The Greatest Miracle

The Greatest Miracle

“Miracles happen, not in opposition of nature,
but in opposition of what we know of nature.”
- St. Augustine

What is the greatest miracle? When I posed this question in a chat room I got the usual answers: love; children (but not adults? How very odd); the human body. I’ve even read that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the Greatest Miracle, or any one of his miracles (the raising of Lazarus or the healing of the sick). People purportedly see miracles everyday (presumably acts of kindness, or the answered prayer to some illness). The problem with picking any one, single miracle is that all of them will exclude another. You would have to pick something that is all-inclusive. One cannot pick ‘Man’ as an answer, because it excludes animals.


First we must define what a miracle is. A Miracle is 1) an event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God.
2) One that excites admiring awe.

To answer this question I turn to Mark Twain and his work titled Letters From the Earth (Read it online here: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm). The Greatest Miracle is that of a self-regulating universe. Twain explains what a self-regulating universe this way:

"The invention and introduction of automatic, unsupervised, self-regulating law for the government of those myriads of whirling and racing suns and worlds!"

"That is it!" said Satan. "You perceive that it is a stupendous idea. Nothing approaching it has been evolved from the Master Intellect before. Law -- Automatic Law -- exact and unvarying Law -- requiring no watching, no correcting, no readjusting while the eternities endure! He said those countless vast bodies would plunge through the wastes of Space ages and ages, at unimaginable speed, around stupendous orbits, yet never collide, and never lengthen nor shorten their orbital periods by so much as the hundredth part of a second in two thousand years! That is the new miracle, and the greatest of all -- Automatic Law! And He gave it a name -- the LAW OF NATURE -- and said Natural Law is the LAW OF GOD -- interchangeable names for one and the same thing."

It is gravity, friction, inertia and so on. It is consistent. A star will burn for millions of years and eventually die out, but not unexpectedly. It is a measurable reality. And this applies to every star. There are no exceptions. No unseen celestial hand waving a star back into existence, or out of existence because it serves “his plan or will”.

What is available to one is available to all. This is the spiritual meaning behind a self-regulating universe. There are no exceptions. No judgements. Rain does not decide (does not judge) who is more deserving of its water. It simply rains because that is what it is programmed to do. Wayne Dyer explains that electricity has always existed. We just never had the ability to connect to it.

A self-regulating universe is also the perfect argument against chaos or that this life we live is completely random. If life were random or truly chaotic, then a mortal woman would occasionally give birth to something other than a human child. If life was random and without order, a woman would (and thankfully not) give birth to a ‘68 Buick. Or a pebble, or a Rhino. The possibilities would be endless.

If the processes behind life were random, walls would wink in and out of existence (without the aid of drugs), our solar system would increase and decrease the number of planets it has…oh wait…bad example. Sorry Pluto (too soon?). A whale and a pot of petunias would suddenly fall from the sky, a million miles away, onto some alien world. (That was a tip of my hat to Douglas Adams)

Gravity is available to all, without exception. Even in Science Fiction, the idea of using anti-gravity devices to fly through space works on the principle that gravity exists and is working all the time. These devices simply would not work without gravity, nor would they be necessary.
I often think of my poor vision and the need (or reliance) on corrective lenses. Corrective lenses! They do no such thing. My glasses have never corrected my vision. Crutch-lenses would be more accurate! I do not believe I was predestined to have poor eyesight, nor that this is some punishment where I’ve been centered out due to Adam and Eve’s original sin (refer to my 2 posts on Original Sin for all that business). Some, as of yet, unknown factors caused something to happen to these incredibly complex organs to be somewhat faulty.

Yet as a part of the aforementioned Greatest Miracle, if some factor caused this nearsightedness, it stands to reason that there are is a way to fix it. It stands to reason that the effects can truly be corrected and more importantly avoided for future generations. But then, where would the fun be in that?

So if perfect vision is available to you, then it is available to me as well. Which is a very Buddhist concept, is it not? Consider the Four Noble Truths.

1) Suffering exists.
2) All suffering has an origin
3) All suffering can end.
4) There is a path to the cessation of suffering

Who has prayed for perfect vision and actually received it? This kind of prayer is not the answer, it is a passive way to go through life. But to believe that there is a path out of every kind of suffering, ah, then there is an active participant in this great miracle.

