From what seems like the very dawn of time there has been an astounding and compassionate universal teachings. Elements of this teaching have been found in every culture of every era. One group who worked to preserve this teaching has come to be known as the "Essenes". But how many years this universal teaching existed before them is unknown.
This teaching was intended not only to be known but also to be lived day by day. For this teaching reawakens in our hearts a sort of intuitive knowledge that can help us solve our problems personally and collectively. The Essenes simply called this universal teaching "The Way".
The ancient Essene dwelled upon this earthworld from about 300 B.C.E. until near the end of the first century after the birth of the Christ. The infamous Dead Sea Scrolls were written by a group of Essenes at a settlement in Palestine known today as Qumran. But the famed Nazareans were also a group of Essenes who dwelled in and near the village of Nazareth. There were, in fact, Essene communities all over the middle eastern region and in Egypt they came to be known as the Therapeutae, "healers". Further, they had ongoing interfaith contacts with many other nations and faiths during their time.
The origin of the Essenes is uncertain but we do know that they often called themselves the "Children of Enoch" referring to the great prophet of the Old Testament and the "Children of Light". Many Essenes claimed that the Prophet Enoch was their founder and, in fact, the Book of Enoch was an honored and sacred book among the Essenes. This Enoch is the Prophet Enoch [not the son of Cain] who was the 7th from Adam.
The Essenes were unlike the people of their day. They rejected the idea of slavery and none of them owned slaves. They also tended to live a communal type life in desert areas, near great mountains such as Mt. Carmel, or near streams and rivers. Nature and communing with nature was very important to the Essenes because they considered the Earth to be their Mother and God Spirit to be their Father. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Essenes shared much in common with Native Americans including the use of the "Medicine Wheel".
The Essenes claimed that such people as Elijah, John the Baptist, John the Beloved, and Jesus of Nazareth were of there own. They often referred to Jesus as "the Teacher of Righteousness". They believed that Jesus (Jeshua) was an Essene Master Teacher and the Messiah (meaning "Anointed One). They, like the Gnostics, believed that he served as an example for which they themselves could pattern their own lives after.
Ancient historians spoke of the Essenes. Josephus, Philo, Phily, Solanius, and others often spoke of the Essenes as "a race by themselves, more remarkable and unlike any other in the world."
The Gospel of Matthew says of Jesus (Jeshua), "And he shall be a Nazarene". The Nazarenes were a group of Essenes and so it is our belief that Jesus was an Essene. And it is also our belief that the "First followers of Jesus", that is the First Christians, were also Essenes. This is why we have chosen to call oursselves the CHRISTIAN ESSENES. But be NOT mislead by your own ego because it is also our belief that NO one religions has the whole Truth but that ALL have a piece of the Truth of the universal teaching spoken of earlier. And so we strive to be INTERFAITH because we realize that humanity shall never see the whole Truth until we begin to put all the little pieces of Truth together.
The Gnostic Christians followed the Essenes and were influencial until around the time of the forming of the Church (about 300 A.D.). At this time the forming Church began to excommunicate and silence the Gnostic Christians who were questioning much of the doctrine and practices that the Church was adopting. The Essenes and Gnostic Christians were the first Theologians in Christianity. The Gnostic Christians believed that to the masses Jesus taught in parables but to those who were spiritually mature he taught plainly. His plain teachings are contained in what has come to be known as the "Gnostic Gospels" which were discovered as part of the Nag Hammadi Library in the 1940's. "Gnosis" means "knowing", "agnosis/agnostic" means "not knowing". Gnostic Christians believed that one must acquire Gnosis in order to achieve "salvation". Achieving Gnosis involves a deep inward journey into the depths of yourself. Gnosis like Essenism is NOT so much a religion as it is a LIFESTYLE to be lived daily and in your every thought, word, and deed.
ALL PEOPLE ARE WELCOMED HERE NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEIR FAITH IS. This follows in the traditions of the ancient Essenes and Gnostic Christians as these groups often provided refuge for the marginalized, the searching, and those who had been beaten down and made to feel unworthy by the vast egotism of the world. Little has changed over the past 2000 years.