Messages from the fifth dimension

Serendipity

In sorting through my mother's effects, I took what was left of her library (for the sake of family harmony, I feel it is best not to ask what happened to the other books in her library). As the person in the family most interested in metaphysical matters (aside from my brother Peter, who for his own reasons is not interested our mother's books), I was the logical choice to take these books. Many of them are rare and out-of-print, but I do not want to keep all of them, and so I sold them.

But a few of them have information that I am interested in, and I am keeping them, at least for now, until I have had a chance to read them. One of those books I have recently read, and I found enough of value in it that I thought you might be interested as well.

The book is by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely (pronounced saykay), who researched the Essenes for decades (including reading ancient documents in the Vatican library, to which he had access by right of being an intern there, and later reading the Dead Sea Scrolls). He was so moved and impressed by the Essene philosophy and way of life that in 1928, together with Romain Rolland, the winner of the 1915 Nobel prize for Literature, he founded the International Biogenic Society to bring the Essene teachings into present day. He wrote a number of books; this particular one is called From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Although it may not be obvious from the title, this book is almost entirely about the Essenes—their philosophy, their way of life, and, most importantly, their contemplative practices. I am sure there is a huge amount more to their practices than what this little book presents, but this book is a wonderful gem of conciseness and presents an approach that might appeal to those who might not otherwise have been drawn to a spiritual path. Setting aside a bit of high-flown language (allowing for the time in which this book was written!), the practices described in this book are very practical, have obvious immediate benefits, and are easy to do. They don't require a huge commitment of time every day, and have a cycle that feels natural and wholesome to me.

A Link in a Long Chain of Spiritual Traditions

The reason why the title is From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls is that Mr. Szekely states that the Essene teachings have been around long before the Essenes existed. They are at the root of teachings dating back 8,000 years or more, he says, such as the very ancient teachings of India, Buddha's teachings, the Tibetan Wheel of Life, the ancient Greek Pythagoreans, the Kabbalists, Gnosticism, and of course Christianity. Mr. Szekely goes on to say that, based on his decades of scholarship (including, remember, his access to the Vatican library, said to be the largest repository of religious and spiritual texts in the world, including many rare texts and texts that are not available anywhere else), the Essene teachings are the purest example of those very ancient teachings from so long ago. It is unfortunate that in this book he does not cite his sources; perhaps he did so in other work.

Setting aside the matter of scholarship and sources, intuitively, I believe that he is right. I myself my entire life have studied all the world's major religions and many of the minor ones (by "major," I mean followed by lots of people; by "minor," I mean followed by fewer people; I mean to make no value judgments in using these terms). I have also studied a number of the key philosophical paths. And, of course, I have my own direct contact with Sources that have given me much to think about, including new ways of thinking about things and new information about life and reality, information that I did not previously have. (Though I have always been cautious about what I have received, and have tested much of what came through, not just blindly accepting everything or trusting that everything I receive intuitively is "the truth." And that self-doubt, self-testing, and self-skepticism is, I believe, is why I continue to be a better and clearer messenger for the spirit realm, if you will. Not that I always show my own struggles, or show where I have gotten confirmations, since it would clutter up everything I write, but it is there nonetheless. But I digress.)

Having studied the world's philosophies and religions, and, perhaps as importantly, having been developing my inner sense of "rightness" and truth about things, much of what Mr. Szekely writes rings as very true. Foe example, I know from my own research that the Pythagoreans definitely had very similar practices and lifestyles to those of the Essenes; so much so that I wonder if perhaps the Essenes were the spiritual or actual descendants of the Pythagoreans.

There are points in Mr. Szekely's book where I feel he introduced his own political and social agendas; those parts stand out to me like a pink scarf on a snowfield. :-) I don't know how to explain this inner sense I have for distinguishing different energies, which has gotten much stronger over the years. For instance, I can read something that was channeled by someone else, and can feel how in some places the channeler was clear and was bringing through a clearer message, and other places the channel was muddier and bringing through more of his or her own "stuff" rather than a clear message. Likewise, I believe that Mr. Szekely presents much that is solid truth in his small book, but also slipped in his own attitudes, and those attitudes stand out as not feeling "right" alongside the other material.

The Essenes in a Nutshell

The core principles of the Essene way of life are a focus on the interconnectedness of all life, and the belief that peace, creativity, and love are the most powerful forces in the universe. The Essenes sought to commune with all life forces so that they could more readily receive and use those forces within their own bodies and in their lives and surrounding environments.

Vegetarians, they lived cleanly and communally, eating raw and natural foods, and sought neither to be too poor nor too rich, for they felt that both conditions represented an imbalance. (Though what we might consider "too rich," they probably would not have, as allowing oneself to be well off was one of their principles.) They felt that all one?s food and material needs could be attained without struggle if one lived in accordance with what Mr. Szekely calls the Law, which Mr. Szekely explains means following the teachings of the heavenly Father. (It is my belief that Mr. Szekely introduced this term of "the law," but I haven't confirmed this yet.)

Their specialty areas were education, healing, and astronomy, and they were said to both be interested in very ancient texts, which they studied, as well as providing prophecies. They were adept at using plants and herbs for healing animals and humans. They felt that in order to be in balance, one must study both the earthly forces and the spiritual forces; in other words, one must both recognize that one is a spirit and also that one is living in a physical world, and one must honor both aspects of one's existence.

