It is raining in Ojai.

January 25, 2008

This is a fact worthy of notice, as it happens very, very rarely. I walked my dog the other morning during a brief break between one shower and another, and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. The world around me was teeming with life, I could almost hear all the plants and trees drinking, growing, expanding, stretching, swinging, shaking. They made such a riot, I could hardly hear my thoughts. And then the story of Adam and Eve came to me, and I understood it in a completely different way. Up till now my interpretation of the story was a result of my reaction to Catholic church. I thought that in the story Adam and Eve were punished for daring to have a direct relationship to reality, for daring to intrude where only God could enter, for daring to be conscious and aware by themselves, for themselves, instead of depending on God to take care of them, cause God knows what’s best for them. As I walked through the wonderfully alive and absolutely gorgeous world I realized that I am in paradise. And I realized that Adam and Eve were not expelled from paradise – they have made themselves unable to experience it. They made a choice to “know what’s right and wrong” – they made a choice to identify with their mind rather than with God. As soon as they made the choice they became separated – separated from their bodies, separated from their surroundings, separated from the paradise. They started judging, splitting reality into right and wrong. This is what mind does – it separates, it evaluates, it judges. The only barrier between Adam and Eve and the paradise was their choice to identify with the mind. The only barrier between us and paradise is our choice to identify with the mind. Would I enjoy the wonderful morning more if I KNEW the names of every plant and every tree? Would I enjoy the wonderful dance of nature more if I JUDGED it as good?

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