The Great Kid

As you go true,reading this article by me...Try then to figure,if you really understand what's behind my word's.

Aminah...

In the beginning, there was nothing, except the Great Kid. Although the Great Kid was hovering in the timeless and space-less, being infinitely creative, extremely resourceful, and somewhat playful, the Kid had a notion. The Great Kid thought, "what if I can devise a game that I can play?
Hmmm... That's a great idea.
Then I can have a lot of fun. But how do I create a game?" "Well, that's easy," thought the Great Kid. "All I need to do is to create a system in which a game can be played. Let me think... "First I must create the ground of being. Something like space... But if I am going to play a game, then I must make it into a process and give it a flow. And for that I must create time." And there was space and time. Infinitely large space, because in the space-less there is no boundary. And time started flowing as if it had always been so. It makes sense, doesn't it? If there is no time, then when there is time, it could appear as though there has always been time. The Great Kid was excited about this creation. The playground was now made. So the Kid thought, "now that I have the playground, let me create some toys to play with."
And suddenly there was a burst of energy, out of which a whole Universe emerged. The Great Kid watched his creation grow explosively, so instantly the Kid thought, "If this is going to be a real game, then we must have rules." So the laws of the Universe were put in place. The explosive energy burst was then subjected to things such as gravity, and speed of light, and the curvature of space-time universe. The Great Kid was amused. Particularly, watching the complexity that was emerging was quite interesting. But very soon, the Kid began to get bored.
After all, the Kid had created the game and the rules of the game. So the Kid knew exactly what was going to happen next. At this point, the Great Kid had a wonderful idea. The Kid thought, "I know. What I need to do is create some randomness.
That way, things won't be as monotonous nor as predictable as they are now." And with this thought, the first life form burst into existence. A single cell that started to recreate itself and multiply.
And out of that life form, emerged a multitude of species. Each with their own uniqueness and their own instinctive behavior. But there was an amusing unpredictability about this game that was going on.
Sometimes the lion would capture the antelope, yet other times the antelope would manage to escape.
Sometime the seed would fall on fertile ground and grow healthy and tall, yet other times, it would fall on a rock and would have to struggle to grow its roots into the cracks, and maybe survive and maybe not. But the Great Kid who had also created this randomness, knew every possible outcome, and so there was nothing that could happen that was not within the range of expectations of the Kid. And as such, this too began to get boring. The Kid thought for some time, and then the next creative spark came.
"That's it!" Thought the Kid.
"What I need to do is create beings that are not only alive, but have my own characteristics. "What if I create beings and infuse them with my own spirit?
This way, they will be infinitely creative, extremely resourceful, and somewhat playful.
Then, effectively they will be doing the creative work and so we can all watch the game and play it at the same time. "But there is a problem. If they too, like me, know what's going on, then the game loses its fun. "No problem. All I need to do is to make them forget that they have the same spirit as I do. That's it.
If they forget, then they will have to discover it for themselves. "Wow, I'm good.
I shall create these beings that are mini versions of me, but they won't remember that they are.
And then the game is for them to learn everything from zero, until they discover that outside of the game, they too are me. "But as long as they are inside the game, then the only way they can have such a realization is through fully playing, until they understand that this is only a game. If they do, then they can have a lot of fun. And if they don't, then they miss much of the fun but they will still get to play." And so the Great Kid created the first human beings, infused them with the infinitely creative, extremely resourceful and somewhat playful spirit that was characteristic of the Kid, and instantly made them forget everything. And ever since then, the Kid has been having a ball. The Kid watches the human beings as they go through the games of life.
The kid sees that some of them create wonderfully enjoyable games, yet others prefer a tragic game. Some prefer a drama, and others prefer an adventure.
As the human beings create and go through their multitude of experiences, the Great Kid shares their joys and sorrows, their trials and triumphs, yet the Kid is always wearing a smug smile, because the Kid knows that this has all been a game.
Not a game of chance, and not a game of fate. But a game that is constantly being created and played. And every now and again, one of the human beings, rises above the game and realizes that it has always been a game.
And then, that human jumps back into the game, going through the joys and sorrows, the trials and triumphs, but always wearing a knowing smile. Whenever this happens, the Great Kid laughs and winks at that individual.Aminah.alqaem.orgwww.aminah.shiahosting.com 

