|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Wolfgang
Germany
470 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 05:05:16 AM
|
Hi everybody,
as I was brought up in a christian (catholic) background,
I realise myself beeing influenced a lot by the concept
or mythology of "The Fall of man".
As I am always trying to figure out the truth, I am wondering
what truth is in this mythology.
What could be meant by the commandment "You shall not eat
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil" ?
What could happen when you eat of the fruit (get knowledge) ?
Can knowledge (truth) be so dangerous that you could die (spiritually,
become separated from god) ?
What would signify the tree of life (which is guarded by an angel) ?
Has mankind indeed lived in a state of paradise before the fall ?
Then of course comes up the question about the deceiver, the devil,
the tempting snake (kundalini ?!).
I am well aware that the church misused the concept of sin a lot,
so that is not a question for me. But what is the truth behind
all this mythology ?
Curious waiting for your input ...
regards
Wolfgang |
|
|
Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 09:31:18 AM
|
Hi Wolfgang
Your question ties into Maximus's question about plants and animals being enlightened, in my opinion.
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=1351
If we take a tree for instance. The tree does not know it is a tree, it does not know it has leaves or that the nutriants are drawn up through its root system, it does not know it draws energy from the sun etc. etc.
If the tree then developed a consciousness i.e. ate from the tree of knowledge, it would become aware of its surroundings, of the birds nesting in its branches, it might wonder if it should allow the birds to be there. Most of all it might wonder "who am I", "what's it all about", "what am I doing here".
Hence the Fall of the Tree, from a state of continuous being (paradise) to a state of confusion and separation.
The so called FAll, in gaining knowledge (consciousness) seems a necessary stage for us to develop awareness.
It seems to me to be a natural stage in the evolution of the universe.
Thats my take on some of it, hope it helps
Louis
|
 |
|
|
nearoanoke
USA
525 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 11:40:56 AM
|
| In the story of adam and eve, eating the forbidden apple is supposed to introduce all impurities into the perfect human beings they were. It is not 'knowing' bad. It is 'becoming' bad. |
|
|
|
Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 12:40:24 PM
|
| I understand the tree as representing the choice which each of us has - namely, to eat of its fruit or not. If we choose to eat, we then become conscious; if we choose not to eat, then we remain unconscious. The choice to eat (offered by the snake, which is symbolic of the transformative power of Shakti) will lead us to our dharma - the personal path to freedom - and to an authentic union with the divine which is in each of us. The refusal to eat the fruit - a legitimate choice - is to follow a path of unconscious devotion to the prevalent God of our culture - Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, and so on. The Fall, then, is indeed a fall from innocence, in the sense that prior to this we had no choice; we unconsciously lived in some state of embryonic ecstasy, or paradise, which we hadn't the wherewithal to recognize. I wonder if at this point in human evolution our nervous systems had evolved to the point that it was possible to stop swinging from branches (as it were) and ponder some deeper truths. As the nervous system and brain evolved, it was inevitable that at some point we'd have the smarts to recognize that we had a choice. In any case, it's no wonder that the Church - any church - didn't want us to eat the fruit, as it would surely diminish the congregation and guarantee of power. |
Edited by - Manipura on Jul 21 2006 12:42:14 PM |
|
|
|
Wolfgang
Germany
470 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 1:10:07 PM
|
The choice to eat or not to eat, the consequence being cast out of paradise ?
Supposedly it was God who gave the commandment not to eat ...
Now if we consider that the snake symbolises the kundalini in us,
and that kind of energy is very strong, may be could be too strong to handle,
then may be the commandment was just an advice for self-pacing ;-) !
There is just so much symbolism in the bible story:
the temptation, Eve beeing tempted by the snake (by sexual energy?),
Eve then offering the fruit to Adam (a sexual relationship?)
then through the church a lot of condemming of sexuality
in the past ages (even today in some areas) ...
All this intrigues me very much and this bible story was written
long before any church existed.
But let's not get hung up on what the church did wrong,
let's try to figure out what's behind these symbols and mythos.
I like Luis' explanation about the tree.
But what's missing is, that at some point the tree must have
come to a point where it becomes concious of having a choice
(actually meg also brings up this point).
So, has God given us this conciousness or have we
evolved by ourselves to this consciousness ?
Or is it a cooperation between God and humans ?
Somewhere I read a greek philosopher who said,
that raising the right kind of question is the
foundation for finding the truth,
so let's find the right questions !
|
|
|
|
Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 1:20:19 PM
|
| So many people view that story in such an abstract metaphorical way. I see it a little more simply since there are many plants that alter conciousness. I assume that the tree of knowledge was a psychoactive plant that would give an experience or knowledge or of a sort of enlightenment. This was forbidden to Adam and Eve who seemed to be "Gods" pets and were supposed to be docile and obedient.Ingesting this plant would give them a new perspective and perhaps make them question the comfort that was Eden. It is an example of the first food and drug laws and perhaps why our society often feels so threatened when people experiment with psychoactive plants and substances to this day. |
|
|
|
Richard
United Kingdom
857 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 07:41:30 AM
|
HI Victor
In one of the earliest depictions of the tree of life it is shown as Adam and Eve either side of a giant amanita muscaria mushroom, that's the white one with red spots that's always depicted in fairy tales., I wonder why 
Richard |
|
|
|
Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2006 : 8:46:15 PM
|
My belief is that "knowledge" is the knowledge of man, created by our higher brain functions in our frontal lobes. I believe plants and animals have consciousness but don't have these abilities.
The abilities are to create abstract knowledge, in other words to NOT live in the moment, but imagine things. To help manipulate abstract knowledge we created words, and systems of recording them. This is what enabled all of the vast building we have done, almost everything in our society is an extension of this classification and manipulation by language.
This would be the fall of man for the very reasons we are discovering with AYP practices. Because by separating ourselves from the moment so we can create things, we have further separated ourselves from God and our true selves. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
The Fall of Man
