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Let’s approach the story of Adam and Eve from the angle of the developing intellectual mind. What is the Bible inferring about the purpose the mind provides to the human soul’s evolutionary experience? We will look at some angles not covered in mainstream Christian thought. I will provide an alternative, albeit a logical framework for you as we extrapolate a contextual meaning based on symbolism. Hopefully we will spark some much needed thoughtful conversations on the importance of the intellect in relation to man’s spiritual and moral development, and why it is so vital in the soul’s progress of what we term the developing spiritual qualities or faculties latent in man.

There are some subsets of the spiritual New Age movement today which seem to demonize rational thinking. They proclaim it as antithetical to the spiritualization of man’s soul. “Stop thinking, and just be,” I have read, or, “thinking is the problem.” At the very least, popular modern gurus making such statements popular like Eckhart Tolle in the Power of Now are often taken out of context and the real essence of what he is saying has been totally subverted to the point of being ludicrous. Eckart Tolle is not saying humans need to stop thinking rationally, but rather, that most human beings DON’T think rationally, which IS the problem. Many of us are caught up in a systematic way of uncontrolled and undisciplined thought patterns which are negative, leading to much suffering. Tolle provides solutions for finding the space between this delusional systematic and automatic thinking process that can lead to a better and more intelligent, self-aware realization of the true power of thought, even if his writing doesn’t always seem to make this point clear enough. 

And make no mistake. In the scripture, the horse often symbolizes the intellect. Paul was thrown off it by the blinding light of Christ in a spiritual vision on the road to Damascus. In other words, Paul’s own intellectual pride was revealed for what it was, and he was blinded, metaphorically, because his intellectual pride (which always comes before a fall, even off a horse!) symbolically revealed in the story as man’s carnal thinking process. So yes, and again, down get me wrong. Thinking is a problem for many of us. But this is because the thoughts are corrupt, not because thought and thinking in and of itself is bad! 

The great mystic and spiritual writer Blavatsky once stated:

“Destroy your thoughts…go beyond mind…give up thinking…live in the realm of no-mind, not-thought and not-thinking,” they urge us, apparently unaware that we are minds and thinkers in evolution, for “mind is a term perfectly synonymous with Soul.” (H.P. Blavatsky, “Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge” p. 29)

It is important to reiterate what Blavatsky states: “mind is a term perfectly synonymous with soul.”

It has been stated before that a true spiritual seeker should not be a cold-hearted intellectual, nor a warm-hearted anti-intellectual. There is always a balance between mind and heart. Always. And both should be developed equally alongside one another!

And what is it that corrupts thought, then, and the soul? We will now explore some possibilities. So let’s return to the Bible and try to shed some deep metaphysical knowledge on this entire subject!

In order to see Adam and Eve in their true symbolic significance, we have to set a proper foundation which challenges the mainstream Christian view. Metaphysical interpretations have existed throughout history that show Adam and Eve were not physical beings existing in a physical place, both before and after the allegorical expulsion. Rather, the emphasis is placed on what they represent as the developing mind or soul after the fall.

These metaphysical interpretations make more logical sense, even when outside sources are not consulted and we just use the Genesis text itself! Consider: it was not until after the fall from Eden that God clothed Adam and Eve with “coats of skin.” 

“And unto Adam and Eve did the LORD God make coats of skin, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). 

What does it mean that they were clothed with “coats of skin.” Are these coats of skin, as mainstream Christian thought has taught us, actual animal skins, used to cover their already developed physical bodies? As we read on, we see that such an interpretation is based on illogical dogmatism. 

The metaphysical scholar, G.A. Gaskell, defines the Biblical word for Coat in English as: “Symbols of mental coverings or forms of truth or error.

Gaskell also further defines the concept for Skin as Clothing as: “Symbolic of the mental, astral, or physical sheaths of the soul.”

The term“Coat “is strictly reserved for a type of “mental” covering of the spiritual soul, whereas “clothed” could be related to mental, astral (emotional), or a physical covering. Based on the context of everything we will consider in this story, when God clothed Adam and Eve, we are speaking of a mental-emotional covering for the pure spirit. With a little bit of patience, it will be shown, through scriptural evidence, that this is the case. We aren’t really talking about two individuals here, but the human soul (mind) in its rudimentary stages of development. We will find support for such reasoning, that their “coats” of “skin” had to do more with developing mind and emotion than physicality. Physicality will come in much later offspring, which we will explore in another post when I have time. 

Before we show other scriptures which provide logical evidence for that stated above, let’s consider the mainstream and traditional Christian view: God killed an animal and used those skins to cover the naked physical body of Adam and Eve, as a foreshadowing of the blood sacrifice of Christ, the first blood sacrifice! 

