The Garden of Eden

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.” What is a “garden?” It is man’s qualities, which, utilized correctly, will provide him with the opportunity to reach the spiritual world. This “garden” (man’s qualities) was “planted” for the sole purpose of leading us to the Goal. The garden is “planted” within us by the Creator, which means that we cannot attribute any of our qualities to ourselves.

Try to imagine that the people around you, the entire universe, are all your qualities projected into your consciousness. It only appears to us that something exists on the outside. In fact, as we correct ourselves, we begin to perceive that all of these are our own qualities, which exist within us. People, animals, plants, planets, the entire world, and the entire universe—everything exists within us. The Secrets of the Eternal Book 68 The moment we attain this, we are left one-on-one with the Creator, and we understand that nothing exists but we and the Creator.

(Don’t worry if it seems confusing. As you continue to clarify the true meaning of the Eternal Book for yourself, these clarifications will allow you to increasingly develop this sensation.) “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” As you can see, no matter how we condemn or curse the ego, it is still our nature. Our desire is egoistic. In the Midrash on Genesis it grows from the ego, as it is said, “And God Almighty grew from the earth all manner of tree.” (We are learning to understand the meaning of the book, and I am deliberately repeating myself to cement in your memory the terminology that will soon allow you to see the inner meaning of all the corporeal words and phrases.)

So what is the meaning of, “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”? The “tree of life” is the higher part of your soul, the quality of bestowal that draws you. It is that innermost quality that’s close to the Creator, which is why it is written to be “in the midst of the garden,” at the center of all your qualities. The “tree of knowledge of good and evil” is the lower part of your soul, the quality of reception, your egoistic component. Here is where the issue of good and evil comes into play. It depends on how you utilize your ego, and this is called the “intention.” Will it be aimed at fulfilling yourself or fulfilling others? Destruction or creation? Let’s see what happens next.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden.” What is this river that flows out of Eden to water the garden? The “river” is the Upper Light, nourishing your quality of bestowal from within, imparting confidence that you can exist without desiring anything for yourself. How can you claim that you don’t want anything for yourself? You can if you have the opportunity to possess everything. It is the sensation of security and serenity that is provided by the river (Upper Light) that waters everything. Nourishment from it enables all things to bear fruit. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.’” You currently exist in an exalted state, for you have finally attained the “human” in you.

He is Adam (we previously mentioned that Adam in Hebrew stems from the word Domeh (similar), meaning resembling the Creator). All your desires at this stage are in euphoria from attaining the spiritual world. You feel good in this Light, and you wish to continue living and breathing only in this way. This is the meaning of, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” At this moment, it is as if you forget that inside you lurks the ego, that you’re surrounded by egoistic, worldly desires for money, fame, power and knowledge. It is as if you say to the Creator, “I don’t need any of this; I am happy simply being in Your Light.”

Suddenly you hear the warning, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge The Secrets of the Eternal Book 70 of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Presently, you exist in this “garden” with your qualities of bestowal. They will never “harm” you because they are aimed at bestowing upon others. Therefore, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.” However, if you use your egoistic qualities, “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat,” the Light will instantly vanish and you will find yourself disconnected from the Creator, the universal Law of Life, from bestowal.

It is precisely this state that is called death: “…for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Connecting to the Creator is life; disconnecting from Him is death. This should be understood as explained below: When a “human” is born inside you, you mustn’t rouse the full extent of your ego. Because you still cannot correct it, you mustn’t use it. That is, the “human in you” must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as that would harm him. Even though the fruits may seem big, ripe, and tasty, they are poisonous. Thus lives the “human in you,” the “human” desire or “Adam” in you, rejoicing in his bliss. The ego has not yet manifested in him in any way.

He is in the Garden of Eden, amidst the allowed pleasures, reveling in its serenity and in his closeness to the Creator. But this is only for the time being. In Kabbalah, the state when egoistic desires are not utilized is called Katnut (infancy). It is when you consciously deny them, knowing that you’re too weak and wouldn’t be able to refrain from taking for yourself.

The state of Katnut is described as putting a “screen” on the egoistic desires. It is as if you say to yourself, “No, I will not receive! I won’t be able to resist and instead will take for myself, and all will fall into my egoism.

But I want to learn to bestow, like You. So what can I do? I have only one option: I won’t receive anything. I don’t want to take for myself. I want nothing! And so I’m erecting a screen on everything.” Again, a screen represents the strength of resistance against the ego. Of course, it works only as long as we can continue resisting, until a pleasure we cannot resist comes along. Then our resistance is broken and we take—and the screen breaks as we sink into the ego once more. Our time has not yet arrived. It’s only preparing to arrive…