Who were The Essenes and What is Nazarene
The Essene (or the Essenes) were a brotherhood (with links to Judaism) of holy men and women living together in a community (like a commune almost) and who taught the founders of our religions and civilizations; the greatest of these being Jesus Christ. The group has gained fame due to the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls which mentions their activities. The core foundation of the group was spiritual wisdom, guarded for the benefit of mankind. Solitude was regarded as sacred, because, when one was alone with oneself, one was in the presence of God.
Name: |
The Essene or The Essenes – guardians of the Divine Teaching; The Essenes way of life. Also known as the Esoteric Teachings of Nazarene way of life. Nazarene is how Jesus Christ and his followers were known as, at the time they were not called Christians. |
Birth, Age, Death: |
200 BC |
Nationality: |
Multiple, originally mostly Jewish |
Method/Religion started: |
Christianity and more |
Holy book/teachings: |
Not available |
Followers: |
Several thousand, but now many people use the Essenes symbol (fish) as a sign of Christianity |
Lifestyle requirements: |
simple, austere and pious; away from society and evil, obedience to the leader of the group, wore white tunics, vegetarian diet |
Form of practice: |
strictly communal life, collective ownership, celibacy, serving each other |
Wiki (encyclopedia) link: |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essenes |
Some of their teachings are as follows:
- Never teach anyone, unless they are ready to be taught (in the Christian bible there is a similar quote “Don’t feed pearls to swine”, that is, do not try to teach the treasure of spirituality to someone who it lost in ignorance)
- Equality of the sexes (they saw the greatness behind the body, hence physical form was not important). The white ropes represented the purity of the soul
- No servants allowed, craving money was also seen as a form of slavery
- Gratitude, In truth, gratitude is everything except weakness. It opens the door to a higher knowledge and science. The words thank-you are considered as a sacred incantation with the power to transform; essentially because the speaker accepts what has been offered, or is occurring, and realizes at a deep conscious level its coming from God.
- Essene Prayers & invocations for a respect, gratitude and respect in the World
- Mindful of what we eat, vegetarian (not killing any beings) and simplicity
- Some practiced biogenic (the power in nature that gives life) meditation
What is Nazarene (Nazarenes or Gnostics)
Nazarene is how Jesus Christ and his followers were called, since at the time Christian religion had not been started and Jesus was a Jew. Well initially the Nazarenes still considered themselves Jews, but later became Christians and were primarily responsible from spreading the Christian way. The word Nazarene comes from Jesus of Nazareth, the bible calls it a sect of the Nazarenes.