(From [www.essene.com])

And [the Essene] Jesus continued: "God commanded your forefathers: 'Thou shalt not kill.' But their heart was hardened and they killed. Then Moses desired that at least they should not kill men, and he suffered them to kill beasts. And then the heart of your forefathers was hardened yet more, and they killed men and beasts likewise. But I do say to you: Kill neither men, nor beasts, nor yet the food which goes into your mouth. For if you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. For life comes only from life, and from death comes always death. For everything which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. And everything which kills your bodies kills your souls also. And your bodies become what your foods are, even as your spirits, likewise, become what your thoughts are. Therefore, eat not anything which fire, or frost, or water has destroyed. For burned, frozen and rotted foods will burn, freeze and rot your body also. Be not like the foolish husbandman who sowed in his ground cooked, and frozen, and rotten seeds. And the autumn came, and his fields bore nothing. And great was his distress. But be like that husbandman who sowed in his field living seed, and whose field bore living ears of wheat, paying a hundredfold for the seeds which he planted. For I tell you truly, live only by the fire of life, and prepare not your foods with the fire of death, which kills your foods, your bodies and your souls also."

I've been reading a little bit of The Essene Gospel of Peace each morning for the past two years. Best book of dietary instruction there is (and of course a lot more besides diet). Can be purchased for next to nothing on Amazon.

this is really inspirational! i read this outloud to my bf and he was so impatient. (he is not raw) anyways, i love that you posted this. i love animals and feel that we should not kill them for food either. this makes perfect and total sense. thanks so much for sharing!!!!!!

Jesus was not a vegan or an Essene. Anyone who read the Bible can clearly see this. The Essene Gospel of Peace is a fiction book. It is supposed to be based on the Dead sea scroll but anyone who has read the scroll can see how the author has twisted the book around to fit his beliefs. The real dead sea scrolls just about exactly the same as the old testament of the Bible.

Paul Nison Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Essene Gospel of Peace is a fiction book. It is supposed
> to be based on the Dead sea scroll but anyone who
> has read the scroll can see how the author has
> twisted the book around to fit his beliefs. The
> real dead sea scrolls just about exactly the same
> as the old testament of the Bible.

Paul, I strongly disagree with you and could cite articles demonstrating otherwise, however this thread is not intended to be a debate on the validity of Christianity.

> Jesus was not a vegan or an Essene. Anyone who
> read the Bible can clearly see this...

..because he ate a fish? Did he really eat a literal fish when appearing to
the twelve after the resurrection? It would not have been the same if Jesus
had eaten bread or had wine or water, so tied to symbolism as they were. The
eating of the "fish" was a first for Jesus and helped prove that Jesus had
risen in the flesh. And the Greek word for fish may have been a factor in the
choosing of a fish and in subsequent Christian symbology.



[search.aol.com]

Unfortunately, the Essene gospels are basically a retread of the OT, with some weird nondoctrinal deviations. The "Essene Gospel of Peace," though a good philosophy, isn't really theological. And to debate whether Jesus was or wasn't an Essene[it is obvious from the canonical gospels that at least the evangelists were familiar with Essene doctrine] is pointless--no one knows and it doesn't matter anyway.

I was recently reading a long, long, adver-treatise by a Korean Baptist pastor in the local free weekly here in the D. Odd to see religious discourse toward the back, amid the "masseuse & escort" pages, so to speak. I stopped to read it and I was intrigued. The pastor reminded his readers that the Garden of Paradise was a vegan kingdom, the lion lay down with the lamb, you know, and that this changed with Adam and Eve's sin. The exact moment was when, after their transgression caused them to cover themselves shamedly with fig leaves upon realizing they were naked, they found the leaves withering and insufficient to cover them up. Whereupon God smote a blameless animal in order for the humiliated pair to fashion themselves a permanent concealment of their nakedness with its hide, something that wouldn't wither and leave them exposed. According to the pastor, God must have been very displeased with this, having to murder a creature of his making to clothe another. Adam and Eve are made to understand that their sin has required the sacrifice of an innocent creature[reiterated in the sacrifice of Jesus] and that this is the true burden they and their descendants will carry: they have introduced destruction into the peaceful world. It was very interesting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 03:50AM by Tamukha.

