Good and Evil - Part I: The Garden of Eden
nava August 19th, 2008
Adam and Eve. Our progenitors. The Garden of Eden. The birthplace of shame and forbidden fruit, satanic snakes and temptressy women. Possibly one of the most famous Biblical accounts of all time. Certainly the most popular. But, what does it actually mean? What are the inherent values we are supposed to glean and learn from this anecdote?
A literal interpretation of this account proves troublesome as the numbers just don’t add up. From a scientific perspective, it is well-documented and proven that human beings have existed on this planet in some evolutionary form or another long before Sir Adam or Madame Eve ever made an appearance. From a biological point of view, the populating of the planet would seem miraculous if actually initiated by the two—who did their sons marry? And why didn’t all the children end up with severe disabilities (as modern medicine has proven time and again that the odds are way against us as a race when we marry within the bloodline)? From a spiritual stance, couldn’t a God who punishes perpetual generations of His creation for the sins of the first two be considered somewhat childish, if not outright cruel? Clearly, this story is not intended literally.
An early Baha’i believer from a Christian background asked Abdu’l-Baha, the son of the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, what the true significance of this allegory was. He explained that the story of Adam and Eve had many different meanings, one of which he would expound for her. He says the following regarding the symbolism of the main “protagonists” of this story (Adam, Eve, the tree of good and evil, the serpent, and the tree of life):
Adam signifies the heavenly spirit of Adam, and Eve His human soul. For in some passages in the Holy Books where women are mentioned, they represent the soul of man. The tree of good and evil signifies the human world; for the spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the human world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions.
The meaning of the serpent is attachment to the human world. This attachment of the spirit to the human world led the soul and spirit of Adam from the world of freedom to the world of bondage and caused Him to turn from the Kingdom of Unity to the human world. When the soul and spirit of Adam entered the human world, He came out from the paradise of freedom and fell into the world of bondage. From the height of purity and absolute goodness, He entered into the world of good and evil.
The tree of life is the highest degree of the world of existence: the position of the Word of God, and the supreme Manifestation. Therefore, that position has been preserved; and, at the appearance of the most noble supreme Manifestation, it became apparent and clear. For the position of Adam, with regard to the appearance and manifestation of the divine perfections, was in the embryonic condition; the position of Christ was the condition of maturity and the age of reason; and the rising of the Greatest Luminary[1] was the condition of the perfection of the essence and of the qualities. This is why in the supreme Paradise the tree of life is the expression for the center of absolutely pure sanctity — that is to say, of the divine supreme Manifestation. From the days of Adam until the days of Christ, They spoke little of eternal life and the heavenly universal perfections. This tree of life was the position of the Reality of Christ; through His manifestation it was planted and adorned with everlasting fruits. [1= Baha’u’llah]
(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 123)
In layman’s terms, Adam and Eve are one reality, Adam representing the physical self and Eve his soul. The tree of good and evil is this very world we exist in, a world full of dualities, as opposed to the spiritual worlds of God — the heavenly realms, as some theological language would term them — which are only good. The serpent represents attachment to this material world (maybe things like our looks, our cars, our status, our things) — the true source of evil. The tree of life represents the Manifestation of God (such as Christ and Baha’u’llah). They are the tree of life because They are the source of all spiritual good, and the true nature of man is spiritual. Though he is both a body and a soul, the body is the vehicle for the soul to progress through life acquiring the spiritual attributes he will need in the spiritual worlds of God. So when we forget our true reality, when we become so caught up in the affairs of the flesh that we neglect our souls, we not only succumb to evil, we bind ourselves to it.
Evil is not a seperate entity that exists on its own, stalking us through dark hallways and creepy dreams, waiting to plant itself in our bodies so that only an exorcism can restore us to humanity. Evil is a turning away from good; a daily struggle. A part of our very selves. A lower, animalistic nature which drives us to focus only on our worldly needs and turn away from the tree of life. From the laws of the Manifestation of God which are, in fact, the source of all good, and the only true sustenance of the spiritual reality of man.
Paradise and hell exist within our own selves — rest in the decisions we make every day. To be watchful or to neglect. To be godly or to be satanic. To be obedient or to rebel. To strive or to settle. To be wordly or to be heavenly.
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- Baha'i Concepts , General Interest
- Comments(4)
thank you so much for your beautiful posts…i really enjoy reading them and look forward to it very much.
Actually, from a Baha’i perspective evil doesn’t really exist. Rather it bears the same relationship to good that a shadow bears to light (i.e. it is just the absence of good.) When we turn away from God we turn away from the source of all good and exist in our own shadow. This world is not really evil. It is purely good because it comes from God. Only when people turn from God does what we call evil appear in the world. Death is not evil but a great good for a true believer.
How can we get the power to follow the right path?
By putting the teaching into practice power will be given. You know which path to follow: you cannot be mistaken, for there’s a great distinction between God and evil, between Light and darkness, Truth and falsehood, Love and hatred, Generosity and meanness, Education and ignorance, Faith in God and superstition, good Laws and unjust laws.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 64)
In this passage, Abdu’l-Baha talks about the distinction between God and evil, implying that there is evil. I am familiar with His explanation in Some Answered Questions that evil is the non-existence of good, just as darkness is the absense of light. But this implies that it doesn’t exist as a force on its own, not that it doesn’t exist. The lack of light does result in something real called darkness, just as the turning away from good does result in something real called evil. Hence there so many writings descrying evil actions, warning us against “the evil one who lieth in wait.” Maybe it’s semantics, but I think the very existence of trades such as the child sex trade, child labor, child soldiers, the perpetuating of genocides, holocausts, etc, show the great human capacity for evil when not turning to God and living under His laws…
As far as this world being only good, ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls it the world of good and evil In Some Answered Questions, He says “The tree of good and evil signifies the human world; for the spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the human world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions. (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 122)”
I think the very existence of both forces as opposite conditions represents the great human challenge. To be confronted by forces of darkness and light and still know how to live in the light. Navigate through the darkness without becoming bound to it. Arising from it, and perhaps even transforming it into light.
I have never thought it the way you are presenting. I have know learnt something very interesting today. Thank you for the lesson.