Words Overheard by the Children of Earth
in their Search for Paradise
by Tomas Meyers
a poetic rendering line by line of the Lord's Prayer, Mt:6 (9-13)
inspired by translations from the P'shitta (Eastern text)
with Aramaic spelling and baseline English version from Dr. Errico *
Restrainless, yet Containable; Nameless, yet Explainable
Unalterable allness which lives within us all,
yet in its constancy receives and gives, arrives and leaves,
changes and rearranges simultaneously with interlaced light and sound;
non-specific initiator of specificity,
and rich embryo of formlessness;
both beatific brightness and radiant night,
interwoven through the intercession of sun and moon,
like phallus and womb in the palace of creation
We are expressive of the whole,
and knowingly profess our gratefulness
for sacred intercourse.
awoon dwashmaya
Our Father who (is) everywhere (heavens)...
Silence Sounds, And Sound Silences
The nameless is ordained with many names,
still stays the same in any shape.
The Name remains in dormant enormity,
effortlessly persisting in divisionless splendor.
The seeds of sound conform
to forces breathing through the roots,
Like a newly-born passing through
circle to circle
from womb to earth,
then through death,
while attending immensity past telling.
Still, swelling life presumes to tell,
as words emerge to bless the ground.
Spokesbeings of truth, fresh from growth,
unfold wings and sing of once-untold wonderment.
nithqadash shmakh
...Holy be Your name...
This Instant
We Interpenetratingly Create Eternity
Our living force as creatures seeks the Source,
and ardent hearts give birth
to re-emergence of beatific primacy on earth.
Unific intercourse with creationıs molten womb
instills the will to live
and binds both body and mind with pleasureıs crest,
as ageless lovers burn with unconsuming revelry,
and endlessly rediscover treasures of Divine initiative.
We find the outcome of our prayers, share the touch of bliss,
and marry happiness with lasting gratitude
as we bear the cherished child.
tethey malkuthakh
...Let come your kingdom (counsel)...
Direct Connection
with Omni-directional Perfection
Underlying cohesive force, both lowly and exalted,
undying source of life and flawless mystery,
we set aside seeming imperfections,
and let a collective sigh coalesce eternal yearnings,
as we merge our earthen home and sky-blossoming abode.
Embossed with light, our minds unite in seamless circuitry,
while frantic searching and pedantic urgency subside,
inviting an upsurgence of divine delight.
nehweh seweeyanakh akana dwashmaya ap barah
Let be Your will (desire or wish) even as in (the) heavens (universe), also on (the) earth...
Perpetually Replenishing Pantry
This day with each act, may we attract
the natural outgrowth of gratitude and relaxation,
and nourish understanding through mutual encouragement.
May we surround our interwoven odyssey
with reassuring wellness,
and receive just allotments from the ground swell
of earth's perpetually replenishing pantry.
Let enhanced trust become our legacy,
and undiminished worth increase our wealth.
haw-lan lahma dsunqanan yaumana
...give us (provide) bread for our needs from day to day...
Vastness Relaxes Taxing Attachments
When no offence and no offender is perceived,
then no one needs be condemner or condemned.
When we close our eyes to mercy and hold blame,
then we are smothered by the same.
Another day may come or we may go,
before we open prison doors.
Held within, we have the key
to re-see mistaken identities
and identify with the undefiled.
washwok-lan haubain
akana dap hnan shwakan lıhayawen
...and forgive us our offenses, even as we have forgiven our offenders...
Authentic Life is Ripe, Leaving Sweetness as a Guide
Let us digress from indigestible consumption of ill-formed presumptions,
invest breath with precious thankfulness;
transform the stream of grievances into a sea of equanimity;
freshen dank appearances and vestiges of fear with uncontested reverence;
disavow inauthentic life, and allow beauty to proceed with simple eloquence.
wla taalan lınisyona ela pasan min-bisha
...do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from error...
Everything Sings the Name of Unity and Each Moment
Brings an Opportunity to Notice Our True Holiness
You are both near and far,
earth-held altar and starry sky, unknown, yet realized.
You are the resplendent principle which is undividedly alert,
as well as the indispensable dispenser of unifying harmony.
You are the prime mover whose cosmic consciousness
instills the atmosphere with celestial festivals
and starts fields dancing with fertility.
You are enhanced fecundity, and wonderfully free creativity.
All we see is merely part of your enormously energizing empire of sound and fire.
The call is made, awakening an inner voice;
rejoicingly, we circle in Your Name,
bow with weightless revelry,
and vow to meet repeatedly throughout the ages.
mitol ddeelakhee malkutha whaila wtishbohhta
la-alam almeen Amen
because yours is/are the kingdom and the power and the glory, from all ages throughout all ages. Amen
*Spelling of Aramaic words, and translation of Matthew 6: 9-13 from Setting A Trap For God, by Rocco Errico, Unity Books, 1997.
Thanks to the Church of the East for preserving the P'shitta (Bible in original Aramaic),
to Dr. George Lamsa for dedicating 30 years of his life to translate the P'shitta Bible into English,
to Dr. Rocco Errico for expounding on Lamsa's work,
to Dr.Neil Douglas Klotz for his mystical renderings,
and to nameless others living these great teachings, day in and day out.