Genesis 2:8 - Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east in Eden ...

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. (Genesis 2:8)

This verse has been incorrectly translated by those who misunderstand the subject being discussed. And as a result, many have been searching the planet for this place referred to as “Eden.”

What is the 'Garden in the east' that God 'planted'?

The word “planted” here is taken from the Hebrew נָטַע (nata), which can mean ‘to plant,’ but also to ‘fasten, fix, establish.’

“A garden” is translated from the Hebrew גַּן (gan) which can mean ‘garden,’ ‘enclosure,’ or ‘enclosed garden.’

“In the east” is being derived from מִן (min) and קֶדֶם (qedem). מִן means ‘from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than’ according to the lexicon. And קֶדֶם can be translated to ‘east,’ but also to ‘antiquity, front, that which is before,’ or ‘aforetime.’

So while those who are fixed upon the assumption that this discussion relates to a physical man and woman (“Adam and Eve”) and a place on this planet, there is an entirely different and more appropriate translation to be derived from this Hebrew phrase:

“Established” is a more appropriate translation of נָטַע. While “garden” is acceptable for גַּן, “enclosure” should not be ignored.

מִן and קֶדֶם are more accurately describing, instead of a direction like the “east,” to a time before antiquity: A period before we existed within these physical bodies.

What is being allegorically described is God establishing a place for us – spiritual beings – in the spiritual world after He had created each of us. The “garden” is an enclosed space or section within the spiritual realm. This is the place where our spiritual selves dwelled prior to our fall to the physical world. This fact is confirmed by the words מִן and קֶדֶם, which refer to a time and place prior to our physical existence.

In other words, Eden is a section of the spiritual world.

Who is Adam?

While the Hebrew word אָדָם (adam) is being translated to “man,” this reference, as clarified in the previous verse, describes the living being – the spirit-person. This entity has also been called the soul - although many mislabel the soul as some sort of organ - as in, "my soul."

But really, each of us is the soul.

Beneath each temporary physical body dwells a unique and individual living being. This is the personality within the physical body, who lives before and after the death of the body.

This is confirmed scientifically. Our physical body is always recycling molecules and atoms. When we look at a picture of our physical body when it was a baby, we are looking at a different body than the one we have on now. Science has established that all the molecules and atoms are different, and most of the cells in the baby body have died and been replaced by new cells. We are thus effectively changing bodies constantly. Like a waterfall that flows with different water every minute.

So when we look at that baby body, and then in the mirror at our physical body now, neither one is our real identity. We are the driver of the physical body. Just as a person sits down in a car and drives a car away, we are seated within this body and are now driving the body.

The question now becomes, why are we in these temporary bodies, and where did we come from?

These questions are answered, allegorically, in this discussion of “Adam and Eve.” First, in this verse, it describes a beautiful section in the spiritual realm where, after He formed us from Himself, He placed us. This doesn't necessarily mean we all were put in the same section either, as the spiritual realm has many domains: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” (John 14:2)

What is this verse saying?

This verse and the rest of this discussion in Genesis is not a complete description of the spiritual world. Just as Jesus had in his statement about “many rooms,” this verse uses allegory and symbolism.

This description is meant for a particular audience. This is an introduction to the concept that there is another world – the spiritual realm – beyond this one, where God dwells and where we dwelled prior to our existence within these physical bodies.

We might compare the use of allegory and symbolism here to how an adult might describe a complex task – like their occupation – to a young child. They would drastically simplify things so the child would get the main thrust, but many details are left out and/or massively simplified.

In the same way, the main thrust of the spiritual environment is described here: We were each formed by God and placed in a particular section within the spiritual world. Thus it is clear that we owe our existence to God. He is in every respect our Creator, but also our Best Friend and Soul Mate.

Just consider if you were God, and you could create anything. What would you create? You would likely create someone to share your life with, right? A playmate and companion, right? Now if you wanted to have a real relationship with that person you wouldn’t create a robot that would mindlessly do anything you wanted. You would create a person with some freedom. You would give that person the freedom to like you or not, right? You would have to if you wanted to exchange a real relationship with them.

In other words, we were made to be with God, but we are also given the freedom to choose between having a relationship with Him or not. This is because God created us to exchange a loving relationship with Him. And love requires freedom. We cannot be forced to love someone. We have to be given complete freedom in order to truly love someone.

What about love?

