Guest guest Posted October 23, 2002 Report Share Posted October 23, 2002 > "> The Gnostics were the desert Ascetics who LIVED like Jesus > said > > to live, in the desert wandering and meditating. " > > Did Jesus REALLY say we should live like that? he who would follow me, take up your cross etc. So no, not actually so bluntly, i think he recognized that not all people were made for the priesthood or to be wandering mystics like himself and his diciples, but this is the life the most favored prophets in the bible lived, not to mention in every other culture throughout the world(that i'm aware of, no exception). he did multiple times refer to leaving family life and following after him, separating oneself from their parents and family to follow him and wander through the desert, but then that is ONLY if you wanted to really Follow Jesus and his teachings...the Nazars(remember Jesus is called a Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth) were desert wanderers, much like the Beduin desert peoples today(who prefer living as Abraham did) Someone who takes a Vow to be a Nazar now in Judaism wanders and seeks seclusion, and can rejoin society, but for however long the vow lasts they disconnect themselves from society so that they can get closer to God, kinda like a Vision Quest in Native American culture, and others. someone in ancient times who took the vow of a Nazar, wouldn't cut their nails or Hair or beard etc. and basically they would renounce living the urban life for closeness with 'God'. This is Mirrored in Hindu Culture where Sadhus(wandering monastics) are see performing deep meditation techniques designed to move them beyond absorbtion in the physical body and consequintly the physical world, some take this to extremes called 'Tapas'-literally burning(the idea of burning away ones' sins through devotion to God). This form of devotion is called Tapasya and it's root 'Tap' is shared in Aramaic(same letters as Hebrew, in fact where Hebrew came from, the Canaanites/Phoenicians), meaning to Burn, sometimes associated to ovens, now did the Aramaic come from the Sanskrit or the Sanskrit come from the Aramaic? who knows? it is known that the Indo-Aryans and Sanskrit shares language simility with Greek, and the Greeks adapted their Aleph-bet from Aramaic/Phoenician, but it doesn't prove that the other side of the equation in the East did the same, in fact it is quite different in form. This 'Tap' is associated with Sacrificial practices in the Caananite culture, possibly what was called 'passing through the fire' in the Bible, and when associated with Child Sacrifice was condemned, but perhaps that was because the Canaanites lost touch with what was actually symbolized by that word and that practice from their original cultural exchange with the Indo-Aryans, who maintained the original meaning and value? now Abraham lived the desert wandering life and he was called out of Chaldea and met a Canaanite, in Caanan, called melechTzedek or literally 'Righteous King'-in Hebrew. the word Tzedek is only used in the bible to refer to someone who has achieve the status of Prophet/Seer, in other words a Very Pious person. from him Abraham learned much we can gather from the bible and this man was a Canaanite. ok so anyways, my point is things may appear to be one way because there has been much bias within biblical scholarship, and even though millions of people follow these various religions of the West, they still don't research areas that deserve to be taken notice of, and that finally, Yes Jesus did teach the Renounciation of material wealth and urban life to live a more pure life if someone Was Serious About Following Him and his Teachings...and i don't want to forget the other point and that is that other cultures Do Have spiritual teachings of inestimable value and are still practicing them outside the western religions, in fact, they may well be mirrors of one-another, just separated from one another in the far distant past..not of lesser value. Light In Extension, Justice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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