Back to Eden: Symbols of the Garden and the Serpent Kundalini
HOW I CAME TO EDEN?
At the time I considered what happened to me a curse. I was lost, confused, and terrified of what was happening to me. It’ s a frightening thing to have your life flipped upside down in one instant. One moment you think you’ve got it all figured out, and the next you're sitting in a place of total uncertainty. Twenty years ago, I had an unexpected surge of energy rise up my spine, into my head, sending me on a path I never knew existed. And boy did I resist it with every fiber of my being. I hated what was happening to me. There was a newfound energy running through my system at all times that left me incredibly uncomfortable. My body just felt different. I couldn’t explain it with language because I had never felt anything like it. How do you describe something that you have no frame of reference for?
The physical symptoms that developed were all over the place, extremely electrical in nature, and without any rhyme or reason to them. After years of physical discomfort and unusual detoxification sensations, the energy found its way into my head, where the most radical shift in my consciousness occurred. Just prior to this shift, I was introduced to the observer, the giant space of awareness just sitting there, within and around all things. It sits, patiently waiting, without judgment, without mind, without thought, without commentary or an opinion of any kind. I became the student, watching life with the observer, watching myself, the strange character in this play of life, watching life around me, watching others, and most importantly watching the insanity of my own mind. It was like a front row seat into the battleground of the mental construct, the conflicted mind that doesn’t shut up!
One day, while driving down the highway, apparently it was time for the energy to move me in a new direction, a direction I did NOT get the memo for. This energy moved with increasing pressure deep within the center of my head, as if a balloon was filling up to the point of explosion. Intuitively I knew this expansive pressure was going to burst, and it was totally out of my control. It’s one thing to know something, but it’s another to experience something you know nothing about. One moment I was still the witness, and the next the bubble within popped! What was once a feeling of separation moved into the most expansive field of pure sensory awareness. I was taking in so much more information into my visual field than I had ever experienced before. I felt like I was flowing in an underwater sea of cars, buildings, signage, noise, you name it, and I was literally everywhere. Over time, and throughout a period of unbelievable fear and darkness, I eventually came to accept this newness in my life. I recognized there was a deep place within all of us, that is connected to our highest self, the spirit that dwells within that reminds us of Home. In this place, it is true peace, no mind, and pure being, and it is accessible to everyone.
I related my entire journey, a journey still unfolding every moment, to the Garden of Eden. To me, the Garden represents a symbolic place within that is the representation of our Godliness. Although I am not religious or versed in the bible, I was raised in the Catholic Church for a time and have an understanding of what most of us are taught in the book of Genesis. The Garden can also represent our connection to the natural world while we are human, however, my main focus is much deeper than that. To me, the Garden is within us. It is everyone’s path to discover this essence or Garden within whenever they are ready or called to do so. This is a part of my life that speaks to me every day, even while doing the day-to-day duties of living, the annoyances of life, taking care of children and family, and solving the inevitable problems life throws at me. This path that presented itself to me is why I created Live Like Eden. It is the reminder that we all can live with our spiritual self each and every day, we can return to Eden.
GENESIS AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Now, if you are religious, I hope you can follow this information with an open mind and know it is not intended to change your mind, but rather look at the possibility of other meanings behind the famous Garden of Eden of the Bible. We all know the general information in Genesis. God created the world in seven days, and on the seventh day he rested, which to Christianity is considered the Sabbath. Immediately, the Garden of Eden is presented and specifically states it is planted eastward, with both the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. These two trees will become relevant in a moment, so take a mental note to remember them. Then, God creates Adam first, and eventually God took a rib from Adam while asleep to create Eve, his female counterpart. Apparently, these two were the first two people God created and put on the earth. I don’t know about you, but that is where I start questioning this story. Did the world really start with two people? And they were in the Middle Eastern part of the world speaking English?
At some point, the serpent makes its way in and begins tempting Eve to eat the apple from the tree of knowledge of good an evil, which God specifically says not to eat from or they will die. The serpent slyly tell her she and Adam will not die if they eat the apple. Instead of listening to God they decide to listen to the serpent and eat the forbidden fruit. Afterwards, God is very unhappy that they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He is enraged and angry that they have gone against what he said, and they are exiled from the Garden. He places an angel with a flaming sword at the entrance of the Garden and the rest is history. This part of creation in the first pages of Genesis can be taken literally, or it can be seen as a parable, an allegory, and filled with symbolism. This is where the discrepancy lies within the various religions of the world. The interpretations are all over the place. What does it mean to you?