So does this miracle actually kill God? Does it do away with the wonder and awe of creation? According to the second definition of what a miracle is (one that excites admiring awe), I would say no. It actually increases the wonder and awe of the universe. That by throwing a bunch of atoms together, I can have thoughts in my head. Or fingers to type this blog. It staggers and humbles me. That planets maintain their perfect orbits until something interferes with them, this is amazing to me. It amazes me that whatever it is that grows your fingernails, also grows mine (and let me tell you, I am constantly challenging on a daily basis whatever it is that make my fingernails grow). This is why I believe that the biblical idea of Heaven is so erroneous. It is based on special circumstances. In my reality, heaven is available to everyone, just like rain is. The conditions just have to be right.

Does it remove all the mystery from it? Does this suggest that miracles are common-place? When miracles become everyday experiences, instead of rare occurrences, man can truly call himself enlightened.

“Perchance blindness is but a dark thought that can be overcome by a burning thought. Perchance a withered limb is but idleness that can be quickened by energy. And perhaps the devils, these restless elements in our life, are driven out by the angels of peace and serenity.”
Kahlil Gibran’s 'Jesus the Son of Man'

Today's lesson.... confidence , its all bull@$&%

Okay, I came across this wonderful gem during my travels and thought it was worth posting here:

Have you ever wondered where confidence comes from? I believe that it stems from the thought of accomplishing something that you are proud of, a feeling of content , satisfaction of a job well done. Well that felling my friends is all an illusion. Because confidence has its own nemesis. Fear and doubt. They are powerful forces on their own but when those evil demons combine, they leave nothing behind, but bits and pieces of your self-esteem in the path of destruction. The path being the task at hand or the objective, it may lead you in many directions. Like a tornado picking up momentum and strength.

Fear feeding off of doubt. Doubt fueling up fear, you ultimately know that it does not matter what path you choose or which way you go, the tornado will find you and blow away all your hopes, dreams and yes destroying the very fragile and delicate confidence that you have managed to rebuild from the previous storm. So is one to be blamed for abandoning and seeking shelter elsewhere, when time and time again the very foundation on what that person is built on, has been vaporized and leaving it vulnerable to even the slightest breeze?

Indeed, can one be blamed for seeking shelter elsewhere? Of course the Macphisto in me does wonder: why does one build a house in Tornado Alley? And of course, is this true confidence? Once something is built, so does the satisfaction of a job well done exist, even when the Tornado comes and smashes into it.

"This is going to end in disaster, and you have no one to blame but yourself."

The Wonderful Madness of Don Quixote

The Wonderful Madness of Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha

What is madness?

The play Man of La Mancha is a story about madness. It is the madness that can be found in reality as well as the madness of imagination and fantasy. It is about being imprisoned by each kind of madness and who is to say which of the two is more preferable? Who is to say which kind of madness is true reality?

Miguel de Cervantes is a poet / actor who is imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition. While imprisoned he is put on trial by his fellow prisoners. Cervantes' defence is in the form of a play, in which Cervantes takes the role of Alonso Quijana, an old gentleman who has lost his mind and now believes that he should go forth as a knight-errant. Quijana renames himself Don Quixote de La Mancha (means parched earth in Arabic), and sets out to find adventures with his "squire" Sancho Panza.

Don Quixote’s adventures has him battle the Enchanter (but is in reality a windmill); he comes across a Castle (nothing more than an inn in which Quioxote does not see that the chapel of the castle is nothing more than a stable); he seeks the Golden Helmet of Mambrino (a shaving basin) and wears it with pride. He finds beauty in Aldonza, a peasant of the inn who will sleep with anyone for money and he calls her Dulcinea (sweetness), a veritable Magdalene.

As the musical progresses, we meet Quixote’s niece who has sought out the local priest to help her poor old uncle. The niece tries to convince the priest that she is “Only thinking of him”. Yet she is in fact more concerned about what her fiancée will think. Such is her madness.

