If there is an icon American religious belief, it is the Bible.
And if there is one story of the Bible that everyone has heard, it is Genesis.
So why not write something about Genesis?
Everyone knows the story. "God" makes the universe, makes Adam, pulls out a rib and constructs Eve, says have fun but don't eat the apple, the snake comes and says go ahead, so Eve eats it, and she convinces Adam to take a bite, "God" notices their shame, says "You ate the apple!", puts a curse on Eve and kicks them out of Eden.
Life for mankind is more difficult, after that.
The important thing in this story is the apple. Here, the apple is from the tree of "knowledge of good and evil". Adam and Eve can do anything in the garden. They can frolic naked all they want. There is nothing that is disallowed. Sex all day. Sex and sleep, sex and sleep. Great life. Anything. Any amount of sloth. Whatever they want.
They just can't take a bite of this "knowledge of good and evil".
In the story, this is the one thing that gets them cast out of the garden, when they take a bite of this.
That is actually what the story is saying, for mankind as a whole: We have all taken a bite of the apple. The great majority of us continue to take bites of the apple. Whenever we judge, in our hearts, we take a bite. We say "I know what is good, and I know what is evil" and we make life difficult for those around us. We diminish the shine of our heart.
That's pretty obvious. That's what "knowledge of good and evil" is; judgement.
And so the path back to the garden is also pretty obvious, for mankind: Each of us is to clear out our hearts of all judgements -ALL of them, no matter what they are, and no matter how socially accepted they are.
Jesus's forgiveness, Buddha's acceptance. Work so your heart gives freedom to others, and don't put conditions on your compassion.
This is actually a very difficult thing to do, without an enormous amount of travel, and tremendously varied experience.
Why is that?
Because you don't know the things you hold until they are brought to you. You don't know jealousy until you have faced some terribly painful situation with someone you love, for example. You don't get a chance to clear that unless you face it, and dive directly toward it, while you sit. You don't get the chance to say "OK that feels horrible. I have to feel warmth and love down in my stomach again. I have to wish her well" for whoever it was, in whatever situation, no matter how bad it was.
This is the only way to find the root of jealousy, and pull it out.
It doesn't matter how you act. Everyone can act OK after awhile. It matters how you feel, way down deep, to the depth of all you think you are. That's why the work takes effort. It would take less effort if more people were doing it, but, today, it's just not the case. You are on your own.
Now, the more you face, the better, and the less control on your life, the better. The more different cultures, the better. Every society has their particular shoulds and shouldn'ts. You get hit with them all. You forgive, and as an added bonus, you become comfortable everywhere.
You see in time that there is no way to live, that everyone is actually free, except for the fact that they keep telling each other how to live, in their hearts, in their words. "Knowledge of good and evil". Together, as a whole, mankind creates a cage. There is only one cage, with different colors, in different societal groups. It is a devious creation, because its strength is a product of us all, and its destruction requires all of our efforts.
Everybody points that way, to the next guy, in some way. Nobody considers themselves "judgmental" but everyone holds something, and we are talking here in absolutes. Remember the garden. What is "Adultery" in the garden? The word seems written in stone, but it wasn't given by "god". It is fed to each of us by the serpent.
This is not to say "Cheat on your wives and husbands". Of course that would hurt people.
Jesus was actually asked about "adultery" His response was "you make it a sin", remember?
So, the point is to destroy what the serpent has fed us. We are different people, then, with different motivations. Sex is no longer so much a driving factor. In a world where all hearts are pure -- which is something that is possible -- each heart gives freedom to all others, every person cares for the next, and there is no sin.
It sounds crazy, but it's not crazy.
But people live their life, and they don't question. Because they don't question, they cement themselves into a particular position. There is a shape to their life, and they cast that shape out on others.
Young adults often face this, with their parents. A successful businessman makes things very difficult for his free-spirited daughter, telling her how she should be serious about her decisions in life, her career, and so on.
That's the thing. The guy can't say anything else. If he did, he would, in a way, invalidate his own life. He would be forced to face himself. He sees what he says as "love", but it isn't "love", because it is not shining on what the young woman is. It is shining on what she is not.