The following bombshell article appeared in the Sunday Times UK (a major British newspaper) on November 7, 1999.

Mundus vult decipi; ergo decipiatur.

--------------------------------

"Scroll Names Jesus As Sect Member"
Sunday Times UK
Nov. 7, 1999

Since their discovery almost half a century ago, the Dead Sea scrolls have fascinated biblical scholars. The mystery surrounding them has deepened, however, with claims that a hitherto unknown scroll, which threatens to challenge the originality of Christian theology, was spirited out of the Holy Land and ended up in the hands of Benedictine monks, who tried to suppress its contents. According to a bizarre tale that has unfolded over the past few weeks in Israel, the so-called Angel scroll was found by a Bedouin tribesman in Jordan in the late 1960s on the eastern shore opposite the Qumran caves, where the Dead Sea scrolls made famous by the late Professor Yigael Yadin were discovered in ancient pottery jars several years earlier. The Bedouin is then said to have sold it to an antiquities dealer in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

As news of the find circulated, scholars began frantic talks to buy the scroll through an intermediary, an international arms dealer identified only as Ziyad H. It was then that a German Benedictine monk - named as Matheus Gunther, which is believed to be a pseudonym - became involved. Armed with huge sums of Benedictine money, he allegedly negotiated for a year and was finally allowed a 3mm fragment of the scroll. Finally, in 1981, the deal was completed and the scroll, bearing 1,000 lines of mixed text, was smuggled out of Jordan to a Benedictine monastery somewhere near the German-Austrian border, to be studied by a team of monks who had taken a vow of silence.

Gunther died in 1996, but is said to have bequeathed his notes and a copy of the text to an Israeli friend known as Steve Daniels. For the past three years, Daniels has been allegedly preparing it for publication, together with two other Israelis who knew the monk. According to the two Israelis - one of whom spoke to The Sunday Times on condition of anonymity - the text contradicts the official origins of Christianity and is so explosive that church authorities decided to suppress it. Gunther could not bear to see it left mouldering in the vaults, they claimed, and he decided that his vow of silence should be broken after his death.

"I saw in this scroll the crowning achievement of my scholarly work and of my religious mission," the monk wrote in his notes, some of which were shown to the Jerusalem Report, a leading Israeli news magazine. "I promised that I would not carry to my grave the secrets of this remarkable scroll." The text, said to have been carbon-dated to the 1st century, supposedly describes a religious vision experienced at Ein Elgatain, a desert encampment on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, by Yeshua ben Padiah, who was taken by an angel, Panameia, through the gates of a palace and into the heavens. Yeshua is Hebrew for Jesus.

It is said to mirror the teachings of Jesus to such an extent that it calls their originality into question. Many of the ideas described in the scroll imply that Jesus was heavily influenced by, or even a member of, the Essenes sect widely credited with writing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Scholars who have studied excerpts from a computerised transcript are divided over the text's authenticity, however, to give a definitive answer, they say they must first see the original - or at least a photograph.

"If it is the real thing, we'll be talking about something phenomenally important to understanding the background of Christianity and Jewish mysticism," said Professor Stephen Pfann of the University of the Holy Land, an expert on the scrolls. "I haven't yet seen anything that discredits it in such a way that I would put it outside the realms of possibility." Pfann, who has translated some of the text into English, said that Yeshua's vision contained many concepts similar to the other Dead Sea scrolls. It is dated some 100 years later, however, indicating it was written during, or shortly after, Jesus's lifetime.

Many scholars are still unconvinced. "The text itself is very queer. There is Hebrew with Aramaic words," said Magen Broshi, former curator of the Jerusalem museum that holds the Dead Sea scrolls. "The whole thing is so strange and I think, if I were about to commit a forgery, this is what I would have done."