Love is the basis for our existence. Why should this be surprising? Each of us is constantly searching for real love. From the moment we are born into these bodies, we seek someone to love who will truly love us. We seek love by trying to gain people’s attention. We seek love by trying to find a mate. We seek love as we strive for power and authority. In all these efforts, our focus is love. Even the most powerful, wealthy and famous people are seeking love, despite all the attention people give them, and all their power and wealth.

This means that not only is love what we need the most: We cannot find true love within the physical world.

This is because our true love is God. God is that perfect person we are seeking. God is that perfect soul mate we are looking for. God is that best friend who will never abandon us. God is that person who will always protect us. In other words, it is God we seek as we search for true love.

Love is part of our essence because we were made for love. We were formed by God to exchange a loving relationship with Him. We might compare this to how we might make anything with a purpose. Say we manufacture a refrigerator. The refrigerator is made specifically to keep our food cold. That is its purpose. It is designed for that purpose. So it does this pretty well. The fridge won’t drive us around like our cars will, but it will keep our food good and cold.

In the same way, love is so important to us because God made us for the purpose of love. This is why relationships are so important to us. Everyone needs relationships because we were made for loving relationships.

We were created by God to share a loving relationship with Him and His associates within the spiritual realm, and this is what is being described in this discussion in Genesis.

Consider another translation of this verse in Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis.

Genesis 2:23-25 - The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; ..."

The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:23-25)

Is Adam really naming 'woman'?

These verses have been dubiously interpreted to indicate the physical bodies of man and woman and Eden being a physical location somewhere on the planet earth, where the first two humans were put to work in 'the garden' and one was created from the other's rib. Are we really to believe that the first two humans were naked gardeners somewhere in Asia, with one being born of the other's rib?

No. As we've shown from the previous verses, this is an allegorical explanation of our creation in the spiritual world (Eden), and (later) our eventual fall into the physical world. These verses are rich in symbolism and allegory. Why? Because the creation of spiritual living beings and our fall to the physical world are extremely complex and technical events. Because our minds and brains have been programmed by the physical world and its sensual events, we have little means to comprehend the technology involved within God's creation.

Let's use an example. Let's say we were trying to explain to someone living two thousand years ago - or even to a child today - how television images are broadcast from a single location into millions of households using today's technology. How would we do this? Would we give them the schematic drawings of satellites, radio transmitters, satellite dishes and television circuitry to explain how the technology works? Certainly not, because this information would be over their heads. They would not understand anything.

What we would have to do is somehow relate and compare the technology to something they had already experienced. If we were explaining this to a ten-year-old child, for example, we might compare the technology to multiple people watching the same kite flying in the sky. Or we might compare it to the soldier game the child likes to play. If talking to someone living thousands of years ago, we might try to compare television and radio to one king sending out the same message using a thousand messengers on horseback going to different places.

Whatever allegorical symbolism we would use, it would be meant to try to get across the central purpose of the information exchange: What is the intended message?

'Bone of my bones'?

We can see the meaning of Genesis as we explore the symbolism coming from the Hebrew. Consider, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." The Hebrew being translated to "bones" is עֶצֶם ('etsem). עֶצֶם ('etsem) can be translated to "bone" but also to "essence" or "substance" according to the lexicon. In other words, the symbolic Adam is saying that he and the symbolic woman share the same essence or substance.

As for "flesh," this is taken from Hebrew בָּשָׂר (basar), which can mean the flesh of the body, or used in a more expansive manner, such as "all living things" or "mankind," according to the lexicon. In other words, instead of "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh," the message being communicated is:

"We are of the same essence - all living beings share the same essence"

And who was the symbolic Adam actually saying this to? Since he is discussing "woman" (symbolizing the community of the spiritual realm) in the third person, this would leave God. Thus, this symbolic discussion takes place between the symbolic Adam and the Supreme Being.

As for, "she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man," this phrase utilizes the same context and language discussed in Genesis 2:20, which mistakenly translated צֵלָע (tsela') to "rib" instead of "part." The Hebrew being translated to "taken out of" is לָקַח (laqach). This can certainly be translated to "taken out of," but it can also be translated to "get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry" and so on. It can also be translated to "take in the hand" or "take and carry along."

The concept being communicated here is a shared essence among our spiritual community. The living beings within the community of the spiritual world are connected together. We are all made of the same essence. We carry with us a part of each other.

What is our common part?

