You will come across the following statement, or a statement like it, several places on The Zoo Fence. I apologize for that. But in my mind, it is importnat enough to be repeated.
Here’s the thing. By design, The Zoo Fence is, as its sub-title suggests, a commentary on the spiritual life. Accordingly, it is inevitable that there are frequent references to spiritual Teachers like
Maharajji,
Nisargadatta,
Ibn ’Arabi,
Moses,
Ramana Maharshi,
Lao Tzu,
Basil, and … Jesus.
But about Jesus: It has been obvious to me for a long time — and, I expect, to many
of you as well — that the name Jesus
by which we know the Gospels Teacher was not in fact the man’s name. Jesus
is the English form of the Latin form of the Greek form of the Hebrew word Yeshua or Yehoshua. In fact, scholars tell us the man’s name was (almost) certainly an Aramaic word, most likely something like Issa. But definitely not Jesus
or Iesu
or anything similar.
Given that, I cannot help but wonder, is it appropriate for me, for us, to consider him, to address him, to love him, even to pray to him, by the English version of the Latin name used by Pontius Pilate and his Roman soldiers as they drove iron nails into his hands and feet. Surely his mother, his siblings, his disciples, those who knew him in person and loved him, did not address him by that Roman name.
La Pietá – Michelangelo
Issa,but never out loud. My excuse has been, gee, old habits die hard, and what difference does it make, and surely he does not care.
Issaon The Zoo Fence. When I began writing the playlet
Jesus and Judas,he was Jesus, but I have changed that to Issa. However, I left a link to the original version where he is
Jesusbecause I realize that a lot of TZF visitors will initially experience as much difficulty ingesting the name
Issaas I did, and I do not want that discomfort to interfere with their willingness to consider the point of the playlet. Likewise, for a while I have included with most appearances of the name
Issaa link to this explanation or another like it. Again, it has taken me a long time; there is no reason for me to insist that TZF visitors deal with this quicker than I could.
La Pietáis at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Italian word pietá means compassion, mercy, pity. There is an Italian expression,
facere pietá ai sassiwhich means to make the stones weep. Surely Michelangelo, working on this piece in stone (marble), chose La Pietá for its name to remind us of Luke 19:40, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.