Fragment 31

In this "Fragment" we shall continue the Search for the Self. In my last "Fragment" I used an analytical perspective, for this "Fragment" I shall switch to a historical perspective. The Search for the Self is too big of a topic for only one perspective. And the Self is a historical creation, it is not stable or static. I shall attempt to enlarge our understanding of the Self by interpreting another myth. That of Adam and Eve. Every good myth has many levels of meaning, This is what makes symbols and myths so powerful. Myths and symbols have content, while reason, and abstractions have clarity. So I am not claiming my interpretation of the Adam and Eve myth is the right one or the only one. Most people know the basic storyline of the myth of Adam and Eve. God created Adam and Eve and they live in the Garden of Eden, which is a paradise (Utopia). God has given Adam and Eve one commandment : not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Serpent then enters the Garden and tempts Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve succumb to temptation, and God throws them out of the Garden, After which Adam and Eve experience great regret for their crime. So let us begin our interpretation of the myth. The Garden represents a paradise, a Utopia. Adam and Eve have no responsibilities except the one rule of not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Garden also represents the bicameral paradigm of consciousness. Where people are told what to do by the gods. It should now be clear why disobedience is the primal sin. There were no rebellious subjective selves in the Garden. So what is the knowledge of good and evil? It is the power of judgement, the ability to think for one's self. This makes the punishment the responsibility of thinking for one's self. No longer does the voice of the egregores (gods) seem to come from outside. There is a great longing to return to the bicameral paradigm. This is also the lure of modern Utopian thinking. By giving the Egregore or the State (which is a collection of Egregorers usually with one predominating one controlling the thinking of the people) all power over your life, you give up all your responsibilities. Again the person has only one responsibility or commandment: not to disobey. The modern person acts on the commands of the internalized Egregore. This loss of the bicameral paradigm was a great trauma for humankind. A trauma many are still trying to reverse. Remember in the myth the first thing Adan and Eve realized after eating the fruit is that they were naked and afraid. They had to assume responsibility for their own lives. They had to use their new found power of judgement to think for themselves. They felt helpless in a fallen world.They can now judge for themselves the commands of the gods. As one notices this is also the crime of the Great Set (Lord of the Self) and the Christian devil; wanting to think for one's self. Before continuing with the above conversation I want to take a brief diversion to talk about Original Sin. Original sin is one of Christianites greatist contributions and one of its worst failures. The contribution was that it overthrew the classical Greek ideal that when one knows the good he-she shall follow the good. Instead it acknowledges that one can know the good and not do it. It is to be noticed even in modern Utopian thought there is this child-like faith in education. All the early progressives (like H.G. Wells and G. B. Shaw spent a lot of time trying to deny original sin. Although present day progressives have fallen in love with guilt. They have realized that guilt is one of the greatest mind control devices ever invented. One cannot build a Utopia if the basic building blocks (humans) are flawed.The trouble with original sin is guilt. As my readers know, I regard the end of the world talk and the building of a new Jerusalem (Utopia) as two of the worst things about Chriatianilty. But I think the absolute worst thing about Christianity is guilt. Christanity turned a fundamental insight about human nature into a control mechanism. Back to the discussion. After the bicameral paradigm broke down, humans also noticed that along with the voices of the gods, there were also the voices of demons. There was no overall consent in the conversation that raged in their heads. This is a manifestation of the trauma that humans suffered when the bicameral paradigm collapsed. The hand hold that god provided is now absent. They experience both the pain and the gain of having to decide for themselves. As I said before, humans can now judge for themselves the commands of the gods. This is the transition to the modern paradigm of consciousness. That of a subjective self that must make decisions (even though they are surrounded by the voices of the internalized egregores) for themselves and take responsibility for their decisions. This is the curse of original sin that humans have to make a decision among all the warring voices in their heads. The voices of both gods and demons. The trouble with trying to give back the power of decision to the Egregores is that they may decide to kill or sacrifice their followers for some goal of their own. Examples of this are not hard to find; read the Old Testament. This sacrificing followers still happens in governments that are controlled by collectivist Egregores. Examples would be the absurd agricultural reforms of communist societies that cause mass starvation. Collectivist Egregores will always decide the right thing to do based on their agenda, even if it means killing many of their own followers. Whether you study the actions of modern day Egregores or the actions of ancient Egregores it is the same. Observe how many times the Egregore Yahweh's decisions resulted in mass death of his own. The lack of responsibility is both the lure and the trouble with trying to bring back the bicameral paradigm. One of the lessons we should learn from Adam and Eve is that there is no return to the time before the Fall (the Bicameral collapse). A Cherub guards the gates of Eden with a flaming sword. Next "Fragment" I shall continue the historical perspective, and examine how Christ became the second Adam.