It is the part connected to caring and loving, which is connected to the caring and loving of the Supreme Being. Remember in the previous verse that it was God who created both the symbolic Adam and Eve, and they shared this common characteristic or part. It was not as though Adam owned this part (or "rib") and gave it to Eve. The part comes from God. This is our nature: to love and care for God. We all share this nature, and like it, we also share a common love and care for each other - in our pure state.

This renders the meaning of the next verse: "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

"For this reason" is connected to the symbolic Adam and the symbolic Eve sharing this characteristic (or "part"): They are sharing this need to love and care for God and each other. And it is "for this reason" that we find the attachments of family and marriage in the physical world.

Yes, the reason why there is this community called family in the physical world - common amongst all humans, and even animals, insects, fish and plants - is because we each share this common need for our larger spiritual community of God and His children. This is why we find a glimpse of joy in caring for our spouse, our children and our parents. We all need to care for others outside of ourselves.

Is emptiness related to materialism?

This is also why those of us who seek joy by selfishly consuming and striving for the respect and admiration of others are perpetually empty. We can see this clearly among famous movie stars and media personalities, who have as much money and admiration as they could possibly desire. But do these things bring them happiness? No. This is why so many stars succumb to drugs and alcohol: Despite their abundance, they are empty.

But we can also see that those stars that pursue their family life in private will find some real joy in that family life. This is because they are participating in a reflection of our spiritual community. They are caring for others outside of themselves, and this care gives them a glimpse of joy.

This joy, however, is also filled with pain because they are connecting their love and care with the physical bodies of their family, which will eventually become sick and die. In other words, all our family and loved ones will eventually leave us: if not by divorce or physical separation, then by the death of the physical body.

Our spiritual community, however, is perpetual. Our relationship with the Supreme Being is always there, and by reconnecting with that relationship, we also re-connect with our nature of loving and caring for God and the rest of our spiritual community - His children in their spiritual forms. This is our real family. And this family can never be separated from us or taken away.

And as far as Adam naming the symbolic "woman," this is a dubious translation. The Hebrew used here is קָרָא (qara') which means to "to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim" according to the lexicon, and most specifically, in this context, "to call unto" or "call (with name of God)". This, as we showed when this term was also used in Genesis 2:20, Adam is not naming things. He was not a biologist who was going around naming things.

Rather, what is being communicated is that the two of them (symbolically representing our spiritual community) shared a common nature not only to love and care for each other but to share a relationship with and worship God - being symbolized by their "calling out to God". In other words, what is being communicated here is not "she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man" but rather:

"we share this common essence as we call upon and worship God."

This understanding brings us to the last part of this verse: "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." What is being communicated here?

Remember that the previous verses are discussing how we all share this nature of spiritual community, of loving and caring for God and each other. This is our pure state. This is our state within the spiritual dimension. This contrasts with the physical world, where each of us is covered up by our false identification of thinking we are these temporary physical bodies.

What does being 'naked' mean here?

"Naked" is being taken from the Hebrew word עָרוֹם ('arowm), which can also be translated to "bare" according to the lexicon. In other words, Genesis is not discussing clothing here.

Consider the phrase, "to bare my soul." This is used to indicate we are revealing our inner nature to someone. This is the application of "naked" or "bare" in Genesis. The symbolic Adam and Eve (the community of the spiritual realm) were, at this point in their existence, pure spiritual living beings, who were embracing God and their spiritual community. They were in a state of being "bare" or better, "pure."

The common "part" shared by Adam and Eve reveals our pure (or "bare") identity of being God's loving servants. And it is in this state that we feel no shame, and no guilt.

Shame and guilt in this context are synonyms. What is guilt anyway? When we do something selfish we usually feel guilty or shameful. Why? Because our real nature is to love and care for the Supreme Being and His children without any self-centeredness - without expecting anything in return. 

This is our pure nature, and when we abandon it in favor of self-centeredness, we feel guilty because we know being selfish is not our true nature. Thus we can also say that since our essence is given to us by the Supreme Being, guilt is also a message from the Supreme Being trying to remind us of our true nature. Thus, guilt is actually God calling us back home to Him.

Consider another translation of these verses in Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis.

Genesis 3:7 - Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked ...

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:7)

The meaning of this verse has been shrouded by the literal misinterpretation of this section of Genesis. The literal interpretation thoroughly misses the entire meaning of this allegorical story of the symbolic Adam and Eve. The symbolism used in this part of Genesis has been described.