Amongst Quixote’s adventures, he seeks a token from his one true love Dulcinea. In return he gets a dirty dishrag that he sees as a silken scarf. Aldonza is furious with Quixote, uncomfortable with his talk of beauty and purity when in fact she has been with every man in town. But her doubt begins as she sings:

Why does he do the things he does?
Why does he do these things?
Why does he march
Through that dream that he's in,
Covered with glory and rusty old tin?
Why does he live in a world that can't be,
And what does he want of me...
What does he want of me?

Why does he say the things he says?
Why does he say these things?
"Sweet Dulcinea" and "missive" and such,
"Nethermost hem of thy garment I touch,"
No one can be what he wants me to be,
Oh, what does he want of me...
What does he want of me?

Doesn't he know
He'll be laughed at wherever he'll go?
And why I'm not laughing myself...
I don't know.

Why does he want the things he wants?
Why does he want these things?
Why does he batter at walls that won't break?
Why does he give when it's natural to take?
Where does he see all the good he can see,
And what does he want of me?
What does he want of me?

Is it madness to not see how you will be laughed at wherever you go? Is it madness to give when it’s natural to take? And isn't it fascinating that Aldonza is so unwilling to accept these gifts that Quixote freely offers?

Finally Aldonza confronts Quixote and his response is the famous ‘Impossible Dream’ and it is here where a seed of his own madness is planted in her:

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

The story interchanges between Don Quixote’s fantastical world and the ‘real’ world of Cervantes imprisonment. One of the prisoners, known only as The Duke, has been imprisoned for treason, by selling lies to those “too stupid enough to believe it”. The Duke is the voice of harsh reality. He scoffs at the story of Don Quixote. After another prisoner is taken away to be ‘questioned’ by the Inquisition, the Duke turns his scorn to Cervantes.

The Duke: But do you see Cervantes, there is a difference between reality and delusion

and the difference between these prisoners and your men of lunacy?

Cervantes: I would say, rather, men whose illusions were very real.

The Duke: Well that’s the same thing isn’t it, really?

Why are you poets so fascinated with madmen?

Cervantes: We have much in common.

The Duke: You both turn your backs on life.

Cervantes: We both select from life.

The Duke: A man has to come to terms with life as it is.

Cervantes: Life as it is. I have lived for over 40 years and I have

seen ‘life as it is’. Pain. Misery. Cruelty beyond belief.

I have heard all the voices of God’s noblest
creature moan from bundles of filth in the street.

I’ve been a soldier, and a slave. I’ve seen my comrades fall in battle
or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I’ve held them at the
last moment. These were men who saw ‘life as it is’.
But they died despairing. No Glory. No brave last words.
Only in their eyes, filled with confusion, questionin “why?”.
I do not think they were asking why they were dying,
but why they had ever lived.

When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?
Perhaps to be too practical is madness, to surrender dreams –
this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash –
to much sanity may be madness!

And maddest of all, to see ‘life as it is’ and not as it should be.

Yet there is a dangerous side to Quixote’s madness. Together with the help of Sancho and Aldonza (who finally sides with the knight-errant), they defeat a band of muleteers. But Quixote announces that his foes must now be tended to, for that is what chivalry calls for. Aldonza agrees to dress the wounds herself. After Quixote takes his leave, Aldonza is beaten and raped by the gang of muleteers. A terrible price for conversion. A terrible price, for another’s madness.

One must decide for themselves if the ending is tragedy or success. If it is madness or sanity. Quixote is ambushed by his niece’s fiancée pretending to be the Enchanter. He and his small band have huge mirrored shields. Quixote is forced to see himself ‘as he really is’ through his reflection in several mirrors. The sun, the light, is blinding. You might say he is blinded by the reality of what he truly is.

When we see him again, he is in bed, now an old man and dying. Don Quioxote is dead. His adventures nothing more than an odd dream. Everyone is pleased that the old man has come back to his ‘senses’, with the exception of Sancho who greatly misses their misadventures. It is only when Aldonza forces herself into his bedchamber and helps the old man remember the words to the Impossible Dream. Slowly, Quixote is resurrected and sings full-throated the Impossible Dream.

But his time has come, and the old man dies in mid-song as Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha. Is this tragedy? Is it a loss that he recovered from reality back into madness only to die? Perhaps it is Aldonza who answers this question best. Sancho calls her by name, but Aldonza corrects him: “Call me Dulcinea”.

