When the Snake Tempted Adam

The production of images and exciting experiences is one of the most common ways in which self-image seeks to avoid Union.

(Gerald May, Will and Spirit)

There was a time when Adam simply was. He walked upright, he breathed - Spirit in Latin; or "Atman" (Self) and "atmen" (to breathe) in the Indo-Germanic language connection. Divine energy was running up and down his spine. From the energy center at his testicles towards his Third Eye via the seven Chakras, and back. Adam certainly made love before the Fall, but when he and Eve created a new Being, the energy centers of yin and yang combined with the Spirit in the Divine act. Adam was always Home.

The Fall in the Bible talks about was about Adam becoming aware of his creative powers, and with it, the potential for mis-creation. While there even may have been masturbation before the Fall, mis-creation arose when Adam became aware of the separate "I". Mis-creation can happen in many ways, but sexually, Adam's erect penis can become the conscious symbol of the separate existence, the symbolic "I" so to speak. In the conscious act of masturbation, man enjoys diverting the cosmic energy away from the vertical testicle - third eye connection, horizontally into nothingness. 

Again, the act of masturbation is not the villain here, neither is the physical expression of love. What disconnected us from the Garden of Eden was the conscious departure from Oneness. Yet, the door to the Garden of Eden has always been wide open to return. Oneness is with us every step of the WAY. 

The Journey Back to the Garden of Eden

It is a biological fact that once you have climbed out of the mother's womb you can't climb back. The Story of the Tree of Knowledge was exactly that. We left our subconscious connection with God and nature and became aware of our own creative powers. Alas, with the gain of powers came a loss of innocence, a break with our God-connectedness.

When we spend all day getting drunk, stuffing our face, having sex orgies, working ourself to death, or maxing our credit card on stuff we don't really need, we in fact try to climb back into our mother's womb. We want to lose consciousness and experience this feeling of connectedness with artificial means. It backfires as we all know and after a brief feeling of orgasmic bliss we feel even more alienated and irritated. Yet, if we spend time in meditation instead, with people we love or on creating things that are meaningful to us, we in fact are going back to that original state with proper means. 

By the way, we are not saying that sex, alcohol, dancing, working hard or indulging in things we care for is not part of the Way. Drowning out the 'here' with the help of artificial means in order to be 'there' is the problem;  meaningful work, celebration and exaltation is the Way! It is a free joining of a Force that flows through you rather than a desire to escape the here and now.

Living in the Now - walking the Tao as we call it - is the experience of finding this God connection that we once lost. The meaning of life is communicated to us when we experience that divine connection just as in the olden days. We experience life and know that it is "good" without getting entangled in the good versus evil battle at all. 

A spiritual path is the journey Home. We have tasted from the Tree of Knowledge and we now create freely in our Mother's garden. Heaven on earth is right here in front of us. Learn to center yourself as the yin and yang of life unfolds and you can experience Her Presence all of the time. 

I Am Here For You

Summer is here and with it the Sunday School the boys and I have together every year starts. The beginning of the lesson plan is always Adam and Eve. If there was only one spiritual story to be told it is this one since it contains everything we need to know about our departure from God as well as our homecoming. Few people know that Adam is just dreaming all this and that it is very much in his powers to wake up. In any case, the older boy always gets upset at the part when Adam and Eve have to leave the Garden of Eden. But then a week later comes lesson plan number 2, the story of the prodigal son. We can always return Home! My older son was very happy to receive this message and I saw a smirk on his face when I mentioned that the brother in the story minded when the lost son got such a nice treatment from his Father when he finally returned.

The parent child relationship is perhaps the closest of them all. We are one! You know that, right? Unfortunately I know of a couple of cases when parents decided to disown their own children. I can only shake my head in disbelief when I hear that. Don't they realize that they shun themselves that way? Our children are our extension. I can feel this fact in my bones, and you can probably too. But then, the more spiritually advanced we become, the more we realize that we are literally one with everyone. Our spouses and life partners, our friends, even our so-called foes. We are all one and you can very much experience this for yourself. All you have to do is to open your eyes and let go of your thinking and your preconceived notions. Suddenly you realize that your so-called enemy is nothing but a mirror put up in front of you. He shows you an aspect of yourself that you haven't quite integrated and thus still disown. When you are mad, you are mad at yourself. When someone manages to hurt you, you have hurt yourself. When you are afraid, you mind monsters that seem so real to you even though they don't actually exist. Live by that idea and you see that it is not only correct, but you will also come very far in life with this philosophy.

I had these thoughts this morning when I listened to Bon Jovi's "I'll be there for you" on the radio. Isn't that the attitude to have about all our relationships? You never give up on anyone. Unless of course someone decides to depart in which case you will certainly not stand in the way - God didn't stand in Adam and Eve's path either. Actually, when I listened to the song's lyrics I realized that even this promise is not strong enough. "I'll be there for you" is a commitment, a promise which could be broken at one point. It is not yet a fact. The phrase should read instead "I Am Here For You Always". I Am You!

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
I'd steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what love can do
I'll be there for you

Bon Jovi