Now we see new symbolism being introduced, following them eating the 'forbidden fruit.'

Why did Adam and Eve have a choice?

Notice that these verses are discussing Adam and Eve making a choice. They had eaten the fruit that God told them not to eat. This was the choice they made.

The tree that God warned the symbolic Adam and Eve about eating from represents the choice we each have had - and constantly have in life: That is, to be self-centered or God-centered. We were all created to love and care for God. But real love requires freedom of choice. So God gave each of us the choice to love Him or not. This is the reason for the existence of this second tree, which was put in the "middle" of Eden (remember, Eden represents the spiritual dimension here).

So their eating of this fruit symbolizes our having chosen self-centeredness over caring for God. We decided that we want to please ourselves rather than please God. Once we made this decision, the world of self-centeredness - the attempt to enjoy ourselves as God enjoys Himself - was opened up to us.

This is represented by the statement, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened."

It is not as if God was trying to keep Adam and Eve in ignorance by asking them not to eat the fruit, as insinuated by the serpent (who symbolizes our envy of God). Rather, God was simply asking them to remain within their natural relationship with Him. Within our natural position of loving God, we are immersed in thoughts about our Best Friend and Protector. Within this relationship, we are always thinking of His pleasure and His happiness. And this gives us real happiness.

We get a small glimpse of how loving another gives us happiness when we love and care for our body's spouse and/or family. We can compare this with selfishly consuming or looking out for ourselves in general. These activities do not bring any happiness, as we can see by observing the many wealthy and famous people who commit suicide or succumb to drug and alcohol abuse even with all their wealth and fame.

At some point in time, when each of us was in the spiritual dimension, we decided we'd rather seek our own happiness rather than love God.

Once we turned selfish, we no longer had the consciousness that allows us to remain a citizen of the spiritual world. This is because the spiritual dimension is full of love and caring for God and each other. There is no self-centeredness in the spiritual dimension.

What does nakedness symbolize?

Did Adam and Eve really run around naked?

Rather, this is a symbolic point to describe the state of their souls in the spiritual realm prior to their fall. Nakedness relates to the state of pureness. Our pure state is free from materialism and greed. And this pure state is symbolized by nakedness in the story of Adam and Eve.

The symbolic Adam and Eve were naked - pure - before they ate the fruit. But once they ate of the fruit - became self-centered - they were not longer comfortable with their pure state. In the same way, once each of us became self-conscious, we were no longer comfortable in our natural state within the spiritual dimension.

Consider the change of consciousness that would suddenly make someone "realize they were naked." Consider a young child who ran around naked for two or three years who suddenly becomes aware they are naked. As the child becomes self-conscious, the child becomes aware of how they appear to others. That self-consciousness of suddenly feeling naked is being used here to illustrate how we went from the innocence of our pure state of loving and caring for God, to becoming self-conscious due to our desire for self-enjoyment.

What is the meaning of Adam and Eve's fig coverings?

So Adam and Eve "made coverings for themselves." Putting on fig leaves to cover nakedness symbolizes the beginning of our requiring a physical body to cover our true consciousness. Here in the physical world, we are all wearing a type of 'clothing': The physical body that covers the spiritual person within.

In other words, we suddenly needed a physical body in order to feel comfortable seeking our own happiness. We could compare this to a person going to a war zone without a gun and other military gear. A person might feel comfortable without a gun and military gear in their own peaceful home, but as soon as they decided they were going to war, they could only be comfortable when they donned a gun, a helmet, and other military gear.

In the same way guns and helmets are needed for war, these physical bodies are perfectly designed for our search for self-centered happiness. Every sense organ, every appendage, and every faculty of our body is designed to support our goal of self-centered enjoyment. We are wearing our bodies much as a person might wear a suit of armor.

This is supported by one of the possible translations of the Hebrew word חֲגוֹר used in this verse: "armor." This is appropriate because the body that covers the spiritual being within is like a suit of armor.

This is also known scientifically. Millions of people have now undergone clinical death and have reported floating above their physical body - looking down upon it. At the time of death, the spiritual person leaves the physical body. In other words, our physical body is a covering we wear for a few years before it dies.

The physical body is an incredible vehicle we drive. It is equipped for our seeking pleasure, and it is also equipped for experiencing pain. It is, in fact, designed as a vehicle for learning, and it is for this reason that the physical body undergoes so many trials and tribulations.

