Customer Reviews

Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first purchased a copy of this book when was originally released in 1990/1991. Something about the cover caught my attention. After the first page, I fully agreed with the intro: "In your hands lies a revolution..."

Fourteen years later, I am still learning from this little paperback and have puchased and given as gifts several dozen copies.

I have read through some of the other books ("Setting A Trap for God," etc.), but in my mind, "Prayers of the Cosmos" is still the best. It is simple, direct, and free of the trappings of ego that seem to permeate so many of the other books.

My only "complaint" is that the prayers aren't available in CD, only audio cassette.

Not being an Aramaic scholar, I cannot really comment on the alternative shades of meaning and translations contained in this book, but I can, without reservation, say reading through these words and using the body prayers makes my heart sing. After many months I go back again and again to this book when I want more expansive material for meditations. Expansive, yeah, that's exactly what it is!

One reviewer found the difference between the King James version translation and this one disturbing - well yes. That may be the point. This very small book explains how this translation was done - looking at not just literal translation but other layers of meaning. Our Sunday study group (some Christian, many not) found it deeply inspiring and enriching. It brings into sharp focus the patriarchal, hierarchical mindset of King James' translators. They were a product of their times and of whatever political pressure may have been brought to bear upon them. This book does much to expand our understanding and to expand the accessibility and usefulness of the newly translated material

Jesus' Prayer is so very familiar that it can become 'fixed' in our minds and hearts -- our old meanings, images and feelings might be rich, but may also limit the possibilities of the Spirit's ever creative prayer in us. The original Aramaic words of Jesus, and the poetry and commentaries in this book, help Jesus to "teach us to pray" anew, with fresh associations to every word. The author gives us access to a sweetness and power of this prayer that is truly too deep for words.

In my search for the wisdom of the ancients, I have been acutely aware that we do not many original texts of Jesus' words. Klotz' translation comes so much closer to the storytelling techniques of the Middle East, that it is hard to escape the idea that this is truly how the Master sounded when he taught in person. Now we can begin to recognize the Beattitudes as the bones of the path we are to walk

Enjoyable, valuable and fascinating but I agree with other reviewers that the translation technique is flawed. In the author's own explanations of his technique, he reveals unsupportable leaps of logic. He infers too much and turns a word or two into multiple lines. He goes beyond translation and extrapolates according to his own values and philosophy. Still, he allows us to hear Jesus' words in a way that breaks through the icy formalism of King James' English. He helps us hear a voice that was much more powerful and emotionally rich than the one revealed in the version with which we are so familiar. I think that the value of this work comes in condensing it's emotional, non-verbal essence for use as a background for the words. Then, recognizing that there are some specific inaccurate shades of meaning in some of the words, we can continue to use the traditional translations in a new context: with a new depth of feeling and with joy and respect for the nuances of the original meaning.

I feel blessed to have purchased this book. For most of my life I have been a member of a conservative Protestant church where Jesus was so high above me, I seemed unable to feel a connection. However, about five years ago, I began to read scholarly books and attend lectures about the man Jesus and have gotten a much clearer picture of him and his life. This little book by Neil Douglas Klotz is a great follow up and one I think anyone could understand. Klotz shows how important it is to know the language the historical Jesus spoke and gives a rich and highly spiritual translation of the Lord's Prayer, the Beautitudes, and a few other sayings of Jesus from the Aramaic, which was the native language that this native Jewish rabbi spoke.

This book brought some clarity for me about the "Lords Prayer" and "The Beattitudes". It has made is easier to apply these "teachings" to my everyday life. I now have a deeper understanding of what Jesus was trying to say.

The Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes (from the Sermon on the Mount) are retranslated using imagery that evokes new ways of looking at an ancient prayer. It's a blueprint for living in harmony with our universal destiny. If you have been raised Christian and have recited this prayer many times in your life, it will never sound the same - It has changed my life and I predict will change yours too. There are many study circles throughout the world devoted to the study of this book. The entire prayer and most of the beatitudes are also set to music and can be chanted as well as danced in the form of group sacred circle dances. Check out Desert Flowers web page.

This book brought a living prayer into my life. For me, as for other Christians I have met, the mere sound of the words of Jesus whispered prayerfully in his original tongue, bring tears to the eyes, beauty and majestic gentleness to the soul. Healing power flows through what the author calls body prayers, and all the words of Christ take on new personal meaning as one begins to embody and objectify the spiritual essence of personal relationship. I carry this book with me whereever I go and have found the miracle of communion which is my company. One never walks alone