32 THE PALESTINIAN HERITAGE Jesus the Christ and the Essenes by Richard H. Drummond, Ph.D. Thave been asked to treat my assigned subject within the larger theme of the 1979 ARE. Congress—“Preparing the Way: The Christ Patten and the Edgar Cayce Readings”—and also to share with you something of how the study and use of the Cayce readings have been helpful tome personally. I should like, therefore, to mention a few items of an autobiographical nature before plunging into my main subject, Tam 62 years of age. I mention this because I have often in recent years reflected on the providential aspects of my relationship to the Cayce readings and the A.R.E.. especially in regard to the timing of my introduction to them and the opportunities given me to study them. Some persons, perhaps, were introduced to and have made most profitable use of the readings and the ongoing life of A.R.E. from a relatively early period. This is probably the best and most natural way. But it was not so with me. Let me briefly explain the rationale for this way of mine,akind of Apologia pro vita mea, as Tunderstand it, Richard Drummond, PhD, ix Professar of the Histry of Religions at Oe University of Dubuque Theological Seminary: He has spent over 1) years.as journalist, lecturer and professor un the Orient. He is author of Gautama the Buddha: An Essay in Religious Understanding. A History of Christianity: and the ARE. publication, Unto the Churches: Jesus Christ, Christianity and the Edgar Cayee ReadingsPALESTINIAN HERITAGE 33. Actually, I was led into mystical forms of the religious life from my early college days. I was not raised in a churchly or formally religious home; my parents were rather typically representative of the secular atmosphere then prevailing and almost never went to church. They did begin to go to church— and that quite regularly—a few years after I began, but the point I wish to make here is that I began quite without the slightest stimulus or suggestion from my environment—my parents, my friends, my school, my teachers, and society in general (all of these, so far as I can recollect, gave me not the least stimulus in the direction of anything more than a casual or merely formal concern for things religious, although many of these were persons quite admirable in themselves). To repeat, apparently quite without any stimulus from without, I felt impelled to walk in the direction of spiritual interests and practices, When I was a seminary student in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the man who had the most direct personal influence upon me and whose character | admired the mostwas, John Aberly. Prior to his retirement he had been president of the seminary for a time but before that had served for 40 years fas a missionary in the Telugu-speaking part of India. Dr. Aberly belonged to the tradition of Lutheran pietism and was doth a mystic and a profound student of the history of mysticism. He had known Sadhu Sundar Singh personally in India. The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh, a splendid book written by the highly respected British Biblical scholar, B.H Streeter, and a young Indian theologian, A.J. Appasamy, was published in 1921 and created a very great stir. This book had an enormous influence on me, my faith and world view. It enabled me to break out of the narrowness of my predominant ly pietistic and evangelical American Protestantism without giving up the positive aspects of that tradition of faith and life. During his adult life, Sundar Singh had a remarkable series of visions, many of which are recorded verbatim by Streeter and Appasamy. These visions, his profound Christocentric faith and his life of service indubitably qualify him as one of the greatest spiritual figures in the history of the Christian tradition, and indeed of the whole of the human spiritual pilgrimage. Referring back to the content of his visions, this is what he had to say about Hell: “I was . . . told that the love of God operates even in Hell. God does not shine in His full light,34 THE A.R.E, JOURNAL because those there could not bear it, but He gradually shows them more and more light, and by and by brings them on and moves their conscience towards something better, although they think that the desire is entirely their own, Thus God works on their minds from within, something in the same way, though in the opposite direction, as that in which Satan suggests temptation to us here. Thus, what with God's work within and the Light without, almost all those in Hell will ultimately be brought to Christ's feet. It will perhaps take millions of ages, but when it is attained they will be full of joy and thankfulness to God .. . Thus Hell alsoisa training school, a place of preparation for Home.” “Once I said, ‘So many people will be lost because they have not heard of Christ’ They said, ‘The contrary will be the case; very few will be lost.’ Thereis a kind of heavenly joke; no, jokeis not a good word for it. ‘Very few will be lost but many will be saved. It is so, but don’t tell,” they said, as it were, in jest, “because it will make men careless, and we want them to enjoy the First Heaven—that is the Heaven on Earth—as well,’ ” “If there were no hope for all the non-Christians in the world and all the Christians who die in sin, God would stop creating men. We must do our part here on earth to save sinners, but if they refuse we need not be without hope for them, The understandings which the visions of Sundar Singh enabled me to gain literally liberated me in both heart and mind. Thus when I went to my first pastorate in Berkeley, California, with my wife of less than one year, Iwas open and prepared to receive new light. At this point of our lives we were led—surely by divine providence—to meet a remarkable lady Grace Buxton Brown, who was then a widow in her seventies and who in the most loving way took us under her spiritual tutelage. A faithful member of the local Presbyterian church, Aunt Grace, as we called her, was also a soaring spirit and a seeker. She introduced us to the wondrous variety of spiritual activities and workers that were doing highly creative things in this country and abroad, but were often little known in the ordinary life of our churches and synagogues: Glenn Clark and Camps Farthest Out, Agnes Sanford, Starr Daily, Unity School of Christianity and the Daily Word, the Rosicrucians, Yoga, other Indian perceptions and methodologies, and so on. It was from Grace Brown that we first heard of Edgar Cayce. Those were heady days. Because of my immaturity andPALESTINIAN HERITAGE 35, related problems, there were many difficulties, but at the same time they were days of much learning and promise. One would think that this wasalll a prelude toa host of new activities along the avenues that seemed to be opening upto us. But this wasnot to be. By a series of events that I shall not describe now, our lives were turned in a new direction. We were led to go to Japan as Presbyterian missionaries Instead of speedy movement along a road glittering with possibilities for advancement both personal and professional, ‘we turned onto a way that was slow and painful. In the language of that day, we had been trained for leadership in our society. Now we were novices in a largely alien culture, hardly able to talk with a child, and there was neither time nor mental leeway for explorations along the lines that had previously been so exciting and full of promise. ‘As [look back and reflect on the meaning of those eventsand activities, I can, of course, detect from my present perspective certain rather obvious advantages and good fruits. As I have suggested, in the narrower academic sense the process involved a severe and intense intellectual discipline that, when properly used, can always bring good results. Religiously, we became eumenieal, not only in the sense of inter-Christian empathies and cooperation, but also in the sense of a wider ecumenism. This meant mutual appreciations and learning experiences among the great religious traditions of mankind that overlong centuries had largely gone their separate ways and only in vecent decades had come to have new, in-depth experiences of encounter and dialogue with one another. ‘There was, however, also a fruitof quiet and slow maturation that I particularly want to share with you in the context of the theme of the 1979 Congress and our concern for patterns of purpose of A.R.E. as related to the universal Christ pattern. This was a process of deepening roots and thereby reestablishing contact with my past and its foundations even as I was slowly and painfully moving out into the new. I am referring to the practice I soon developed of reading the Bible daily, faithfully, in the Japanese language. Obviously one doesn't read the Biblein aforeign language as easily and quickly as one does in English, especially when that language is as different from English in seript, grammar and idiom as Japaneseis, But there are also great advantages. The slower pace invites reflection, the different idiom may suggest new perceptions and fresh approaches. Above all, the pace and36 ‘THE A.RE, JOURNAL idiom, both frustrating and tantalizing at the same time, induced a process that in its continuity led me to become steeped, saturated in the Bible, Asa result, Ihave read the Bible through a number of times in Japanese but with a thoroughness and flexibility of approach that both liberates and strengthens me. With this rather lengthy personal account, I have been outlining the long process of preparation both in breadth and depth of experience which enabled me almost immediately to appreciate and then to study and appropriate the Edgar Cayce readings when my family and I returned to this country and were confronted with