There are several problems with this interpretation. It supposes that God, as a spirit, physically slaughtered some type of animal, skinned it, and gave these skins to them as coverings. A bloody spirit indeed! One which murders the spirit of logic. Such an interpretation baffles the mind as it diminishes the idea of God as a spirit, and creates God into man’s image, something which a man does!

If the metaphysical scholar Gaskell truly understood the metaphysical mind of the early Jewish sages and his symbols are correct, then the better interpretation would be that Adam and Eve’s nakedness had nothing to do with being physically naked, but rather that they had no mental perception of “knowing” good from evil, and this IS their innocence! In order to experience “knowledge” of anything, spirit, an abstraction, needs a form, or a soul to express through. In other words, Adam and Eve were mentally and emotionally naked. Nakedness, viewed through the concept of a mental phenomenon, explains Adam and Eve’s innocence by the absence of such a condition as their eyes were not yet opened to “know.” Genesis seems to make this clear, and it is often ignored by the more literal view. For after eating of the “fruit” of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, something quite significant happened!

“And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…” (Genesis 3:7).

In the literal interpretation of dogmatism, we are conditioned to think this was an “disobedient” act or decision that caused a fall from grace. This is silly. How can Adam and Eve make a decision to act in disobedience when they had no knowledge yet of what good and evil even were? Can a baby be held responsible for disobeying a rule from a parent when they don’t understand what a rule is? Of course not! And any sane parent wouldn’t place a rule upon a baby unless he or she knew that the child was old enough to cognize, or at least have the capacity to cognize, why such a rule is put in place if they break it. Any sane parent wouldn’t demand a one-month old not touch a stove. They would wait until the child had developed certain mental faculties to understand a parent’s demand should such laws of the household be broken.

But returning to the allegory of Adam and Eve, what caused them to “know?” Could this be a new acquired mental phenomenon?

Let’s explore further? What caused their “eyes” to be “opened?” No doubt the Genesis author attributes it to eating this fruit of the tree. But I am going to propose, as Gaskell does, that this fruit, or type of food, is a symbol of something mental, not physical. Just as physical food is sustenance for the physical body, food in the Bible is a symbol for mental phenomenon, i.e., facts and opinions and ideas, which become sustenance for the evolvong and growing mind. As we will see, the command to be “fruitful and multiply” has to do with children, sons and daughters, which are ideas (sons) and emotions (daughters) through the intercourse of man’s subjective mind with his or her objective external reality. 

And how do we get from this innocence, this nakedness of not “knowing,” to “knowing something?” Was the spiritual condition of Adam and Eve a type of perfection in the realm of spirit simply because they were innocent of any content of duality? 

Now let’s consider the possibility that Gaskell is correct. Eating and drinking in scripture metaphysically refers to mental phenomena. In other words, scripturally, the eating of food is a symbol for the acquisition and interplay of mental and emotional experience. In some instances, this would symbolize the human soul (mind) operating through the animal soul, and in others, operating through the spiritual soul, depending on context. 

Perhaps in this light one can better understand Jesus’ commandment to eat his body and drink his blood. We are talking about assimilating Jesus’ spiritual teachings by the mind, which is why Paul says to renew one’s mind in Christ, or its regeneration according to spiritual principles. In the context of Adam and Eve, eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil means assimilating ideas and opinions and facts which can only be birthed in a world of duality, where the divergence and confluence of thought and emotion based on one’s sense perception of reality as a conscious phenomenon, allows for the building up of the mental principle, or mind in man. A child must develop his or her mind in the same way from being a newborn to an independent thinker that is consciously aware of themselves as a subjective mentality vs the objective environment. 

Even Isaiah 55:2-3 states:

“Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

Here, eating that which is good refers to mental ideas and concepts derived from truth, which sustains the soul (mind). In this context, eating to the “soul’s delight” would seem to imply that the “soul” is in fact referring to a type of fruitful mental perception and accumulation of good, or spiritual ideas. 

To nail down the concept that eating refers to mental phenomena, one only has to look closely at the symbolism in the story of the risen Christ and the disciples on their way to Emmaus. The disciples reasoned together about what Chrit’s resurrection meant in great sadness. Jesus joined them on their walk, but their eyes were not yet opened to who he was. Jesus then reasons with them, expounding upon all the Old Testament scriptures. 

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24: 27). 

A few verses later, we have our connection with food and mental phenomenon, which has an eerily similarity with how the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened after eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. 

