~ The Inner Garden ~

Time to let go of the Ego & write something that benefits the Greater Good. The Greater Good being All who are One & One who are All. My Soul-mates, my In Lak'ech A'la Kin
- my other selves.

Let me not forget to give credit where credit is due. I would not want my Great Teachers to feel unappreciated. Even though they may be deceased their teachings are still thriving today. I would like to thank, in order of appearance upon this Planet: Buddha, Christ, & Joseph Campbell.

I first discovered Joseph Campbell in 2007, where I found his Mythology Lecture Series in the Florida School of Massage Library. Joseph Campbell, being a student of another of my Great Teachers, Carl Jung, helped unfold my consciousness. For that I shall be forever grateful.



Let us begin at the beginning. The word Eden in Hebrew signifies 'A place of delight'. In English, Paradise means 'A walled enclosure'. Eden may then mean 'A walled Garden of Delight'. If we view Eden, not as some external place but rather as a Landscape of the Soul then it would have to be (Within Us). It seems as if our consciousness has gotten so far from its center that we can only see in terms of black & white. Good or Evil. We do not in the current paradigm, see Eden or God as dwelling within.



Some 500 years before the birth of Christ was Siddhartha - a Royal Prince who left his 'walled garden of delight' in order to discover a path greater than being sheltered in privilege, and in turn, help the whole of the suffering world find the Light of their own Immortality. His story is great indeed & I first read about it in the book 'Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse. This book was given to me as a present by a random person who ran out of gas on the highway. I stopped to assist & what I got in return for my help was a priceless gift of deep insight. In fact, many of my important realizations or remembrances have come from random people on the path of my travels. I did not stop reading Hesse after 'Siddhartha'. I went on to read all of his work, as his is the study of duality, and I, being bi-polar resonated with it from a very vast & soulful place.

Much different from the Christian tale of disobedience & the punishment of being kicked out of the Garden, (which yields of its believers an attitude of dependency & fear-based devotion, which might be appropriate for a child in relation to a parent - or a sheep in relation to a shepherd, as they say), comes the Teachings of the Buddha, the Awakened One. These teachings are for the self-aware, self-responsible Adults. They are wisdom based, and not for children. In fact if these teachings are learned by children, they serve to make them wise. Not living in fear of hell, not being trapped by the confines of guilt.

Both stories, that of The Buddha & The Christ alike, include trees & serpents. In the Christian saga, the serpent is the deceiver & is rejected & cursed. In the Buddhist tale it is accepted & becomes an assistant & helper. When the Buddha was meditating for a long time, a great storm arose in the world around him. A giant cobra came up from below & wrapped itself around the Buddha protectively - covering his head with its cobra-hood. You may see the images of a cobra on head-dressings of Ancient Egyptians. This symbolizes awakened kundalini. You see the roots of these myths are older than the old testament & the Buddhist teachings as well.



In the Bible legend, our First Parents are expelled from the garden, whereas in the Buddhist Tradition we are all invited in. In the Buddhist view the Fear of Death & Desire for Life keep us from the Immortal Garden of Our Soul. It is not the cheribum or the wrath of an angered Father God, but our own instinctive attachment stemming from our senses. We do not desire to relinquish the pleasures of the physical life. Yet, clinging to material, this keeping up with the Jones's, this continual striving for more & more is thee 'Great Barrier' keeping us from recognizing & identifying our own Immortal & Universal Consciousness.

Desire & fear must henceforth be over-come in order to return to the non-dual, perfectly balanced, many harmoniously co-existing shades of gray. We may find that by letting go of our desire for excessive material longing & the fear of not having what we need - that in fact, we become blessed with more. Of course we will have desires. It is our nature, I do not ask you to fight against your own nature, however let us shift our desires to be the fruits of the Spirit. Wisdom, Love, Family Bonds, Kindness, Servitude, Virtue. This is the same in Christianity & Buddhism. If we have Faith in Loving Kindness we will have no need for fear, for we are taken care of.



Please consider the paralel teachings of Christ & Buddha. It is interesting to note there have been no Holy-Wars fought in the name of the Buddha. Today even upon military weaponry there are etched Bible Verses. This is a fact.

The Buddha, unlike Christ in many ways, for he was born into great wealth. He was pampered. He was married & knew what it was like to be a husband & a father. He lived into maturity & managed in fact to save his life from those who wished to assassinate him. The Buddha left his comforts & all he knew at a young age. Most imprtantly my beloved family, he left his Ego. In turn not only did he gain Enlightenment & Inner Peace he gained the Right to be a Great Respected Teacher. He lived soul-ly for the purpose of being beneficial to others.