Undoubtedly it would have been chanted as was customary, especially because the Abwoon itself was based on an ancient Jewish prayer. But then right after that came the "Go into your room in secret" instruction. That was the new part -- that and the spiritual energy transmitted to his followers to breathe life into their practice! Furthermore, Yeshua was into spontaneity and relationship with the Supreme -- and was averse to rigid formulas or prayers done in public for all to admire. He spoke out against rote, parrot-like repetition.
an ongoing project and the results are out of my hands anyways, I cannot say anything definitive. Sometimes I repeat the few words in Aramaic that I know as a mantra-like invocation, sometimes with the breathing. Sometime after meditation I use the Three Petitions, for my own benefit and towards the world. Sometimes I use AMEN of other mantras to lead into meditation. But then it gets into intimate areas that cannot or should not be spoken about. How can we use PETITIONS AND AFFIRMATIONin in our daily life? We can translate work goals into meaningful statements of intention, we can use affirmations or mantras to remove obstacles. I say "petition" rather than "prayer" because maybe we don't like the religious connotation. Instead of "God" we can say Source, Mother Nature, Supreme Love, the Universe, etcetera just as well! For the mystic, direct experience, not theological concepts, is the thing.
Life Force in the morning, the Light in the evening and the Sound Stream at noon. A perfect routine! Of course, the Noon on might have to be modified as we no longer rest in nature at that time. Below is are excerpts from the Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Four:
God beat in your ears until you are one with the Holy Stream of Sound ... And you shall bathe in the Stream of Sound ... and the mighty roaring of the Stream of Sound will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might ... Then breathe deeply of the angel of air, and become the sound itself, that the Holy Stream of Sound may carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there where the rhythm of the world rises and falls."
meditation that justifies speaking of a "Yoga of Yeshua": That the mind has a natural tendency to be attracted to a field of greater happiness. And that the inner Reality is absolute-bliss-consciousness -- peace and love in the vernacular. Put these two truths together and you see why meditation can be natural and spontaneous. “The thirsty man is moaning, "O delicious water!" The water is calling, "Where is the one who will drink me?" This thirst in our souls IS the magnetism of the Water: We are Its, and It is ours.” Rumi, in Jewels of Remembrance
and my mastership is gentle -- and you shall find repose for yourselves." Gospel of Phillip *Yoke translates as spiritual discipline or yoga.
A lot that is behind this Abwoon Meditation is not so evident -- things that were taken for granted in Christ's time but haven't come down with it. For example, that such prayers were sung, or the moral and cultural context, or the multi-dimensional nature of the language -- which to us might look like confusion.
the Church precisely because it exposes Yeshua as a mystic and YOGI. Most of these quotes are from there.
A yogi teaches Self realization -- "I AM is the way, the truth and the life. No man or woman comes to the Father/Mother but through the Self." (rephrased) A yogi teaches mindfulness and vigilance -- "What I say to you I say to everyone, "Watch!" A yogi teaches the basic realization of the higher self as -- Jesus said, "He who believes to know the All, but not himself, falls completely short." A yogi has "divya drishti", divine vision -- "When your eye be single, your whole body is filled with light." A yogi is humble about his personal self -- Jesus said, "Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind?" A yogi doesn't make a show of it -- "When you pray go in your room and close the door!" A yogi is solitary, at least inwardly -- Jesus said, "Wretched is the body that is dependant upon a body, and wretched is the soul that is dependent on these two." A yogi is an ascetic, at least in spirit -- Jesus said, "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom." A yogi is a transcendentalist -- Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind." A yogi brings the inner Reality into the outer life -- Jesus said, "That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves." A yogi lives to give -- Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to one from whom you will not get it back." A yogi has a jolly sense of humor -- They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed, or wherein have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray." A yogi has mystic fire (tapas) -- Jesus said, "He who is near me is near the fire." One yogi ignites the fire if supreme love in many -- Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes." A yogi is one with the supreme -- Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them all." For a yogi childlike simplicity is the way -- Yeshua said "Whichever one of you comes to be a child will be acquainted with the kingdom and will become superior to John." A yogi is detached from the world -- Jesus said, "Become passers-by." A yogi is not vain like a peacock -- Jesus said, "Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will wear." A yogi is very careful what he or she says -- Jesus said "What goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth -- it is that which will defile you." A yogi is not a master but a fountain -- Upon being called master, Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out."