Just think of all the pain and suffering in the world. People often ask why, if God were so loving, is there so much pain and suffering in the world. That pain and suffering, in fact, does not happen to us - the pure spiritual being. While we experience it, we only experience pain virtually. That pain happens to this vehicle we call the physical body. This is because the physical body - while designed for our seeking enjoyment - was also designed to help us rehabilitate: To help us hopefully one day return home.

Like any vehicle, the physical body is made of several layers. The elements each provide a layer, which includes liquids (blood, lymph, etc.), solids (tissues, bones) and gases (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide). The electricity that runs through our nervous system is also a type of layer or covering (like the electronics of a vehicle). And the mind is yet another layer of the physical body covering the spiritual person.

But underneath these more dense layers is an even more subtle layer covering the spiritual person. This is the layer of false identity. This is the element that makes us identify with our physical body - a layer of misidentification.

We need this first subtle covering in order to believe that we are these physical bodies. We can know that this is a false identity because we each leave our physical body and its identity at the time of death. The physical body changes throughout our lives, and then gets old and dies. Then we leave it. So our identification with our physical body is false.

Aren't we each wearing temporary clothing covering our pureness?

God created the physical world with the illusion that we are these physical bodies. It is like a video game. A person can become temporarily immersed in a video game. While playing the game, the person identifies with the icon-persona he assumes in the game. If it is a war game, the person identifies with being a particular soldier in the game - that is, until the soldier is blown up and the game is over. Then the person can turn off the computer and detach from that video game and soldier persona.

God programs the physical world with the illusion to allow us to forget Him.

The initial false self-identification - allowing us to forget God and our true selves by assuming a new identity - is what is being symbolized with Adam and Eve putting on leaves. They are in the process of transitioning from the consciousness of the spiritual realm (love for God) to the consciousness of the physical world (self-centeredness). The transition begins as our pure state becomes covered by our self-consciousness.

This is a very subtle technology - well beyond the ability of our minds to comprehend. For this reason, the spiritual teachers who initially passed down the symbolic story of Genesis to their students used this deep symbolism: because the technology is very difficult for the physical mind to comprehend. Understanding our nature as spiritual beings are already difficult for the physical mind. The physical mind only collects data from the physical senses, and the physical senses cannot perceive the spiritual dimension.

Thus this allegorical story of Adam and Eve, deep in symbolism, portrays the process of our falling from the spiritual dimension. We fell from our pure state of being the Supreme Being's devoted loving servants and playmates to a consciousness of seeking of our own self-centered happiness. That is what landed us in this physical dimension, and the reason why the physical dimension is full of so many self-centered people - each of us struggling for our own fulfillment, yet never finding it. This is because we can only be fulfilled when we are in our pure state of loving and caring for our Best Friend, the Supreme Being.

Consider another translation of this verse in Chapter Three of the New Book of Genesis.

Genesis 3:22 - And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of Us ...

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22)

Following is a review some of the key Hebrew phrases of the verse, together with the symbolism being used:

What does 'One of Us' mean?

"The man" is translated from אדם ('adam), which is used to indicate man, mankind or human being. It is being used here to symbolize each of us.

"Has become like one of Us, knowing" comes from היה אחד ידע (hayah 'echad yada`). This indicates not that we have become like God, but rather, it indicates a change of consciousness from one of God's loving servants to one of wanting to enjoy as God enjoys. In other words, we are now seeking our own satisfaction rather than seeking to please God. This is akin to becoming envious of God's position.

Notice the plural in "Us." This confirms God's ability to expand Himself. This is how He simultaneously relates with each of us individually.

We were created by God to love and serve God. Thus, our normal position in the spiritual realm is God's servitor. By nature, our joy is giving God enjoyment. Yet because love requires freedom, we also have been given the freedom to seek God's position of being the enjoyer. Should we become envious of His enjoyment, we seek to be "like" God.

This phrase also indicates that the position of being self-focused is God's position. Therefore, the meaning of the phrase is not that we became "like" God - but that we now seek God's position. We seek to be like God.

What does 'Good and evil' mean?

"Good and evil" are being translated from טוב (towb) and רע (ra`). The more accurate translation of these two are "self-centered pleasure and pain." Those in the spiritual realm whose lives are focused upon pleasing the Supreme Being do not experience self-centered pleasure and its natural consequence, pain.

