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<p>This personal essay examines the image of Mary Magdalene as the possible “Guru <i>Ḍākinī</i>” of Christianity. For the author, the presumed skull of Miriam, housed in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Maximin de Saint-Baume, hints at the esoteric notion of a Guru <i>Ḍākinī</i>, an appellation used to describe Yeshe Tsogyal, the female Buddha of Tibetan/Tantric Buddhism. Following the methodology of autoethnography and comparative mysticism, this paper proposes an esoteric connection between Tantric traditions of India and Gnostic paths. The paper suggests the possibility of Miriam embodying the activating feminine principle, or <i>Śakti</i>, of the path of awakening hidden within Judeo-Christian monotheism. That eponymous skull speaks a different language, which I call g<i>ynosi</i>s, to emphasize Gnostic insight that is peculiarly feminine. It speaks of a knowing revealed by and to Miriam, who may have been the very essence of the two forces that Tantra helps us face on the path of liberation: sex and death. This paper presents the Tantric view of the <i>Ḍākinī</i>, examines a couple of Gnostic texts, considers South Asian Tantric lore, and introduces the late Gnostic teacher, Rosamonde Ikshvaku Miller, who viewed Miriam as a <i>Ḍākinī</i>.</p>

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‘Guru Dakini’ of Christianity: Beholding Mary Magdalene Through a Tantric Lens

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月7日

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  • Neela Bhattacharya Saxena

摘要

This personal essay examines the image of Mary Magdalene as the possible “Guru Ḍākinī” of Christianity. For the author, the presumed skull of Miriam, housed in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Maximin de Saint-Baume, hints at the esoteric notion of a Guru Ḍākinī, an appellation used to describe Yeshe Tsogyal, the female Buddha of Tibetan/Tantric Buddhism. Following the methodology of autoethnography and comparative mysticism, this paper proposes an esoteric connection between Tantric traditions of India and Gnostic paths. The paper suggests the possibility of Miriam embodying the activating feminine principle, or Śakti, of the path of awakening hidden within Judeo-Christian monotheism. That eponymous skull speaks a different language, which I call gynosis, to emphasize Gnostic insight that is peculiarly feminine. It speaks of a knowing revealed by and to Miriam, who may have been the very essence of the two forces that Tantra helps us face on the path of liberation: sex and death. This paper presents the Tantric view of the Ḍākinī, examines a couple of Gnostic texts, considers South Asian Tantric lore, and introduces the late Gnostic teacher, Rosamonde Ikshvaku Miller, who viewed Miriam as a Ḍākinī.