So it exists in everyone: "Knowledge of good and evil".
But it wasn't there before. For each of us, it was adopted, learned.
And almost nobody in the world ever wishes to invalidate his life. Almost nobody wants to face himself.
And this brings you to the most interesting part about the story of Genesis.
When "God" shows up again, he sees Adam and Eve sneaking around, covering themselves in shame.
That's interesting.
This is how you know the story is meaningful, because it illustrates how the heart works. These two things actually come hand in hand: judgement, and shame.
They are actually the same thing.
It doesn't seem like it when you hear the words, at first, but it is true.
They are exactly the same thing.
India is going through a transformation. Traditional society is being upended by western-style, secular life. Women are running companies in the cities. Young ladies are going to university, wearing pretty dresses, falling in love.
I was in India a year ago. I would read, often, of some stomach-churning stories going on, villagers hanging a young woman for having a lover, things like this. While I was there, a western woman was raped by seven men on a bus. The driver didn't even stop.
It wasn't happening, before.
Now, there are different forces, moving through Indian society, ramming into each other, like waves.
I loved India. When I speak about these incidents, I am not talking about "Indians", I am talking about the men on the bus, or the villagers who hanged the young women.
What would cause somebody to behave this way?
A man grows up in a traditional religious village, is told over and over what women are, what men are, and how one must behave, how women must live, and what a young man must and must not do.
He follows along, all his life.
One day he is confronted by young lovers holding hands the way he never could, the way he feels he was never allowed.
And he is forced into something.
He can either face himself, he can either say "I hate the life that I have led", or he can lash out at the lovers and call it "evil".
It's the same everywhere. Nobody wants to question his life. Nobody wants his life invalidated. Nobody wants to face himself. It is easier to lash out. It is the easier thing to do.
So you take another bite of the apple. You say "I know good and evil"
That is the story of Genesis.
Hatred of the self (shame), and Judgement. They are the same thing, taking us all out, away from the Garden.
And if there is one story of the Bible that everyone has heard, it is Genesis.
So why not write something about Genesis?
Everyone knows the story. "God" makes the universe, makes Adam, pulls out a rib and constructs Eve, says have fun but don't eat the apple, the snake comes and says go ahead, so Eve eats it, and she convinces Adam to take a bite, "God" notices their shame, says "You ate the apple!", puts a curse on Eve and kicks them out of Eden.
Life for mankind is more difficult, after that.
The important thing in this story is the apple. Here, the apple is from the tree of "knowledge of good and evil". Adam and Eve can do anything in the garden. They can frolic naked all they want. There is nothing that is disallowed. Sex all day. Sex and sleep, sex and sleep. Great life. Anything. Any amount of sloth. Whatever they want.
They just can't take a bite of this "knowledge of good and evil".
In the story, this is the one thing that gets them cast out of the garden, when they take a bite of this.
That is actually what the story is saying, for mankind as a whole: We have all taken a bite of the apple. The great majority of us continue to take bites of the apple. Whenever we judge, in our hearts, we take a bite. We say "I know what is good, and I know what is evil" and we make life difficult for those around us. We diminish the shine of our heart.
That's pretty obvious. That's what "knowledge of good and evil" is; judgement.
And so the path back to the garden is also pretty obvious, for mankind: Each of us is to clear out our hearts of all judgements -ALL of them, no matter what they are, and no matter how socially accepted they are.
Jesus's forgiveness, Buddha's acceptance. Work so your heart gives freedom to others, and don't put conditions on your compassion.
This is actually a very difficult thing to do, without an enormous amount of travel, and tremendously varied experience.
Why is that?
Because you don't know the things you hold until they are brought to you. You don't know jealousy until you have faced some terribly painful situation with someone you love, for example. You don't get a chance to clear that unless you face it, and dive directly toward it, while you sit. You don't get the chance to say "OK that feels horrible. I have to feel warmth and love down in my stomach again. I have to wish her well" for whoever it was, in whatever situation, no matter how bad it was.
