Adam & Eve: The Real Nondual Story

Transcription

1 Adam & Eve: The Real Nondual Story RABBI OLIVIER BENHAIM BET ALEF MEDITATIVE SYNAGOGUE W W W. B E TA L E F. O R G

2 I begin by asking a question that I have asked myself many times: On the way to non-dual awareness do we have to reject the Bible? Is it possible to find within the biblical stories traces of non-dual teachings, or is the Bible condemned to be relegated to a dualistic past? I read the Bible not as a text to be taken at the literal level (Moses didn t really part the Red Sea Charlton Heston did) rather I read the Bible as a series of allegorical teachings (the primary literary modality in the biblical era.) Consider, therefore, the possibility that among biblical authors were enlightened beings who, through these allegories. sought to convey their own non-dual experiences in the only literary form they knew at the time. This is the premise with which I come to the biblical text. I would like to give here a short example of how not only myself, but many Jewish mystics before me and in our days, have seen reflected in the Bible their own nondual understanding. We start with the Adam and Eve story; a story that everybody knows, or think they know. But what if everything you thought you knew about the story of Adam and Eve was only the superficial layer of a story that goes much deeper than you could ever imagine? I invite you to let go of your preconceived notions of what the Story of Adam and Eve is about and to consider coming with me on a journey to rediscover this story through my eyes.

3 Genesis 2:4 These are the chronicles of heaven and earth when they were created, on the day YHVH Elohim (The Lord God) made earth and heaven Gen. 2:7 Then YHVH Elohim (the Lord God) made Adam, dust from the Adamah (soil), and breathed into his nostrils nishmat chayim (the soul of life) and the Adam was nefesh chayah (a living soul.)

4 Right off the bat we are having major problems with a literal reading of the text. First off, in this biblical account of the Adam and Eve story, Adam is created on the day earth and heaven were made, which is before anything else was made, on the day that ended with let there be light. There was no sun, moon, stars, no plants, animals, no nothing. There was just primordial light, primordial energy, earthward energy (potential energies of manifestation) and heavenward energy (potential transcending energies.) These verses we are reading are part of a story that unfolds before space and time were created. We are definitely not talking about earth and heaven at the literal level. Now I need to stop briefly and explain a couple words. YHVH and Elohim, usually translated respectively the Lord and God. YHVH in Hebrew is actually not a name but are the four letters of the unpronounceable name of Spirit.

5 What about YHVH Elohim? and

6 YHVH Adam & Eve: The Real Nondual Story

7 YHVH Unpronounceable name

8 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts

9 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts Metaphysical

10 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts Metaphysical Transcendent

11 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts Metaphysical Transcendent Un-manifest

12 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts Metaphysical Transcendent Un-manifest Formless

13 YHVH Unpronounceable name Beyond words, concepts, ideas, thoughts Metaphysical Transcendent Un-manifest Formless Ayin in Kabbalah = Nothingness or Emptiness

14 Elohim

15 Elohim A plural noun

16 Elohim A plural noun The ONE manifesting as the many

17 Elohim A plural noun The ONE manifesting as the many Manifest aspect of the Divine

18 Elohim A plural noun The ONE manifesting as the many Manifest aspect of the Divine This Reality/Creation

19 Elohim A plural noun The ONE manifesting as the many Manifest aspect of the Divine This Reality/Creation Shechinah in Kabbalah = Indwelling Presence or

20 Elohim A plural noun The ONE manifesting as the many Manifest aspect of the Divine This Reality/Creation Shechinah in Kabbalah = Indwelling Presence or Yesh = Is-ness, form

21 YHVH Elohim

22 YHVH Elohim = The Lord God?

23 YHVH Elohim = The Lord God?

24 YHVH Elohim

25 YHVH Elohim = Nothingness & Is-ness

26 YHVH Elohim = Nothingness & Is-ness Emptiness & Form

27 YHVH Elohim = Nothingness & Is-ness Emptiness & Form Transcendent & Immanent

28 YHVH Elohim = Nothingness & Is-ness Emptiness & Form Transcendent & Immanent Nondual

29 Now back to Gen. 2:7 Then YHVH Elohim (the Lord God) made Adam, dust Then YHVH Elohim (the Lord God) made Adam, dust from the Adamah (soil), and breathed into his nostrils nishmat chayim (the soul of life) and the Adam was nefesh chayah (a living soul.)