BILL DONAHUE- HIDDEN MEANINGS
Recently I came across a man named Bill Donahue. He has many videos on YouTube and a website called Hidden Messages. He teaches the allegory of the Bible and what it’s hidden messages are really teaching. From his interpretation, the entire Bible is about the human mind and the evolution of consciousness and has absolutely nothing to do with actual people. He does not see it as literal. He explains throughout many videos the different symbols of each book, the mythological and mystical meanings behind what you think you are reading. Donahue explains that everything he is teaching is in the Bible itself. It’s simply a matter of seeing it from a spiritual perspective instead of a literal interpretation.
I was immediately drawn to his explanation of the Garden of Eden, after all it spoke to me in such a profoundly spiritual way that I wanted to use it in the name of my podcast and blog. It encompasses everything I experienced and the simplicity of returning to spirit, which is not a physical place, it dwells within us. It is not special to me, it is available to all of us. We all have the doorway inside of us that we must pass through in order to dwell in the garden. Coming across Donahue’s work reaffirmed why I was so drawn to this biblical story, especially since I am not religious. Is it possible that the very first story in Genesis has a much deeper meaning sitting beneath the words, but we have not been taught this deeper truth, at least I am unaware of any religion teaching it in this way.
SYMBOLS OF THE GARDEN
From Donahue’s perspective the story of the Garden of Eden is just that a story. There is no actual garden. The garden, the trees, the apple, Adam and Eve, and the serpent are symbols of a much greater truth. He explains in great detail the hidden messages of each of these main themes and characters. God creates the garden and places eastward in Eden. Take note that the garden is eastward. Also, Donahue explains that Eden means delight from mythology and ancient mysticism. We will come back to this in a moment.
ADAM AND EVE
God then creates Adam. Donahue reiterates that Adam was not an actual person. Adam means ATOM, the smallest particle of matter, or the foundation of all life. Adam symbolizes the physical. Then, while Adam is sleeping, God removes one of his ribs to make Eve. From the literal perspective most people would question how that is even possible. It doesn’t make any sense looking at it directly. However, Donahue points out that when God removes a rib, it symbolizes the removal of an electron from an atom, or the splitting of an atom to create more life. From this vantage, it makes sense. You have Adam, or atom, splitting to make Eve. Eve is the representative of the life giving spirt, or the mind. So instead of thinking Adam and Eve were actually the first two people on the earth, from this perspective, Adam is the foundation of life, or the physical, and Eve is the mental aspect of ourselves. Donahue speaks of Adam and Eve as simply the physical and mental aspects of ourselves. He says that this story is not necessarily about creation of the world, but rather the creation of you and your evolution of consciousness. From this angle, it makes sense that right away in Genesis, the foundation of self-discovery is presented.
ENTER THE SERPENT
Now, as Adam and Eve are in this Garden of Eden, a serpent appears, who talks by the way. A talking serpent should immediately clue all of us into the fact that this is mythology. Snakes don’t speak, so what is really happening here? God tells Adam and Eve that they may eat from the trees, but he specifically tells them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they do, they will die. The snake cleverly chats with Eve and tells her if she eats the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they will most certainly not die, but rather eating from this tree brings them wisdom and the awareness of right and wrong. So, she tells Adam, and they both partake of eating the apple.
Symbolically speaking, from Donahue’s break down, this is all very interesting. He expresses that the serpent represents the spine, or the body, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree dwells within the left, or intellectual side of the brain. It makes sense then, that the snake would try to tempt and convince them to become part of this tree. In the beginning of Genesis, it specifically states that there is also a tree of life in the midst of the garden. This tree of life, according to his analysis, represents the right hemisphere of the brain, which is also where the Garden of Eden is located. Remember, the Bible says the Garden of Eden is located eastward. Donahue suggests that east is the right hemisphere of the brain. If you are standing, north is the top of your head, south is down, eastward would be to the right side. There are many phrases throughout the Bible speaking of “the right hand of the Father.” This is a repeated theme. Everything is always on the right, why? The right hemisphere, where God places the Garden of Eden, is where he resides in you.
