In the previous post the thoughts started with Jesus's quote in Gospel of Thomas where he replies to Peter, after Peter makes a suggestion to expel Mary Magdalene from the group complaining against her feminity. Jesus says in his ever enigmatic tone, "I myself will lead her in order 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."i am blessed to receive some wonderful thoughts from different perspective. Blessed be All Encompassing Lord, Who is the source of all knowledge and Who gives knowledge to whom He Wills. Here are the hightlights of the thoughts that came from you all. you can still add more your thoughts here.
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The Samkhya philosophy talks of the dual concepts of "Purusha" and "Prakriti" - ... "The Purusha is the centre of consciousness, whereas the Prakriti is the source of all material existence.". Literally, Purusha translates to man and Prakriti, a feminine word, translates to nature. We - men and women, are within the realm of Prakriti, and the Lord ( as per bhagavad Gita, chapter 15 ) is considered the Supreme Purusha.
Aspiring love of/union with the Supreme Purusha means genuine desire for liberation - a crucial prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of heaven. For this reason, followers of some hindu sects think of themselves as "women" trying to unite with Sri Krishna. Incidentally, some people also consider the dual modes of Purusha and Prakriti as in some sense identical - like a rope and its wriggly motion. The rope is like the Brahman/Purusha which is the substratum of everything and the motion is like the Shakti/Goddess - this nature is nothing but a manifestation of that supreme consciousness.
- Froginthewell
A key may be provided by Erich Fromm in book "The Art of Love". He talks about the "masculine" and "feminine" within us, about paternal love and maternal love, and how each person is a complex of all thee elements. So when Jesus says "men" - that does not mean people born male; it means people born again and awakened as Men. Similarly, a person born female could as well be a Man in her make-up, and a born male be feminine. Its society that makes arbitrary and limiting and destructive definitions, all of which have nothing to do with inner life, growth, transformation, self-realisation.
- Rama
I read in Cosmic Consciousness by Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke, as Rama mentioned, that the human body has both the male and female qualities. The male qualities of intelligence and power are in the spinal column and brain and then they are surrounded by the female qualities of love and caring that are in the remainder of the body parts. He said that the brain and spinal cord is where one achieves higher states of consciousness, or God-consciousness, whereby the body is the extension of mother nature, which is correlated with love and compassion. Therefore, to achieve God-consciousness/realization, one must focus on the brain/spinal cord and so become more 'male'.
- Kozi Wolf
Just as Jesus said you have to be a child or have the heart of a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, we could be reading something similar here. In other words, Jesus did not say only children can enter heaven. Similarly, perhaps Mary is being taught to bring forward her more male qualities, just as many of us males need to be taught to bring forth our more female qualities.
- Mark Walter
I think it does go to show how sexist the mindset was in the past and lines quoted demonstrate how special a person Jesus was for showing compassion to the perceptions of the men whilst also giving mary respect and allowing her to grow in her own way.
- Amit
Are we sure that he actually said this ? Or could it be that something was lost in translation ? Jesus taught through parables. Maybe he used the words ” make her male ” to teach a more profound concept using the vocabulary and frame of reference of the time.
To know the answer to this question , we also need to have an understanding of what ” to make male ” meant in those days .. It’s complicated. Much is lost in translation and because of cultural differences.
I think it is interesting, as an exercise of the mind to contemplate a question like this , but as for finding the truth , the via reggia (the Royal Path, Road) is via the heart and soul .. by going within and allowing the stillness of silence to speak .... a direct connection with the source of "ALL THAT IS" that is within us and all around us.
- Mara
To me it's Jesus’ gender equalization thought... In the time of Jesus, he leaded woman empowerment, ... but might have been used into different interpretation for attaining benefit from every possible point of views, in later days.
- Kowshik
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