them, existentially for the first time, in the early ’60s. [ was able to appreciate properly, I think, their wondrously high quality of trath and wisdom and relate them to the rest of the human cultural heritage in a relatively comprehensive way. As a result of my in-depth Bible studies I had a builtin criterion, or standard of judgment, by which properly to evaluate the readings and to maintain my understanding and convictions about them in the face of criticism, whether constructive or hostile. I was able to learn and to grow by them, to share them with others without being, led into side avenues that could have distracted me from the things that are of central importance. As is well known, Cayce's chief, almost exclusive, reading. ‘material in his conscious life was the Bible. I do not presume to compare myself with him, but I am convinced that he also struck down deep roots over the years and developed both criterion and compass that held him steady through the many temptations, personal trials and, above all, amidst the bewildering variety of new data, perceptions and concepts that confronted him as a result of his clairvoyant activity. T honestly do not think that Cayce nor his family could have maintained their personal integrity nor even their basic mental sanity without this rootage of which I speak T believe that in principle the same problem faces the ARE. now as it has in the past. The Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc., of course, is not a religious organization, It is an educational institution committed to serve a wide public. Yet if weare to be faithful to the heritage of Edgar Cayce personally and to the meaning and intent of the readings, 1 would suggest that all of us who are a part of A.RE., whether general members or staff, must strike down and deepen our own rootage in a way that can be called religious. Otherwise I fearPALESTINIAN HERITAGE a7 that we shall not have the built-in crigeria that will enable us to distinguish between the better and the best. Without such rootage we shall lack the foundations that will keep us steady amidst the unsettling changes of our contemporary society, and specifically among the many options of new direction and activity that lie before the A.R.E. at the present time. Let me begin our consideration of “The Palestinian Heritage: Jesus the Christ and the Essenes” by relating what I see as a central element of the Cayce readings. Thisis their focuson the tunity of God. The readings repeat and emphasize Jesus’ teaching that God is one, (262-32; 1494-1; 900.429; ef. Mark 2:29.30) The correlate and point of human application, however, is “remember that the whole gospel of Jesus Christis: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind, thy heart and thy body; and thy neighbor as thyself.’ Do this and thou shalt have eternal life.” (2072-14) There is a simplicity and singleness of focus here that I believe to be of central concern for the process of creating and deepening our rootage as human beings and as members of A.R.E, In the Gospel of Matthew the proper singleness of the ultimate human goal is given in Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount in the context of the proper multiplicity of human needs and goals: “.. . your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Matt. 6:32.33) Actually the teaching in the same larger passage about the need for our eye to be sound, as the Revised Standard Version translated it, has the same purport. (Matt. 622-23) This is to say that true integration of human life jepends upon the choice of a single ultimate goal, point of reference or standard. In the Cayce readings this goal is often denoted as the ideal which one sets.“ .. the key should be making, compelling, inducing, having the mind one with that which is the ideal.” (262-84) The point I am trying to make is that for us this ideal must be one, the single ideal to which all other ideals are subordinated, that by which they are both coordinated and corrected, According to our common linguistic usage, this ideal will be religious in nature. Not religious in any sectarian or other narrow sense, but religious in the sense that it derives from what is ultimate for us, what is ultimate in the scale of cosmic realities and values that we ourselves perceive and accept as authentic and authoritative for ourselves. As human beings38 THE A.R.E. JOURNAL and as members of A.R.E., I believe that we need to reclarity and reset our one, single goal-deal as our rootage and the basis, for all forward movement. ‘Now let us turn more specifically to Jesus and the Essenes, Actually, a main point of difference, as seen in the Cayce readings, between the teaching and practice of Jesus in the period of His public ministry and the general ethos of the Essene community in which He had been trained was Jesus’ simplicity. This was His deft ability to distinguish