The Garden between Earth and Heaven

Adam and Eve by William Blake

October 2009

The soundless, unscented state of presence contains the limitless principle of heaven and earth.

Wang Yangming

Consciousness is expansive, and when potent enough, it enlarges the heart and unifies the senses into Third Eye. With consciousness, all things are possible, everywhere, at any time. From such moments of consciousness, one is reborn, becoming another Adam or Eve, the creation of a conscious origin, and the guardians of the first garden.

This role of guardian reveals the connection to a conscious origin. An unexpected hierarchy, in which the highest in one serves the celestial for the sake of awakening, while on the terrestrial level, cultivating the garden is one’s responsibility. The garden is a counterpart, a reflection of human nature and its hierarchy of earth, human and divine. Cultivating the highest in oneself can take many forms, through ideas, a talent, beauty, a vision, an intuition, and so on. Most human beings ‘want’ something which in turn cultivates them, although this ‘want’ can be corrupted so that it supplants the desire for awakening and veils Third Eye from its origin.

In the triad of the terrestrial, human and celestial, the balance of forces is ever-changing, and the revolt of the lower-self is a necessary part. In Egyptian myth, Seth is the divine counterpart to Osiris, tricking him to his death from which he then resurrects. Nordic mythology tells the story of Loki, the divine deceiver and slayer of Baldur, the God of light. So while the fall of Adam and Eve shows human naiveté and weakness for novelty, it is also describes the tension in living between earth and sky, living between the lower-self and a shining Third Eye. Without consciousness, separated from this birthright, human beings are aliens on the earth. With consciousness, a human being tends to the garden and cultivates the tree of life.

Quotations

Who can get past the tangles of the world and sit with me in the clouds?

Hanshan

Gazing at the mountain and sky, suddenly I realize that I am part of the landscape.

Zen Master

There is nothing like presence—it is from heaven, from above, and sleep is from below.