Erika Van Greunen
MARY Magdalene, arguably the best known female icon in the western world – was she the repentant prostitute as traditionally portrayed, or rather apostle and intimate beloved of Jesus?
In a refreshing, radical and scholarly presentation, the Rev Dr Cynthia Bourgeault argues that in fact Mary had three roles: apostle, intimate beloved and purveyor of sacred wisdom.
She bases her understanding on new material emerging from the Nag Hammadi scrolls and parallel discoveries such as the Gospels of Thomas, Philip and Mary Magdalene, validated by some of the best contemporary scholarship.
While books such as The Da Vinci Code and Holy Blood, Holy Grail propelled the mystique surrounding Mary to the forefront of pop culture, the church did not enter into this dialogue, but stone-walled it totally.
Bourgeault challenges this monolithic culture of some 16 centuries, of celibate clergy preaching to celibate monks, quoting a fellow priest: the sexual neurosis and dysfunction of the church are reflected in its seeming obsession with “pelvic issues” such as abortion, birth control, women’s ordination, gay unions, and consecration of gay clergy.
Where is the visionary insight, the moral imperative and wisdom to deal with a humanity and planet in peril? With a mischievous grin Cynthia quotes GK Chesterton: “Christianity is not a failure; it has not been tried yet.”
Enter the role of Mary Magdalene to cut through this logjam. Undeniably at the side of Jesus throughout the entire crucifixion and burial, and first witness of the resurrection, new research places Mary by the side of Jesus on a spiritual level, as his intimate beloved, as “apostle for the apostles”.
This goes far beyond theories of reclamation of the feminine. It is symbolic of a radical path of transformation through love. Not necessarily sexual love; not necessarily not. Not a prescriptive path of celibacy, but rather a path of radical conscious love. Whatever was the physical nature of the relationship between Mary and Jesus, it was clear that Mary had mastered the teachings and applied these situationally when needed.
With a bold new vision, Cynthia expresses the formula for conscious love as a=ek: agape (spiritual love) = eros (yearning and desire) infused with kenosis (self-emptying, non-clinging).
Reminiscent of Rumi, she refers to our precarious choice of being in a soul cage: pretty safe, but trapped. And only the beloved holds the key to the soul cage which we cannot unlock ourselves.
Her talk ends with an echo from her book of the same title: a plea to wake up, to enter into conscious relationships that are equal, intimate, mutually nurturing and open-ended. Love then can be experienced as a transformative power with men and women working together in spiritual leadership roles.
This conscious love that is radically inclusive, Bourgeault argues, is the profound relationship that Jesus and Mary Magdalene experienced, and at the heart of the Christian teachings.
Bourgeault is founder of the Aspen Wisdom School and founding director of the Contemplative Society.
An Episcopal priest and international retreat and conference leader, she is passionately committed to recovering the Christian contemplative path and works closely with Fr Thomas Keating and other contemplative masters in also the Sufi and Budhhist traditions.
This documentary presentation by Bourgeault, titled Mary Magdalene and the Christian Path of Conscious Love, was recorded and published this year at the Integral Institute of Ken Wilber.
l There will be two screenings of the film at Labia on Orange on Sunday at 4pm and at 6.15pm. Call 021 424 5927. See www.exploringconsciousness.org.za for more information.