Citizens of the upper spiritual realm are only focused upon God's pleasure, and thus they only experience spiritual pleasure - the pleasure connected to love. And even what could be supposed as pain for the inhabitants of the spiritual realm - mainly the pain of separation from God - is also spiritually pleasurable to those inhabitants.

The next part of the verse is substantively translated, but it is important to understand the meaning. God is saying that because we now seek His position, we will know self-centered pleasure and pain on our own. We will thus have to experience the results of a self-centered existence - fleeting flashes of pleasure combined with pain.

What does becoming covered mean?

Remember that this verse is following the previous verse where God "clothes" the symbolic Adam (us) and the symbolic Eve (the spiritual community who fell with us) within the "skin" of physical bodies.

What this means is that our change in consciousness from one of loving God to one of becoming self-centered results in our becoming covered within a temporary physical body. Why is this?

Once we became envious, there was no place for us in the spiritual realm. We fell away from the spiritual realm due to our self-centered desires. These desires became manifest by our taking on a particular type of temporary physical body. Our physical bodies are designed, in other words, to execute our desire for self-centered enjoyment and independence from God. Our bodies were designed for us to play out our desires to be in God's position.

And this is surprising? Just look around. Everyone around us is wanting to achieve self-centered desires. Each of us wants to be given attention, and ultimately be served by others.

We can see this even amongst babies. We come into the world crying for comfort. We want to be free of pain. Then we want to be fed. When we don't get fed, we cry. What is being fed? Being fed is being served by someone. Do babies come into the world wanting to give anything back to mama who carried them for nine months? No. We want more. We want food. Then we want attention. Then we want toys. As we grow older, we want the other kids to respect us. We want our peers to like us, and give us respect. We also want bigger toys. And later, we want to enjoy sex.

As we grow older, our self-centeredness expands. We want to make lots of money. We want a beautiful husband or wife. We want a big job, a big house and we want to drive a big car.

When these do not satisfy us, we want a family. We want kids. We want to "create" little people who will look up to us and love us. Then we want to teach our little "creations" our great wisdom, so they can do want we want them to do.

Then, later on, we want to retire. We want to sit back and enjoy life. We want to take a cruise. We want our grandchildren to come around to love us and serve us.

This is how most of us see becoming happy here in this world. And what is all this? This is the desire to be like God. We want to be loved, be served, own stuff, create people and be the king of our own little kingdom. This is God's position. And this is what we want.

None of the people living in the physical world want to serve. No one wants to be a servant. We all want to be masters. We all want to rule over others. This is our disease, and this is why we are here in this physical world, away from God.

The last part of the verse confirms this. It indicates that once we choose self-centeredness over our natural position of God's loving servant, we are escorted out of the spiritual world, and we will no longer taste the exchange of our loving relationship with God. This is symbolized in this parable by the statement, "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

What does the 'tree of life' symbolize?

The "tree of life" was described earlier in Genesis as being in the "middle" of the "Garden." The "tree of life" symbolizes our loving relationship with the Supreme Being, and its "fruit" is love for God - what ultimately fulfills us. This is why this symbolic tree is described as being in the "middle" of the "Garden" - which symbolizes the spiritual realm.

But once we became envious of God - symbolized by eating of the other "fruit" - we then had to give up our loving relationship with God.

This is typical amongst relationships. Let's say that we had a childhood friend for many years, and suddenly found ourselves competing with that friend to be captain of a sports team. Then let's say that we became captain, and our friend didn't. They then become jealous that we became captain and they didn't. Could we continue our childhood friendship as it was? No. That jealousy would interfere with our friendship. Our friendship as it was would be dissolved by the jealousy.

It is the same with God and each of us - the living beings He created. Once we become envious of God's position, we thereby give up our position of one of God's loving servants and playmates within the spiritual realm.

The fact that this parable is differentiating between the physical world and the spiritual world is confirmed by the use of חיה עולם (chayah `owlam). This indicates living forever.

This is critical because in the physical world, these bodies are temporary. They are born, get old and then die. They are temporary vehicles from which we attempt to play God's role - focusing on our own pleasure and trying to have others love us and worship us.

Our spiritual selves, however, are eternal. In the spiritual realm we never get old. We never die. In the spiritual world we are our bodies. In the physical world, we are not our bodies. We operate them, just as a driver operates a car.

