A Practice of Peace (Tova Averbuch)

Tue Apr 23 06:35:35 PDT 2002

I, too, have been reminded of the translations from the Aramaic that Neil
Douglas Klotz has published. I have had at least two copies of Prayers of the
Cosmos, both of which I have given away to priests.

In Prayers of the Cosmos he takes sections of the New Testament such as the
Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer and offers at least 5 possible translations of
each familiar line as well as commentary and body work that can be done with
Aramaic sounds.

What struck me the first time I read this material was the inclusiveness and non
patriarchal nature of the language. The words affirmed the reader.

Here's an example of a familiar text that comes from a web site about this work.
http://www.deepeningbuffet.com/artists/saadi/ndk_forgive.htm

The books and other resources can be ordered from:
http://www.abwoon.org

Letting go, heartbeat by Heartbeat

KJV version: and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Aramaic: Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn) aykanna daph khnan shbwoqan
l'khayyabayn

Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of
other's guilt.

Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames, as we consistently forgive what
others hide.

Lighten our load of secret debts as we relieve others of their need to repay.

Erase the inner marks our failures make, just as we scrub our hearts of other's
faults.

Absorb our frustrated hopes and dreams, as we embrace those of others with
emptiness.

Untangle the knots within so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to others.

Compost our inner, stolen fruit as we forgive others the spoils of their
trespassing.

Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of
others' guilt.

Textual Notes:  
This line asks for a deeper letting go: forgiveness. This is
another gift that we can give one another, an opportunity to  let go of the
mistakes that tie ourselves and one another in knots. The "trespassing" that we
release is not only against  one another, but also against the earth and all
creatures.

Besides "forgive, " the roots of the first word (wa)shboqlan may also be
translated "return to its original state, "  "reciprocally absorb, "
"reestablish slender ties to, " and "embrace with emptiness. " The prayer
reaffirms that our  original state is clear and unburdened, one where our
slender ties to creation are based on mutual releasing, with every  breath we
breathe.

In Matthew's version of the prayer, the word khaubayn was translated as "debts"
or "offenses" from the Greek. Its  alternative meaning are "hidden past, "
"secret debt, " "hidden, stolen property, " and any "inner fruit" that affects
the  intelligence and the soul negatively. In the version of the prayer in Luke,
the word khtahayn is used and usually  translated as "sins. " From the Aramaic,
it could also be rendered as "failures, " "mistakes, " "accidental offenses, "
"frustrated hopes, " or "tangles threads" - the latter implying that some
mending or restoration is needed. I have chosen  to include both words in these
versions, since they are very similar in sound. It is as likely that Jesus said
both as that  he said one but not the other. The word aykanna ("just as") again
reminds us (as in line four) that releasing must be  done consistently and
regularly if our knotted relationships are to become whole and stable again.

Body Prayers:  The sounds of this line return us to the feeling of heart and
blood - washing, flowing, asking that we release anything  unwanted in the same
way that our blood carries refuse from every part of the body to the lungs to be
released with  each breath.
1. Lie comfortably and feel the heartbeat and pulsing of the blood, this time
focusing on its releasing power. If you have  difficulty feeling your blood
pulse, try placing one hand lightly cupped near the heart. Rather than reach for
the pulse,  imagine your hand listening to it, receptively. Feel and visualize
the blood bringing to the lungs everything that wants to  be released this
moment. This is breathed out. With each new breath, new life is brought in and
pulses back out to  every cell of the body. As the pulsing quality of this "body
forgiveness" is felt, the muscles also relax to allow the veins,  arteries, and
capillaries more space and easier flow. Past tensions being held in the muscles
may begin to release; old  habits and "armor" that we sometimes confuse with our
natural selves begin to let go. Perhaps this is part of what Jesus  meant when,
in offering a cup of wine the night before the crucifixion, he said, "This is my
blood, given for the untying  of mistakes and failures. "
2. The above prayer may also be done in pairs, with one person lying down and
the other holding the feet (as in the  previous line). In this case, the
intentin is that both are releasing into the cosmos and that the person sitting
helps the  parner by ading to his or her awareness of heartbeat. Both connect
their body awareness on the level of the heartbeat  and blood; the person lying
down is receptive and allos his or her pulsation to be supported by the person
sitting. In a  group, the same thing may be done with all joining hands in a
circle, standing or sitting, meditating in unity with the  group pulse. As we
contact the deeper layers of ourselves, the slower rhythms of awareness, we find
an embodied  source of meditation. Forgiveness is here, now - not outside
somewhere.
3. Try intoning the words of this line of the prayer; they take patience. The
many kh sounds continue to bring us back to  places in the body where we need to
release. The sounds themselves seem to say that we must recognize and
acknowledge our knots, including offenses against ourselves, before they can be
untied. (There are actually four levels  of h sound in Aramaic - soft, medium,
hard, and very hard. Mystically, each level indicates the primordial life force
coming more and more into manifestation. The h sound used in the above words are
the second level - the misdirected  life has not become completely hardened;
there is yet a chance for renewal. )

Meg Salter wrote:
>
> Jeff, Peg and others ...
> on the unity/diversity topic...
> I've come across a couple of marvelous books by Neil Douglas-Klotz , "The
> Hidden Gospel" , and "Prayers of the Cosmos", who translates Jesus' works
> from the original Aramaic....
> "Alaha... refers to the Divine... and means variously sacred unity, the
> ultimate power/potential/ the One with no opposite.. God is based on a
> German root work meaning good. Goodness may be one aspect of the divine, but
> is not the same as unity. Goodness does not, by definition, include
> everything....
> ..wherever we turn... the same message..!
>
> Meg Salter
>
> MegaSpace Consulting
> 416/486-6660
> meg.salter at sympatico.ca
> www.megaspaceconsulting.com
>

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******PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS******

Eric Lilius
Box 27  Eagle Lake, Ontario, Canada
K0M 1M0
email:elilius at halhinet.on.ca
ph:     705-754-9859
fax:    705-754-9860

"Abwoon is an Aramaic word for the power of the Universe to give birth to new
life, every instant." Neil Douglas Klotz

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