Preface

It happens, over the course of life, that one never knows what one is actually doing and what sort of impact will be made until much later. Self-assigned jobs that may feel as though they are but hobbies may come to represent the cumulative lifework of an individual. Indeed, in moments of play we may find inspiration that is far-reaching and transforms our lives into something other than we had anticipated.

When I first penned the words to How To Do Nothing Well: A Guide To Meditating Actively well over ten years ago, I did it mostly as a kind of field manual for a form of meditation I had developed so people could purchase it as a follow-up to a guided meditation after a Tarot reading or Astrology consult. I had other works I had written that I hoped might be publishable with the promise of future sales to help bolster my spiritual pursuits which were mostly of a charitable nature. The great desire was for something like an Ashram or library where these branches of knowledge could exist and others could study them or encounter them. As this guide developed, the small metaphysical store that I was consulting within was well on its way to providing a natural solution to this desire. The store itself was a unique blend of for-profit consulting mixed with alms-giving for those who might otherwise not be able to afford services. This “accounting” existed largely by means of a “karma jar” that we kept on the bar where the cash register resided that people could put change in for others who might need incense, or a stone, or a reading. This jar mostly kept the balance of services rendered “for free” versus those services which people “paid for”.

Unfortunately, there were those who did not understand personal balance or universal balance in any shape, form, or fashion, and our little store which was well on its way to yielding some impressive fruits where those who wished to follow “The Way” would have a place to pursue their paths without judgment was attacked. This unilateral karmic action resulted in the destruction of the store and our way of life up to that point.

It was clear, however, that a larger Great Awakening was afoot. Perhaps the meditation had hastened it, perhaps not. Nonetheless, when you are defending your right to be alive at a very basic level, it is somewhat more challenging to refine your meditation techniques or develop any additional works. Instead, a type of spiritual retardation of the whole develops. People begin, for instance, to wear masks in public that do not protect against tiny microorganisms for fear of a disease that they believe travels in the air. A fear mindset invades the mass mind, and people die, quite literally, of fear.

It is therefore wholly appropriate that this book now adds the part which acts as cohesion for the other pieces which may, at first glance, seem disparate. To understand that, one must first understand the first two parts.

The first field manual version was written with an eye toward India, Astrology, and Zen Buddhism techniques. The second more complete version was written due to the large changes in technique that had become apparent in the intervening years with the stellar upheaval of the Solar Eclipse of 2017 and the Sign of the Woman of Revelation and how that related to the esoteric principle of the Adam Kadmon or universal man with a decidedly more Kabbalistic emphasis which naturally invited discussion of Judeo-Christian values and how the concept and personage of the Messiah featured against the backdrop of what is clearly presaged in The Book of Revelation. What then does this next part feature as it would appear that both East and West are balanced in the above materials?

The question has an answer–only one of the most overlooked and perhaps misunderstand books of the Bible which, nowadays, is not even considered to be cannon–The Lost Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is unique in the regard that it is not complete—rather it has literally had people remove contents from its bindings. Pages have been removed and torn out by people or institutions that have a motive to keep people from understanding its contents. Put differently, the goal appears to be to keep people dependent upon the institution of the Church as opposed to finding their own divine natures and deciding what, if any Church, they think fits themselves. It follows then that the contents in that book did something that scared early Church fathers into believing that if the contents were known that people would naturally not want to be in the Church. Why else would they have removed those pages?

Of course, removing the pages was not sufficient. The book was alarming enough that it had to be excised from the Bible itself, as though there were not other existing chapters in the Bible which were picked and mixed to suit certain dogmas. The same forces–which are quick to condemn the basic practices of Buddhists or Hindus as quintessentially pagan without understanding anything about ancient Israel and the overlap with these beliefs—decreed those who followed the teachings outlined in the book of Mary Magdalene as a treasonable sort of heretic.

We see the same scenario actually unfold within the Lost Gospel of Mary Magdalene. The disciples are quite skeptical that a woman could receive explanation of the mysteries that she articulates. The problem comes down to her authority and gender. Women, according to the disciples, ought not be teaching in such a way as Magdalene is. Only one or two say otherwise.

In modern academics, most of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene is distilled down to whether Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus/YHSVH and whether they had children. This has spawned an entire industry of sacred chanting, sex, twerking, and otherwise strange less-than-penitent kinds of teachings.

For the purposes of this book, it is really rather irrelevant if Mary Magdalene was married and had children actually or whether she did not. What is evident is that Mary Magdalene is a type or archetype of the Church, and her relationship with the Messiah is much akin to the marriage which is described in the Bible with regard to God/YHVH and His people. Put simply, Mary Magdalene is the redeemed Church, but not just that—she is the redeemed matter itself which is prepared to occupy the heavenly kingdom. It therefore would make sense that the Messiah would then especially love the person that would typify the Church. As far as kissing her on the mouth goes, as the disciples are wont to question, well, what does a husband do to a wife he loves?

In terms of a hidden bloodline or lineage of Jesus YHSVH and Mary Magdalene, for this book, the question is moot. In the sense that we come into the spirit of these personages, then we are all their children. To the extent we do not, whether or not we are blood related to any of them is of no consequence. We know from the Bible that “sons of Abraham” can be raised from “stones”. Blood then, is not the solid relation we think it to be. Why then do we spend so much time worrying about it and what purpose does such concern serve?

I intend then, to destroy nearly most all modern literature about the Gospel of Mary Magdalene for the subject matter here. What will remain, when I am done, is, I think, a much greater, more interesting, magnificent testimony to the Messiah and Mary Magdalene, and the interrelations and subtlety of Their spiritual teachings. It is, I believe, a taste of the Heavenly Kingdom, and buddy, that taste is quite different and a whole lot better than the dishes served here on the ground after two-thousand years of questionable cooks.

Joe Bill Schirtzinger

Jacksonville, Illinois 2022