Edmond Bordeaux Szekely | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1905-03-05)March 5, 1905 |
| Died | 1979(1979-00-00) (aged 73–74) |
| Occupation | Philologist/linguist, philosopher, psychologist |
| Genre | Religion |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 2 |
Edmond Bordeaux Szekely (March 5, 1905 – 1979) was aHungarian philologist/linguist, philosopher, psychologist and natural living enthusiast. Szekely authoredThe Essene Gospel of Peace, which he alleged to have translated from an ancient text he discovered in the 1920s. Scholars consider the text aforgery.[1][2] He was grandson of Sándor Székely, poet and Unitarian bishop ofKolozsvár and descendant ofSándor Kőrösi Csoma.
Szekely's grandfather was Sándor Székely, poet and Unitarian Bishop ofKolozsvár; his mother was French andRoman Catholic, and his father was a HungarianUnitarian.[3] According to Szekely's book 'Essene Gospel of Peace', he was a descendant of Hungarian philologist and orientologistSándor Kőrösi Csoma (although the latter never married and had no children).[4]
Per publications of the International Biogenic Society, including 'The Essene Gospel of Peace', Szekely received a Ph.D. from theUniversity of Paris, and other degrees from the universities ofVienna andLeipzig.[3] He held professorships in philosophy and in experimental psychology at theBolyai University inKolozsvár (nowCluj-Napoca, in Romania).[3] His books were published in English, Romanian, Esperanto, German, French, Hungarian, and Spanish, per the introductory bibliography in his 1938 book 'Cosmotherapy, the Medicine of the Future'.Szekely claimed to have translated a text he discovered at theVatican in 1923, calledThe Essene Gospel of Peace which he published in four parts over several decades. With the 1974 edition, he also included what he said was the complete original Hebrew text from which he translated Book 1.
In 1928, Szekely founded the International Biogenic Society, with Nobel Prize-winning novelistRomain Rolland.[3] Szekely travelled widely, to Tahiti, Africa, the Carpathians, France, and Eastern Europe. L Purcell Weaver met Szekely in Tahiti in 1934 and attributed his improved health to him. Weaver went on to translate several of Szekely's works, beginning with the 1936 book "Cosmos, Man and Society: A Paneubiotic Synthesis".[5]
During the late 1930s he lived inLeatherhead, England working there as the director of the British International Health and Education Centre.[6]
In 1939, Szekely married Brooklyn-bornDeborah Shainman, whose mother was a past vice-president of the New York Vegetarian Society. In 1940, the couple opened a camp in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico, which they namedRancho la Puerta, where they could explore and test their ideas. The couple had two children, Alexander and Sarah Livia. Edmund Szekely continued his research, writing numerous books and conducting seminars all over the world.
In 1970, Szekely and his wife divorced and he retired from Rancho La Puerta to go live nearOrosi,Costa Rica. Szekely married Norma Nilsson, a long-time assistant, and focused on his writing and teaching. He died in 1979.
Szekely was araw foodist andvegetarian who advocated "biogenic living". His diet consisted of 75% "biogenic" foods such as whole grains, nuts and seeds and "bioactive" raw fruits and vegetables.[7]
He recommended a raw food diet,hydrotherapy, breathing clean air and bathing in sunshine.[2]
Szekely claimed that, while studying at theVatican in 1923, he had found and translated several obscureHebrew andAramaic texts which he said proved theEssenes werevegetarians, and that vegetarianism was prescribed byJesus.
Szekely claimed to have found an Aramaic translation ofThe Essene Gospel of Peace andThe Essene Book of Revelation at the Vatican library. In thescriptorium of the Benedictine monastery ofMonte Cassino he claimed to have found the original Hebrew text ofThe Essene Gospel of Peace.[8] His findings, as did the writings ofRomain Rolland, often challenged the assumptions of conventional religious adherents and politicized, established religious institutions about the life and teachings ofJesus, and he was therefore often criticized by them.