It is easy to see the many similarities this story has with the story of Jesus. Death and Resurrection; salvation for his followers (Aldonza and Sancho); The Impossible Dream can be seen as Quixote’s Sermon on the Mount.

Whatever you believe madness to be, I think the world could use more of Don Quixote’s brand of madness.

(There is a movie version of the play made in 1962 starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Lauren. Although some changes were made, it is still very good. Personally, I don’t think you can beat the live performances of the play.)

Suggested Reading on Your Spiritual Journey

Suggested Reading on Your Spiritual Journey

The following is a list of many (but not all!) of my favourite books that have helped me immensely on my Spiritual journey. It is booked-ended by two of my favourites: A Course in Miracles and Star Wars.

A Course in Miracles

Controversial to say the least, this book is not an easy read, yet worth every effort in the end. This book explains the true meaning behind miracles, the crucifixion and so on.

"You do not ask too much of life, but far too little."

"I can change all thoughts that hurt."

The Bhagavad-Gita

This Hindu text records a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield. Arjuna has become filled with doubt and morally has become confused. Arjuna then is taught about the soul and dharma.

"A man should raise himself, and should not demean himself; for he is the friend of his self, and he its enemy."

The Analects - Confucius

"Do not do to others what you would not like yourself."

When reading this quote it is important to know that Confucius was born over 500 years before Jesus. Confucius thought of himself as a transmitter who invented nothing. His teachings encourage people to think deeply for themselves.

The Spirit of Tao - Thomas Cleary

The Tao, an ancient Chinese philosophy refers to 'The Path' or 'The Way'.

"Walk slowly at a relaxed pace and you won’t stumble. Sleep soundly and you won’t fret through the night. If you think about the past, your former self will not die. If you think about the future, the road seems long and hard to traverse."

Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

A fictional telling of how the Prince, Siddhartha, follows a spiritual journey to enlightenment and became Buddha.

"What a path it has been! I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew."

The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers

Although I've not read this book I have watched the 6 part Public Television documentary. Bill Moyers interviews Joseph Campbell on The Hero's Journey, the messages in myths, following your bliss and so on.

"When people find out what it is that’s ticking in them, they get straightened out."

The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

The little Lebanese poet's writing is simply beautiful. This book is known as Gibran's masterpiece is one of the most moving books ever written. Keep in mind that no matter what book of his you pick up, you can't be disappointed.

"And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone."

Jesus the Son of Man - Kahlil Gibran

A fictional account of Jesus from the people who knew him. Each short chapter is a letter written from the point of view of many different people, from Jesus' grandmother, Anna, Mary Magdalene to Pontius Pilate. Reading this one wonders if Gibran was actually there...

"I alone love the unseen in you."

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

This book nearly knocked me over when I first read it. Is it possible to think yourself into insanity? Speaking from experience, I say "Yes!"
The book subtitled 'an inquiry into values', describes in the first person a motorcycle road trip the author takes with his son, Chris. It really has nothing to do with motorcycles. There is a wealth of practical discussions in this book, striking a balance between romance and reality.

"We have artists with no scientific knowledge and scientists with no artistic knowledge and both with no spiritual sense of gravity at all…the time for real
unification of art and technology is really long overdue."

Lila - Robert M. Pirsig

This book is an inquiry into morals. Pirsig studies the hippie movement who perceived the flaws in both social and intellectual patterns, sought to transcend them, but failed to provide a stable replacement, degenerating instead into lower level biological patterns called free love.

"They love you for being what they want to be but they hate you for being what they’re not."

The Last Temptation of Christ - Nikos Kazantzakis

Most people remember Martin Scorsese's film based upon this book. Probably more controversial than A Course in Miracles, this FICTIONAL telling of Jesus' life offers Jesus as human, rather than God-like. Personally this telling gives me more hope and I think makes the message that much stronger.

"If I were fire, I would burn; if I were a woodcutter, I would strike. But I am a heart, and I love."

Saint Francis - Nikos Kazantzakis

Another fictional retelling of a famous historical figure.

"There is no harsher means of punishment, than to answer malice with kindness."

"Hell is nothing more than the antechamber of heaven."

