669. Neil Douglas-Klotz

Neil Douglas-Klotz is an internationally known scholar in the fields connecting religious studies (comparative Semitic hermeneutics) and psychology as well as a poet and musician. He is the author of Prayers of the Cosmos, Desert Wisdom, The Hidden Gospel, and The Genesis Meditations as well as coauthor of The Tent of Abraham with Sr. Joan Chittister and Rabbi Arthur Waskow. He is the past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and is active in various international colloquia and conferences dedicated to peace and spirituality. Website: abwoon.org Amazon Author's Page, listing all of his books Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded November 5, 2022 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Neil Douglas-Klotz 00:03:29 Neil’s background 00:04:40 - A Childhood of Alternative Beliefs 00:09:22 - How I Made Major Life Decisions 00:12:20 Aramaic, Sanskrit, Sound and Meaning 00:13:42 - The Connection Between Language and Objects 00:15:54 Chanting, mantra and the evolution of consciousness 00:17:47 - Human Consciousness and Modern Life 00:20:34. Changing the cultural paradigm of materialism 00:21:52 - Separation from Family Conditioning 00:22:09 Yeshua's healings and the culture of his time. 00:24:14 Did Jesus exist? 00:26:29 - The Transmission History of the Gospels 00:26:55 How and when were Jesus' words first written down? 00:30:22 - The Origins of Aramaic and Greek in Jesus's Vicinity 00:31:11 Aramaic and Greek at Jesus' tme. 00:33:04 Hundreds of early gospels. 00:34:50 - The Origins of Christian Creeds 00:35:49 Modern Christian religion and politics. 00:37:03 Neil's new book Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus: his method and texts 00:39:04 - The Translation of Scriptures 00:39:10 The King James Version of the Bible 00:40:27 "What would Jesus do?" 00:43:29 - The Connection to the Source of the Self 00:44:10 Evolution of Neil's work 00:45:07 "I am the way, the truth and the life...." 00:47:50 - The Meaning of "Hayye" 00:50:15 Jesus' miracles and healings, and early human consciousness. 00:52:13 - Healing through Connection to the Unseen 00:54:15 The important Aramaic words usually translated "good" and "evil" 00:56:50 - Ripening in the Breath 00:59:50 Jesus and prayer, with and without words 01:00:45 - Entraining with the Teacher's Consciousness 01:03:01 Worst mistranlation that empowers colonialism and ecocide. 01:04:49 - The Injustices of the World 01:06:56"Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven..." 01:08:57 - The Interconnection of Inner and Outer Life 01:09:09 The "sin against the Holy Ghost." 01:12:06 The Aramaic "lord's prayer" in brief 01:14:37 - Hollowing oneself for resonance with the cosmos 01:18:57 - The Aramaic Prayer of Dedication 01:20:39 Conversion, "saving the soul" or the soul saving you 01:23:18 - The history of Christianity and religion's impact 01:23:40 Snake handling? 01:25:28 "I and my father are one." 01:27:25 - The Living Togetherness with the Creating Source 01:29:38 "omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent? 01:30:45 "only begotten son" 01:31:36 - Jesus, the Cross, and Trust 01:35:05 "Did Jesus die on the cross?" 01:35:40 - The Possibility of Jesus' Survival on the Cross 01:37:53 Seeing angels or beings from other faiths 01:39:04 Jung's "Christian yoga" 01:39:44 - Awakening and Healing with Neil Douglas-Klotz 01:40:56 "original sin" 01:43:46 "judge not lest you be judged" 01:43:57 - Finding Your Path in Life 01:45:51 What is mine to do? 01:47:47 Jesus suffering 01:48:12 - The concept of pain and suffering in Christianity 01:50:32 "let him who is without sin cast the first stone" 01:52:02 - Tangled Relationships and Casting Stones

Om Podcasten

The implication of the title - Buddha at the Gas Pump - is that ordinary people are experiencing higher states of consciousness once thought to be rare and difficult to attain. People everywhere are undergoing a shift or awakening to their true nature. For some, this shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For others, it has been so gradual that they may not have realized it has occurred. Such shifts, or awakenings, are not new: Christ spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven within, Buddhists speak of Nirvana, Zen masters of Satori, Hindus of Moksha, but these traditions generally regard these states as rare and difficult to attain. Many people are therefore skeptical of claims of higher states of consciousness. They find it hard to believe that apparently ordinary friends and neighbors might be experiencing something extraordinary. Maybe they expect Enlightenment to look as remarkable on the outside as it is reputed to be on the inside. This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their experience of spiritual awakening. The terminology is tricky, because there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this experience. So please forgive us if we use some unfamiliar terms. We will try to clarify our definitions as we go along. Perhaps, after a while, those listening will become convinced that genuine and permanent spiritual awakenings are not just a pipe dream, but are real and are becoming relatively commonplace. These podcasts are the audio track of a weekly interview show which may be seen as videos on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/buddhaatthegaspump). Also see the main site: https://batgap.com. For search purposes, I will add the following to this description - batgap, Buddha at the Gaspump, Buddah at the Gas Pump.