between the more and the less important, both in content and in life practice. We read, for example, “John was more the Essene ‘than Jesus. For Jesus held rather to the spirit of the law, and John to the letter of same.” (2067-11) This is not to say, of course, that the Essene movement was not a magnificent activity in human history and specifically in the tradition of Israel. Anyone who reads the references of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who was born shortly after the death of Jesus (A.D. 37—ca. 100), can detect his obvious admiration for the members of this sect of first-century Judaism. It is strange, at first sight, that the Essenes are not ‘once mentioned in the New Testament. The reason, however, is very possibly because the early Christian community considered themselves to be the direct continuation, in a different context of events and appropriate changes, of the Essene movement. There are several notable characteristics of the Exsenes which are described in some detail in the Cayce readings and have not yet appeared in our other sources descriptive of their activity. One is the fact of their trans Jewish nature, to the extent that they formed a kind of international brotherhood, although their base and focus of activity were in Israel Another characteristic is that the position and role of women among the Essenes was higher than was common among the sews of the time. We all recall the high role of prophetic leadership among at least one group of the Essenes held by Judy, who was, according to the readings, the chief instructor of the youthful Jesus in Palestine Another distinctive characteristic of the Essene movement, especially the group headed by Judy, was, the readings say, their respect for and practice of the more direct and deeply personal elements of religious experience. ‘They evidently greatly honored the tradition of their people, but they took special note of this aspect of the tradition. Instead of what, noPALESTINIAN HERITAGE. 39 doubt, was for some Jews an almost exclusive focus upon the nites, rules, written Seriptures and related concepts of their tradition, the Essenes honored experiences such as communications “in voices, in dreams, in signs and symbols...” (31753) We read that the Essenes “had cherished not merely the conditions that had come as word of mouth but had kept the records of the periods when individuals had been visited with the supernatural or out of the ordinary experiences; whether in dreams, visions, voices, or whatnot . ..” (1472-3) We observe here a stream of profound spirituality within Judaism, one in which the practicing members not only revered and studied the words of the prophets, lawmakers and psalmists of their tradition, butalso tried toemulate the human experiences of the Divine that lay behind them. Significantly, tor this aspect of the Essene practice we also have good evidence from Josephus. He tells us not only of the noble moral conduct of the Essenes—for example, that “they exceed all other men thataddict themselves to virtue; and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not fora little time, so hath. itendured a long while among them.”' Josephus also gives us instances of the most specific kind of predictive prophecy practiced among the Essenes, of their interpretation of dreams and otherwise notes their devotion to the deeper practices of the devotional life. > Josephus, incidentally, also confirms Cayce's statement regarding the division of the Essenes into more than one grouping.* (3175-3) One further point may be added, namely that Josephus compares the Essenes with the Greck Pythagoreans, who we know from other sources believed in reincarnation, And in another passage Josephus describes the anthropology of the Essenes to the effect that they held that, human souls preexist and enter the earth in a manner very similar to the understanding of the Greek philosopher Plato, the Alexandrian Christian theologian Origen and, indeed, Edgar Cayce.* Before entering into a concluding discussion of the main themes of the Christ event, I should like to mention how I perceive Cayce in his portrayal of this, the most significant event in human history. In terms of the content of the readings, I would sugwest that Cayce is like a towering theologian of the early church who combines the cosmic reaches of the world view of the Alexandrian theologians Clement and Origen with40 ‘THE A.R.E, JOURNAL certain of the specifics of early Jewish Christianity. ‘To consider now the Christ event, let us recall that the Cayce readings manifest a high Christology, one of the highest in the entire history of the Christian church, especially with regard to the work and the role of Jesus the Christ. In the readings the passion of Jesus—above all, His suffering on the cross—is seen ‘as cosmically redemptive, liberating in the widest and deepest sense of