The Essenes - The Sevenfold Path of Peace, derived from the ancient Essene teachings, offers a solid foundation in essential lifestyle philosophies and practices in the art of conscious living. A consciousness based on the core vision of the unity of all life.
The teaching appears in the Zend Avesta of Zoroaster, who translated it into a way of life that was followed for thousands of years. It contains the fundamental concepts of Brahmanism, the Vedas and the Upanishads; and the Yoga systems of India sprang from the same source. Buddha later gave forth essentially the same basic ideas and his sacred Bodhi tree is correlated with the Essene Tree of Life. In Tibet, the teaching once more found expression in the Tibetan Wheel of Life.
The Essenes lived on the shores of lakes and rivers, away from cities and towns, and practiced a communal way of life, sharing equally in everything. T
They had no servants or slaves and were said to have been the first people to condemn slavery both in theory and practice. There were no rich and no poor amongst them, both conditions being considered by them as deviations from the Law. They established their own economic system, based wholly on the Law, and showed that all man’s food and material needs can be attained without a struggle, through knowledge of the Law.
The word Essene means healer or ‘therapeutie’, which they were well known for; they healed many people. They knew that disease is created when one deviates from the law of nature. By living in harmony with the Elemental forces and the cycles of nature, health and happiness return.