Ok, I don't know how interesting this will be for everyone; but I am studying the Didache with Brother Richard here at the monastery. He is a scholar of the old school trained at Oxford and has offered to teach me a few things. I will digest these things and add my own ingredients and dump out what I come up with for you to read over the course my stay here.
The Didache is the oldest know Christian manuscript as I understand it. It is the teachings of the 12 apostles to the non-Jews around the 1st century. It is a short manuscript which is why I thought it would be a good candidate for the blog.
Verse 1
There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, there is a great difference between the two Ways.
Here we have the writer presenting us with two paths. This start is a common approach found in wisdom literature. In the Katha Upanisad, for instance, Naciketas is told that there are two directions one can go at any moment. For him the choices given were "the pleasant" and "the good". Sri Ramakrishna in his teachings also describes two paths "vidya" (knowledge) and "avidya" (ignorance).
Named differently, these paths are really the same choice. Let's look at each of the pairs.
The path of life, when contrasted to the path of death could be reasonable deduced as immortality. Immortality belongs to the spirit. It's source is the tree of immortality that is still within the Garden of Eden, but protected by a cherub with a flaming sword. To get there is the goal of this path. We get a clue from Psalms of how to reach this place.
(Psalms 16:11) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The path of life is to live in the constant awareness of the presence of the Beloved. It is to defeat the causes of distraction and forgetfulness which are the things of the material world and not of the spiritual. It is to conquer the flames of desire, hence the cherubim preventing you from eating of the tree of immortality.
In contrast, the path of Death is to follow the call of the body. It is to hasten to its constant call for pleasure and satisfaction with ever increasing need. To see yourself as being material and not spiritual in nature is the practice of looking through your senses for your fulfillment. This mistake is the mistake made by Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is the cause, or the reasonable outcome of the curse which is:
(Genesis 3:17-19)Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
If you choose to identify with yourself as material, you are dust. As such you will toil continuously to eat, to pay for your house, to find love, to afford vacations and pleasures of all manner. In this context you and all you collect for your enjoyment will turn to dust in the long run. You will experience death because you identified with your body and not with your spirit and made decisions accordingly for your happiness.
I'll continue with the next path distinction tomorrow.
The Didache is the oldest know Christian manuscript as I understand it. It is the teachings of the 12 apostles to the non-Jews around the 1st century. It is a short manuscript which is why I thought it would be a good candidate for the blog.
Verse 1
There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, there is a great difference between the two Ways.
Here we have the writer presenting us with two paths. This start is a common approach found in wisdom literature. In the Katha Upanisad, for instance, Naciketas is told that there are two directions one can go at any moment. For him the choices given were "the pleasant" and "the good". Sri Ramakrishna in his teachings also describes two paths "vidya" (knowledge) and "avidya" (ignorance).
Named differently, these paths are really the same choice. Let's look at each of the pairs.
The path of life, when contrasted to the path of death could be reasonable deduced as immortality. Immortality belongs to the spirit. It's source is the tree of immortality that is still within the Garden of Eden, but protected by a cherub with a flaming sword. To get there is the goal of this path. We get a clue from Psalms of how to reach this place.
(Psalms 16:11) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The path of life is to live in the constant awareness of the presence of the Beloved. It is to defeat the causes of distraction and forgetfulness which are the things of the material world and not of the spiritual. It is to conquer the flames of desire, hence the cherubim preventing you from eating of the tree of immortality.
In contrast, the path of Death is to follow the call of the body. It is to hasten to its constant call for pleasure and satisfaction with ever increasing need. To see yourself as being material and not spiritual in nature is the practice of looking through your senses for your fulfillment. This mistake is the mistake made by Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is the cause, or the reasonable outcome of the curse which is:
(Genesis 3:17-19)Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
If you choose to identify with yourself as material, you are dust. As such you will toil continuously to eat, to pay for your house, to find love, to afford vacations and pleasures of all manner. In this context you and all you collect for your enjoyment will turn to dust in the long run. You will experience death because you identified with your body and not with your spirit and made decisions accordingly for your happiness.
I'll continue with the next path distinction tomorrow.
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