Black Elk Speaks - John G. Neihardt

A 1932 story of an Ogala Sioux Medicine Man. Plagued by visions of his people being overcome by the White Man, Black Elk feels as though he has been charged with his people's salvation.

"And it seemed I did not belong to my people. They were almost like strangers. I would be out alone away from the village and the other boys, and I would look around to the four quarters, thinking of my vision and wishing I could get back there again. I would go home to eat, but I could not make myself eat much; and my father and mother thought that I was sick yet; but I was not. I was only
homesick for the place where I had been."

Available to read on line here:
http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/Black-Elk-Speaks-Index.html

The Legend of Bagger Vance - Stephen Pressfield

Bagger Vance is a mysterious traveler carrying a suitcase who appears out of the darkness and has come to coach and teach Junuh (the name is a reference to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita), not about Golf, but about how to live.

"I’ve stood across…from men and women who hated me. But I…I couldn’t hate them…They were just me. Me with another man’s face."

Star Wars - George Lucas

I will often reference Star Wars, specifically more of the movies than the novelization’s. There are many reasons to enjoy Star Wars from the surface level of special effects to the hyper-kinetic light saber battles. But for me, I love the layers upon layers within all six of the movies. Themes of duality; spirit vs. technology; realizing that all possibilities are open to all of us (the Good side and the Bad side); and especially redemption. The list is endless.

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

My grandmother used to say this to me as a child and I always believed it was true – for her. I could not imagine any word that would offend or upset my grandmother. As for me, one who had experienced name-calling, could not comprehend this wise little saying. Of course words hurt. They hurt and last longer than anything physical. Bruises heal. So do cuts. But words? Depending on the person giving you the name, can last a lifetime.

(I must confess that even when my grandmother would say this I don’t think I really believed her. Even at the young age of ten I thought this was a clever saying to hide behind, a way of not letting others see the hurt they caused.)

And there was no way I could believe it of myself. I had been hurt. I had been called names. Didn’t she understand that? Names were sharper than any stick and carried more weight than any stone.

Sticks and stones seem easier to handle by comparison; at least you had a fighting chance. You could brace yourself, dodge them, block them, or heck you even had the option of striking back. Sticks and stones are physical, tangible things. Clearly these are easier to deal with. These are things anybody could deal with, with very little coaching or training. Something built into our bodies - the survival instinct perhaps. So where is our mental survival instinct?

As for the intangible world (the name-calling) who can defend against these? We come into this world defenceless and by our very nature we believe everything adults say, for they are our teachers. If an adult gets mad at you, well it must be your fault. Think of the infinite names we’ve all been labelled with as children:

You’re so clumsy.
You’re not nice.
You’re in the way.
You’re so lazy.

The list is endless. And I am sure there are much worse names you can think of.
And so, as children we believe these words, they sink in, take hold and become reality. It defines who we are. We grow up (presumably), but the names are still attached to our consciousness, running (ruining?) the show. Now others begin to call us names, people at school, people we work with. And regardless of the truth or lie or motivation behind this perceived attack, we react to it. And in reacting to it, we accept it and make the name real. As children we feel defenceless, simply because we don’t know any better. We don’t reach the age of reason until age 8-10. So prior to that, any name thrown your way will stick, simply because we don’t have the mental capacity to reason.


Depending on your personality, you either attack or retreat from such assaults. Whichever the reaction, we are in fact strengthening those names, strengthening our hurts – we validate them, making those intangible words a reality, something that is real (at least to us). If we believe we need to defend ourselves by defending or attacking, we are sending the message that we need to be defended. And that message is being sent to the world, and it is being believed by you.
Let’s return to a physical attack. The sticks and stones of the matter. This kind of attack as mentioned earlier, is tangible. A punch in the eye has immediate results. And so we react accordingly. So how is it, when attacked with names, something that is not real, but only a perception, do we allow ourselves to react so strongly as to make it real?

If names cannot hurt us (and they can’t do us physical harm), why do we allow names to wound us so deeply? Why are these black-eyes to our self-esteem so monumental? And they never seem to heal, unlike a black eye?

Because we still believe the labels of our youth.

We have been conditioned for so long.