30 What about Adam?

31 What about Adam? Cloud of dust from Adamah (soil=manifesting essence)

32 What about Adam? Cloud of dust from Adamah (soil=manifesting essence) A soul, soul being, energy being

33 What about Adam? Cloud of dust from Adamah (soil=manifesting essence) A soul, soul being, energy being Expression of the Divine Gen. 1:26 & 5:1

34 What about Adam? Cloud of dust from Adamah (soil=manifesting essence) A soul, soul being, energy being Expression of the Divine Gen. 1:26 & 5:1 Male and female at once Gen. 1:27 & 5:2 Note: Adam is definitely not of flesh and blood, more like a cloud of soul energy.

35 Gen 2:8-9 To the east, YHVH Elohim planted a garden in Eden, setting the Adam there Then, out of the Adamah (soil,) YHVH Elohim grew trees alluring to the eyes and good to eat; and in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Note: Notice that the trees are made of the same stuff as Adam was made of: Adamah

36 Gen 2:16-17 YHVH Elohim commanded the Adam saying You may eat all you like of every tree in the garden. But of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for the moment you eat of it you shall die. Note: Adam was not permitted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil but YHVH Elohim says noting about not eating from the Tree of Life which was permitted.

37 Gen 2:21-23 And YHVH Elohim made the Adam fall into a deep sleep, and he slept; and He took one of his [ribs] sides, and closed up the flesh in its place. And the [rib] side, which YHVH Elohim had taken from the Adam, made He an Ishah (woman,) and brought her to the Adam Let this aspect be called Ishah (woman) since from Ish (man) she was taken. Note: Of course we can t take this literally. Adam does not have a body to speak of, so the ribs are a metaphor to express that the divine separated the feminine energies from the masculine energies that were embedded within Adam. Furthermore, both Ishah and Ish come from the Hebrew root Esh which means fire or energy. It was feminine fire/energy that was split from masculine fire/energy in this passage.

38 In comes the serpent, Nachash in Hebrew. But here, too, this is not a serpent as we picture it in our minds because only at the end of the story is the serpent cursed to crawl on its belly, condemned to wiggle and slither. So we don t really know what that energy-creature looked like. The serpent tempts the Ishah (Feminine fire/energy) to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the Ishah replies that God warned that eating from the Tree or even touching it would cause them to die.

39 Gen 3:4-7 But the serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! On the contrary: God knows that when you do eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim, knowing Good and Evil. When the Ishah saw that the Tree was Good to eat, a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took from its fruit; and gave some to her Ish (man) who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were open

40 What was the fruit they ate?

41 What was the fruit they ate?

42 What was the fruit they ate?

43 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t.

44 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim

45 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Like Elohim =

46 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Like Elohim = Immanent, manifest, form.

47 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Like Elohim = Immanent, manifest, form. They will leave the formless space to enter the world of form.

48 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil =

49 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil = Primordial polarity,

50 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil = Primordial polarity, original dualism,

51 The serpent told the truth: The serpent says to the woman You most certainly will not die! They didn t. If you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil your eyes will be open and you will be like Elohim Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil = Primordial polarity, original dualism, essential dualistic consciousness.

52 The Adam & Eve story is a story about birth.

53 The Adam & Eve story is a story about birth. A story about taking form and entering a dualistic world.

54 The Adam & Eve story is a story about birth. A story about taking form and entering a dualistic world. A story about leaving the non-dual awareness of our undifferentiated origin and being born.