the word. (5749-10) There are, however, certain aspects of the life and teachings of Jesus the Christ as given in the Cayce readings which I believe are of particular importance to us now as we are thinking of the future life and work of the A.R-E. One of them is the marvelous balance and proportion of it all. In the context even of the pain and apparent tragedy of the cross, we are told that—differently from the tendency in certain parts of the Christian tradition (particularly the Hispanic) to focus upon the physical agony of the experiences—Jesus rather gloried in the opportunity of taking upon Himself “that which would right man’s relationship to the Father . . .” (5749-10) . .. He laughed even on the way to Calvary: notas pictured so. oft, but laughed even at those that tormented Him. This is what angered them the most. 8003-1 He smiled upon the cross—as He smiles upon thee and ‘Tam with thee; be not afraid, it is I. 1158-5 ‘This perception of the humor of Jesus, mentioned in several of the readings, is one of Cayce's most original contributions, I believe, to our understanding of the life of Jesus. I would submit that this sense of humor, rooted, of course, in an awareness of and faith in the working of God's providential rulein the world, is a particularly significant part of the ARE. heritage. We don't need to panic; we can smile and even laugh in the midst of our troubles. Recall the many times in the readings that the Pauline verse in I Corinthians 10:13 is quoted with varying explications and applications: . the Father has not willed that any soul should perish, and is thus mindful that each soul has again and again—and yet again—the opportunity for making its path straight. 2021-1PALI TINIAN HERITAGE 41 For, He hath not willed that any soul should perish, but has with each temptation, each trial, prepared a way of understanding, or escape. 2081-1 ‘The Edgar Cayce readings make crystal clear the fact that the process of divine providence is neither cold nor impersonal, and we do not walk alone, We are told: “Realize, then, that self cannot bear the burdens alone, ever; only by the whole trust in Him who is the way, the truth and the light,” (2061-1) by trust in “the Father, who has not left his children alone but ever seeks that they should know that the Redeemer liveth.” (479-1) This last leads us to the theme of personal relationships. The readings make clear that the final goal of the divine work of salvation is relational. The work of God for the salvation of all, souls, indeed for the restoration of the entire cosmos, which we see focused in Jesus the Christ, is for the restoration of personal relationships, between the FatherMother God and ourselves, and in turn between and among ourselves. In the readings we find the true New Testament proportion of things, wherein our reconciliation with God and each otheris notonly a free gift but something we need to work at. (877-29; ef. Phil, 2:12-13) Almost more than any other one theme, the readings emphasize the importance of application in life, i want to develop this theme of personal relationships a bit further, because without improvement in the quality of this area of the life of A.R.E., in both staff persons and members, no amount of so-called creative planning or far-ranging activity will be of much avail. We find in the readings reference to a kind of universal principle of reciprocity. For it has ever been and is, even in materiality, a reciprocal world. “If ye will be my people, Iwill be thy God.” [ef. Jer. 7:23, ete.] If we would know good, do good. If ye would have life, If ye would know Jesus, the Christ, then be like 1158-9 Another reading has: Not so much self-development, but rather developing the Christ Consciousness in self, being selfless, that He may have His way with thee, that He—the Christ—may direct thy ways, that He will guide thee in the things thou doest, thou sayest. 281-2042 THE ARE. JOURNAL ‘The application of the Christ Consciousness is elsewhere described as manifesting the fruits of the Spirit. This is to “Practice, then, brotherly love, kindness, patience, long: suffering, gentleness.” (8580-1; ef. Gal. 5:22-23), In some ways the work of the A.R.E., operating on the cutting, growing edge of the mental and spiritual activity of our society, is both delicate and dangerous. For this reason the protective role of the Christ manifest as Christ Consciousness is emphasized: -no influence without or within may be of a detrimental force to self, so long as self will surround self with the thought and the ability of the Christ Consciousness, and then practice same in its dealings with its fellow man. 2081-2 This is indeed true religion, opening oneself up to the influence of the Most High and then pouring out the same upon, others! Perhaps you will recall the reading which speaks of “the spirit of truth that cleanseth all from that of selfishness