It is within the spiritual realm that we are truly happy. We are happy because we are exchanging love with God and love with all of God's other children. We can see that this is our natural position as we look around and see that everyone including us is seeking love and to be loved. Yet we are never satisfied with the type of love we find in the physical world, because all the other citizens of the physical world are also trying to be in God's position. So we struggle and compete with each other for position and attention. We struggle for God's position, in other words.

And what little love exists within this world is predicated upon our temporary physical bodies. We typically love only those who have bodies within our body's family, or those who marry our bodies, or those who somehow prove their devotion to us. Otherwise, we don't love others, and others don't love us. This is not really love; because it is conditional.

Is real love is conditional?

When someone really loves another, it doesn't matter what body they have on or what family their body comes from. It doesn't matter if the person hates them. Real love is unconditional.

This is the kind of love we are desperate for. This is the type of love that comes from the Supreme Being, and those within the spiritual world who love God unconditionally - they also love others unconditionally. It is like an infection: Those in the spiritual realm are all infected with spiritual love.

But once we decide that we want more for ourselves - we want what God has - it all dissolves. In an instant, we find ourselves fallen from the spiritual realm, and sucked inside of a physical body's sperm to be fertilized. Then the body develops around us, and we begin to identify with a temporary physical body, as we seek to use it for achieving our self-centered goals.

We abandoned our love for God and became jealous of Him - so we were pushed out of the spiritual realm. This is what this verse explains.

Consider another translation of this verse in Chapter Three of the New Book of Genesis.

Genesis 3:24 - After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden ...

After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)

It is obvious from this English version that the translators did not understand the message and meaning of this verse of Genesis. This is a critical verse to the mechanisms and understanding of our fall from the spiritual realm to this physical world.

What are the key Hebrew translations?

Let's break down the Hebrew and get to the bottom of this verse's meaning:

גרש (garash) is being translated to "he drove..out". It can also mean being 'cast out,' 'put away,' 'divorced' or 'thrust out' according to the lexicon.

אדם ('adam) is being appropriately translated to 'the man,' although here, אדם symbolizes each of us.

גן (gan) and עדן (`Eden) are being correctly translated to "Garden of Eden," but קדם (qedem) is being translated to "On the east side" here. "On the east side" would be inappropriate in the context of what is being described.

The symbolic Adam (us) has been cast out of the spiritual world. Now the text is describing that God placed a barricade or barrier between the physical world (where we (Adam) were thrown out to) and the spiritual realm. There is no reason to utilize "east side" in this context. The Hebrew word קדם can also mean to 'the front' or 'in front' in addition to 'to the east.'

"In front of" would thus be the better translation, as God has placed a barrier "in front of" the spiritual realm - or better, "in between" the spiritual realm and the physical realm.

What is the barricade between?

Let's use an example. Let's say that there is a protest, and the police want to keep the protesters outside of a particular building. The police will typically form a barricade in front of the building in order to keep the protesters out. While the barricade is in front of the building, the position of the barricade lies in between the protesters and the building. In other words, if the protesters were in the lobby of the building, there would be no use putting a barricade in the front of the building outside.

And this is precisely what the next part of the verse refers to: a barricade.

The Hebrew שכן (shakan) is being translated to "placed," but 'stationed,' 'set,' and 'established' are also words that satisfy the meaning of this Hebrew word.

What is a cherubim?

The Hebrew word כרוב (kĕruwb) here is being translated to "the cherubim." What the heck is a cherubim? According to the Hebrew, it is considered 'an angelic being,' a 'guardian of Eden,' a 'flank for God's throne,' or the 'chariot of Jehovah.' In this application, the meaning relates to a barrier protecting Eden ("guardian of Eden"), but it is clear there is another dimension to the word, in that "an angelic being" refers to a living being rather than an inanimate object.

This is consistent with the fact that the Supreme Being typically utilizes living beings to support His activities in the spiritual realm. Everything is living in the spiritual realm. There are no inanimate objects in the spiritual realm.

להט (lahat) is being translated to "and the flaming," but the lexicon is clear that this sort of flame is not an ordinary flame. It is a special type of flame that comes from an "angelic sword" according to the ancient Hebrew.

What is the flaming sword?

"Sword" here is being translated from חרב (chereb), which can mean sword, but it can also refer to a 'sharp edge.' This latter application is most appropriate. Remember that the verse is talking about a barricade being placed between the spiritual realm (the "Garden of Eden") and the physical world - where Adam (we) was driven out. How would a flaming sword adequately block the entrance to the spiritual realm?