Szekely later said that he recognized several fragments in these that were either similar, or identical, to various passages from the Old and New Testaments, theDead Sea Scrolls, and theAvesta and thus he relied on available English editions of those works to produce the style of language used in his translations.[9] Book 1, which he said constituted an eighth of the material, was published in 1936. He published more material in following years, including Books 2 and 3 in 1974, which with Book 1, he said, make up a third of the material. With the 1974 edition, he also included what he said was the complete original Hebrew text from which he translated Book 1.While Szekely's claimed translations of the so-called "Essene Texts" have drawn interest from followers of various faiths, the original manuscripts have never been located, and have been considered forgeries by some modern religious scholars.
WhenUniversity of Lund theologianPer Beskow investigated Szekely's claims inStrange Tales About Jesus, both the Vatican and the National Library of Vienna denied that the original manuscripts existed. TheVatican also denied that Szekely had ever been admitted to the Vatican Archives in 1923. The third claimed manuscript source was the library atMonte Cassino, which was destroyed during World War II.[10]
Szekely's claims were rejected by biblical scholars.Per Beskow has noted that:
The [Essene] Gospel of Peace is a sheer forgery, written by Szekely himself. It is one of the strangest frauds we know of in the biblical field, as it has been carried through by stages during a whole lifetime and has been built onto an entire body of research based on imagination only.[1]
Richard A. Young has written:
Proof that Jesus was vegetarian is based onThe Essene Gospel of Peace, which Szekely claims to have translated from an ancient text he supposedly discovered in the 1920s. Szekely alleges that this ancient gospel text is authentic and that the canonical gospels are forgeries. However, no one besides Szekely has ever seen the manuscript. This and other reasons prompt scholars to conclude thatThe Essene Gospel of Peace is a disreputable forgery.[2]
Some critics have pointed out that Szekely, after originally publishing a French translation, first published it in English in 1937 asThe gospel of peace of Jesus Christ by the disciple John. After the discovery of theDead Sea Scrolls in the 1940s and intense public interest in the Essenes, Szekely republished an updated version asThe Essene Gospel of John. The scrolls appearing on the title page of later editions are not the manuscripts Szekely claimed to translate, but a reversed image of a Dead Sea Scroll from ProfessorMillar BurrowsThe Dead Sea Scrolls, published in 1958.[11]
In 1940, Szekely and his wife opened a camp they named Rancho la Puerta inBaja California. The camp had one adobe hut and the Szekelys started an organic garden, bought goats and began marketing cheese, and invited like-minded people to visit for $17.50 a week. Guests (who chopped wood, milked goats, and brought their own tents) listened to Szekely's lectures on achieving good health, long life, and the interdependence of mind, body and spirit. Szekely spoke againstherbicides,pesticides,artificial fertilizers, the increasing use of food processing, and the dangers of cigarettes. He emphasized the threat ofpollution and the need for pure air and pure water, recommendations for safesunbathing, and the dangers ofcholesterol and fats in the American diet.[citation needed]
As the spa increased in size in the early 1950s and began to operate year-round, visitors of another sort were attracted by the weight-loss potential of Rancho la Puerta'svegetarian diet. Szekely and his wife began searching for and hiring specialists in yoga and other mind/body exercise regimens, adding a fitness aspect to their offerings.
Today, Rancho La Puerta is a 3,000-acre (12 km2)holistic health spa and eco-resort with a staff of nearly 400, owned and operated by the Szekely family. The spa is situated on the slopes ofMount Kuchumaa. The spa includes, among other things, a full-size replica of thelabyrinth of theCathedral of Chartres, 32 acres (130,000 m2) of gardens, a 5-acre (20,000 m2) organic garden, 87 rooms, eleven gyms, a library, and the Szekely Art Collection—sculpture, painting, glass, and other work primarily by Mexican and South American artists.
Szekely is the author of over 80 books, including two autobiographies. Some of his best-known are:
The above-listed 1951 book 'Medicine Tomorrow' lists the following works as having been translated into English by Weaver.[14]
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