and makes of them as one with the influence of the Christ Consciousness in their lives.” (262-60) I continue to be amazed that the Cayce readings explicate and interpret the Bible with a depth of insight and pertinence of application such as I have seen comparably in no other single commentator in the entire Judeo-Christian tradition Admittedly, there are points of Cayce interpretation which do not command universal assent, but few persons of sincere religious intent, I venture, would disagree with Cayce's foci of application. ‘One of the so-called hard sayings of Jesus in the New ‘Testament is the teaching that “He who finds his life[the Greek word is “ psyche" or soul] will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39) But this word is hard for us, and few contemporary preachers or teachers emphasize it as did the author of Matthew. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the young. German martyr of the Second World War, wrote in prison of Jesus as “the man for others,” but Edgar Cayce went on, as few others have done, to emphasize the applicability of this principle in the case of all of us, How often do the readings ask us to lose ourselves in love and service for others!(281-1)This is not easy to take in, even more difficult to apply, but the message is clear,PAL STINIAN HERITAGE 43 Become selfless! and there will grow that which makes the body, the mind, strong—and able to meet every obstacle in the physical conditions, in the social surroundings, in the family. cireles, with a smile; knowing that “If my life is one with Him the rest matters not," and mean it! and DO it! and BE it! 911-7 Those who take seriously the Cayce readings as source material constituting prophetic guidance for the direction of their lives believe that the structures or circumstances of experiences on earth—or elsewhere—are not by chance(2271-1; 5343-1), but are the expression of a continuity of divine pattern or purpose. (3128-1) This truth applies in a particular way also to personal associations, including group associations. We are not gathered here in a Congress of A.R.E, members by chance. We are told that we “have that karma, that experience to be worked out together for some definite purpose other than that of selfindulgence, selfgratification, or self-exaltation.” (281-1) Rather we have been “designated as those who... may lose self in love and service to others.” (281-1). ..each soul's expression in the earth is to bea channel through which Creative Forees or God may be made the greater [or more] manifest in the experience ...in the lives of individuals as they deal with their associations.” (1206-3) T know that this sounds very much like the peroration of a sermon, but the Cayce readings are like that. T remember Harmon Bro telling me that when he and his wife June were living and working with Edgar Cayce for several months in the early 1940s, a number of times they were offered the ‘opportunity to have an extra reading for themselves because of last-minute cancellations. After one or two times, Harmon said, they had to refuse, The material was too strong for them, too direct. It came too close to home, and they could take only so much, I'm sure that we all would have reacted in the same way. But in all honesty I think that the message of the Edgar Cayce readings to us right now as we prepare to plan for the future is to work at improving the quality of our personal relationships, both staff and members. The very essence of divine salvation is relational, and so we are called to heal, purify, sweeten and beautify our personal relationships as the necessary preparation for any effective work, “By this all men. will know that you are my diseiples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)“4 THE A.R.E. JOURNAL FOOTNOTES °B.H, Streeter and A.l. Appasams. The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh. New York: Macmillan, 1922, pp. 100-102 Plavius Josephus. Antiquities ofthe Jews, XVI, 1,9. ‘There is evidence in the Dead Sea Scrolls that the Qumran community of scenes had received "many foreign influences" asa result ofthe sojourn ofthe Essenes in Babylon, presumably from the time of the Babylonian Exile. We hhave no evidence from these documents, however, of on Jewish participants ins larger fellowship of Essenes, Cf, Jerome Murphy-0'Connor, “The Essenes in Palestine,” Biblical Archarologist, vol. 40, no. 8 (September 1977), pp. 104 16 “osephus. op. et “Abid XV, 10,5 XVU, 13,35 Wars ofthe Jews, I, 8, 12:11, 8,513. William. ‘Albright, Brim the Stone Age to Christantty,2nded, Garden City: Doubleday. 1987, p38 Josephus. op ‘Toid XV. 1, 4; Wars ofthe Jews 1.8.11 Diettich Bonhoeffer. Letters and Papers from Prison, Bhethard Bethe, ed tnlarged od, Neve York: Macnllan, 1972, pp. 381-2, The whole expression is ‘the man forothers, and therefore the Crucified, the man who lives eat of the transcendent