The Gospels of Thomas, Phillip and Mary and other texts were much prized by the earliest Christians. Some astute followers sealed copies in large urns and hid them in caves. There they remained secure until being discovered in recent times. They are known as the Nag Hammadi Library and the Dead Sea Scrolls. These texts generally show a more mystical, interior teaching. Apparently, this was a threat to the Church's desire to create a sort of sacrificial idol out of Christ -- with their hierarchy as the sole mediator. How fitting that they were destined to be rediscovered in modern times. Humanity is moving into an age of the direct search for truth. Yeshua can be harder to understand in these texts. There is an absence of most biographical detail. The limits of language get stretched when dealing with mystic realities. Furthermore, the teachings were given in Aramaic, then translated into Egyptian Coptic or Greek, and later into English! Free from the Catholics' editing but still not in the original. Lastly, we don't know the cultural context of his time.
speeches of our Lord which, though put forth under his name, agree not with his faith; especially since--as already it has been often proved--these things were written not by Christ, nor [by] his apostles, but a long while after their assumption, by I know not what sort of lot, not even agreeing with themselves, who made up their tale out of reports and opinions merely, and yet, fathering the whole upon the names of the apostles of the Lord or on those who were supposed to follow the apostles, they maliciously pretended that they had written their lies and conceits according to them." The Nazarene Way
Aramiac was once the common language of the Middle East and extended over a vast area. Aramaic is related to Hebrew and Arabic. Aramaic is more holistic than what we know as language -- there is not so much distinction between inner and outer, ends and means. Spiritual words can be interpreted in more than one way -- there was actually a practice of meditating deeply on these levels of meaning.
ABBA: Thru the habitual use of ABBA for the Supreme, Yeshua brought God down to the heart, a close and kind prescence. ABBA translates more as "papa" than "father". It comes from the root "ab" meaning creator. The BA sound is one of the first things a baby can learn to utter. "Baba" is used from Africa all across to India. It also refers to a respected elder or a holy man.
even sooner! The culture at that time was extremely patriarchal, probably similar to modern Arab cultures. AL: AL or EL is an Semitic root meaning God. From that came the Hebrew "Elohim", the Arabic "Allah" and the Aramaic "Elaha" and "Alleluia". AMEN: This is an ancient term. In Egypt AMEN RA was the name of the one supreme God and he was associated with the Sun and the Breath -- In India, RAM NAM is a similar expression -- NAMA meaning "name" and RAM also associated with the Sun. There is a meditation group whose favorite mantra is BABA NAAM, "the name of the Father" -- The Abwoon starts with ABBA and ends with AMEN.
The Aramaic word used here, MALKUTHA, is in the feminine, which clearly implies a "Queendom". What if they discovered Jesus was really a woman! People are so used to Jesus as "The Lord" -- like a medieval noble or king, in front of whom all the people kneel and bow or else risk getting thrown in the dungeon. "Praise the Lord!" would have to be changed to "Praise the Duchess!" Try that out. Below is a quote from Peter, the founder of the Catholic Church, that bastion of the patriarchy. They should have left him as Jesus' bodyguard -- Christian history would have been less bloody.
preference to us, and not openly? Are we to turn back and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?" from The Gospel of Mary, another supressed text
This greater "breath of life" is reached by going beyond or "dying" to our individual breath. For example, we see a beautiful sunset and it takes our breath away. During various meditation practices observed by researchers, the breathing diminishes twice the extent as in sleep -- as measured by the oxygen consumption in the body. In Yoga this is called PRANA-AYAMA, "expansion of the breath and vital force".
"Rest and know I (the self) am God." ~ "Our Daily Bread" This verse calls for living simply and sharing. There is enough food on the planet to feed everyone, as well as enough wealth to supply everyone's basic needs. We need to consume less, become vegetarian. Do you know that the same land that feeds one with meat can feed 20 with grains? Where do the corporations get it all from -- by taking control of the land (of the poor people) in places like Guatemala to raise cattle for Mc Donalds. The Essenes, with whom Yeshua was associated, followed a higher principle:
Which saith that none shall have wealth, And none shall be poor, And all work together in the garden of the Brotherhood. Yet each shall follow his own path, And each shall commune with his own heart... There shall be no peace among peoples Til there be one garden of the brotherhood over the earth. For how can there be peace When each man pursueth his own gain And doth sell his soul into slavery?" The Essene Book Of Peace
Now that we're finished I must inform you that this prayer is not original. It is borrowed from the Jewish Talmud. Only the part about the daily bread was added. However, I think this is to his credit. All the great masters just restate the same eternal truths -- only infusing new life into them and awakening the real experience of them in all their depth.
Father Dale on how to use it a good translation Neil Douglas-Klotz |
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~I have traveled a great distance to listen to the Master, but I find his words quite ordinary. ~Don't listen to his words. Listen to his message. ~How does one do that? ~Take hold of a sentence that he says. Shake it well till all the words drop off. What is left will set your heart on fire.
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