Another problem authenticating the story has been tracing Gunther's origins. Father Bargil Pixner, a Benedictine monk and scholar in Israel, said he never knew of any such monk and was "very sceptical" about the story.

In favour of the monk's account, however, is the supposed content of the Angel Scroll. The text is said to contain embalming recipes for resurrection and the use of herbs and stones for healing, practices attributed to the Essenes by the Jewish historian Josephus. Other phrases often associated with the mystic sect recur in the scroll, such as the "children of light", a term used by the Essenes for those endowed with the power of God, and the contrasting "children of darkness".

It also uses the word "EL" for God, and Pfann has said grammar and spellings throughout the text are similar to those in the acknowledged Dead Sea scrolls. He said he had even found a complete phrase in the Angel scroll that he had been trying to reconstruct for years from other documents. "This new discovery may well prove to be an important witness or missing link to the connection between Qumran, early Christianity and early Judaism during the 1st century," Pfann concluded.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 04:16AM by Omega.

Paul Nison Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jesus was not a vegan or an Essene. Anyone who
> read the Bible can clearly see this.

Are you talking about the Bible which was edited in 325AD by King Constantine?

I'm with Omega, and tropical....

And, yes, I've read the Bible, in detail, in a previous life.

What I'd suggest is people buy it, and see if there is one thing in the book that doesn't ring true.

Oh, and by the way, anyone who thinks the Essene Gospel of Peace advocates a vegan diet obviously hasn't read it.

Vegetarian, not vegan.

Oh, and one more edit :-) It says milk is a good food for man, BUT firstly doesn't say we HAVE to drink it, and secondly, don't think the teacher would have had in mind animals attached to milking machines, with the males destined for slaughter, etc.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 10:24AM by debbietook.

debbietook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm with Omega, and tropical....
>
> And, yes, I've read the Bible, in detail, in a
> previous life.
>
> What I'd suggest is people buy it, and see if
> there is one thing in the book that doesn't ring
> true.

Do you mean the Essene Gospel of Peace? (It sounds like you meant the Bible.)

debbietook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm with Omega, and tropical....
>
> And, yes, I've read the Bible, in detail, in a
> previous life.
>
> What I'd suggest is people buy it, and see if
> there is one thing in the book that doesn't ring
> true.
>
> Oh, and by the way, anyone who thinks the Essene
> Gospel of Peace advocates a vegan diet obviously
> hasn't read it.
>
> Vegetarian, not vegan.
>
> Oh, and one more edit :-) It says milk is a good
> food for man, BUT firstly doesn't say we HAVE to
> drink it, and secondly, don't think the teacher
> would have had in mind animals attached to milking
> machines, with the males destined for slaughter,
> etc.

Yes, I've read the bible and parts of the Essene Books. Does anyone's reading show conclusively whether Jesus himself was a vegetarian or vegan, i.e. did he eat fish in the literal sense on a regular basis?

Sorry, Omega - yes, I meant the EGOP.

Omega,

The main problem with the fascinating news article you posted, besides the fact that it sounds like a Dan Brown book, is that the people interviewed are apparently forgetting that no one has ever categorically confirmed that the Evangelists' accounts of Jesus are accurate and authentic, and that they quote Jesus verbatim. It's the province of faith and belief. The Evangelists(whoever they were) may have been influenced by the Essenes, but the trail stops cold there(wherever there was). I think Jesus would've been referred to as Yeshua hal Nostri, anyway.

loeve,

No, nowhere in the Gospels[I attended Lutheran gradeschools and I know my Gospels, boy!], nor in the so called heretical gospels, as far as I can recall, is Jesus described as a vegetarian. Maybe culturally he would've been a pescatarian?

> No, nowhere in the Gospels, nor in the so called
> heretical gospels, as far as I can recall, is
> Jesus described as a vegetarian. Maybe culturally
> he would've been a pescatarian?