Like the ancient Celts, Jews, and many other ancient cultures, their day started at sundown and their holy day (Sabbath) started on Friday evening, which day was spent, according to Mr. Szekely, in study, discussion, entertaining, visiting, and playing music. Every day, in the evening, in the morning, and at noon, they practiced a contemplation (what Szekely calls a communion, though it is not to be confused with the Catholic term).

Fourteen Spiritual and Earthly Communions and Seven Peace Communions

These communions are active practices of contemplating fourteen spiritual and earthly forces, two per day (one in the evening and one in the morning), plus one peace contemplation per day at noon.

In practicing the communions, one brings about an expanded consciousness in one's life. In the mornings, one communes with the forces of the visible realms (the earthly forces), and in the evenings, one communes with the forces of the invisible realms (the heavenly forces).

According to Szekely, the communions have three primary purposes:

1. To make one conscious of the different forces and forms of energy which surround one and which perpetually flow toward one from nature and the cosmos.
2. To make one aware of the organs and centers (chakras?) within one's being which can receive these currents of energy.
3. To establish a connection between those organs and centers and their corresponding earthly and heavenly forces so that one can absorb, control, and use each current.

About the Peace Contemplations

In addition to the fourteen communions, there are seven different peace contemplations which are held at noon. These peace contemplations are one way in which one can apply the expanded consciousness and control of energies brought about by practicing the fourteen communions. Just as the fourteen communions teach one's relationship with the fourteen forces of the visible and invisible worlds, the seven peace contemplations teach one's relationship to the different parts of one's own being and with others, and teach how to create peace and harmony in what Mr. Szekely says the Essenes called the seven categories of one's life: the kingdom of the Heavenly Father, the kingdom of the Earthly Mother, culture, humanity (social peace), family and emotions (the feeling body), mind (the thinking body) and the body (the acting body).

Although I have never followed any particular path in the past, preferring always to study everything and create my own path out of what was true for me, I felt so strongly drawn to these communions that I decided to practice them, which I have been doing for a little over a week now. (I have some private thoughts about (a) why I am so drawn to these communions and (b) why they seem so very familiar to me, but I will keep those to myself for now.)

The Purpose of the Communions

After reviewing these communions and practicing them for the past week and a bit, I have come to the conclusion that they perform the following, and, at least for me, do so very rapidly:

• They rehabilitate one's ability to receive on all levels, especially on the level of the forces of life and the universe. This includes receiving energies as well as information, such as I do when I tune in on the spirit level to people or my spirit Sources.
• As part of that rehabilited receptiveness, these communions rehabilitate one's ability to tune into and sense the invisible forces that one swims in every day; in other words, to become aware of the greater forces and spiritual energies around us, and of our own part within that ocean of spiritual energy.
• They rehabilitate one's ability to directly access and use those forces in a positive, constructive manner.
• Along with everything else, they help clear one's energy field of extraneous "stuff" that doesn't belong there.

I use the term "rehabilitate" because I believe that all of us had these abilities at one time, either in this life or in some other life, and so it isn't a matter of gaining these skills and abilities so much as it is a matter of rehabilitating them.

Giving and Receiving

The first item, the rehabilitation of the ability to receive, is perhaps one reason why I am so drawn to them, as I have always had a great deal of difficulty in accepting things gifts of any nature from others, though I greatly enjoy sharing what I have with others and enjoy giving gifts—of things, of my time, of any wisdom I might have, and so on. And yet I have known for a long time that for a person to be truly in balance, they must be able to receive as generously as they give.

"Receiving" doesn't just mean material things; it also means receiving the love and loving kindness of others, for example. Many of us have difficulty with that because the "gifts" we have received of that nature in the past have come with strings or have had harmful energy attached to them, making it hard for us to think of receiving something without also fearing that we will have to pay too dearly for it.

The other items all follow from the first. In order to be aware of these energies, one must of course be able to receive them and be conscious of receiving them. Then, next, one needs to become aware of how to move those energies and of the right use of those energies (as opposed to the misuse of them). In working with these energies in a clean-hearted way, one can't help but clear one's own energy field of extraneous "stuff": old energies that no longer serve, old ideas, old thoughts, and so on.

More About the Book

I have two main problems with this book, neither of which had to do with the information in it.

The first is that the material in this book is very badly organized. It gives the actual communions, but mixes the information up so badly that it took me quite some time to sort it all out. This wasn't too much of a problem for me: In my usual organized way, I simply created my own version of the book, putting the material together in a clearer and more coherent way for my own use.

The second problem is with the language. The language used is very divisive and non-inclusive. Some of this is a result of the times within which Mr. Szekely was writing, and some of it is old stuff relating to longer spiritual traditions in which only men were supposed to have access to this kind of information and spiritual practice, ignroing the fact that, for instance, the Essenes, the Pythagoreans, and many other ancient spiritual groups had both men and women as members with equal rights and equal opportunities to follow their path. In making my own version of the book, I also changed the wording to make it gender-neutral and less divisive.

Interested in More?

If you are interested in more, revisit this site regularly. I have decided to post each of the communions more or less at the time they should be practiced (Pacific time), until I have posted them all. With the communions will be my explanation of what they are about, both based on what is in the book, and on what is my own experience and intuitive understanding of the material. For the purists, I will do my best to separate what Mt. Szekely says from what I am saying, though of course we don't truly know how much of what he says is from his research versus an introduction of his own ideas. Still, I want to avoid introducing yet another layer of confusion, so I will separate the two sources (Mr. Szekely and myself), and leave it to your own heart to guide you into what is true for you.

Here is another site you can visit for what ancient historians said about the Essenes: http://members.aol.com/Wisdomway/deadseascrolls.htm#anchor445438