Reclaiming the Garden of Eden

Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.
I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight. 

Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various
colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.

My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame
and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.

Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.
by Rabindranath Tagore

Our genes have been around for millions of years and we have been roaming the earth as homo sapiens for about 200 000 years. Needless to say our behaviors, feelings and thoughts are driven by evolutionary biology; the memes, instincts and behaviors that guaranteed our survival in the gene pool. We still crave fatty food because in the olden days they kept us alive during the harsh winters. We like to stray sexually because, for men anyway, that has been the way to get ahead in the gene pool. We strive for power, or are turned on by power, because having more than the fellow next door was the way to stay alive in the olden days when we had scarce resources.

Isn't it a bit sad to realize that we are mere robots? Do we actually have the choice to break free? Should we live in renunciation to will-fully overwrite these biological and psychological memes? The greatest of us claim that we can very much step out of these conditionings. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that everyone has a spiritual mission to fulfill and that this mission is so tailored to our needs and desires that we can burn up all our drives while discovering GOD in the process. Lao-Tzu discovered a FORCE beyond comprehension behind everything and shared his observations in the Tao Te Ching. Jesus discovered universal LOVE and tried to share his observations with humanity, while Buddha awoke to our conditionings in his meditation. 

The reason why we spiritual travelers are so excited these days is because we can see the messages of the WAY to break free without sacrificing much. We don't have to spend seven years like Buddha in the jungle practicing torturous meditation and self-restraint. We don't have to be nailed to the cross like Jesus to get our message heard, nor do we need to think about thinking like Socrates until every discussion partner is left with a head-ache. No, all the answers to our questions and all the DIVINE CONNECTIONS that we need to get ahead in life are there right in front of us. Everyone we hang out with has a message for us. We can enjoy the bountiful table GOD prepared for us without feeling sheepish. We can live a little, can fulfill our spiritual mission and walk with GOD, all at the same time.

 It is like entering the Garden of Eden again, only this time we can live consciously next to the higher FORCE that we are embedded in while satisfying all our subconscious urges and drives at the same time. How can we get there? Well, let's complete the mission GOD has given us, whatever that might be for each of us. Let's do the meditation Buddha taught us in order to be aware of the programs that are running us. But most importantly, let's dive into the bounty and the problem statements life has to offer with our eyes and ears wide open. LOVE and DIVINE CONNECTIONS surround us all the time. I am with Tagore on this, deliver me from renunciation and let me dance with HER instead.