I'm not quite sure how to take that scene in the gospels where Jesus has just risen from the dead and invites (doubting) Thomas to but a finger in his wounds to test whether He is real, and then eats a fish as if to further prove He is a living breathing human being. There are plenty of instances where Jesus is around fish, and even multiplies them for the masses (loaves and fishes), but none where Jesus is seen actually eating anything but vegan food anywhere in the Bible that I know of until that last scene which puzzles me -- the fish may be a symbol of spiritual 'food' for many or rising from the tomb more than a dietary statement.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 02:25PM by loeve.

Tamukha,

For me, the point of the article is that it validates and confirms the life's work of Edmund Bordeaux Szekely -- the REAL Robert Langdon.

Utopian Life,

Fair enough!

loeve,

If you were a Galilean and people thought you had died, but then you came back, would you not sit down to the common repast--fish--to prove your non-paranormal aliveness?

> If you were a Galilean and people thought you had
> died, but then you came back, would you not sit
> down to the common repast--fish--to prove your
> non-paranormal aliveness?

Jesus was fond of bread which he ate often. When he was hungry on the road he ate clusters of wheat berries, but never fish till risen from the dead. I think maybe the disciples fell into old habits fishermen as they were, or maybe Jesus was just being polite. The Gospels do not pretend to be literal so who knows..

..speaking of notable foods of Jesus, it was not just bread but tender grass as explained in Book 4 of the EGOP:

"The Earthly Mother is she who provides for our bodies, for we are born of her, and have our life in her. So does she provide for us food in the very blades of grass we touch with our hands. For I tell you truly, it is not only as bread that wheat may nourish us. We may eat also of the tender blades of grass, that the strength of the Earthly Mother may enter into us. But chew well the blades, for the Son of Man has teeth unlike those of the beasts, and only when we chew well the blades of grass can the angel of Water enter our blood and give us strength. Eat, then, Sons of Light, of this most perfect herb from the table of our Earthly Mother, that your days may be long upon the earth, for such finds favor in the eyes of God."

[www.essene.com]

one of the problems we face here is the abundence of information which seems almost limitless in our modern age. sooner or later any one diligently searching can find an opinionated or otherwise contradictory statement for any information regardless of the subject.

i have often wondered about szekely and his books (which are btw: far more numerous than the available sources of original information on the subject of the essenes which could ever be verifiable as being evan close to authentic) ...and i was forced to conclude, despite my intense hunger for more info on the essenses, that much of what he offers is based on his fiction and or his opinion. at that point i bgan to notice the nearly unmistakable cult-like character of his "whole thing" regarding the essenes at which point i separated my self from all aspects of his subjective presentation of information on the subject of the essenes.

very little is known about essenes... evan with the discovery of the dead sea scrolls. szekely is in my opion not a credible source. evan though the essene gospel of peace shares some very interesting and useful ideas ...it must not be confused or mistaken with the historical essenes. he certainly has been able to gather quite a bit of attention to his opinions by associating them with the essenes ...i find this to be somewhat discrediting to his seemingly "pure" motives.

in the days before mass transportation of foodstuff and refrigeration, "regional diet and eating" was the rule. basically that means look around the area where you live and take notice as to what GOD has provided to the peoples of your area for food. there you have a good start in figuring out what you might consider for your food.

the main idea that JESUS tried to get across was THE KINGDOM OF HEAVAN and that it was found within us not externally to us. in my humble opinion this one idea is enough to keep any true seeker busy for a long long time.

jj

Shortcut to the truth:

Read a variety of near-death experience accounts, from people of all religions and no religion.

Then read the Essene Gospel of Peace Book I, which was first published 50 years before the NDE became a part of popular culture.

They are perfectly congruent.

However, I'm not here to convince anybody who has a different belief system.

(Note: for those with resentments towards religion or Christianity, the Essene master in the Essene Gospel of Peace, Book I is NOT the Christian figure of the same name.)