Every parent was once a child. And everyone has believed what they have been told. And these parents (wounded by their own environment), sometimes decide they will not do the same thing their parents did. Others decided they will do exactly as their own parents. And funny enough, there are those parents who invent entirely new ways of parenting (sometimes for good and sometimes for ill). Yet in every case, these parents raise their children to the best of their ability. Doing the very best they can with what they have. I know, there are some of you out there thinking: they certainly could have tried harder than that! But consider this quote from Kahlil Gibran:

Those who give you a serpent when you ask for a fish,
may have nothing but serpents to give.
- Sand and Foam

If you have parents who believe that names can hurt you, it is only natural that this will be passed down to the next generation. Whether we mean to or not, we shape our children’s self-esteem with unfair labels (names), when we should be teaching them the true wisdom behind this magical phrase: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

Names are not reality - unless you make them so.

There is no need to learn how to mentally fight names, no need to dodge, to defend or strike back, because to do any of these things mean you perceive the names as a real danger. If you don’t believe the names, what possible danger is there?


If someone calls you lazy (or worse) and you are not lazy, where is the problem? How can this affect you? This is like watching an invisible arrow missing its mark on an invisible bulls eye. If you are wearing a green shirt and someone calls it red, do you believe them? Do you feel the need to question yourself? Do you question what you know to be true? As so, should you look at yourself, knowing with absolute confidence that your shirt is green and calling it another color does not change the shirt, or the person wearing it.

Some will argue that this sounds like a recipe for allowing yourself to be walked all over. I say this is a recipe for confidence, without arrogance.

The only way to teach our children (and each other) to correct this cycle, is to change it in you. By changing it in you, your children will learn by example. You cannot teach others what you yourself do not have.

Can you stop believing the lies you accepted (without knowing any better)? And can you do it without throwing stones at the people who called you names (understanding that they too are slaves to this vicious cycle)?

But then, the real question is: “Do you want to stop believing these names?” Because by not believing these names, means that you must give up revenge, or the satisfaction of striking back at others. Moreover, by no longer believing in these names, this will rob you of the ability to label others. And so I ask the question again: “Do you want to stop believing these names?”

Is there a sure, clear path to obtain this? Probably not. But you can recognize that names are not reality? It is you which makes any name true or false.

Recently I read that it is time to put this quote to rest. In this short piece, the author went on about how much names hurt, and what an impact they have. That this quote is false and how terrible it is to even think that names don’t hurt. The very idea of putting to rest this quote saddens me greatly. I do agree that names do hurt, and they hurt more than sticks and stones – but only if you allow it. Free yourself of these chains. Stop believing that names can hurt you. Start believing that names are not reality, but something intangible. Start believing that you are not a name, you are something greater and stronger than any name, any label.

In the same post, the author also added this: Remember your thoughts are not you. Yes they are. Your thoughts are exactly you. You can be nothing else but your thoughts. If you think you are lazy, then you are. Change your thoughts and you will change you.

It will help to repeat this phrase to yourself, especially in the face of a confrontation (as silly as you may feel, repeat it to yourself until you believe it). It will help to teach children this phrase so they begin to understand (remember they believe everything they are taught!). But consider this, when a name is directed at you and it causes an emotional response, the person or the name is not the enemy. The name is merely pointing out a hole in your self-view. It is for you to look at these areas in yourself. Where did this hole come from? Why do you react to it?

So you see, name-calling is a Holy thing. It is a shaft (stick) of light aimed right at a piece of darkness.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

BELIEVE IT.

More Original Sin

More Original Sin

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

Nowhere in the book of Genesis does it state that the fruit if the Tree of Knowledge is an apple. It is merely described as a fruit. Yet the apple has become such a common image associated with the story.

One has to ask, what made it such a common image? Did it come from all of those medieval paintings? And if so, where did these artists get this idea from? The apple has always figured prominently in Greek mythology. Although not red, the apples in Greek stories are golden. In one story, it is Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love who claims one of the golden apples. Keeping in mind the Goddess of Love and that a red apple symbolizes sexual desire, could the red apple of the Tree of Knowledge represent blood, or menstruation as well? Red is a passionate color, often associated with love or sex.

And what is this business of realizing one is suddenly naked?

“And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.”