The Missionary

There are two kinds of missionaries. Those who inspire people through actions, and those who conspire to convince and proselytize. Examples of the first are people like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi.
These missionaries are so grounded in their belief that they have no need to convince or convert another. They fully know who they are and what they are here to do. Paradoxically, as a result, they inspire others to find out more, and eventually convert people into their way of living.
Whether there is an overt declaration of that belief and whether there is the adoption of a particular set of dogma is quite irrelevant and immaterial. The second kind of missionary is of a different breed.
Their mission comes not from their faith, but from their doubt. They have the psychological need to convince others, because they themselves are not convinced of their belief. Let us face it, if another person walks up to us and proclaims that there is no such thing as "air" or "atmosphere", and in fact none of us actually breath air in or out, do we start arguing with them? The chances are that faced with such a one, we would simply nod our head and say, "very well. Thank you for the information." Why do we not argue with them?
Do we know for a fact that there is air?
Are we sure that what we experience as inhalation and exhalation is the taking in of air?
Or could it be something else?
Or perhaps it is the motion that gives us the energy that we need, not the oxygen? I am not here to argue for the non-existence of air. My point is that our conviction and belief in the existence of air is so strong that we never find ourselves have any urge to argue about it. On the other hand, if a physicist comes and starts talking about a new form of quantum theory, those among us who are knowledgeable about this matter, may start discussing and perhaps arguing.
The reason they are open to discussion is because their belief in the existing theory is not unshakable. There is room for doubt and change. After a while, however, should the discussion take the form of an argument, then what it actually displays is a form of doubt on the part of both sides of the argument.
The stronger the doubt, the stronger the need to convince the other. It is as if by convincing the other, we convince ourselves. And there is always the psychological aspect of finding security in numbers.
If I can convert a thousand people, then I must be doing something right.
And if I convert a million, then I am definitely on the side of the right.
How can one million people change their minds unless what they are embracing is right? But the fact is no number will bring the conviction that I lack.
Security can be provided in numbers, but doubt cannot dissolve. So every time I come across a missionary who is preaching to me a way that I should embrace, I smile and ask myself, "do I have the urge to argue with this person?
And if yes, what aspect of the discussion is the part that I find distasteful? Because that is where my own doubt lies." A faithful missionary is all about action and living in accord with his or her belief. A doubting missionary is only concerned with changing another person's mind.Aminah.alqaem.orgwww.aminah.shiahosting.com 

Transcendence

Every life is offered the opportunity to leap out and find its true nature. Every soul is given the chance to transcend the mundane and find the ecstatic. More often than not, however, this opportunity is heavily disguised. For some, it comes in the form of the loss of a loved one. Others may find their opportunity through grappling with a terminal disease.
Yet others encounter great disappointment, generally in relationship to other souls. Public life, by nature, puts us in situations where we encounter friction and resistance.
The people we expect least, end up being the toughest opposition and the most destructive obstacles we encounter. Great disappointment comes from dealing with people, who simply behave in ways that are not becoming. And it is precisely during these times of trial and tumultuous tribulation that our soul is offered a great opportunity. Ironically, These trials of life are somewhat of a rite of passage, an initiation if you will. And much like any initiation, we can come out of it triumphant and transformed, or we can be crushed to pieces. It is like going into the belly of the whale. Either we will come out digested and torn into a thousand pieces, or we come out victorious, unconsciously integrating the powers of the beast within our psyche, adding to the forces of the Good. It is in these times that life offers us the soul-searching opportunity that we need most. We will go through a bitter-sweet process of questioning, analyzing, rejecting and affirming, sifting through the sand, and painfully separating the wheat from the chaff. The outcome of this process is one of two things: Either we emerge bitter and disillusioned with the world, going through our lives with an attitude of blaming life in general, and becoming a martyred victim, or... Or we look deeply within our soul and try to distinguish between the temporal and the eternal in life. We come face to face with our mortality, and touch our immortal side. We let go of the glory and embrace grace. Through this fiery trial, what remains is either the impurities and the base metals of our life, or we separate the gold and shine our light - no matter what goes on out there, outside of us. Either the cocoon is crushed with the caterpillar trapped inside, or the beautiful butterfly emerges, spreading its beauty and joy, regardless of the thunder or the harshness of the wind. Let us hope that when these times are upon us, we shun our bitterness, and embrace the opportunity to search our souls, and live life in a way that we can spread our light and love, beauty and joy, touching others with gentleness, no matter how harsh their skins may be.Aminah.alqaem.org