This is the only way to find the root of jealousy, and pull it out.
It doesn't matter how you act. Everyone can act OK after awhile. It matters how you feel, way down deep, to the depth of all you think you are. That's why the work takes effort. It would take less effort if more people were doing it, but, today, it's just not the case. You are on your own.
Now, the more you face, the better, and the less control on your life, the better. The more different cultures, the better. Every society has their particular shoulds and shouldn'ts. You get hit with them all. You forgive, and as an added bonus, you become comfortable everywhere.
You see in time that there is no way to live, that everyone is actually free, except for the fact that they keep telling each other how to live, in their hearts, in their words. "Knowledge of good and evil". Together, as a whole, mankind creates a cage. There is only one cage, with different colors, in different societal groups. It is a devious creation, because its strength is a product of us all, and its destruction requires all of our efforts.
Everybody points that way, to the next guy, in some way. Nobody considers themselves "judgmental" but everyone holds something, and we are talking here in absolutes. Remember the garden. What is "Adultery" in the garden? The word seems written in stone, but it wasn't given by "god". It is fed to each of us by the serpent.
This is not to say "Cheat on your wives and husbands". Of course that would hurt people.
Jesus was actually asked about "adultery" His response was "you make it a sin", remember?
So, the point is to destroy what the serpent has fed us. We are different people, then, with different motivations. Sex is no longer so much a driving factor. In a world where all hearts are pure -- which is something that is possible -- each heart gives freedom to all others, every person cares for the next, and there is no sin.
It sounds crazy, but it's not crazy.
But people live their life, and they don't question. Because they don't question, they cement themselves into a particular position. There is a shape to their life, and they cast that shape out on others.
Young adults often face this, with their parents. A successful businessman makes things very difficult for his free-spirited daughter, telling her how she should be serious about her decisions in life, her career, and so on.
That's the thing. The guy can't say anything else. If he did, he would, in a way, invalidate his own life. He would be forced to face himself. He sees what he says as "love", but it isn't "love", because it is not shining on what the young woman is. It is shining on what she is not.
So it exists in everyone: "Knowledge of good and evil".
But it wasn't there before. For each of us, it was adopted, learned.
And almost nobody in the world ever wishes to invalidate his life. Almost nobody wants to face himself.
And this brings you to the most interesting part about the story of Genesis.
When "God" shows up again, he sees Adam and Eve sneaking around, covering themselves in shame.
That's interesting.
This is how you know the story is meaningful, because it illustrates how the heart works. These two things actually come hand in hand: judgement, and shame.
They are actually the same thing.
It doesn't seem like it when you hear the words, at first, but it is true.
They are exactly the same thing.
India is going through a transformation. Traditional society is being upended by western-style, secular life. Women are running companies in the cities. Young ladies are going to university, wearing pretty dresses, falling in love.
I was in India a year ago. I would read, often, of some stomach-churning stories going on, villagers hanging a young woman for having a lover, things like this. While I was there, a western woman was raped by seven men on a bus. The driver didn't even stop.
It wasn't happening, before.
Now, there are different forces, moving through Indian society, ramming into each other, like waves.
I loved India. When I speak about these incidents, I am not talking about "Indians", I am talking about the men on the bus, or the villagers who hanged the young women.
What would cause somebody to behave this way?
A man grows up in a traditional religious village, is told over and over what women are, what men are, and how one must behave, how women must live, and what a young man must and must not do.
He follows along, all his life.
One day he is confronted by young lovers holding hands the way he never could, the way he feels he was never allowed.
And he is forced into something.
He can either face himself, he can either say "I hate the life that I have led", or he can lash out at the lovers and call it "evil".
It's the same everywhere. Nobody wants to question his life. Nobody wants his life invalidated. Nobody wants to face himself. It is easier to lash out. It is the easier thing to do.
So you take another bite of the apple. You say "I know good and evil"
That is the story of Genesis.
Hatred of the self (shame), and Judgement. They are the same thing, taking us all out, away from the Garden.
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