This line suggests that prior to the serpents help (“But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”), Adam and Eve were completely unaware of their own nakedness. Unaware that differences existed in their form and thereby unaware of the duality of the world.

“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.”

This is the pivotal moment of seeing duality in everything. I have observed my daughter who being so young, is like Adam and Eve prior to this eye-opening event. A child is incapable of judgement and is unaware of their own nakedness. I have seen my daughter stumble out of the bathroom into a room full of people still pulling up her pants. Nowhere is there a sign of embarrassment or self-consciousness, or thankfully, no sign of guilt. Now at the age of five, her mind is beginning to question and assuredly will shortly begin acting a little more “modestly” around people.


Surely in her mind and in the mind of all children, comes a point when they begin to see and wonder at why adults are always covered up, even if it is only to answer the phone in a bath towel. Something clicks. The begin to know. To know that there is something different between adults and children. Between man and woman. This is the beginning of a long quest toward understanding. And from there, perhaps a few years further down the road, they begin to realize that not only are girl and boy parts are different, they have to wonder what are these parts for?



Much like our Adam and Eve. In Eden they were children. The saw no differences. And considering they were given the command to “go forth and multiply”, surely they began to wonder, as children do, what purpose do these different parts have? Perhaps the voice of the snake is our own inner voice. Not a voice of temptation, but a voice of wisdom and experience. The voice of growth (for does not the snake shed its skin in order to grow?).



To be aware of one’s own nakedness is to be aware of one’s own self. To be aware of one’s own sex and the purpose of sex. The sewing of fig leaves together to cover these vital parts is a physical representation of the sudden understanding of the physical world’s duality. The snake is also a symbol of fertility and so it stands to reason that Eve, the symbol of life, would be the first to partake of this fruit. How long have we pulled her down and stoned her for the downfall of mankind? She is the hero, the one who offered man the chance to partake in life. And Adam is a hero in his own right for having the courage to accept this quest. The world's first knight.

By removing Eden out of a geographical area and into the realm of metaphor one can see the beginning of understanding the workings of nakedness and sexual desire. What eventually follows is the realization that if birth can occur, so than must its dual counterpart, its “better half” - death. If female exists, so must male. This is why we are all “condemned to die”. This is not a judgement or a sentence, but a logical progression of life.

Often I turn to the wisdom of my daughter. When she was perhaps three years old we were watching (for the nth time) Disney’s The Little Mermaid. During the climax of the film the sea-witch, Ursula, is impaled by a derelict ship, thrust by the very whirlpool she began. She sinks to the bottom of the sea and presumably to her death. At this point my daughter turned to me and said: “Where’s the octopus-lady?” (meaning Ursula).

This questions was one of those pivotal moments for me, a realization. Here, in this simple question, is the perfected innocence of childhood (before eating the apple, still walking with God in the garden as an equal). At this age my daughter was incapable of judgement and condemnation. She made no distinction between Good (Ariel and Eric) or Evil (Ursula). The sea-witch was simply another character who went somewhere else. Forget the fact that she had just spent the entire movie trying to kill our hero’s, had been plotting Neptune’s downfall because of her own bruised ego. All my daughter saw was that this character was at one point there and the next gone. To her beautiful mind there was no difference, no designation between Ariel and Ursula. No judgement on Good and Evil. In that moment, my daughter was equal to God.

Clearly this is the beginning of the process of understanding death. Prior to the question, death did not exist in her mind. And the point of this “original sin” is that we are all born into learning this.

Joseph Campbell has a wonderful interpretation of these events. Both woman and snake are symbols of new life. The woman is the giver of life, which is Eve’s very purpose. Similarly, the snake sheds it’s skin (sheds the old ways) and is born again with a fresh new skin, still soft. Both woman and snake are symbols of rebirth, of cycles. Campbell further explains that this is why the Moon is always given female attributes because of its different phases. The moon, like the snake, is a symbol of something shedding as it is continually reborn. By contrast the Sun is given male attributes (no coincidence that Jesus is the Son of God). The Sun, or the Son, is the light.

So both figures, woman and snake are hero’s. They free themselves of this static state, this limited life of so-called perfection in the garden, into a life of duality. Original sin is not God’s punishment. It is life’s requirement.