Don't take it literally
You’ve heard of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. They were banished from the garden because they ate the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. Some people take that literally, as we see in paintings: Adam with a fig leaf, Eve with her long blond hair, and God pointing his finger, telling them where they can go.
Back when the Bible was being written, language was limited. One word often carried many meanings—just as it does today. (“Still,” for example, is also the name of an apparatus for making whiskey.)
But what if we looked at this story in another way? Instead of “eating,” what if we translate it as accepting, taking in, allowing something to become part of us? When we eat something, it becomes part of our bodies.
What if “fruit” meant something good, something enjoyable—a desire? What if it represented the concept of good or evil? (It was the Tree of Good and Evil.) Or perhaps good and bad, right and wrong, mine and not mine, my family and not my family, us or them—my society versus a society unfamiliar to me.
Could it be about accepting the concept of society itself: boundaries, ownership, loyalty to country? Could it mean becoming loyal to something (the “fruit”) outside myself—allowing society (the “tree”) to become my guiding star, my decision-maker? Allowing society to choose what is right and wrong for me, instead of following my true feelings?
So what is the Garden of Eden all about? The Garden is being one with all things—no limitations, no pain, no shame. Only joy, happiness, fulfillment. All needs met. Could it symbolize my true feelings?
What is the snake? Could it be a secret desire to control, a childish rebellion against the way things are? Could it be my programming—what I learned as a baby?
If I want to be happy, I need to do what I came to Earth to do. I need to live in my own Garden of Eden and refuse to suffer, refuse second best, refuse to wait for my solution. I want it now. I want to live my purpose now—not later.
So God is simply the way things are. If I jump into a river, I get wet—that is God. If I jump off a cliff, I fall—that is God. If I stop breathing, I die—that is God.
The story of Adam and Eve, then, expresses the same truths found in the Man and the Universe Orientation Lecture—just through metaphors and symbols.
Picture yourself in the Garden of Eden: naked, the temperature perfect, breathing deeply, enjoying warm sunlight. A gentle cooling breeze. Everyone around you the same—shameless, content, doing what they came to do in the best way they know how. Living in the moment. No fear. No expectations. Just being.
Then you start thinking (you “eat the fruit”): “This can’t last.” “What do I do now?” “I want…” “I don’t have…” “I think I need…” And off you go—you’ve left the Garden. Banished to a life of suffering.
We came to Earth to suffer, to be inspired to do better. We also came to learn how not to suffer—to enjoy every moment. That’s where our goals lead us. Sometimes our goals work out and we feel confident; sometimes they don’t and we doubt ourselves. Our fruit was sour—but what does that mean? Maybe it wasn’t ripe. A matter of timing.
So what do I do in my own garden? Unlike Adam, none of us are without programming. He needed Eve—a stimulus, a reason—to be sad. Eve represents the pleasures of the earth, the pleasures of the body—our wants. Religions used this comparison to make women the “lesser sex,” which is a shame, because sex is meant to be enjoyed, not used as a method of control. Women can enjoy sex repeatedly; men need time to “reload.”
Some say the apple symbolized sexual intercourse—that the first sin was sex. But maybe the “apple” was the programming that said sex was sinful—that working was more virtuous than being intimate with your partner. Under that interpretation of religion and the Bible, that’s exactly where we ended up: working too much, too tired or worried to enjoy sex at all.
But what is sex? It’s not the moaning and groaning of pornography. It’s enjoying the moment. Perfect sex is being one with all things—no programming, no greater or lesser, no good or evil. Just accepting the energy of the universe and simply being oneself.
If you don’t think about it, you have it made.