As perhaps you noticed in my earlier posts (pre-2016 U.S. presidential election), I wrote a few entries with excerpts from the Essene Gospels. This is something to which I want to return.
I am drawn to these writings. From the very little I have seen already blogged about them online, a major focus has been the biogenic diet aspect of these Gospels – espousing the use of vegan raw foods. Understandably, this draws quite the interchange between those who have found that following such a diet has benefited them tremendously. And of course, the opposite side of “humans were made to be carnivorous and how could anyone expect such a diet to be appropriate for our physiology?” I will admit upfront that I have not followed this dietary plan – never have, and don’t suspect I ever will. I did try to be vegetarian a couple times over my life and wasn’t able to do it. I suppose there are those who would say I wasn’t persistent enough and that the cravings for meats would discontinue if given enough time. For me, even cheese and my all-time favorite, peanut butter, did not satiate those cravings. I choose not to eat red meats and try to minimize my use of fowl. However, I do eat fish once or twice a week. And a lot of dark chocolate. So much for my diet. There are those who debate the authenticity of these manuscripts. This is another area I have no desire to get into. The fact that ancient documents were found in huge urns by the Dead Sea should not be in contention. As to whether Edmond Szekely did or did not obtain access to these Essene Gospels to translate them and publish them is another aside I do not want to focus on. Some maintain that these gospels are fiction. To respond to that I will say that in the edition I have of the combination of Books Two and Three, there is a section showing segments of these Essene Gospels that are (OK, supposedly) exactly the same as parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not only that, but I have found word-for-word sentences in these Gospels that match those in the Bible (specifically, from Genesis, Isaiah and John). If this were a work of fiction, for me it is brilliant fiction. I find it incredulous that someone would choose those particular segments to tie into the rest of what he/she was writing! Sentences or paragraphs from these Essene Gospels matching ones in the Old Testament or other Dead Sea Scrolls makes sense to me – as all these texts would have been written in the same cultural context over the time period of a few hundred years around the time (before and after) of Jesus’s life. For me, that tends to validate the Essene Gospels books as the real deal. Of course, just my humble opinion. :-) These “disclaimers” now stated, why am I interested in the Essene Gospels if not for the diet and not to debate their authenticity? You may have noticed my couple of posts about Lazaris’s definitions of the Bridges of Faith and Belief. I read Lazaris: The Sacred Journey - You and Your Higher Self in the late 1980s. As a spiritual seeker at the time, the reference to "God/Goddess/All That Is" impacted me. I liked the idea of not limiting “God” to either a masculine or feminine entity or presence – and the inclusion of the “All That Is.” I find this concept in the Essene Gospels. Not the “All That Is” so much – but the honoring of the importance of “the Earthly Mother” as well as “the Heavenly Father.” Reading the mindfulness texts for the Earthly Mother in the mornings has made me more appreciative of the sacredness of nature and its representation on the physical level of the corresponding attribute of the Heavenly Father for meditation at nighttime. Together they provide for me not only a balance of nature and Spirit, but as I read them over and over, a deeper respect and awareness of the interconnection between the physical and spiritual realms as well as more understanding of the power we humans have to influence them. So…. Will you join me in exploring potential meanings of the writings of the Essene Gospels? Or to just enjoy the inspiration of a refreshing take on spirituality? I can’t wait to get started!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Susan C. Moyer, MSW
Is a sound healer and transformational coach. She has 25+ years experience in using alternate states of consciousness to access deeper healing on all levels: physical, psychological, mental and spiritual. Archives
August 2019
Categories |