Mary of Magdala & The Feminine Approach to Spirituality

Some time ago, we gave a talk on Mary of Magdalena, who I argued was the śakti (power) of Christ in the same way that Rādhā is for Krishna, Sīta is for Rāma and Sārada Mā is for Sri Ramakrishna. This argues for a "dual-aspect" to the avatāra (divine incarnation) as being both Shiva (Consciousness) and Shakti (Energy) embodied.

This is of course one lecture in a series of talks on Mary. We did one where we compared Mā Kālī to Mā Mary and we did one called Mary Magdalena, the Śakti of Christ also this would perhaps be the third in the series!

In this video, we look at all the references to Mary in the Gospel and work out a few Tantrik ideas based on them. We also draw from Bourgeault's wonderful work "The Meaning of Mary Magdalena" which I highly recommend for all. 

The emphasis in this talk is on articulating a different approach to spirituality that one might consider "feminine" in a sense as opposed to the more mainstream from of spirituality which I am choosing to label as "masculine" in this video. Of course, these gendered labels should be held as lightly as possible: they are not to be taken as hard and fast categories since that would (a) be manifestly against the thesis of this video that argues for a softer approach and (b) be against the idea of God as including the entire spectrum of sex and gender and yet transcending all such categories! 

In any case, I figure this comparative might validate many and allow for a more spacious, embodied approach to spirituality that resonates with the ideals of this age. 

Naturally, I argue that the life and teaching Sri Ramakrishna are the best examples for this mode of spirituality and so I draw a lot from Swami Bhajanananda Puri's reflections on Sri Ramakrishna's unique brand of spirituality (which I'm calling "feminine) from the book "Light of the Modern World", which I also could never recommend more highly! 

Anyway, for whatever reason I've just been sitting on this video. I have been waiting for an auspicious day to upload it. Somehow or rather, the Feast of Mary Magdelana came and went this year and I was unable to upload this then as I had originally intended. 

However, today we are celebrating the feast day for a very important Marian apparition that occurred on the site of a former Tonantzin temple: The Lady of Guadalupe!
I figured today was as good a day as any!

"¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?" 
"Am I not here, I who am your Mother?"

Jai Mā! Guadalupe Devi Ki Jai!

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM