Pioneering visionary Neil Douglas-Klotz reveals a very contemporary spiritual message by translating Jesus' sayings and stories directly from the Middle Eastern language Jesus actually spoke.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Neil Douglas-Klotz is an independent scholar of religious studies, spirituality, and psychology. He holds a Ph.D. in religious studies and psychology from the Union Institute, and taught these subjects for ten years at Holy Names College in California. Other books by Neil Douglas-Klotz include Desert Flowers, and The Hidden Gospel.
From AudioFile
THE HIDDEN GOSPEL is Dr. Douglas-Klotz's presentation of what he considers to be the overlooked aspect of the Gospels, namely the Aramaic writings of the early Church. Aramaic was the spoken language of Jesus's day. In presenting his translations of these Early Church writings, the author discusses a mystical aspect of the Gospels that seems to harken back to the Gnostic controversy. Reading his own work in a pleasing tone, Douglas-Klotz offers not merely a lecture; approximately twenty minutes into each side an exercise is included that teaches the listener an Aramaic prayer. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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More About the Author
Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz is an internationally known scholar in the fields connecting religious studies and psychology as well as a poet and musician. He is the author of:
Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus (1990);
Desert Wisdom: The Middle Eastern Tradition from the Goddess Through the Sufis (1995);
The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spirituality of the Aramaic Jesus (1999);
The Genesis Meditations: A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews and Muslims (2003);
The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish (2005)
Blessings of the Cosmos: Wisdom of the Heart from the Aramaic Words of Jesus (2006)
The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims (2006, with Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Sr. Joan Chittister)
His audio sets from Sounds True include: The Hidden Gospel, Original Prayer (on the Aramaic Prayer of Jesus) and The Healing Breath (on the Beatitudes and Jesus' healing ministry).
He is the past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and active in various international colloquia and conferences dedicated to peace and spirituality. He directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org) in Edinburgh, Scotland. and co-founded the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, now in its sixth year (www.mesp.org.uk). In 2005 he was awarded the Kessler-Keener Foundation Peacemaker of the Year award for his work in Middle Eastern peacemaking. Information about his work may be found at the website of the Abwoon Resource Center (www.abwoon.com)
His personal biography follows:
I grew up in a multicultural family. My grandparents (both sides) were refugees from Europe with German, Jewish, Russian and Polish blood in their veins. They followed their track to the ethnic neighbourhoods of Chicago, where my parents met and married.
I was raised by Christian parents who were both devout and freethinking. They brought into my early life the impulse to worship and praise, as well as to question everything that constricted and opposed the injunction "love your neighbour as yourself." My father was a chiropractor, my mother a student of the health education of Edgar Cayce. They raised me with a respect for the body and the wonders of nature found therein, as well as a disdain for the superficial innovations of humanity that polluted both body and nature.
Hearing from childhood German, Yiddish and Polish in our home, raised on the stories and miracles of Jesus, taught the practical truth of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, I formed an interest in language, spirituality, the body and ecological justice early in life. In many ways, I have been pursuing these interests ever since.
After graduation from college in 1973, I pursued a career as a journalist in the fields of social justice, environmentalism and consumer protection for several years before turning to the following questions: Why do people change? What causes me to change? Is there a more powerful level of motivating change than that of ideas? In pursuing these questions, I returned to interests I developed in college that centered on: the body and changes of attitude and behaviour, mystical and "expanded" states of consciousness, and the early pre-religious roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I pursued some of this study academically through the University of California, Berkeley. But most of it found me seeking out teachers from the native traditions of the Middle East, Pakistan and India who introduced me to the other modes and methods of learning as well as the body-oriented spiritual practices that accompanied this study. Beginning in 1976, I was very privileged to study with the early students of the American Hebrew/Sufi mystic Samuel L. Lewis, who introduced me to the body prayer meditations called the Dances of Universal Peace. One phase of this intense period of study led me on a three-month pilgrimage in 1979 to sacred sites and teachers in Turkey, Pakistan and India.
In 1982, I founded the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace (now based in Seattle, WA), a multicultural resource center for those who chose this form of peacemaking through the arts as their forum for both peace "demonstration" as well as spiritual practice. Over the past 15 years, I have been actively involved in leading educational exchanges and citizen diplomacy trips with the Dances to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and to the Middle East.
From 1986 until 1996, I served as a faculty member of the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality and a member of the Core Faculty since 1990. During its "golden age," the ICCS was a gathering place for scientists, artists, educators and learners from many different cultural and racial backgrounds. Many of our students were non-US citizens and I enjoyed the opportunity to teach and learn across the differences and within a rich field of diversity. This diversity, at its best, provided a sort of "quantum field" of uncertainty in which real inquiry and learning occurred for us all.
In September 1993, I co-led a group of students from Europe, Australia, the U.S. and Canada on a citizen diplomacy/educational trip to Jordan, Israel and Syria. Serendipitously, this occurred exactly during the signing of the Israel-PLO accords. We were greeted warmly and were able to share discussions and artistic and cultural exchanges with many different people from all the varied sides of the confrontation. I continue work in this area, both individually, and collaboratively through the International Association of Sufism.
During my sabbatical to finish my doctorate, I moved to Europe. It both allowed me to be nearer to my Middle Eastern connections and seemed more welcoming to the type of multicultural work we were both doing. I enjoyed the change from a bustling Northern California urban environment to the rolling farm fields of Thomas Hardy country in Dorset.
Since March 1999 I've lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, another multicultural arts and music center where I started the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org). My fluency in German and some other European languages also enables me to continue educational exchanges and lectures throughout Europe. In 2004, I co-founded, with Mr. Neill Walker, the Edinbrugh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (www.mesp.org.uk), which annually in March draws thousands of visitors to events across the city. It is supported by the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh. Since 2006, I've been married to Natalia Lapteva, a Russian therapist and coach.
Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus (1990);
Desert Wisdom: The Middle Eastern Tradition from the Goddess Through the Sufis (1995);
The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spirituality of the Aramaic Jesus (1999);
The Genesis Meditations: A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews and Muslims (2003);
The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish (2005)
Blessings of the Cosmos: Wisdom of the Heart from the Aramaic Words of Jesus (2006)
The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims (2006, with Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Sr. Joan Chittister)
His audio sets from Sounds True include: The Hidden Gospel, Original Prayer (on the Aramaic Prayer of Jesus) and The Healing Breath (on the Beatitudes and Jesus' healing ministry).
He is the past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and active in various international colloquia and conferences dedicated to peace and spirituality. He directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org) in Edinburgh, Scotland. and co-founded the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, now in its sixth year (www.mesp.org.uk). In 2005 he was awarded the Kessler-Keener Foundation Peacemaker of the Year award for his work in Middle Eastern peacemaking. Information about his work may be found at the website of the Abwoon Resource Center (www.abwoon.com)
His personal biography follows:
I grew up in a multicultural family. My grandparents (both sides) were refugees from Europe with German, Jewish, Russian and Polish blood in their veins. They followed their track to the ethnic neighbourhoods of Chicago, where my parents met and married.
I was raised by Christian parents who were both devout and freethinking. They brought into my early life the impulse to worship and praise, as well as to question everything that constricted and opposed the injunction "love your neighbour as yourself." My father was a chiropractor, my mother a student of the health education of Edgar Cayce. They raised me with a respect for the body and the wonders of nature found therein, as well as a disdain for the superficial innovations of humanity that polluted both body and nature.
Hearing from childhood German, Yiddish and Polish in our home, raised on the stories and miracles of Jesus, taught the practical truth of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, I formed an interest in language, spirituality, the body and ecological justice early in life. In many ways, I have been pursuing these interests ever since.
After graduation from college in 1973, I pursued a career as a journalist in the fields of social justice, environmentalism and consumer protection for several years before turning to the following questions: Why do people change? What causes me to change? Is there a more powerful level of motivating change than that of ideas? In pursuing these questions, I returned to interests I developed in college that centered on: the body and changes of attitude and behaviour, mystical and "expanded" states of consciousness, and the early pre-religious roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I pursued some of this study academically through the University of California, Berkeley. But most of it found me seeking out teachers from the native traditions of the Middle East, Pakistan and India who introduced me to the other modes and methods of learning as well as the body-oriented spiritual practices that accompanied this study. Beginning in 1976, I was very privileged to study with the early students of the American Hebrew/Sufi mystic Samuel L. Lewis, who introduced me to the body prayer meditations called the Dances of Universal Peace. One phase of this intense period of study led me on a three-month pilgrimage in 1979 to sacred sites and teachers in Turkey, Pakistan and India.
