The Lord’s Prayer… translated below from Aramaic directly into English rather than from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English. While most of us are used to the King James version, I like this one because it speaks more closely to the universal God acting through us as active prayer and meditation.
(As we read becoming enmeshed with the words as they are meant to simply flow through us).
The Lord’s Prayer
O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration,
soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide.
Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.
Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.
Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.
For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth, power, and fulfilment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.
And So, It Is!
Or to the Buddhist sutras (prayers) that reside inside the turning wheel that are released to the ethos, to the betterment of the world with each spinning.
Or to what Tolstoy and Gandhi taught us about the words of a living God from within us.
Lots of people, do not understand that the goal of a modern mystic is not only to get back to the original meaning of text written in the past, but to expound upon a text in ways that are not literal (simply at face value). Of updating and to go beyond the original words as a kind of meditation, to what can be called a “wordless experience”.
What is the feeling that the sounds of the words evoke, and how do we respond and act responsibly to this understanding? Holding these thoughts inside us and coming to new conclusions that fit the times.
This best explains my own reach, writing, and ultimate goal. On a personal level, this idea has permeated my writing for thirty years, especially with Taoism and Lao, Chuang, and Lieh Tzu.
Bringing ancient thought and words to a more current understanding and blending them with how they might be interpreted today.
Often to expand upon a spiritual radiance found in all things we see in nature… thus becoming illuminated by the experience ourselves.
The Lord’s Prayer above is meant to be a spiritual guide to take us there in unison with wisdom that is to define us as all we have or are with our innate senses; to hear, see, smell, taste, and touch. And to all we have ever known.
As a prompt to growth and change and the eternal, as we in-turn find and follow the role we are here to play. When we do, our connections to the universe find and acknowledge us too. Sometimes coming as small calming voices that we hear when we are listening…
To grow into a non-exclusiveness that celebrates the diversity of life and nature with a responsibility to all things found under heaven. As we aid and allow others to do the same.
To a mindfulness that we each are to find comfort in that which takes us to our highest endeavor and destiny.
To a presence and creativity that are meant to enable and take each thing found under heaven to grow and flourish guided by its own innate virtue.
To the place that our awareness is illuminated in the present moment. That what is to make us whole, lives within us.
Reflecting our living traditions and conscious connections with our origins. To not be opposed to change as the nature of all life. That we are here to learn to appreciate the true meaning of the teachings and symbols of the past.
Even to begin to see our own lives as a pilgrimage of faith and to follow teachings we have learned to adhere to for ourselves that can be passed on in unity with the structure and virtue of our cosmic and global community.
Often illustrated as the Tree of Life. The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world’s mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions.
I also consider traditional Buddhist teachings below as a starting point to consider. This could be from any number of religious teachings.
The Four Reliance’s:
First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words.
Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher.
Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation.
And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.
Perhaps this is why we are sometimes met with resistance in our endeavors… as we transform into an instrument creating something distinct and eternal. Even to what may be seen or considered as “the living tradition of what defines us as a people, country and world.”
Just who are we and more importantly who we are to become when our endeavors match that of the cosmos.
Simply found to be in rhythm with the dance or wind that brought us here and with whom we will return.
Because there is a much bigger role we are here to play. With the arena we sometimes find ourselves in too limiting not matching abilities we are here to convey and perform. Staying within ourselves meaning not to be distracted by those things not tied to our highest endeavors. Our role meant to be much bigger than to be limited by self-doubt.
Seeing our lives as a steppingstone on a much greater journey.
Why I so much like the Aramaic version of the historic Lord’s Prayer above and the goal of a modern-day mystic. As we come full circle once again.
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