Neil Douglas-Klotz in his introduction highlights the richness of the language of Jesus and how different its thought forms are from Greek with its boxes and boundaries. Aramaic does not share these limitations and much of the richness is lost by trying to force the words of Jesus into a different mould. The author shows how the words of a Native Middle Eastern mystic like Jesus must be regarded from at least three different viewpoints.
(a) literal (the level at which most bible translators work) although even this is not easy with a language as rich as Aramaic. A lot of the "hard sayings" and misunderstandings of Jesus' words come when when idioms are translated literally. Suppose I say that my new car cost me an arm and a leg. What impression would this give when translated for a Tibetan speaker?
(b) the metaphorical point of view. How are these words a metaphor for my life or the life of the community in which I live?
(c) the universal or mystical viewpoint. How are these words related to my experience in life? What do they tell me about my place and role in the cosmos, my relationship with God? It is at this level that the book really comes into its own. He applies this mode of viewing to the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father), the Beatitudes and some of the other sayings of Jesus. To exemplify the technique, this review focusses on the Lord's Prayer.
Neil Douglas-Klotz shows how the prayer follows a cycle of renewal similar to the four paths of Creation Spirituality, original blessing, letting go, breakthrough and compassion. This is particularly clear in the first four lines of the prayer. It is also good to feel the emphasis on coming from the Source in original blessing, not original sin as stressed by the institutional churches. The book 'Original Blessing' by Matthew Fox is worth reading on this subject. The earthiness and planting images of the words of Jesus are revealed clearly in the links with creation.
The exploration of the second half of the prayer begins with an expansion of "Give us this day our daily bread" to include the support, understanding and wisdom that we need to receive and give day by day - compassion in action. This is followed by further letting go in the releasing of mistakes that cause dysfunction within ourselves and in our relationships with other people
The problems raised by the idea of God leading us into temptation, more a mistranslation than an idiomatic difficulty, are cleared up next. The two phrases, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (A.V.) are seen as pointing to a path similar to the Middle Way of Buddhism. Don't let us be distracted by surface things, but on the other hand don't let us be so introspective that we are unable to act helpfully when appropriate. An acknowledgment of our own limitations within Divine Reality. The prayer ends back where we started - the Source. The last great line resounds like a triumphal song of return to the Originator of the Universe. The Amen is an affirmation at the end of our journey.
A transliteration and several valid translations of each line are given, followed by notes and explanation. Guided meditations are included so prayer is experienced as well as expressed. He has used a similar technique with great effect in'Desert Wisdom: Sacred Middle Eastern Writing from the Goddess to the Sufis', just released in the United States and available in a British edition in the Autumn.
To recite the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes in the original language and to discover the wealth of meaning behind English liturgical versions expands the Christian faith into a truly Cosmic dimension. For example the first line of the prayer can be rendered: "O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos" . An example from the Beatitudes is a new rendering of "Blessed are the meek" as "Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within". As Douglas-Klotz says: "softening the rigid places within leaves us more open to the real source of power - God acting through all of nature, all earthiness."
You have been warned.
Copyright © 1996 The International Communique Ltd