Omega,

I think the point of those in disagreement with whatever, myself included, is not to discredit Christianity; I cannot imagine joewood doing that! It's to say that "The Essene Gospel of Peace" is not theologically related to the actual Essene Gospels, and should never have been represented as such. Szekely's work possesses merits of its own as a work of philosophy.

I do think Jesus was a pescatarian, loeve, because it would've been the cultural norm. I would prefer not to think so, as The Enlightened Ones, no matter who They may be, ought to respect the sanctity of all life and refrain from treating any living being as a commodity. But people are paradoxes, ain't they?

Edmund Szekely partnered with Nobel prize winning novelist, Romain Roland after Szekely's translations, so he was in good company. The Gospels read authentic enough for me, and have been neither confirmed nor denied by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which to me is a live and let live position.



Romain Rolland with Gandhi [en.wikipedia.org]

John the Baptist, living in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey, preached the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt:3). All those generations ago it came to pass.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2009 07:46PM by loeve.

Some believe that 'locusts' was actually carob (known as the 'locust-tree').

debbie,

That's a great argument, as wild honey mixed with carob would make a very sustaining food. Also, that would explain his, um, manias.

loeve,

I'm pretty sure that the Roman Catholic Church has always suppressed the Essene gospels, as I have never encountered a Catholic theologian familiar with them from seminary instruction. The heretical gospels of Nag Hammadi are studied in some Protestant seminaries. I am going to ask my family's bishop[Eastern Orthodox] about these; he's the smartest theologian I've ever heard.

evan the least in the KINGDOM OF HEAVAN is greater than john....but of those born of woman none is greater than he... to paraphrase JESUS.

JESUS also pointed out that it is not as important what goes into a persons mouth but what comes out of it. this is also confirmed in the book of james where he describes the wicked manifestations possible for the tongue of man.

the essenes were basically a group of very spiritually committed people who loved GOD and were fed up with the existing establisment of phairasees and saducees and the idolotrous behaviors which were taking place ever since the reign of king soloman.

in the time of JESUS the temple at jerusalem had been turned into a bloody butcher shop. many of the earlier prophets cited the corruptness of this situation and JESUS spoke out vehemently against it. the essenes were as far removed from all this as they possibly could get. there were several diverse groups and sects of essenes living throughout the holy land evan as far as alexandria in egypt.

i recently discovered that a northern group of essenes lived on mt. carmel not far from where JESUS was raised. there is some speculation that JESUS may have been in contact with them and received some teaching there. this may very well also be the same "school of prophets" associated with ELIJAH since the history of this group of essenes goes back before 800 b.c.

literally speaking there was no where else to go to escape the disgusting spiritual and political corruption of the era of judaic history. popular consenses indicates that most essenes were vegetarian and rightfully so since the book of genesis verse 29 specifies that GOD originally gave to man all seed bearing plants that are upon the whole earth and all trees with seed bearing fruit to be man's food. permission to eat meat only came after NOAH and this was because GOD was done striving with man on this issue of killing animals for meat.

also note that manna from heavan was the first food(vegetarian) in the wilderness after leaving pharoah's egypt and only after their continuous complaining did the meat of quails rain down on them ...and such was also the cause of sickness and plague amoungst them.

JESUS arrives on the scene just prior to fall of jerusalem and destruction of the temple which came under titus in 70 a.d.

I really like the recipe for the raw sprouted bread. And I loved the way the recipe was written. So beautiful.

Whatever the origin of the Essene Gospel of Peace, the bread recipe is most likely ancient. Why not? Seems like a very practical way to make the "daily bread", without the use of cooking fuels. I felt there was something inspiring and wonderful about making raw bread from an ancient recipe. And it tastes great.

The Asinine Jesus: eated fooded, for the carpinthe of live had suttered inself.

Suncloud and others,

you may be interested in my 'How to Make Essene Bread', (with pics!), based on the instructions in the Essene Gospel of Peace.

[debbietookrawforlife.blogspot.com]

debbie -- Interesting article, I especially liked the part about the Essenes being ancient raw fooders.