Rating: 
Summary: Endorsements on the book jacket
Review: "This book compares with the Dead Seal Scrolls and Elaine Pagels' Gnostic Gospels in its revolutionary presentation of Jesus' most beloved utterances--and it goes beyond them in making the material experiential. Here we find a Lord's Prayer and Beatitudes that call even the most agnostic of ecofeminists and deep ecologists to reverence--and to a glad reconnection with forgotten roots of our shared culture. For the many of us who want to peel away centuries of dualistic, patriarchal forms and recover the life-affirming beauty of our Christian roots, nothing could be more welcome than this exquisite little volume. Breath a sigh of relief as you open Prayers of the Cosmos! It is high time we reclaimed the ecstatic love of creation that is at the heart of Jesus' mission and message. --Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self and Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age" Reader beware: this book contains the seeds of a revolution! Prayers of the Cosmos embraces, surprises, grounds, challenges. It opens our hearts to cosmology once again--as Jesus was open to cosmology and all native persons are open to cosmology. It allows the mysticism of our scriptural heritage to move us once again. Maybe even to transform us. It welcome this book and the rich fruit it is sure to bear." --from the Foreward by Matthew Fox, author of Original Blessing and Sheer Joy! "[Prayers of the Cosmos] holds the power to lull the angel with the flaming sword to sleep and sneak us back into paradise..." -physicist/ cosmologist Brian Swimme, author of The Universe is a Green Dragon and The Universe Story "A new world view is emerging today to such an extent that the United Nations has proclaimed 1993 International Year for the World's Indigenous People, not only to defend their rights, but also to listen to their views, so much closer to nature than those of western humanity. Perhaps the time has come to turn similarly to the ancient texts of the world's religions in order ! to determine what their etymology had to say about the early perceptions of the mysteries of Creation and of human meaning and fate on this planet. This book by Neil Douglas-Klotz opens up this new field in which linguists should be given the first voice." --Robert Muller, Chancellor, U.N. University for Peace, Costa Rica "For women who have too long felt the alienation of the western Christian tradition, this work comes as a refreshing source of meditation-it is inclusive and nurturing. My woman-spirit rejoices in Prayers of the Cosmos! For people of all faiths and no faith--it is like mother's milk and father's tenderness to the the children of the earth. -Marlene DeNardo, Eco-Feminist Program Faculty, Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality "This small volume can change our whole manner of praying, and if we allow it, our lives as well." -Creation Spirituality magazine "...holds much joy and insight... will intrigue men interested in mystical poetry and cross-cultural religion." -International Men's Resource Hotline "...versions striking in their boldness and poetry...prayer becomes a fully engaging experience, a seeking of direct personal inspiration..." --New Dimensions "...we learn to feel at the heart level the words and thoughts of Jesus... When you read this book you will have no further doubt that God loves you unconditionally. --Science of Mind "...opens a door of immense size--to invite further entrance into the real teachings of Jesus." --Sufism "...serves to remind us that Jesus is no comfortable figure. This book reinforces that Jesus is not "nice." --Monos "The poet, mystic, cross-culturalists, creation-spirituality-attuned will welcome this work as yet another instrument for recognizing the self-revelation of the Cosmic Christ." --Catholic Times "...a small book of the sort that in the end can provoke great effects" --New Age Retailer
Rating:
Summary: The first, and still the best
Review: As evidenced from the other reviews, many are gravitating to Douglas-Klotz' CLAIM of new revelation found in this and other books and tapes of his. This is certainly not the first time (nor likely the last) that vast numbers of folk will have been taken in by a RE-WRITING of portions of the Bible based upon a pretense of scholarship. What a contemplation! - - - Minds are disposed to find this one man's translation of the Bible more trustworthy than that of Tyndale or that produced by the panel assembled for the King James Version (constituted by MANY linguistic experts in ancient languages with credentials far exceeding and out-weighing that of Douglas-Klotz)! Even Young, Darby, and a host of others having independently corroborated the accuracy of these earlier translations seems to pose little impediment to folk rushing head-long into the offerings of Douglas-Klotz. Few seem even capable of asking the question: "How can I go about assessing whether this author and his linguistic expertise are trustworthy?" After all - a claim has been made of new revelation concerning the very biblical texts that have been deemed by millions over the ages to be crucial to human souls - and yet few indeed seem much interested at all in seeking to apply some basically objective criteria to evaluate such a claim! Before jumping on Douglas-Klotz' band wagon, why don't people feel that there is some questioning in order? But alas, the world (both the academic and the less cerebral) are suffering from a dearth of critical thinking - scurrying in much haste to embrace every new claim of revelation that allows for a willy-nilly concept of God and our position before Him. The Bible's proverb states "there is safety in the multitude of counselors" - and how easily that truth is jettisoned and substituted with one man's claim to