FORCED OUT OF THE GARDEN
Once God discovers Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit, he forces them out of the Garden of Eden, and to till the soil. We know what happens from here, they enter the world of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then there’s chaos, destruction, and all kinds of good versus bad things happening throughout the rest of the Bible. Bill Donahue says there is a reason for this. From the above perspective, the right side of the brain is where the Garden of Eden resides in you, it is where the spiritual connection to God exists for everyone. The left side of the brain, which is the body, the world, the intellect, the good versus evil, and the serpent are not part of this spiritual aspect. These two do not work together. In order to access the Eden within, you must leave all thought, all of who you are behind in order to cross into the Kingdom of God. After all, Jesus does say the Kingdom of God resides within you. God in the Bible is saying, the Kingdom can only be entered when you let go of everything from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Another way to look at it is to let go of duality, the dual world, and the dual mind. Through practices such as meditation, all thought ceases to be and you enter the right hemisphere of the brain, which is the Garden of Eden, the place of delight, of peace, and of love.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
If you understand Bill Donahue’s hidden meanings and really look at it, you can see the similarities between the ancient Hindu’s teaching of Kundalini, and today’s popular book A Course in Miracles. If it’s true that the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, are not real, they are symbolic representations of the evolution of your consciousness, then you can begin to look at it differently. For those of you who are turned off from the Bible because some of the stories seem extremely far-fetched, then you must ask yourself, what does it really mean? There must be another interpretation than God creating a garden, who made Adam, then took Adam’s rib to make Eve, then a talking snake appears, and suddenly they eat some fruit, which seems pretty harmless, and now they are cast out of God’s Garden of Eden. What? Sounds like there must be another way to see this.
Donahue describes using meditation to activate the energy at the base of the spine, the serpent Kundalini, that rises up through each of the seven chakras, where the snake sheds it’s skin, and you step out of the left side of the brain, or duality if you will, and you are rebirthed into the right hemisphere of the brain where the Garden of Eden resides. Here is where you discover higher consciousness, or God-consciousness. Donahue says that God creating the world in seven days and on the seventh day he rested, is the sign of the seven chakras. When you reach the seventh there is no mind, no thought, just peace, and you rest. He suggests that this is a direct connection to the Hindu understanding and description of Kundalini, the latent serpent energy at the base of the spine that will release, travel through each of the seven chakras, and awaken the pineal gland, enter the right hemisphere of the brain into the Garden of Eden. The Hindu’s refer to it as union with God, or complete self-realization. The mere presence of the snake in the garden is interesting in and of itself. Why a snake? Because the snake represents the spine, the Kundalini, which sheds itself totally to enter Eden. The serpent cannot enter Eden because it is not part of the Tree of Life. It must shed its skin and release itself to enter. Donahue describes in his videos that Kundalini, the energy that moves up the spine, is actually referenced in the Bible.
IS A COURSE IN MIRACLES SAYING SOMETHING SIMILAR?
A final correlation between the Bible’s Garden of Eden, and the Hindu description of Kundalini is also seen in A Course in Miracles. Although the Course does not get involved with the energy of the body, it does however breakdown the split mind. The Course looks at the right and wrong side of the mind. The right side representing the spiritual side, or Garden of Eden, and the wrong side is representative of the tree of knowledge of good and evil from the Bible. Do you see it? It’s all very similar. Keep in mind all of these mystical elements are symbols of the greater aspect of who we really are. The left side or the wrong mind is the dual world. This side has nothing to do with God. God even says it in Genesis by showing Adam and Eve that if you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is the wrong mind or left mind, or duality in A Course in Miracles, you cannot access the Truth of who you are. This Truth is outside of duality, and outside of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Truth is sitting on the right side, awaiting all of us with the Tree of Life, which is in the Garden of Eden.
Many people want to take the Course’s teachings and say Heaven is coming to Earth. This is a misinterpretation. The Course is very specific about duality being separate, an illusion if you will, and has nothing to do with the purity and Truth of God. It seems that the Bible, from Bill Donahue’s perspective, is saying the exact same thing. Using the hemispheres of the brain, and the Hindu serpent Kundalini, he shows us how we must move out of the lower mind, or the lower chakras, into the higher mind and connect with higher consciousness for true spiritual liberation. Using meditation in your daily life, to disconnect from the mind, to disconnect from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and discover the Reality of who you are is the way to your inner Garden of Eden, which is awaiting each and every one of us.
IT’S UP TO YOU
And that is Bill Donahue’s mission in life. The depth and knowledge he has of the entire Bible, and other ancient spiritual texts from around the world is truly fascinating. Whether or not he is correct is up to you. If you feel like diving into his videos, there are plenty of them. He is completely devoted to offering the deeper spiritual meaning behind the world’s most famous book. Religion has its interpretations, and I am sure you have heard many of them. But are they accurate? Does it resonate with you? It is always up to you to decide what you believe. No one can tell you otherwise. It seems there is much more to the story about what religion has always taught. Throughout my own spiritual path, I was brought back to Eden and its peaceful mystery that resides in all. May you find it within yourself when you are ready to see it.