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From the Introduction -
A tradition of both native Middle Eastern and Hebraic [qabalah] mysticism says that each statement of sacred teaching must be examined from at least three points of view: the intellectual, the metaphorical, and the universal, [or mystical]. From the third viewpoint, the universal or mystical, one comes to a truth of the experience pointed to by a particular statement.
We must embrace the wordless experience to which the living words of a mystic point.
Most of the english translations of the words of Jesus come from Greek, a language that differs greatly from Aramaic. Aramaic was the common spoken language throughout the middle east at the time of Jesus and the tongue in which he expressed his teachings. Hebrew was primarily a temple language at this time. Unlike greek, aramaic does not draw sharp lines between means and ends, or between an inner quality and an outer action. Both are always present.
Words are organized and defined based on a poetic root-and-pattern system, so that each word may have several meanings, at first seemingly unrelated, but upon contemplation revealing an inner connection.
[For instance] "Heaven" in aramaic ceases to be a metaphysical concept and presents the image of "light and sound shining through all creation."
Aramaic is rich in sound-meaning; that is, one can feel direction, color, movement, and other sensations as certain sacred words resonate in the body. This body resonance was another layer of meaning for the hearers of Jesus' words and for the native Middle Eastern mystic. [See Sufi]
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