In 1982, I founded the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace (now based in Seattle, WA), a multicultural resource center for those who chose this form of peacemaking through the arts as their forum for both peace "demonstration" as well as spiritual practice. Over the past 15 years, I have been actively involved in leading educational exchanges and citizen diplomacy trips with the Dances to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and to the Middle East.
From 1986 until 1996, I served as a faculty member of the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality and a member of the Core Faculty since 1990. During its "golden age," the ICCS was a gathering place for scientists, artists, educators and learners from many different cultural and racial backgrounds. Many of our students were non-US citizens and I enjoyed the opportunity to teach and learn across the differences and within a rich field of diversity. This diversity, at its best, provided a sort of "quantum field" of uncertainty in which real inquiry and learning occurred for us all.
In September 1993, I co-led a group of students from Europe, Australia, the U.S. and Canada on a citizen diplomacy/educational trip to Jordan, Israel and Syria. Serendipitously, this occurred exactly during the signing of the Israel-PLO accords. We were greeted warmly and were able to share discussions and artistic and cultural exchanges with many different people from all the varied sides of the confrontation. I continue work in this area, both individually, and collaboratively through the International Association of Sufism.
During my sabbatical to finish my doctorate, I moved to Europe. It both allowed me to be nearer to my Middle Eastern connections and seemed more welcoming to the type of multicultural work we were both doing. I enjoyed the change from a bustling Northern California urban environment to the rolling farm fields of Thomas Hardy country in Dorset.
Since March 1999 I've lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, another multicultural arts and music center where I started the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org). My fluency in German and some other European languages also enables me to continue educational exchanges and lectures throughout Europe. In 2004, I co-founded, with Mr. Neill Walker, the Edinbrugh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (www.mesp.org.uk), which annually in March draws thousands of visitors to events across the city. It is supported by the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh. Since 2006, I've been married to Natalia Lapteva, a Russian therapist and coach.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
95 of 100 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hidden Gospel reclaims Jesus from institutional Christianity,
By Rev. Elizabeth A. Reed, Ph.D. (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus (Hardcover)
Scholar and spiritual teacher Neil Douglas-Klotz does a superb job of opening the readers' eyes to see The Hidden Gospel in plain view. Jesus, a Jewish mystic and prophet, has been misunderstood over the centuries by the imposition of layers of Christian dogma and doctrine over his essential message/Truth. Discover that "pray in my name" literally means "pray in/with the same atmosphere and vibration" that you experience with me...NOT that Jesus intended that his literal name would ever be the focus for prayer, not that Jesus intended institutionalization of a new church focusing upon himself. Jesus offered a living path of direct experience of Divine Mystery. Regardless of spiritual background, this book offers a drink from a deep well to those who are thirsty for a enlivened faith in today's world.
72 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Hidden Gospel - a hidden treasure!,
By Susie Jennings (Ft. Myers, FL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus (Hardcover)
This is a fascinating and liberating way of looking into the message of Jesus. Using the middle eastern mindset and historical(Aramaic)perspective, Neil Douglas-Klotz puts forth fresh concepts concerning spirituality. Readers who approach this book as a 'New Age' threat to tradtional Christianity will only shortchange themselves. Anyone truly hungry for spiritual insights will find this book rewarding.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The books is a Hidden Gem,
By Micah D. Smith (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus (Paperback)
After reading this book once, I find myself going back to it almost daily just to feed my soul with the richness of the translation of someone (Jesus) speaking the Truth about what is available for every human being...the Kingdom of God...that is inherant in our being if we only seek it out! You cannot go wrong with this book as it will open the door even wider for you to experience the "Sacred Unity" that the author describes.
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