Desert Dunes. Photo: jthetzel/flickr CC
Desert wisdom
Alan Heeks believes the Quaker testimony of simplicity complements the way in which the desert brings one back to essentials
The desert has been the inspiration for many great spiritual teachings, notably Christian, Islamic and Jewish. Studying key texts from these teachings in their original language can deepen our experience of these faiths, and show us how much they share.
The languages of these three great spiritual traditions are strikingly similar. For example, in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, the word for peace is shlama, in Arabic it is salaam, and in Hebrew it is shalom. These languages share several special qualities that are quite different from English, or indeed Greek – the language through which many bible translations have come. In these Middle Eastern languages, each word has several layers of meaning, so the word lachma, as in ‘give us this day our daily bread,’ means not only physical bread, but also the food of wisdom and understanding.
Another special quality is that the sound often expresses the meaning. The root sounds of salaam express an unfolding potential (sa) which creates health and wholeness (lam). Understandably, the sound of sacred texts is an important part of many spiritual practices in the Middle East. This can be through spoken prayer, song, repeating sound mantras, and by chants combined with devotional movement or body prayer.
On looking at key texts in the original language, one concept that stands out is shem: this features in the first lines of the Lord’s prayer, Genesis and the Koran. Shem is a powerful, awe-inspiring concept, hard to sum up even in several words.
The best teachings I have found in this area come from Neil Douglas-Klotz, a leading international teacher and scholar, who has created superb extended translations of key texts in his book, Desert Wisdom. In Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’, the word usually translated as ‘heaven’ is shamaim in Hebrew. Douglas-Klotz translates this key word as:
The ocean of light, sound
name and vibration –
all that shines in glorious,
that rises in sublime time
Crucially, shamaim is a quality that permeates the whole universe, including our earthly planet. It is heavenly, but not in the sense of a place separate and above us. In the Koran, the very first word, bismillah, contains shem in its Arabic form, sm. The common translation, ‘we begin in the name of Allah’, is correct, but is far more powerful when you realise that this embodies the full extent of shem: not only the sound, but also the light, atmosphere and full presence of divine unity.
From the beginning, Quakerism has had an association with the mystical tradition. There are many Middle Eastern mystical practices that take sound into silence, placing a mantra like Shem ‘on the breath.’ Perhaps there is scope to enrich the silence of present-day worship in this way.
For details of Alan’s Desert Wisdom retreat see: www.hazelhill.org.uk/prog.html
