Neil Douglas-Klotz - Desert Wisdom: A Nomads Guide to Lifes Big Questions From the Heart of the Native Middle East

Praise for Desert Wisdom

If you talk with your friends while in the midst of reading Desert Wisdom they will probably suspect youve fallen in love. And they will be right, for Neil Douglas-Klotz has provided, for the modern reader, a way into one of the planets most powerful experiences of an ecstatic and mystical lovethe way of the native Middle Eastern wisdom traditions. In particular, Douglas-Klotzs translations of some of the sayings of Jesus are the most radical, penetrating, and exhilarating I have ever read. Desert Wisdom is a passageway for anyone wishing to contact the numinous and creative energy capable of transforming our time into a new millennium of peace and wisdom.

Brian Swimme , Co-author, with
Thomas Berry, of The Universe Story

In Desert Wisdom, Neil Douglas-Klotz continues in the same radical spirit as his work translating the Our Father prayer in Prayers of the Cosmos . He opens our eyes anew to the mystical truths and sacred depths of scriptural and non-scriptural passages that have become so overly familiar in their superficial translations that they can no longer move our hearts. He moves us from the letter that kills to the spirit that gives life and he assists in todays all important task to undergo deep ecumenism, that is, the eliciting of wisdom from our traditional religious sources. This is a prophetic and mystical accomplishment of the first order!

Matthew Fox , author of
Original Blessing and The Reinvention of Work

Read this book aloud. Let the sounds wrap around your heart. These are translations so unhampered by reduction, stiffness and religiosity that the modern window opens quiet on the ancient garden.

Carolyn McVickar Edwards ,
Author of The Storytellers Goddess

In these troubled and heated spiritual times, Mr. Douglas-Klotzs Desert Wisdom comes along like a refreshing breeze of cool, arid air. Mr. Douglas-Klotz has not only collected some of the finest words that are spiritual, humorous and thought-provoking, but he has managed to translate them from their original Semitic tongues into beautiful prose and poetry. Middle Eastern enchantment for the soul. Bravo!

Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D., American Book Award-winning
author of Taking the Quantum Leap and The Dreaming Universe

Neil Douglas-Klotz is a Master of Sacred Dance. He takes us into the domain of the Nazarene Lord of the Dance via the Aramaic rhythms and cadences that still to this day have the power to raise us to heaven.

Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter , Aleph Alliance for Jewish
Renewal, Author of Paradigm Shift, Spiritual Intimacy

Desert Wisdom opens a new window on the ancient texts of the Middle East through which we can view their insights from a fresh perspective. Douglas-Klotz has the rare ability to approach a diversity of traditions with respect and sensitivity. This helps us to honor their commonalities rather than focus on their divisions. An important book in this time when peace in that region once again has become a fragile possibility.

Starhawk, author of The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing

This collection, entitled Desert Wisdom , was written with pure intentions and intricate detail by Neil Douglas-Klotz. It is undoubtedly a landmark book, the beginning of a major movement in the Western world to understand the holy words. It is a comprehension of the teachings of various prophets, especially those in the Holy Quran, which have led the development of a great school called Sufism (the school of understanding). The best and only solution to many national and international problems is understanding and recognizing the deeper meanings behind these words. However, in order to appreciate and learn from this book, one must free oneself from cultural and regional prejudices, as the author is exempt from both.

S hah Nazar Ali Kianfar , Ph.D.,
Co-founder, International Association of Sufism

Desert Wisdom is a soulful book which demands a change of consciousness. I admire Neil Douglas-Klotzs courage in confronting our Western worlds one-sided views with the deeply mystical practices and teachings of Native Middle Eastern peoples. What a rich, spiritual gift we have in the ancient wisdom of that region of our planet. For those who wish to deepen our sense of interconnectedness, Neils beautiful, poetic translations are like melodic chants inviting us to breathe with and take our place in the cosmos. Desert Wisdom is a sound spiritual guide for our postmodern times.

Marlene DeNardo, S.N.D., former co-chair,
University of Creation Spirituality, Oakland, California

This book weaves ancient sacred messages by the golden thread of unity, revealing clearly the one spiritual reality behind all existence. Open the book anywhere, and you will discover delightful inner openings and insights. You may even hear a silent dialogue between the sacred soul and its shadow. A most timely and useful contribution to all religious and spiritual studies.

Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, Founder,
The Academy of Self Knowledge, South Africa,
author of The Thoughtful Guide to Sufism and Son of Karbala

Neil Douglas-Klotz, Ph.D. (Saadi Shakur Chishti) is a world-renowned scholar in religious studies, spirituality and psychology. Living in Edinburgh, Scotland, he directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org) and for many years was cochair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion. He is also cofounder of the international network of the Dances of Universal Peace. A frequent speaker and workshop leader, he is the author of several books, including Prayers of the Cosmos, The Hidden Gospel, The Genesis Meditations, The Sufi Book of Life, Blessings of the Cosmos and The Tent of Abraham (with Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Sr. Joan Chittister). Known also for this citizen diplomacy work, in 2004, he cofounded the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (www.mesp.org.uk). In 2005 he was awarded the Kessler-Keener Foundation Peacemaker of the Year award for his work in Middle Eastern peacemaking.

Copyright 2011 Neil Douglas-Klotz
All rights reserved.

Published by ARC Books, a project of the
Abwoon Resource Center/Shalem Center, 881 High Street, Suite 206,
Worthington, OH 43085 USA. Website:
www.abwoon.com

ISBN: 1456516477
ISBN-13: 9781456516475
E-Book ISBN: 978-1-4392-8039-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011900252

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For my father and mother,