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God's Contractors

In traditional angelology of most spiritual beliefs, we come to view angels as obedient subjects and workers of God.

Angels generally posses a higher level of intellect, sensitivity, love and knowledge than other creatures, but they lack having an independent will. God's will is their will. They cannot have a will of their own.

What's more, we generally find some hierarchy of angelic beings, starting from the Archangels at the very top, reporting directly to God, and overseeing the work of the ordinary angels and through them, the lesser angels.

Yet all of them work for the same system - the system of creation - in a very coherent and organized manner.

They all know their place, lack ambition and have no desire of their own, except to serve the system and fulfill the will of God.

We also generally hear accounts of the fallen Archangel and his cohorts, the fallen angels - usually referred to as "the adversary".

The adversary was the one who had the audacity to disobey the will of God, and allowed his own will and desires dictate to him - for whatever reason or justification.

Beneath the Angels, we find the lesser beings, with little intellect and knowledge, living a primitive existence, with not much sensitivity towards love and intuition - and generally having no idea of the will of God.

Yet this pitiful creature is given the power of having an independent will. This creature has the right to choose - to go along with God and work in unison with the host of heavenly inhabitants, or to oppose the will of God, and align itself with the adversary.

And generally this creature is held responsible for its choices - either in this life or in the next.

I was contemplating these ideas when suddenly I saw an image of the corporate structure.

We have the Board of Directors and Shareholders holding their representative, the CEO, as the Supreme Power dictating the will of the Corporation. Then we have the employees, in their various Arch-managerial, middle management or functional levels.

And we get the case of the employee whose ideas are overlooked, who then goes and builds a corporation of his own, only to compete with the corporation he was originally working for. He becomes "the adversary" or "the competitor".

And of course we have the disgruntled and underutilized/underpaid employees who defect to the "adversary's" corporation - the fallen angels if you will.

But what is the role of man in this scenario? And that is when it hit me.

Man is this pitiful creature called the "independent contractor" who is just as likely and as free to work for "the Corporation" as he is to work for "the Competitor".

And no grudge is held against him. Of course, he will have to face the consequences, either on this contract or the next.

The consequences of being paid well or not, having job satisfaction, having continuity, building a worthy resume etc.

The point of this contemplation was not to bring Creation to the level of Free Enterprise Economy.

The purpose of this comparison was to give us a better perspective of our relationship to God.

To recognize the amount of freedom we have been given in this life, and the opportunities - as well as adversities - that lie along our path as we move through this contract called life.

And it gives us a recognition that our contract is temporary, and the payoff and prospect of further contractual opportunities are also directly related to our performance now.

And that the opportunities are just as great as the responsibilities that we are willing to take on.

All because we are God's Contractors on earth.

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Personified Vs. Impersonal

Fortunately, as human beings, we are all unique, with our own sensitivities, talents, and temperaments.

Some of us are more visual, yet others are auditory, and still others are more sensitive and receptive to touchy-feely stimuli.

