ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON OF EDEN

                                             ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON OF EDEN

 

       A few years ago I went to the movies to see a wonderful film entitled “The Little Buddha”, starring a hearthrob of mine, Keanu Reeves as Prince Siddartha, who was ultimately to become the Buddha. Now I had read the book, “Siddartha” by Herman Hesse and had read Buddhist teachings regarding the evolution of the Buddha from secular Prince to the “Enlightened One”, but had never given much thought as to the similarities in the Buddhist and Judaic metaphors, while starkly different, yet describing the same events in both the history of man and the history and evolution of every soul. But somehow as I watched the story of Siddartha unfold on the silver screen, I was struck as though by a lightning bolt of revellation, an epiphany if you will. The impression was so overwhelming that I ran to my car and wrote it down in sort of short hand because I didn’t want to lose the moment. I knew I had stumbled onto something of immense reality and truth.

       Now the story behind Prince Siddartha is basically this.  He is the son of a very powerful, but obviously mentally insecure King who basically has enslaved all of his people and doesn’t want to make his son an exception. So he keeps his son, Siddartha, in extreme and lavish luxury in a beautiful palace where he is only attended by handsome, young and beautiful companions. The King keeps his son in blissful ignorance of any and all realities of life. He is totally unaware of aging, sickness, death, poverty or anything unpleasant whatsoever. And all those around him are under strict order under pain of death to make absolutely certain  that Siddartha never finds out the truth of things. But Prince Siddartha has an inquiring mind and wonders what lay outside those palace walls and decides that he wants to venture out.  Well, the King is furious, and doesn’t know what to do, but he allows it, once more commanding that his servants whereever possible, not allow Siddartha to “see anything” along the way that might shed any light on reality.

       Well, of course, the best made plans of man fail and Siddartha accidently sees an old man or whatever, I can’t remember now, but that prompts him to command his bearers to put his litter down on the ground because he wants to walk among his subjects. When he does so, the jig is up. He discovers aging, death, suffering, pain, poverty and all human suffering and he is livid that his father had lied to him and withheld this vital information from him.  He recognizes that it wasn’t love that prompted his father to hide this from him but fear and possessiveness and the desire to control his son and make his son totally dependent upon him and grateful to him. But the King wasn’t doing Siddartha any favors, because someday he would find out the truth of things, but then it might be too late to do anything about it. Prince Siddartha then left his father’s palace and his own wife and went off into the forests as a monk in search of the causes of human suffering and how they might be alleviated.  He ultimately became the Buddha or “Enlightened One” when he found the source and remedy for all human suffering.

       Now as I watched this I was suddenly struck with the similarity between this story and the story of Adam and Eve in the beautiful Paradise of Eden where there was to be no sickeness, no death, no pain; abundant beauty of flora and fauna; and plenty for everyone. Well, it was obvious to me that this was the same story of a jealous and insecure “father” who lied to his children and told them that they would live forever in a paradise where there would be no aging, suffering or death SO LONG AS THEY OBEYED HIM; when he knew very well that the animals had been aging, suffering and dying and decomposing for countless centuries. I’m not sure exactly how long this deity thought that he could fool them before they found out the truth, but apparently he thought that it would work long enough for him to control them and subjugate them and make them dependent upon him.

       Now had Siddartha stayed in the palace and never ventured out to find out the truth; I guess his life would have been nice, but he would have been complacent and would never have been forced to grapple with the question of human suffering, which he would ultimately have to deal with at some point anyway. But he would have had to deal with suffering without any answers as to the nature of reality; the causes of suffering and how to end  human suffering. He would have spent his life living in the shadow and under the good will of his father in blind obedience and servitude and ultimately suffered and died just like his father He would never have become the Buddha; never have become free and never have been in a position to help others find freedom.

       So the writers of Genesis, betrayed themselves by their concepts; they “Created God In Their Own Image”, not the reverse.  They created a deity that was exactly like them; not one who encouraged exploration of the mind and intellect; not a diety that would have been proud of man’s accomplishments, not a “ God of Unconditional Love”, but an insecure and domineering father who offered only conditional love; “obey me or die” and who would “take all of his toys back” if his children didn’t play according to his rules. They created a vengeful and punitive god, whose only answer to difficulties is to destroy the world rather than help it to evolve. The god that the scribes create in Genesis drives Man out of the garden; destroys all life on earth in the Flood; topples the Tower of Babel; confuses the languages of the peoples so as to stifle their progress and establishes blood sacrifices as the only means to assuage his hostility toward his children. Not a pretty picture here.

       And this is why I maintain that the only one telling the truth in Genesis is in fact the serpent; which oddly enough in Hindu lore is a symbol of divine wisdom and Shakti energy which eventually leads to human enlightenment and spiritual freedom.  You see; priesthoods and clergy over the centuries have never truly wanted man to experience spiritual freedom because it’s FREE; it wouldn’t net them any profits in the Temple coffers or in the vaults at the Vatican. They much preferred systems of religion which required expensive offerings and sacrifices which were basically bribes offered up to god by his special priesthood.  How convenient; convenient for them that is; not for mankind in general who often had to endure terrible hardships and travel miles over dangerous terrain to make their annual pilgrimages and bring their tithes to God, who although God of the Universe, could somehow only be contacted in one geographical location.  Somehow this doesn’t seem to say much for an omnipresent God.