accuracy accompanied by what is merely "a multitude of OPINIONS" of his groupies! Of course many such claims and opinions are often fostered by way of a pretense to scholarship, and in this case it can also be supplemented with offers of Aramaic freshly spoken and heard. Most readers of this author's books will have little to no ability in Aramaic or the other languages of antiquity to enable them to assess, but a chance to hear the words spoken (and even sung by the group "Savae") is quite an enticement. In addition, the author sweetens his fare by sprinkling in his alleged insights based upon nuances of culture that are said to have been key influences upon that which was said and written. - - - How sad that so many will embrace the spiritual SPIN on such crucial texts of the Bible largely because it is interlaced with such an intriguing embroidery. Though Douglas-Klotz' "translations" are cloaked with some ability in the Mid-eastern languages, and come under the guise of being the product of linguistic expertise - his renderings of the texts are really nothing more than his personal "interpretations" . . . and skewed ones at that! His renderings mitigate and steal away the profound sense in which a person would have his or her soul laid bare before their Creator, and enabled to see God's provision for their need of redemption. However, the full context of Jesus' teaching (as well as the full thrust of the Bible in its entirety) steadfastly points to and emphasizes mankind's spiritually bankrupt condition and how we are all in need of God's salvation that is found ONLY in Jesus - God's Anointed Son and in His atoning death. It is unmistakable that the author's New Age slant looks to obviate this great truth. It's clear to me as of I've read the reviews of others, just how winsome they find this counterfeit and how willing they are to embrace it. (That is understandable since it leaves open, meshes with, promotes, and affords the widest path possible for accommodating all the varied opinions over what constitutes spiritual truth.) This so falls in line with the Bible's explanation as to REALLY why the gospel is HIDDEN to so many: It is hidden to those whose hearts remain closed to God and what He genuinely declares (see Matthew 13:10-16; 1 Cor.2:6-8; 2 Cor.3:14, & 2 Cor.4:3-4). Such intellectual fabrications as those put forth by Douglas-Klotz will undoubtedly continue. The only effective antidote for being duped by them will be a changed state of heart that results from a genuine touch by God that brings a TRUE revelation of who Jesus really was and is, and what His words really signify. Others will have their minds blinded as a consequence of their own hearts persisting in an unredeemed state . . .
Rating: 
Summary: Sham and Shaman - words that are related?
Review: As evidenced from the other reviews, many are gravitating to Douglas-Klotz' CLAIM of new revelation found in this and other books and tapes of his. This is certainly not the first time (nor likely the last) that vast numbers of folk will have been taken in by a RE-WRITING of portions of the Bible based upon a pretense of scholarship. What a contemplation! - - - Minds are disposed to find this one man's translation of the Bible more trustworthy than that of Tyndale or that produced by the panel assembled for the King James Version (constituted by MANY linguistic experts in ancient languages with credentials far exceeding and out-weighing that of Douglas-Klotz)! Even Young, Darby, and a host of others having independently corroborated the accuracy of these earlier translations seems to pose little impediment to folk rushing head-long into the offerings of Douglas-Klotz. Few seem even capable of asking the question: "How can I go about assessing whether this author and his linguistic expertise are trustworthy?" After all - a claim has been made of new revelation concerning the very biblical texts that have been deemed by millions over the ages to be crucial to human souls - and yet few indeed seem much interested at all in seeking to apply some basically objective criteria to evaluate such a claim! Before jumping on Douglas-Klotz' band wagon, why don't people feel that there is some questioning in order? But alas, the world (both the academic and the less cerebral) are suffering from a dearth of critical thinking - scurrying in much haste to embrace every new claim of revelation that allows for a willy-nilly concept of God and our position before Him. The Bible's proverb states "there is safety in the multitude of counselors" - and how easily that truth is jettisoned and substituted with one man's claim to accuracy accompanied by what is merely "a multitude of OPINIONS" of his groupies! Of course many such claims and opinions are often fostered by way of a pretense to scholarship, and in this case it can also be supplemented with offers of Aramaic freshly spoken and heard. Most readers of this author's books will have little to no ability in Aramaic or the other languages of antiquity to enable them to assess, but a chance to hear the words spoken (and even sung by the group "Savae") is quite an enticement. In addition, the author sweetens his fare by sprinkling in his alleged insights based upon nuances of culture that are said to have been key influences upon that which was said and written. - - - How sad that so many will embrace the spiritual SPIN on such crucial texts of the Bible largely because it is interlaced with such an intriguing embroidery. Though Douglas-Klotz' "translations" are cloaked with some ability in the Mid-eastern languages, and come under the guise of being the product of linguistic expertise - his renderings of the texts are really nothing more than his personal "interpretations" . . . and skewed ones at that! His renderings mitigate and steal away the profound