Creating Peace by Being Peace: The Essene Sevenfold Path

Representing a synthesis of the author’s decades of multidisciplinary work in meditation, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and spirituality, Creating Peace by Being Peace guides readers in creating peace on seven levels of engagement, from the body to the ecology to God. Author Gabriel Cousens addresses the increasingly urgent need to transform humankind with the ancient peace wisdom of the Essenes, a Judaic mystical group that flourished two millennia ago. He begins by explaining the Essenes and the lessons they can teach us as creators of peace. Individual chapters cover a wide range of possibility, from the personal (“Peace with the Mind”) to the political (“Peace with the Community”). The final chapter, "Integrating Peace on Every Level," presents a comprehensive plan for peace with the body, mind, family, community, culture, ecology, and God as a pervasive experience in life—moment to moment, day by day. Cousens blends documentary evidence with original interpretation to show that the Essenes actually did live this experience of peace. Most importantly, he transfers their gift to modern seekers as a breathing blueprint for realizing this reality as we walk in our lives; work according to our gifts, joys, and sacred design; and live the path of spiritual awakening—the sevenfold peace.

Rebbe Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD(H), DD (Doctor of Divinity), Diplomate American Board of Holistic Medicine, Diplomate Ayurveda, is a world-recognized medical doctor and spiritual teacher who teaches in the U.S., the Middle East, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, North Africa, and Europe. He is the founder and director of the Tree of Life Foundation, which trains Essene priests and coordinates international humanitarian aid programs. The author of Conscious Eating, Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine, and There Is a Cure for Diabetes, he lives in Patagonia, AZ.