One of the most profound points in my life is when I woke up (spiritual sight) and recognized that viewing the Garden of Eden story as a purely literal (physical senses) event was limiting me and perhaps even harming me to a degree. It is the temple endowment that has given me the opportunity to see everything not just with physical eyes but spiritual eyes and I have been blessed ever since. I thank God for the prophet Joseph Smith. The temple endowment is amazing! It is the school of the prophets. A spiritual uni-verse-ity.
One significant precept that I have learned is that the nearest temple is YOU! The Apostle Paul said it best: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). I often like to ask members of the church where the nearest temple is for them. Usually they say Salt Lake, Provo, Idaho Falls, etc. Then I point to their body and say: "did you forget about this one?" The usual response is one of shock and surprise and they go away with a ponderous look on their face.
Once you recognize that the temple and the physical body are synonymous then the endowment takes on a whole (holy) new meaning! I had forgotten that everything in the temple is symbolic and that the temple is saturated with symbolism. The natural man or woman has a tendency to view things in a surface, superficial, literal, and physical manner. As a result, the temple endowment is not internalized (within our temple-body) until the spiritual man or woman is presiding.
King Benjamin said it best: "For the natural man is an enemy (alienated) to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit . . ." (Mosiah 3:19). When did that natural man become an enemy to God? It happened at the moment of the fall of Adam. But wait you might say! I thought Adam and Eve were great heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could be born! Why is King Benjamin saying that they became an enemy to God when they fell? I thought the Fall was 100% positive and a good and necessary step in our eternal journey! Are you and King Benjamin agreeing with certain orthodox or fundamentalist Christians who say Adam and Eve were evil horrible sinners who deserved to be thrust down to hell and are the worst of the worst?
I was one of the reactionary natural minded individuals who put Adam and Eve on a pedestal probably because so many others did it and because those who persecute us tend to cast Adam and Eve in an equally opposite light. For some, Adam and Eve are the most villainous individuals to have walked the planet. I disagree with that as well as putting them high on pedestals or even worshipping them as some fundamentalists do. Adam and Eve would not want you to see them as more than they are. The natural man would either want you to hate them or worship them. So now I see them as they truly are. Like me. In fact, they have everything to do with me.
As I read the scriptures and went to the temple, it never occurred to me that Adam and Eve could be symbolic in any way. For me, they were my literal "first parents". Or my common ancestor. But if we are the temple of God then perhaps Adam and Eve have something to do with us. I tried to liken myself to Adam and Eve. Perhaps they represent some aspect of ourselves that is important to understand.
In ancient cultures, the physical, or the Earth, was always represented as a female, whereas the sky was represented in a masculine way. We still understand the concept of "Mother Earth" and "Father Sky" (Father in Heaven). I personally had previously connected myself to Adam since I am a man. That is an obvious parallel. I would assume that women tend to identify with Eve. It never occurred to me that Eve would have something to do with who I am right now or that she is a part of me. Symbolically, she is me! Like "Mother Earth" she is the physical me. She is the natural me. She came from Spirit (the rib of Adam). She is my body! Through literal eyes and perspective, she is my first parent. On a spiritual and symbolic level, she takes on a different meaning. She is our physical natures.
Adam on the other hand is symbolic of our spirits. For men and women, he is symbolic of the male or female spirit within our physical body. Just as Adam came first so our spirits came first before our bodies. This is also symbolized perhaps in what Jesus said to his Apostles in Gethsemane: The Spirit (Adam) indeed is willing (to follow God's commandments)but the Flesh (Eve) is weak (succumbs to temptation) Matthew 26:41. (I can see you. You're ready to pick up some stones for me calling Eve weak. Remember Nicodemus Mormons, we are talking about spiritual symbolism here. Just hang in there.)
This symbolism also plays out in our actual physical natures. Generally, men are known to be physically stronger than women (although this would be debatable in my case) and women are archaically known as the "weaker" sex. (I think I saw someone picking up stones. Maybe I should duck.)
The story of Adam and Eve, therefore, should not just be interpreted as literal but it can be a powerful parable about the relationship between our spirits and our bodies. So when the prophet Abinadi talks about the "old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal (physically dominated), sensual (sensory dominated), devilish (prone to temptation and tempting others), knowing evil from good (the opposite of the oneness and unity of the tree of life), subjecting themselves to the devil. Thus all mankind were lost (blinded); and behold they would have been endlessly lost (blinded) were it not that God redeemed his people (through the At-one-ment of Christ) from their lost (blinded) and fallen state" (Mosiah 16:3-4), then you will look upon it with new eyes in a spiritual way and not want to cast the first torch to the prophet Abinadi for insulting the reputations of our first parents!
What went on in the Garden of Eden happens in the temple (you) each (this) day. Each day you wake up and look at the world in a fragmented way. Your physical nature is tempted in a sensory dominated manner (the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes Genesis 3:6) to categorize and label every-thing you physically see, touch, hear, smell and taste as either good or evil. Everything is either a threat to our peace and security or it provides comfort and escape from the illusory threats of a lone and dreary world. Thus you partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil moment to moment. This leads to the curse (consequences) that are explained to Adam (Spirit) and Eve (Body). It leads to the "Woe-man" (woe means misery from affliction) ruling over Adam (spiritual man or woman in bondage to the natural man or woman).
God, in his mercy, gives a future remedy for this significant problem, not the least of which is that Adam (Spirit) is to rule over Eve (Body). A literal-centric individual would view Adam presiding over Eve as either patriarchy or the (natural) priesthood order. This literal perspective misses the whole (holy) point of the story in my opinion. It's about what is going on inside you!
When we look at every-thing through the lens of good or evil we (physically) see a fragmented, hostile, dreary, harsh and lonesome world. It is filled with fear, dread and death. You might say we live a Telestial existence as we look for ways to survive this hostile environment. We go from Adam and Eve being in a garden, naked and "not ashamed" to running, hiding, feeling ashamed, feeling guilty, making aprons of fig leaves, blaming, and disconnecting (making ourselves an enemy as Mosiah said) from God. In the ultimate irony, we become spiritually blind even though our physical eyes have been opened by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This spiritual blindness and physical-sight-reliance leads to fear, anxiety, worry, stress, alienation, loneliness, depression, despair, nervousness, guilt, and trauma. The fear often leads to competitiveness, selfishness, covetousness, greed, pettiness, anger, rage and violence. It is anything but peace of mind. It is a very heavy yoke. It causes physical and spiritual havoc on us each day. Would it surprise you that more and more research is coming out about how these chronic feelings can actually have a profound degenerative effect upon our bodies (not to mention our spirits)?! These feelings connected with the Fall are truly killing us as God had warned! We die a little more each day because of those feelings. This FALLEN perspective is one of the greatest barriers in ushering in the internal Millennium. Thus we see, that understanding the Garden of Eden story is of profound importance. You might say it is a matter of life or death! Thankfully Jesus Christ (Truth) came and showed us the WAY back home. Back to the Garden. Eastward (towards the light). Back to the Tree of Life. Are you ready?
This is incredible. Thank you SO much!
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