Click for audio: The Challenge of Dualism
I was recently asked when and how I picked my Sunday lesson topics and if I would talk about the story of Adam and Eve and its relevance to us today. Sometimes I pick my topics far ahead of time, as when I’m presenting a series based on a book or a collection of ideas. Other times I make this decision the same week I give the talk. I don’t have a set or even a favorite way of doing this. There is comfort in knowing weeks ahead what I will be talking about, but it’s also enlivening to be more spontaneous, especially when a direct question is raised. I love knowing I’m talking about things that are of interest to members of my audience.
First of all, Adam and Eve are, in all likelihood, literary inventions used to illustrate answers to questions people would ask their priesthood. Why does life seem so difficult sometimes? Why, if I am a child of God, do I sometimes feel so vulnerable, so naked? Why does the world appear to be fraught with sin and stained by the evil acts of sinful people? Why do I know what is right but I do what is wrong?
The ancient Middle Eastern tribal priesthood put the answers to these questions into the form of myth and story. That their methodology was successful is evidenced by the fact that we are still reading them thousands of years later. Of course if you try to think of these stories as based on literal, historical facts, you have to exclude a huge section of the geological and keflex coupon fossil records and their carbon dated timelines.
The bottom-line message of this story is that people suffer because they believe in the presence of two powers rather than one. This shift is symbolized in Adam and Eve’s eating from the tree whose fruit is knowledge of good and evil—dualism. The garden into which they were born was all good, and all of their needs were met. Partaking of good and evil as two equal yet opposing forces caused them to be cast from the state of having all needs met.
Unity affirms, one Presence and one Power, not as a feel-good cliché, but as an effective means of realigning our mind with our true, Garden of Eden state in which God is recognized and trusted as the singular source of our supply. There are many ways that we eat the fruit of dualism and begin thinking there are two opposing powers at work in our lives. Through the practice of meditation we re-enter the Garden of Eden and realign our faith with the truth beyond the appearance.
People in ancient times were just as distracted as people in modern times. Their priests were simply providing them with graphic tools to remind them to judge not according to appearances. There is but one Presence and one Power in the universe, God, the Good, omnipotent.
Does “traditional Christianity ” then foster a dellusional view of human nature. Does Unity foster say that it is only an illusion that there is any other influence than ones inner spiritual connection at work?
I would say that Traditional Christianity supports the delusional view of human nature that is fostered by the physical senses. The Unity teachings acknowledge the influence of senses perception. This is why we teach “denial” as the means by which we break up those beliefs that are based solely on appearances and acheter lasix 100mg “affirmation” as the means by which we align our thinking with what is true at the deepest level. Emilie Cady’s Lessons in Truth devotes a chapter each to these practices. Even if you are familiar with these chapters, I would suggest a review in light of this discussion. Also her chapter, Statement of Being, in the same book is a good foundation for the One Presence, One Power idea.
How then, Doug, do you understand an alternative voice in decision making. Is it an illusion in the mind of the choice maker no matter how loud the voice might seem to speak? Is it Also an illusion that there is any voice guiding the decision.
It is the human mind that gives birth to duality. When Jesus said, “Let Thy will, not mine be done,” he was acknowledging the one presence and one power in contrast with his own will. Neither “voice” is necessarily an illusion, but the going with the will of God is the willingness to listen to the intuitive rather than the strictly intellectual side of the mind that is so heavily influenced and often misinformed by appearances.
The “traditional” approach focuses on the CHOICE made by the characters in the ancient story. My Old Testament professor called it a timeless story that describes human nature. After listening to a snake (symbolizing an alternate voice from the provider) the woman chose to partake of the tree while man watched and said nothing knowing full well that the provider of the garden had established certain rules forbidding that very behavior. When confronted by the provider of the garden they each passed the buck not taking responsibility for there behavior. It was theIraq refusal to take responsibility that got them thrown out of the garden.
The Tree was called the Tree of Good and Evil, in your words Duality, referring to two choices. OR the belief that there are actually two choices that could fulfill the need that drove the decision to “pick” or gather fulfillment in life. You are saying that the idea of two choices is a false choice to begin with?
Hi Allen,
The premise we come from in Unity is One Presence One Power. The temptation to believe in a secondary power, evil, as having a basis in reality is what causes us to “fall” from our conscious unity with God–the garden state of consciousness. It’s the “judge not according to appearances” because there is a deeper reality behind the ever-changing surface of life. It’s a challenge to hold to this principle, but the idea is to stay with it until we see the higher reality expressed through the limited appearance.
Well said.
Today’s “priests” have forgotton that, and are fully engaged in this dualism.
Robert J Roushar Jr.