“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took break, and blessed it, and brake, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him…” (Luke 24: 30-31).

Did you catch the connection there? In both instances eating something resulted in “eyes” being “opened” and “knowledge” conferred! There is no awareness or major shift in mentality until the food is somehow involved. This should clue anyone in to the fact that the food is just symbolic of an inner psychological process.

In this story of Luke, it wasn’t until after the disciples ate bread with Jesus that their eyes were opened, and they came to mentally perceive who Jesus was as the risen Christ. Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and their eyes were also opened. But there’s a difference. In both cases the opening of the eyes means that they mentally perceived, or “came to know something. However, and here’s the kicker: the first incident relates to external knowledge; the second incident relates to internal knowledge. And now think about the statement of Christ, that the Kingdom of God is within you!

So why do I say internal knowledge? It is because the disciples, symbolizing “disciplined” attributes of the human soul or mind, unlike the earlier Adam and Eve, were able to perceive the truth of who Jesus was as the Christ simply because they were soul qualities that had been called out, chosen, and disciplined to such a degree by the spirit’s influence that were able to see clearly that true bread (or truth) from heaven (higher, spiritual mind). This doesn’t mean that they received enlightenment. It simply means that they could perceive something of the truth that they didn’t cognize before.  

Another similar incident is told in John chapter twenty-one, where they dined together and “knew” it was the Lord. 

Let’s look at a few symbols again with a little more detail and the authority of Gaskell. 

Now as soon as Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “…the eyes of both of them were opened…” (Genesis 3:7). 

Gaskell defines the term for Eye, or Eyesight as: “A symbol of mental perception. Discernment of ideas and feelings as externalities of consciousness.” 

So as the “eye” in scripture signifies mental perception, the ability of mind, eating food after seeing it means to sustain the mind and inform it with the nutrition of ideas, whether those ideas relate to truths or errors. Remember, Jesus stated that if the “eye” (not eyes) was single, then the whole body is full of light. So many metaphysical correlations here!

We can also infer from Genesis 3:7 that before man’s eyes were opened, there was no mental sustenance or discernment of ideas and feelings. In other words, there was no self awareness, or personal consciousness, or an individualized mind to contain them and produce personal choice. And this is the reason for their nakedness, or mental innocence. Without “self-consciousness” and personal choice, there is an innocence of mentality. Therefore Adam and Eve did not KNOW the DIFFERENCE between good and evil. This is another way of saying that there was not a self-aware mental nature to distinguish between concepts, facts, opinions, ideas, etc. 

Let’s break this down a little further as it also makes sense in relation to another scripture:

“And when the woman saw that tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…” (Genesis 3:6)

Now according to Gaskell, if the eye symbolizes a discernment of ideas and feelings as externalities of consciousness, we can understand why the scripture directly above emphasizes the concept of desire through Eve’s direction of her “eye” (or mental desire) on the fruit. 

Now one could say, wait a minute, if Adam and Eve were still innocent of mental sustenance, how could Eve have desire before she ate? Does the six-month old baby have any desire before he or she develops responsible, self-aware thought? Of course not! But the undeveloped mind is still active in this desire, for a six-month old baby still has a desire to be fed and held, even though it might not be a self-conscious choice, but rather a blind instinct, but quite active in the instinct of bodily feeling. In Genesis, we also have a similar desire-mind instinct crawling around the Garden:

Gaskell defines the serpent as: “A symbol of the desire-mind, which is more penetrative and captivating to the ego than any of the lower desires (beasts of the field). 

Eve was captivated by the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil by instinct, not personal, self-conscious choice. And I propose that this “instinct” is the intelligence of the spirit’s unfoldment beyond self-conscious choice. We can therefore plainly see that Eve was deceived, not because she “knew” better, as a choice between something right or wrong, but because she was blind to an instinctive element which she herself represents as a motive to experience life.

As we study the nature of the intellect, we are going to see why this process, as it is explained allegorically, was necessary. The great mystic Blavatsky once stated that the intellect is developed at the expense of the spirit. This is a very important concept to understand. At first it sounds negative, but it is an important part of spiritual evolution, as the universal mind must first experience an allegorical “fall” into the lower aspect of matter to develop a self-conscious awareness so that THAT universal mind, as an individuated experience of spirit (man!), can rise again as a self-consciously aware spiritual entity! It is simply one of the aspects inherent in consciousness that unfolds in degrees and stages according to universal law.