Some of us are more analytical, yet others are more emotional, and still others are perhaps more abstract and artistic.

The reality is that none of us are either this or that or the other. In our actual existence, each one of us is a combination of all of these.

Some are more visual than others, some more auditory. But also as individuals, some are more visual than they are auditory, and so on...

What's more, none of us are constant in our sensitivities, talents and temperament. In our younger days we may be more emotional, as we grow older we may become more analytical, and still at other times in our life, we may be more abstract... or any other order of the above.

Not only that, our outlook on and experience of life varies from individual to individual, and from one time and circumstance to another.

We may all listen to Beethoven's No. 5 symphony... and we may even all feel and experience the genius of this masterful creation. But how we project it, how we discuss it, and how we relate to it, varies from one person to the next.

One may admire the genius of Beethoven and his ability to even create such a piece. Another may be in awe of Beethoven's receptivity of inspiration, and his ability to translate that into actual music.

Yet a third may ponder on the fact that Beethoven felt music, saw music, imagined music, and experienced music with every fiber of his being, even though he was deaf in his later years.

At the other extreme, one may see Beethoven as merely a vessel or vehicle to bring this piece of genius not into existence, but into our reality and life.

They may experience the symphony quite separate from Beethoven... almost as if this musical masterpiece was floating in ether or space, looking for a way of to come to physical reality... as if the music had a soul and existence of its own, looking for a musical womb to give it birth, and ever since has gone through its own growth and variations as well as off-springs.

In discussing these various perspectives, it becomes apparent that they are variations on a theme, or if you will, sensitivities in relating to a single existence and experience... or if we go to the very abstract, they become a representation of various ways of relating to a piece or aspect of divinity.

And so it is with our spirituality. Some of us are more receptive and responsive to relating to the divine in more abstract terms, yet others could understand and relate better if the divine could be seen through more concrete and touchable ways.

We create symbols to express our relationship with the divine. Light, nature, a star, a cross, a rock, a statue, a person, or even grandfather buffalo are ways of connecting the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives.

We give them the talismanic powers to become the focal point of our attention, whenever we wish to meditate on or relate to the divinity in our lives.

Others of us with more abstract tendencies and sensitivities make the focal point of our soul-attention into something untouchable.

A spirit, a prayer, a commandment, a way of chanting, the performance of a ritual, a meditation take the focal point and acquire the talismanic power.

Again, in actuality, we find that none of us are this, that or the other. In our everyday reality, we are generally a flux, a dynamic and somewhat chaotic mixture of all of the above.

Often many aspects take some part in our relationship with the divine. Yet at other times, one aspect may become the dominant one, overshadowing all other aspects in such a relationship.

A Buddhist monk who is in his daily meditation, chanting and reaching that self-less state of awareness, will simply have very little room in his consciousness for the divine representation in any form other than the formless.

A Moslem pilgrim in Mecca, circling the House of God seven times, has no room in his awareness for anything other than the center of his circles.

He is the symbolic representation of the physical revolving around the spiritual, or if you will, the divine being the timeless, projects the temporal life in the circularity of space.

The Jewish pilgrim in front of the Wailing Wall too is in a state of selfless awareness that overshadows all other aspects of the divine in existence.

Likewise, the Christian Monk, focusing on the Cross, awaiting the Savior in the form of the person of Christ, or meditating upon Jesus the Christ as the Son of God, has no room for anything other than the Holy Spirit.

So, as we see, it is not the divinity that is at fault. It is not even our sensitivities and temperaments.

The divine has manifested in the physical, in a multitude of variations... to be able to relate to itself in a multitude of ways. It is neither the source nor the manifestation that is divine. It is the relationship that makes everything, including itself, divine.

The breakdown comes when in our single-minded devotion; we give collective talismanic powers to the relationship, which befits our own sensitivities most.

