THE STORY OF THE
ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE
Translated by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
In Four Volumes
It was in 1928 that Edmond Bordeaux Szekely first published his translation of Book One of The Essene Gospel of Peace, an ancient manuscript he had found in the Secret Archives of the Vatican as the result of limitless patience, faultless scholarship, and unerring intuition. This story is told in his book, The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace, published in 1975. The English version of Book One appcared in 1937, and ever since, the little volume has traveled over the world, appearing in many different languages, gaining every year more and more readers, until now, still with no commercial advertisement, over a million copies have been sold in the United States alone. It was not until almost fifty years after the first French translation that Book Two and Book Three appeared (The Unknown Books of the Essenes and Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood), achieving rapidly the popularity of Book One.
In 1981, Book Four, The Teachings of the Elect, was published posthumously according to Dr. Szekely’s wishes, representing yet another fragment of the complete manuscript which exists in Aramaic in the Secret Archives of the Vatican and in old Slavonic in the Royal Library of the Habsburgs (now the property of the Austrian government). The poetic style of the translator brings to vivid reality the exquisitely beautiful words of Jesus and the Elders of the Essene Brotherhood. Some of the chapters: The Essene Communions. The Sevenfold Peace. The Holy Streams of Life, Light, and Sound. The Gift of the Humble Grass.
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EXCERPTS FROM The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Two:
The Unknown Books of the Essenes
And one man spoke: “But, Master, we are but men, we are not angels. How then can we hope to walk in their ways? Tell us what we must do.”
And Jesus spoke:
As the son inherits the land of his father, So have we inherited a Holy Land From our Fathers. This land is not a field to be ploughed, But a place within us Where we may build our Holy Temple. -And even as a temple must be raised, Stone by stone,
So will I give to you those stones
For the building of the Holy Temple;
That which we have inherited
From our Fathers,
And their Fathers’ Fathers.
And all the men gathered around Jesus, and their faces shone with desire to hear the words which would come from his lips. And he lifted his face to the rising sun, and the radiance of its rays filled his eyes as he spoke:
“The Holy Temple can be built Only with the ancient Communions, Those which are spoken,
Those which are thought, And those which are lived.
For if they are spoken only with the mouth,
They are as a dead hive
Which the bees have forsaken,
That gives no more honey.
The Communions are a bridge
Between man and the angels,
And like a bridge,
Can be built only with patience,
Yea, even as the bridge over the river
Is fashioned stone by stone,
As they are found by the water’s edge.
And the Communions are fourteen in number,
As the Angels of the Heavenly Father
Number seven,
And the Angels of the Earthly Mother
Number seven.
And just as the roots of the tree
Sink into the earth and are nourished,
And the branches of the tree
Raise their arms to heaven,
So is man like the trunk of the tree,
With his roots deep
In the breast of his Earthly Mother,
And his soul ascending
To the bright stars of his Heavenly Father.
And the roots of the tree
Are the Angels of the Earthly Mother,
And the branches of the tree
Are the Angels of the Heavenly Father.
And this is the sacred Tree of Life
Which stands in the Sea of Eternity.
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EXCERPTS FROM The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Three:
Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood
For the earth shall be filled
with the Peace of the Heavenly Father,
as the waters cover the sea.
I will invoke the Angel of Peace,
Whose breath is friendly,
Whose hand is clothed in power.
In the reign of Peace, there is neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither cold wind nor hot wind,
Neither old age nor death.
In the reign of Peace,
Both animals and men shall be undying,
Waters and plants shall be undrying,
And the food of life shall be never-failing.
It is said that the mountains
Shall bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, righteousness.
There shall be peace
As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations.
Peace shall come down like rain upon mown grass, As showers that water the earth.
In the reign of Peace shall the Law grow strong,
And the Children of Light shall have dominion
From sea to sea, unto the ends of the earth.
T’he reign of Peace hath its source
In the Heavenly Father;
By his strength he setteth fast the mountains,
He maketh the outgoings of morning and evening To rejoice in the Light,
He bringeth to earth the river of the Law, To water and enrich it,
He maketh soft the earth with showers;
They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
The pastures are clothed with flocks;
The valleys also are covered over with corn;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
O Heavenly Father!
Bring unto thy earth the reign of Peace! 7’hen shall we remember the words
Of him who taught of old the Children of Light:
I give the peace of thy Earthly Mother
To thy body,
And the peace of thy Heavenly Father To thy spirit.
And let the peace of both
Reign among the sons of men.
Come to me all that are weary,
And that suffer in strife and affliction!
For my peace will strengthen thee and comfort thee. For my peace is exceeding full of joy.
Wherefore do I always greet thee after this manner: Peace be with thee!
Do thou always, therefore, so greet one another, That upon thy body may descend The The Peace of thy Earthly Mother,
And upon thy spirit
The Peace of thy Heavenly Father.
And then wilt thou find peace also among thyselves,
For the Kingdom of the Law is within thee.
And return to thy Brothers
And give thy peace to them also,
For happy are they that strive for peace,
For they will find the peace of the Heavenly Father.
And give to every one thy peace,
Even as I have given my peace unto thee.
For my peace is of God.
Peace be with thee!