This is a process whereas to “self-realize,” the infinite potential of spirit as an abstraction, or conscious fiction, has to walk out and realizes its potential becoming actual, by manifesting it through FORM as a self-aware, conscious soul, i.e., the human soul, or mind. The allegory of the fall explains then, metaphysically, that the first great sacrifice of spirit in a world of form was in order to express, or actualize its qualities. These qualities start out as divine ideation, or divine potential, but they are manifested through forms (matter), i.e., psychically, mentally, and spiritually as truly actualized souls. Adam and Eve then, with their fall, symbolize the development of that self-conscious individuated entity. The story of the risen Christ and the disciples on the way to Emmaus symbolize a further step of this process, as the mental faculty rising to understand, and perceive, life in the spiritual soul, which is above the thinking mind, and with which the the thinking mind has to link itself to. But just because it is beyond the thinking mind in degree, doesn’t mean that the thinking mind is dissolved or done away with. It still functions, but is now imbued with a more spiritual overview and understanding of the bigger picture.

This also explains the necessity of the lower mind experiencing its false personal self in the lower realms of matter. It has to TRANSCEND these limitations, or illusions, in order to KNOW itself.

Do we now understand that God is a God of becoming? I AM THAT I AM means, when more correctly translated, I become that which I BECOME. As a man thinketh in his heart (Ne’Fesh – the vitality of life principle, Eve), he or she BECOMES.

Let me repeat this important concept that is taught by Blavatsky and Gaskell and many other great metaphysicians of the world over: the thinking principle, i.e., our bundle of moral, ethical, and mental attributes, must cement itself to true spiritual intelligence, which then immortalizes its essence. The lower personal and thinking mind dies at physical death if it does not accomplish this process. In other words, and as Jesus said, in order to save one’s soul, one must lose it. What he means is that one’s personal thoughts and desires predicated upon carnal thinking rooted in selfishness must be given up for the sake of the spiritual soul within. In other words, the personal, egoic lower mind of personal selfish desire must be paralyzed, so that the spiritual influx of the higher mind can influence it, thereby resurrecting it to its true stature. Practices like meditation, concentration, and contemplation aid in paralyzing the lower thinking principle which is filled with carnality and thoughts that seek personal gratification. And now we may understand truly why even Eckart Tolle states that the personal thinking mind is an affliction which is hard to stop. His words for finding the free space in between personal thinking predicated upon the personal self is uncontrolled and undisciplined runaway thought that forms systematic destructive behavioral patterns of grasping the lower or carnal mind’s continued existence. True intellect, true intelligence, takes an influx of spiritual understanding, which is really nothing else than that which is predicated upon the universal truths and the laws of nature, the TRUE TORAH, or LAW, which involves all life and evolution of mental and spiritual faculties becoming established in the individual life of experience. When I state true law and Torah, I am speaking of all the ancient scriptures which ALL teach the same thing when understand in their esoteric significance beyond the dead letter of the law, or literal interpretations. 

Now the bigger picture of the entire story of Adam and Eve begins to make more logical sense. The element of desire, as symbolized by the serpent, in conjunction with Eve, is already inherent in the innocence of Adam and Eve, and this paradise called Eden. Desire in and of itself is not evil. It is only when it combines with the rudimentary aspects of the mind (the serpent, or desire-mind) that desire, in conjunction with a personally aware ego, takes a spiritual negative turn. Desire manifests itself in the animal kingdom as pure instinct, but with man, through “thinking, self-reflection, and proper reasoning,” it can begin to rise again in conjunction with its spiritual origin and begin to function as the internal organ of the developing spiritual man. And this is why Moses and the prophets must come first, before Elijah (the higher emotions) and culminating in Jesus Christ.

Now, the practice of meditation is important as the process of paralyzing the lower egoic mind so that the soul can liberate itself from Egypt, or sensual pleasure and the attachments of such conditioning. However, and just as important, is balancing this with the heart where we view Jesus’ statements as the law being summed up on loving thy neighbor as thyself. There is then a balance between the “emotional” and “intellectual” aspect of the mind. Or, in other words, by loving others and the world at large, we are also in the process of paralyzing the personal desires which give us what we want only. But can we think that none of this takes “personal effort on our part? Our personal efforts ARE the process of denying the personal self to live for other. And understanding this spiritual process is where the intellect truly begins to shine once it realizes its need for cementing itself to our true spiritual natures, the eternal part of us. True intelligence is never prideful. It is that which understands the need to incorporate all of nature as part of the divine ideation for the evolution of all individuals in experience in relation to one another. 

Adam and Eve falling from grace produces Cain and Abel. The two opposing lines of development, although both have their place. One centered in spiritual aspiration, the other in personal desire.

We will end here and take up part two going into some deeper aspects of Adam and Eve and what they represent as humanity.