The Original Wisdom Of Jesus As Spoken In His Native Aramaic

The words of Jesus that are most often quoted are drawn from the King James version of the Bible. The New Testament was compiled some 200 years after he passed and it was written in Greek, a language he did not speak. Jesus originally spoke Aramaic and in this deep dialogue we’ll be looking at the living wisdom he imparted as it applies to us today through his native language. For example, Klotz’s extensive research reveals the Aramaic word Aboon, translated from Greek to English as God or Father, which in Aramaic refers to the breathing life of all, the fathering/mothering of the cosmos. Another example of the Aramaic translation is one of the Beatitudes, “Blessed the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” is expanded to the richness of: “Blessed ripening into life and its empowerment moves toward those who cling to their breathing as their first and last possession. Riper are those who dissolve their small selves within breath, they live in their shimmering “I can” of nature in the cosmos.” This deep dialogue enlivens the works and words of Jesus to higher levels of inspiration and understanding so needed in these threshold times. Klotz helps us to see the moving nature and luminosity of the teachings of Jesus that are present within us, within our very breath every day. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Neil Douglas-Klotz, Ph.D. is a teacher, scholar, author, and musician, specializing in the native traditions and the translation and interpretation of the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. His scholarship connects religious studies and psychology. He’s past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and is active in various international conferences dedicated to peace and spirituality. For more than 40 years he has followed the Sufi path and was a student of the Sufi Murshid Moineddin Jablonski (d.2001 and serves on the advisory board of the International Association of Sufism.

 


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