It is our insistence that "what I experience is the only way to experience divinity" which creates breakdowns. Our single-mindedness becomes hard-headedness. Our insistence becomes our religion and dogma, and our talismanic symbolism becomes our idol.

God is neither personified, nor impersonal. God is neither everything, nor nothing. God is not even divine. God is merely a word, a symbol or representation. God is a notion. And our insistence on this notion is what diminishes the divinity that permeates life and existence.

We, together with every animate and inanimate being, become God's manifestations... pieces of the timeless and formless in time and space, projections of what can be into what is. Anything else is limiting.

Going back to the individualized variations, if I am more sensitive towards the abstract and impersonal, not only I experience the divine in abstract terms such as awe and beauty and goodness and order, but also experience its lack in the abstract form too. Evil for me takes the form of ignorance and fear and misguided choices.

On the other hand, if I am more sensitive to the personified experience of the divine, I see beauty and awe and love and goodness and order as the manifestations, the out-flowing, the gifts of God the Father, the Buddha, or the Master.

Likewise, I would project the absence of God's gifts as the outcome of the works of the personified evil maker, find a source of the manifestation and call it Satan, Ebliess, Devil, anti-Christ, or by any other of its names.

Similarly, in the impersonal expression, I see others as individuals who then become the fountainhead of Good and Evil choices.

I will consider some as wiser, more whole and conscious, and others as afraid, divided and lost.... yet in the personified temperament, I shall see individuals as good or evil, siding with God or the Devil, and their actions and choices as the natural outcome of their innate nature.

I will consider some to be more holy and saintly, and others as cunning and wicked.

Ironically, it is not our sensitivities that make us imprisoned to our states of experiencing life. It is our unwillingness to admit and allow for variation in the sensitivities of others.

Every time we invalidate another's sensitivities, we have created an enemy in our minds, and limited our own way of being. Ultimately, we become victims of our own intolerance. If we cannot tolerate others' way of being, we cannot make room for our interactions with them... and we cut them out of our lives.

Far from rejecting the variety, when we try to see the world through others' eyes, we find out that it is exactly the individuality of the multitudes that validates the experience of relating to the Divine, or any aspect of it, be it the genius flowing through Beethoven's No. 5, or the awe of nature through scientific understanding of the complexity stemming from the simplicity, or merely the awe of nature in its beauty, nurturance and ferocity, or the selfless experience of meditating upon the divine.

Again, at the risk of repeating myself, it is not the rock or the cross or the person or the light that is divine.

It is our relationship with these symbols that is divine. And as such, anything that we can make the focal point of our attention and give it the same talismanic powers, has no option but to give us the spiritual experience of relating to the divine.

From this perspective, personified or impersonal become merely the means, a sensitivity, or a preference, and no more.

What matters is not how we perceive the divine.

What is important is the fact that we do have a perception, or at least focus our energies and attempt to form a relationship with the divine.

Because what works, works; and what is, is; and they are quite independent of each other.

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Obedience

Every spiritual belief advocates certain practices. Sometimes the practices take a ritualistic form, other times, they are mundane and worldly ways of doing something.

Meditation and prayer are examples of the former, while the Ten Commandments, or a life of service is an example of the later.

Regardless of the nature of the spiritual belief and the existence or non-existence of a Deity, a number of common threads run through them all.

One such thread is "Obedience".

Obedience takes many forms and shapes. The most obvious form is obeying God. But this is very general and cannot take a tangible form, except as obeying God through obeying the commandments, or word, or intent of God.

And it is in the interpretation of the mechanism that carries God's intent, that we find the diversity and variations in spiritual practices.

At one extreme, God may be personified in the form of an Avatar or Master or Guru. And the practitioner is naturally expected to lend unquestioning obedience to the person who is, or represents God for that individual.

This method of practice is evident in its various forms in Sufism and Buddhism and various cults and movements that have come from time to time.

Somewhere near the middle of the belief spectrum, one is expected to obey the word of God as revealed through the prophets or in the scripture.

