That question formed the theme of an article I've just read.
Let me tell you about it.
In the beginning, so we're told, all was harmonious in the Garden of Eden. The inhabitants lived in loving unity . . . plants, insects and animals all co-existing and evolving in supportive collaboration.
Each life form recognised not only its own individual attributes, but also its unity with the whole. It was an inter-locking, very beautiful jig-saw . . . as the human element of that jig-saw, Adam and Eve formed an integral part of the pattern.
Then . . . well, you know what happened next.
There was the question of an apple . . . and a persuasive snake. Perhaps the apple wasn't fully ripe? Perhaps Eve's motives for eating it were mixed?
Whatever the reason, the Tree of Knowledge, in offering self-awareness, simultaneously withdrew the memory of loving, collective awareness.
And what did it offer in its place? It bestowed on Adam and Eve a dangerous and intoxicating illusion . . . the illusion of separation.
New concepts, never known before, came rushing to the fore. There was the birth of anxiety, a sense of isolation, feelings of shame and unworthiness . . . and an unexpected need for fig leaves. No longer mutually supportive, Adam and Eve rounded on each other.
At the same time, new desires came flooding in . . . compulsive desires such as acquisition, competition and self-advancement. Adam and Eve, so the article claims, weren't banished from the peace and harmony of the Garden . . . it was under the domination of these new and powerful emotions that they chose to exclude themselves.Doesn't this all sound rather familiar?
Whereas the natural world still lives in co-operative harmony, the divisive, competitive concepts triggered by Eve's apple continue to govern us today.
But has the human race benefitted from its vaunted sense of superiority, its illusion of independence?
That's not how it feels.
The writer ends the article by posing three questions:
What if we throw away the core of that ancient apple?
What if we acknowledge that, in body and spirit, we're indivisible from all life on Earth?And, finally, what if we recognise all the trouble we're causing . . . and decide to go back home?
Before we answer those questions, let's share a remarkable video. Without any need for words, it graphically illustrates two vital qualities that we once enjoyed in the Garden . . . collective identity and common purpose.
Click here and marvel . . .
