Blessings of the Cosmos [Hardcover]

Reading this book, and working with it, is like breathing in deeply out in my garden at twilight, when the flowers and leaves and soil are giving off the perfume they've been growing all day in the sun. Breathing in peace, breathing out conflict, quandries, decisions, worries, burdens.

I first studied with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz over a decade ago, and was astonished to find that there were actually other people besides me who worked deeply with the words we use so cavalierly most of the time. "Blessings of the Cosmos" follows in the tradition of "Prayers of the Cosmos" and "Desert Wisdom" (both also by Dr. Douglas-Klotz) in being a gentle, peaceful offering of the author's work with these words and phrases, which becomes soil in which my own spirituality may be planted, and grow, and flower. Neil Douglas-Klotz makes offerings, not fiats or pronouncements; he offers another way to look at words and phrases which, for many of us, have rather rigid interpretations that have been given to us, and repeated so often, that they are so familiar they might be the wall-paper in the hallway. As we read, and as we allow these offerings to wander around inside us, we may pick up the offering "as is" and use it, or we may find that this offering has stimulated the growth of something new, and completely personal to us, opening a door through which we may step into a more expansive relationship with all facets of the cosmos.

Consider this way of looking at Matthew 11:28 which, in the KJV reads, "Come unto me, ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.":

"Come to me,

all of you, all of yourselves,

in your frenzied weariness,

your movement without end,

your action without purpose,

not caring in your fatigue

whether you live or die.

"Come enmeshed by what you carry,

the cargo taken on by your soul,

the burdens you thought you desired,

which have constantly swollen

and are now exhausting you.

"Come like lovers to your first tryst.

I will give you peace and

renewal after constant stress:

Your pendulum can pause

between here and there,

between being and not-being."

Enriched by the discussion of the word-roots which follows, and the suggested meditations (available also on the included CD), this wording reaches me in places that I didn't know, or didn't remember, existed. It allows me to see things in my life, and labels for those things provided to me by other sources, in a different light, and leaves me openings to find new meanings that can feed my soul in this moment. And, I know from his previous books, that coming back to the work at another time will have the same result of yet more new openings available for the new moment.

As you may have guessed, I heartily recommend "Blessings of the Cosmos"! For that matter, I also heartily recommend Dr. Douglas-Klotz's other books as well. I look forward to "Blessings of the Cosmos" coming out in paperback, so it will fit in my suitcase better, but it will travel with me anyway, as does "Prayers of the Cosmos." Even in just the two read-throughs I have done since "Blessings of the Cosmos" arrived last week, I have found something new and valuable each time, and I know from my experience with his other books, that taking the time to work with the meditations will open yet other avenues of exploration. Dr. Douglas-Klotz's books, including "Blessings of the Cosmos," are on my "special shelf" and not out with the rest of my library, and I work with them as enrichers of wisdom/Sophia. I also give them as most welcome gifts (One recipient even reads & meditates with "Desert Wisdom" at dawn outside her home in the desert!), and am buying more copies of "Blessings of the Cosmos" for that very purpose.

May you also find blessings through "Blessings of the Cosmos"!

I very much enjoyed this book. Language is a reflection of how a group of people think and interact and this book brings out additional nuances to Jesus' teachings that led me to a deeper understanding -- always a good thing, to my way of thinking! If you like digging deeper into the meaning of things, you'll like this book, too.

This book reads like poetry. The meaning behind the words that Jesus spoke and are quoted in the Bible come to life when you hear them from his native tongue. With wonderful textual notes so that you get the full meaning of each word, these verses come to life with a whole new meaning.

When I read this book I knew that this was the Jesus I knew in my heart. It just made so much more sense and touched my heart so deeply it was like the love song I have been waiting to hear.
This book is a must for anyone wishing to hear the Truth of what Jesus was saying to us.
An absolutely masterpiece!!