The story of the Garden of Eden is a classic reflection of the way wanting interferes with the flow of Tao and the coordination of Psyche and Intuition with the way our life is lived. And this basic mirror of how things are with us was blown all to hell with the interpretation of Original Sin that was applied to the story by those who used it as leverage for their power over their followers through the ages. The story is a picture of how it is with us and has nothing to do with punishment, vindictiveness, revenge and control by an almighty deity who must be pleased or there is hell to pay.

There is no almighty deity in control of everything that happens and who possesses the power to send people to heaven or to hell when they die. All that has every been said about “God” is only a projection made by the people who are talking about “God,” based on their own fear and imagination and need to control the people they are talking to. Anything that requires “faith” in order to be real is a fiction/opinion based on hearsay and fantasy. So that “faith” is a collection of opinions based on hearsay. And we are left with knowing what’s what, and what is called for in each situation as it arises in order to do what needs to be done, here, now, where and how it needs to be done all our life long.

Assessing what’s what, knowing what’s happening and what is called for in order to do what needs to be done about it in each situation as it arises is, and always has been, a matter of listening to our Intuition and of knowing what we know in our physical body/mind. And thus the importance of our affiliation with emptiness, stillness and silence in order to sense what’s what, etc. When we live too fast and too loudly to listen, look, hear, see, know what’s what, etc., we lose sight of the way of Tao and thus lose the ability to know and do what is called for and cannot hope to be able to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time and in the right place.

In order to be at one with the time and place of our living, so that our life is a dance with the music of time and place, we have to develop our capacity to drop into the silence in order to read the situation in each situation as it arises, so that we know in our body what’s what and what is called for, reading the signs of the time and place of our living and doing what needs to be done in response.

This is not an intellectual, thinking kind of knowing/doing, being, but a physical, intuitive kiind of knowing, doing, being. The problem here is that we have been discouraged from developing/relying upon our body-knowing and have been encouraged to develop and rely upon our mind-knowing. I can remember my father chiding me early in my life asking me why I did something, and my reply being, “I don’t know,” bringing forth his, “THERE IS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING!” Raising the retort, which I was too young to make, “What is the reason there is a reason for everything?”

There are plenty of examples where we experience knowing things (being hungry, going to the Loo, etc.) and not having a clue about the process governing what we know and what we do. not know. The process is as much spiritual as it is physical. And I use “spiritual” here in the sense of “more than words can say.” The intuitive world is much older than the consciously capable of being explained world. To the point where our intuition is an undeveloped asset waiting for our awakening. And all it takes for that is a regular and recurring dose of emptiness, stillness and silence.