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Tablet Fifteen
"Unto
Adam also and to his
wife did the Lord God
make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21)
<1>Man became gross enough that he assumed a
fleshly body with skin ("coats of skin").
"And the Lord
God
said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and
evil: and now, lest he
put forth his hand, and take also of the
tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:" (Genesis 3:22)
<2>Now
God was cautious that
man, with these weaknesses after being separated into two parts and
by his desire to follow his lower self, should not be allowed to
come to
godhood (immortal and powerful), because he would use these
powers for his selfish desires and disturb the whole creation. Therefore God made man
mortal until he comes to a stage where he overcomes these
weaknesses.
<3>The
tree of life is
the state of
Pure
Consciousness which will bring everlasting (eternal) life.
<4>However, man should not reach this stage before he overcomes
his lower nature (tama
guna over his
Soul) and also
understands the reality behind this universe (helps those who have
an ear to hear to reach
Pure
Consciousness). Then he will be worthy to join the
gods. Otherwise he will be "spued out of His mouth" (Revelation 3:16).
"Therefore the Lord
God
sent him forth from the garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." (Genesis
3:23)
<5>Man became so gross that he identified
himself with his body and thought that he was his body, and that was
when his sorrow started.
<6>Here the word "him" refers to a single person. Therefore,
we can see that
Eve and
Adam
are two natures of the same man. This has been used in all of
chapter 3 of Genesis
to refer to the lower and higher selves.
<7>Also in this stage of
evolution a new
condition for the earth was necessary which is symbolized by sending
man from the garden of
Eden. That misty kind
of environment which was described in chapter 2 is not present here. Man should till the ground. The era of
Shudras (laborers)
began.
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims, and a
flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the
tree of life."
(Genesis 3:24)
<8>Only by overcoming his lower nature and
realizing that he has to help others, can man enter
Pure
Consciousness.
<9>He should understand that a selfish individual desire to
reach
Pure
Consciousness without helping others who are also ready will not
be successful.
<10>He should also help others on the path. Otherwise he will be "spued out of His mouth" (Revelation 3:16). That spuing out of His mouth here is symbolized as the flaming sword
which
Cherubims
(external world) have in their hands. Attraction of the external
world will prevent man from entering the eternal world (tree
of life), until man overcomes his lower nature. <11>That
is why those who have chosen the spiritual path will be tested, in
each step and turn, to prove themselves.
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