This is very familiar to us, since we have seen variations of it in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

At the other end of the spectrum, one may be expected to use one's own judgment and reason to come to the most appropriate conclusions, and then without hesitation obey the outcome of the reflection - at least until new knowledge renders the old obsolete.

This is evident in the sciences and in Zoroastrianism.

And even on the fringes of the spectrum of belief, we find disobedience of the Deity as the supreme dictate, as evident in Satanic practices.

In fact, obedience of the adversary is simply achieved throught the disobedience of the Divine, and that is nothing more than the shadow side of the concept of obedience.

However, as human beings, we find life is constantly changing, and with that, we find that our sensitivities are changing. Whereas at one time in our lives we may have been very obedient of our parents (who are Deities to their small children), during our teens we find ourselves in rebellion... we find the shadow side. And still later, we find some other more settled and independent approach to life.

Likewise, with the passing of time and gathering of experience, our sensitivities towards our chosen Deity change. At one time, we may have been more receptive of a personified God or God's representative.

At other times, we may find it more practical to simply have a set of guidelines and rules to obey. Still other times, we may find that we are given to the responsibility of thinking how God would want us to respond. And we may or may not go through our rebellion phase or other fringe aspects.

Nevertheless, there is something about the concept of obedience that is common to all beliefs.

Some people consider blind obedience to be a sign of commitment. Others look at it as folly. No matter what is our preferred outlook on obedience, let us consider that the level to which we practice it in our lives, indicates the level of our faith in our belief.

Even when we consider blind obedience as folly, we are really obeying a mentality that refuses to see anything other than the supremacy of human mind. We are blind to the fact that wisdom is not just the product of the mind... that to be fully human, we must draw upon faculties other than our mind too.

That intuition, and love, and playfulness and beauty are aspects of life that are not bounded by the mind. And this kind of thinking is nothing but blind obedience of the mind - or putting it another way, we can only have such belief system, if we have complete faith in the supremacy of the Mind.

At this point, perhaps it is safe to conclude that obedience is an aspect of faith. The more faith we have in our belief system, the more blindly we obey its ways and dictates.

Another feature of this blind obedience as a display of our faith is its longevity. Masters say, once you choose a  (Master), then you are committed to that Master for life, no matter what the Master asks you to do, you shall obey... at least until your Master declares that you have attained Mastery.

Likewise, various religions seek life-long commitments from their followers. Again, this is a sign of faith in the belief system. Life-long commitment to meditation until attaining Nirvana, and marrying the Christ and cutting off from the worldly suitors are simply two examples of such requirements.

Even Science has devised a way to accommodate the mind by correcting and modifying its ways, while implicitly seeking indefinite faith in the ability of knowledge to progress and correct itself through the newer findings and imaginings of the mind.

Perhaps a more appropriate question is, just as there is the Choice-Destiny paradox, is there also a Choice-Obedience paradox?

Is it not fair to say that we live life until we find enough of a spiritual understanding to choose a belief system, together with all its baggage and recommended mechanisms.

But then once we choose, we should blindly obey the dictates and requirements of that system, without questioning and without wavering?

That we should not opt out for another, perhaps more convenient belief system, at the arrival of the first adversity or questioning?

Does that mean that there is nothing more detrimental to faith than doubt?

And that the ultimate sign of faith is to be able to obey without knowing where it leads to?

And is that also not dangerous?

And what if our sensitivities in life change?

What if we have now matured enough to put behind our rebellion phase? Or that we no longer find the old belief system in synch with our understanding of the world?

What if we have attained enough wisdom to be able to shed the system and opt for the essence? What if we have attained some form of Mastery?

Is faith also not like the arts, that once the student has learnt the system and has mastered it, it is now time to break the rules and be original?

Or at least opt for other schools of thought and experience them until they too are mastered?

And perhaps at some point in one's life a hybrid originality, a synergistic reality may emerge... even if it is neither understood nor appreciated by anybody else?