sense in which a person would have his or her soul laid bare before their Creator, and enabled to see God's provision for their need of redemption. However, the full context of Jesus' teaching (as well as the full thrust of the Bible in its entirety) steadfastly points to and emphasizes mankind's spiritually bankrupt condition and how we are all in need of God's salvation that is found ONLY in Jesus - God's Anointed Son and in His atoning death. It is unmistakable that the author's New Age slant looks to obviate this great truth. It's clear to me as of I've read the reviews of others, just how winsome they find this counterfeit and how willing they are to embrace it. (That is understandable since it leaves open, meshes with, promotes, and affords the widest path possible for accommodating all the varied opinions over what constitutes spiritual truth.) This so falls in line with the Bible's explanation as to REALLY why the gospel is HIDDEN to so many: It is hidden to those whose hearts remain closed to God and what He genuinely declares (see Matthew 13:10-16; 1 Cor.2:6-8; 2 Cor.3:14, & 2 Cor.4:3-4). Such intellectual fabrications as those put forth by Douglas-Klotz will undoubtedly continue. The only effective antidote for being duped by them will be a changed state of heart that results from a genuine touch by God that brings a TRUE revelation of who Jesus really was and is, and what His words really signify. Others will have their minds blinded as a consequence of their own hearts persisting in an unredeemed state . . .
Rating:
Summary: Little Real Insight - Few Apply to Jesus or Christianity
Review: At one time in my *very* early studies of the Aramaic Jesus, I thought a lot of this book. However, the more I learned, the less value I saw in this book. It's a shallow, "experiential" (i.e. breathing, dancing and drumming) approach to Jesus, Aramaic and Christianity, all run through the rather thick filter of the author's own Sufi leanings. As such, it is highly suspect, except to the non-discerning student of Aramaic and Christianity. If you like inane New Age fluff like Celestine Prophecy or Conversations with God, you'll no doubt find this book very "deep" and meaningful. But if you are a student of early Christianity, the historical Jesus work, and the Bible, or even if you consider yourself a serious Christian mystic, this book will be of little more value to you than a bad comic book. Look instead to the old, out-of-print Lamsa books for somewhat better (and more Christian-oriented) Aramaic insights, or if you want something really meaty and scholarly, try ordering Matthew Black's _Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and the Acts_ if Amazon has it. But worst of all, the Aramaic lettering on the cover of the paperback edition pictured here - was printed BACKWARDS by the book's publisher! Nice going, Harper San Francisco...
Rating: 
Summary: Author's insights into Jesus' words help us find our own
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: re-examination
Review: I believe the value of this little book has been overlooked by some of the more "academic" reviewers. Mr. Douglas-Klotz presents a very fresh perspective from which to view the original words of Jesus, one far more in touch with the living reality of Eastern spitiual practice and teachings than those of conservative Westerners. Aside from the fact that Biblical transaltors have repeatedly re-interpreted or deliberately misinterpreted "the Word", this book presents translative techniques that bring one in touch with the beauty and majesty of Arabic languages. Our use of English is so very limited, while the average Arabic in his native tongue is much more colorful, utilizing a language much more full of nuance and metaphor than the average Westerner even thinks about. Along with the his meditative techniques, which are valid practices taught in the early church itself, the reader cannot help but come to a new point of understanding the possible deeper meanings of Christ's message. One would do well to remember that the Christ did not appear to start a religion, but to remind us all of our true connection to Divinity. To insist on traditional interpretation misses the entire point of this work.
Rating:
Summary: re-examination
Review: I believe the value of this little book has been overlooked by some of the more "academic" reviewers. Mr. Douglas-Klotz presents a very fresh perspective from which to view the original words of Jesus, one far more in touch with the living reality of Eastern spitiual practice and teachings than those of conservative Westerners. Aside from the fact that Biblical transaltors have repeatedly re-interpreted or deliberately misinterpreted "the Word", this book presents translative techniques that bring one in touch with the beauty and majesty of Arabic languages. Our use of English is so very limited, while the average Arabic in his native tongue is much more colorful, utilizing a language much more full of nuance and metaphor than the average Westerner even thinks about. Along with the his meditative techniques, which are valid practices taught in the early church itself, the reader cannot help but come to a new point of understanding the possible deeper meanings of Christ's message. One would do well to remember that the Christ did not appear to start a religion, but to remind us all of our true connection to Divinity. To insist on traditional interpretation misses the entire point of this work.
Rating:
Summary: The first, and still the best
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Help for the Journey
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: A familiar prayer takes on --and gives-- new life!
Review: 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.
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