave us, for females are not worthy of life.� Jesus said: �Look, I shall guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.� 34

35. Gospel of Mary Who is the true adulterer? Not Mary, but Peter, who puts physical distinctions of gender above spiritual truth Mary is the one most capable of receiving the truth: �Assuredly the Savior�s knowledge of her is completely reliable. That is why he loved her more than us.� 35

36. Gospel of Philip As for Wisdom who is called �the barren,� she is the mother of the angels and the companion of the Savior. Maria, the Magdalene�she is the one the Savior loved more than all the disciples and he used to kiss her on her mouth often�� Jesus sees Mary as the embodiment of Wisdom 36

37. In the beginning was (also) Wisdom What am I, the wisdom that speaks to you? � Love me, and thou shalt earn my love; wait early at my doors, and thou shalt gain access to me� The Lord made me his when first he went about his work, at the birth of time, before his creation began�. (Proverbs) 37

38. Biblical love of Wisdom �Whence, then, did the prudence spring that endowed me? Prayer brought it; to God I prayed, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me. �She, from my youth up has been my heart�s true love, my heart�s true quest; she was the bride I longed for, enamoured of her beauty.� (Wisdom) Philosophy= love of wisdom 38

39. Jewish Gnosticism of the Kabbala �The rabbinic concept of Shekhinah, divine immanence, blossoms into the feminine half of God, balancing the patriarchal conception that dominates the Bible and the Talmud�. According to Kabbalah, every human action here on earth affects the divine realm, either promoting or hindering the union of Shekhinah and her partner�the Holy One, blessed be he.� 39

40. The Gospel Code Deciphered 1) Who was the first disciple of Jesus? 2) What happened to Jesus at that time? 3) What kind of disciples did John have in common with Jesus? 4) Where did this meeting take place? 5) What happened before the beginning of this Gospel? 6) So what does the 4th Gospel really say? 40

41. 1: the first disciple 1:35: The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36: and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37: The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 

42. 38: Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39: He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.  42

43. The mystery 40: One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. --Who was the other one? The one who was there before Peter. 43

44. 2 What happened to Jesus? John also bore witness thus, �I saw the Spirit coming down from heavn like a dove, and resting upon him. Till then, I did not know him� --When does the Holy Spirit of Wisdom (1080 = the Holy Spirit --t? a???? p?e?�a) descend on Jesus? Just before he meets a mysterious, unnamed disciple 44

45. 3 Jesus and John have similar disciples Jesus: �John [the Baptist] came among you following all due observance, but could win no belief from you; the publicans [tax collectors for the Romans] believed him, and the harlots, but even when you saw that, you would not relent, and believe him.� Matthew 21:32 Who were the real followers of Jesus according to the Gospel of Mary: Andrew and Peter? Mary (the harlot) and Levi (the tax collector) 45

46. 4 Where did Jesus meet his first disciples? �All this happened in Bethany that is beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.� (Who lived in Bethany?) 46

47. 5a The wandering text Story of the woman who was taken in adultery Jesus: He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. Go, and do not sin henceforward. Appears in various places in the manuscripts: In Luke�s Gospel At the very end of the 4th Gospel Finally: John 8: 1-11. Why? It happened before everything else. 47

48. 5b Who is this woman? Luke: a �sinner in the city� who sits by Jesus and wipes his feet with expensive oil: Jesus says: she loves much because much has been forgiven her John: Mary of Bethany wipes Jesus feet with expensive oil John: Mary �the Magdalene� goes to the tomb of Jesus to anoints the corpse Who is the woman in Luke? 48

49. 6 What is the hidden story? Jesus saves Mary, a wealthy prostitute (�courtesan�), from stoning She becomes a disciple of John the Baptist John recognizes Jesus, and points him out to two disciples, one of whom is the repentant prostitute (Jesus, who is accused of associating with a prostitute: John the Baptist too had a disciple who was a prostitute: i.e., the very same person) The Holy Spirit (of Wisdom), the divine female principle, descends on Jesus And then he finds Mary 49

50. Biblical love of Wisdom �Whence, then, did the prudence spring that endowed me? Prayer brought it; to God I prayed, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me. � She, from my youth up has been my heart�s true love, my heart�s true quest; she was the bride I longed for, enamoured of her beauty.� (Wisdom) Philosophy= love of, pursuit of, wisdom Diotema�s beginning of philosophy: first fall in love with someone 50