Is not the purpose of spirituality to master life and break free from the constraints of our belief system? And if that is so, then should we not ultimately give our obedience to the dictates of our own soul?

Not as an individualistic original thinker, but as a heroic act of submission of life to the call of the spirit?

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In the beginning, God created Man and Woman, who like every other creature, in their naked state roamed about the Garden of Eden, oblivious to their own good or bad.

One evening God came to Man and Woman and said, "I want to offer you an opportunity. I have devised a way to give you two a chance to rise from your present unconscious state, and become my helpers and companions in creation.

"You see this tree here? This is the tree of Choice and Consciousness. If you choose to partake of its fruit, you will be given the opportunity to create with me, and eventually reach the state of Eternal Life.

"But I must warn you, that first of all, you have to come to this choice of your own free will. And second, you will become aware of the nothingness out of which you must create. That state of emptiness which may appear hostile and adversarial. The Void from whence all creation flows.

"And your path to the state of Eternal Life shall be a path that can only be trodden by yourselves, of your own free will. Many times that path will offer you choices that shall lead you astray.

Many times you will make the choices that move you further from the eternal state of life, and you shall be tempted by the physical and temporal. But know that at any and every point on your path, you can choose to correct your choices and approach your Godhood.

"When you are fully creative and faithful to the eternal, you shall join me again. Not in Eden, but in a Paradise of your own creation. Because at that point, your Paradise and Eden are merely projections of the same state of Consciousness, and you and I are not only co-creators, but one and the same.

"Now, go and rest this evening and meditate upon the opportunity that is given to you, as well as the commitment and the toil and the trial that it encompasses. Tomorrow morning, if you choose to eat these fruits, you shall be graced with the rise to the state of consciousness, and you shall advance along the temporal and physical path of experimentation at creation.

"And if you choose to not partake of the fruits of the tree of Choice and Consciousness, you shall continue to remain here, in your state of blissful unawareness, without the opportunity to experience union with me."

That evening, Man and Woman discussed the offer and the opportunity at length. It was quite late in the evening when snake came to them and told them his own story.

"Look at me," said the snake. "God offered me the same choice, but I declined, and I have been living here, happily ever after. Just think about it, we have everything we need. Everything is right here available to us. This is, after all, the Garden of Eden. Who in their right minds will choose to leave this place and go to a nothingness? Who would want to choose toil and trials of the Void over the abundance and ease of the Garden of Eden? Why would you want to create a Paradise, when you already live in one?"

"You are right!" said Woman. "We have plenty of security here, and we don't need to be faced with choices, and tempted by fate."

"But the adventure!" said Man. "The heroic effort of making something from nothing... it all sounds so exciting."

"Excitement?!" exclaimed the serpent. "Excitement is not good for the nerves. Excitement is what destroys bliss. Can you imagine Eden with excitement? It will run a riot."

"But why would God offer us such an opportunity?" Asked Woman. "What is God's motive in giving us a chance at Godhood? Why would God offer the serpent the same opportunity? If it is not because of his love for all his creatures, and his deepest desire to experience union of equals with them, why else would God create the tree of Choice and Consciousness?"

"You are right," said Man. "It must be that God has such deep love for us that he graces us with the chance to become one with him. Why, a lover's deepest desire is union with the beloved. And as unconscious creatures, we can never be united with God, because we can never be God's equals."

"What twisted logic..." muttered the snake. "These two are hopeless cases", and he slithered away.

In the morning, Man and Woman rose, and picked the fruit of the Tree of Choice and Consciousness, took a bite each, and found themselves disoriented, because for the first time, they experienced total awareness of their beings.

In the meantime, in the Garden of Eden, God was watching their rise to consciousness, and quietly whispered, "Go forth and multiply, and in your multitude find awareness, and in your awareness become creative and build the Garden of Paradise on this barren Earth. And when in your diversity you experience your love for one another, you shall be united with me, and I with thee."