55 The Adam & Eve story is a story about birth. A story about taking form and entering a dualistic world. A story about leaving the non-dual awareness of our undifferentiated origin and being born. Note: And what are the consequences of being born? Dying. Adam and Eve didn t die immediately after eating from the Tree so the serpent was right but they eventually die because eating from the Tree causes them to be born, enter the world of form and duality, and, after a long life of suffering, and pain, eventually die. So God was right. Here is how our story concludes

56 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife

57 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife Note: We think of this as a caveman scene. Somehow Adam and Eve went hunting in the Note: We think of this as a caveman scene. Somehow Adam and Eve went hunting in the Garden of Eden and killed an animal to cover themselves with its skin. But there is no mention of this anywhere in the text. Another way to read it is that as Adam and Eve are being born they are given a body/incarnating, they are given outfits of their own skin.

58 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife Gen 3:22 YHVH Elohim then said Look! Adam is like us knowing YHVH Elohim then said Look! Adam is like us knowing Good and Evil. Now he may even reach out to take fruit from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.

59 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife Gen 3:22 YHVH Elohim then said Look! Adam is like us knowing Good and Evil. Now he may even reach out to take fruit from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever. Note: That was the problem. You couldn t live in the dualistic world of form and be Eternal. Taking birth has consequences.

60 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife Gen 3:22 YHVH Elohim then said Look! Adam is like us knowing Good and Evil. Now he may even reach out to take fruit from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever. Gen 3:23 And YHVH Elohim sent them out of the Garden of Eden

61 Gen 3:21 And YHVH Elohim made outfits of skin for the Adam and his wife Gen 3:22 YHVH Elohim then said Look! Adam is like us knowing Good and Evil. Now he may even reach out to take fruit from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever. Gen 3:23 And YHVH Elohim sent them out of the Garden of Eden Note: Not a punishment, not a fall, no original sin, but a birth story.

62 How do we get back to Eden? How do we get back to non-dual awareness?

63 Gematria A system of assigning numerical value to a Hebrew word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself.

64 Gematria Alef = A = 1

65 Gematria Alef = A = 1 Bet = B = 2

66 Gematria Alef = A = 1 Bet = B = 2 Gimel = C = 3

67 Gematria Alef = A = 1 Bet = B = 2 Gimel = C = 3 Yud = J = 10

68 Gematria Alef = A = 1 Bet = B = 2 Gimel = C = 3 Yud = J = 10 Kaf = K = 20

69 Gematria Alef = A = 1 Bet = B = 2 Gimel = C = 3 Yud = J = 10 Kaf = K = 20 Lamed = L = 30

70 Gematria Adam & Eve: The Real Nondual Story

71 Gematria Nachash = Serpent

72 Gematria N(a) = 50 Nachash = Serpent

73 Gematria N(a) = 50 Ch(a) = 8 Nachash = Serpent

74 Gematria N(a) = 50 Ch(a) = 8 Sh = 300 Nachash = Serpent

75 Gematria N(a) = 50 Ch(a) = 8 Sh = 300 Nachash = Serpent Nachash = 358

76 Gematria Adam & Eve: The Real Nondual Story

77 Gematria M(a) = 40

78 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300

79 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300 i = 10

80 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300 i = 10 (a)ch = 8

81 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300 i = 10 (a)ch = 8 358

82 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300 i = 10 (a)ch = = Mashiach

83 Gematria M(a) = 40 Sh = 300 i = 10 (a)ch = = Mashiach = Messiah

84 Gematria Nachash = Serpent = 358 = Mashiach = Messiah

85 Gematria Nachash = Serpent = 358 = Mashiach = Messiah Note: The serpent represents the energies that move us out of non-dual awareness and into the world of form, out of the Garden of Eden and into this world; the energies that cause us to be born. Messiah represents the energies that move us back into non-dual awareness and into the world of the formless, back in the Garden of Eden. Serpent and Messiah are energies which counterbalance each other.

86 What is Messiah?

87 What is Messiah?

88 What is Messiah?

89 What is Messiah? Note: Messiah, for the Kabbalists, is not about a person but about personal development; about attaining higher states of consciousness. Messiah consciousness is Enlightened consciousness, is non-dual awareness. All of us, they teach, are to work today toward attaining Messiah Consciousness.

90 What is Messiah?

91 What is Messiah? We are.