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EXCERPTS FROM The Essene Gospel of peace, Book Four:
The Teachings of the Elect
THE HOLY STREAMS
Into the innermost circle have you come, into the mystery of mysteries, that which was old when our father Enoch was young and walked the earth. Around and around have you come on your journey of many years, always following the path of righteousness, living according to the Holy Law and the sacred vows of our Brotherhood, and you have made of your body a holy temple wherein dwell the angels of God. Many years have you shared the daylight hours with the angels of the Earthly Mother; many years have you slept in the arms of the Heavenly Father, taught by his unknown angels. You have learned that the laws of the Son of Man are seven, of the angels three, and of God, one. Now you shall know of the three laws of the angels, the mystery of the three Holy Streams and the ancient way to traverse them; so shall you bathe in the light of heaven and at last behold the revelation of the mystery of mysteries: the law of God, which is One.
Now in the hour before the rising of the sun, just before the angels of the Earthly Mother breathe life into the still sleeping earth, then do you enter into the Holy Stream of Life. It is your Brother Tree who holds the mystery of this Holy Stream, and it is your Brother Tree that you will embrace in your thought, even as by day you embrace him in greeting when you walk along the lake shore. And you shall be one with the tree, for in the beginning of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Life that gave birth to all creation. And as you embrace your Brother Tree, the power of the Holy Stream of Life will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Then breathe deeply of the angel of air, and say the word “Life” with the outgiving of breath. Then you will become in truth the Tree of Life which sinks its roots deep into the Holy Stream of Life from an eternal source. And as the angel of sun warms the earth, and all the creatures of land and water and ai r rejoice in the new day, so will your body and spirit rejoice in the Holy Stream of life that flows to you through your Brother Tree.
And when the sun is high in the heavens, then shall you seek the Holy Stream of Sound. in the heat of noontide, all creatures are still and seek the shade; the angels of the Earthly Mother are silent for a space. Then it is that you shall let into your ears the Holy Stream of Sound; for it can only be heard in the silence. Think on the streams that are born in the desert after a sudden storm, and the roaring sound of the waters as they rush past. Truly, this is the voice of God, if you did but know it. For as it is written, in the beginning was the Sound, and the Sound was with God, and the Sound was God. I tell you truly, when we are born, we enter the world with the sound of God in our ears, even the singing of the vast chorus of the sky, and the holy chant of the stars in their fixed rounds; it is the Holy Stream of Sound that traverses the vault of stars and crosses the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father. It is ever in our ears, so do we hear it not. Listen for it, then, in the silence of noontide; bathe in it, and let the rhythm of the music of God beat in your ears untfl you are one with the Holy Stream of Sound. It was this Sound which formed the earth and the world, and brought forth the mountains, and set the stars in their thrones of glory in the highest heavens.
And you shall bathe in the Stream of Sound, and the music of its waters shall flow over you; for in the beginning of the times so did we all share in the Holy Stream of Sound that gave birth to all creation. And the mighty roaring of the Stream of Sound will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Then breathe deeply of the angel of air, and become the sound itself, that the Holy Stream of Sound may carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there where the rhythm of the world rises and falls.
And when darkness gently closes the eyes of the angels of the Earthly Mother, then shall you also sleep, that your spirit may join the unknown angels of the Heavenly Father. And in the moments before you sleep, then shall you think of the bright and glorious stars, the white, shining, far-seen and far-piercing stars. For your thoughts before sleep are as the bow of the skillful archer, that sends the arrow where he wills. Let your thoughts before sleep be with the stars; for the stars are Light, and the Heavenly Father is Light, even that Light which is a thousand times brighter than the brightness of a thousand suns. Enter the Holy Stream of Light, that the shackles of death may loose their hold for ever, and breaking free from the bonds of earth, ascend the Holy Stream of Light through the blazing radiance of the stars, into the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father.
Unfold your wings of light, and in the eye of your thought, soar with the stars into the farthest reaches of heaven, where untold suns blaze with light. For at the beginning of the times, the Holy Law said, let there be Light, and there was Light. And you shall be one with it, and the power of the Holy Light Stream will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Say the word “Light,” as you breathe deeply of the angel of air, and you will become the Light itself; and the Holy Stream will carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there losing itself in the eternal Sea of Light which gives birth to all creation. And you shall be one with the Holy Stream of Light, always before you sleep in the arms of the Heavenly Father.
I tell you truly, your body was made not only to breathe, and eat, and think, but it was also made to enter the Holy Stream of Life. And your ears were made not only to hear the words of men, the song of birds, and the music of falling rain, but they were also made to hear the Holy Stream of Sound. And your eyes were made not only to see the rising and setting of the sun, the ripple of sheaves of grain, and the words of the Holy Scrolls, but they were also made to see the Holy Stream of Light. One day your body will return to the Earthly Mother; even also your ears and your eyes. But the Holy Stream of Life, the Holy Stream of Sound, and the Holy Stream of Light, these were never born, and can never die. Enter the Holy Streams, even that Life, that Sound, and that Light which gave you birth; that you may reach the kingdom of the Heavenly Father and become one with him even as the river empties into the far-distant sea.
More than this cannot be told, for the Holy Streams will take you to that place where words are no more, and even the Holy Scrolls cannot record the mysteries therein.
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