The better translation is that barricade was "impenetrable."

The next two Hebrew words indicate the inability to penetrate the barrier. הפך (haphak) and שמר (shamar) are being translated to "flashing back and forth to guard..."

Yet הפך can also mean to 'transform,' 'turn about,' 'to change,' 'to turn over,' or 'to overthrow.' The notion of a fiery sword flashing back and forth and turning is speculative. The translators are trying to insert the words into their vision that Eden was a physical place on the planet. Therefore, they imagined some kind of mechanical thing with swords flashing back and forth like some sort of big chopping system.

The better application of הפך, however, relates to completeness or totality, as it relates to the next word. After הפך follows שמר, which is being translated to "to guard," but can also mean 'to keep,' 'to preserve,' 'to watch' or 'to beware.' This indicates the barrier is simply being described as completely guarding or completely protecting the "Garden" (spiritual realm) from intrusion.

What does this fiery barricade do?

The combination of the Hebrew of this verse so far would more appropriately be translated within its context to something like:

After He cast Adam [us] out, God positioned an impenetrable fiery living barrier between the spiritual realm and the physical world to completely protect....

There are two elements here that must be remembered. One is that the "flaming sharp edge" is being characterized as a living "guardian of Eden," an "angelic being."

The element of a living guardian of the spiritual realm relates to the fact that any entry to the spiritual realm must accompany personal permission. Our entry must be invited. We must be escorted in.

We could compare this to how a large venue such as a concert or professional sports event will be staffed with people - doormen, guards or gatekeepers - who will personally screen people before they get into the event's venue. They will check the ticket or invitation and check people's purses or backpacks. If a person does not have a ticket or invitation, or they are inappropriate for the venue - say it is a black-tie event and the person is wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt - then the staff will deny entry to the person.

Often these gatekeepers have some weapon or defense measure in the case of an unruly person. In some venues, like nightclubs, where the doormen are called "bouncers," they are often large and strong people so they can handle people who get unruly or try to get in without their permission. The bottom line is that these gatekeepers are people because entering the venue requires a personal preview of each person. It is not automated because there are too many variables. The door-person has to make a personal judgment call for each person.

The other thing to remember is that the verses before this, particularly Genesis 3:21, describes that Adam (we) became covered by these physical bodies.

Thus we need to understand that re-entry into the spiritual realm requires that one is specifically prepared for entry, has personal permission, an invitation, and an escort.

And this very point is why sectarian translators have such a hard time translating this and the other verses of Genesis from Hebrew to English. Their ability to see into the spiritual realm and the personal elements involved is covered by their desires to gain recognition from their peers and followers; and to maintain their professional positions within their respective organized religious institutions.

In other words, the translators of these verses of Genesis have typically consisted of professional clergy or scholars who are beholden to their respective organizations and their professional positions. They were not empowered through the lineage of those ancient teachers who originally spoke this beautiful parable, deep in wisdom and spiritual power. They were not thus empowered by loving service to God. So they had no entrance into the deep subject matter being discussed here.

These restrictions are actually part of the barrier that guards our re-entry to the spiritual realm. The makeup of our physical eyes and our physical minds, together with the illusion that this world is our permanent home protects the spiritual realm and the Supreme Being from being perceived by us. There are many layers to the illusions of this word which clog our minds with what our senses have picked up, together with our proud assumption that our physical senses and physical minds can perceive spiritual matters; and the spiritual realm in general.

These are only parts of the totality of the barrier. Yet these are bound together by our false identification of ourselves as our temporary physical bodies, and this false identification is bound together by our envy of God and our desire for God's position (being the center of attention, being powerful, being served by others, etc.). Thus, the self-centeredness that got us tossed out of the spiritual realm in the first place is also the central element that prevents us from being invited back to the spiritual realm. And the material desires that result from our self-centeredness are part of the fiery barrier preventing our entry to the spiritual realm.

We can see these points is in the next part of this verse.

What does the tree of life signify?

דרך (derek) is being translated to "the way" here, and עץ (`ets) is being translated to "to the tree," and חי (chay) to "of life."

However, דרך can also be translated to 'path,' 'road,' 'journey,' 'direction,' and 'of life.' In other words, what is being described it is not necessarily a physical road, path or way, but rather, a path, course or direction in life.

To understand this verse, we must understand the symbolic meaning of the "tree of life" in this parable. It is symbolizing love for God, which is why God placed this "tree" in the "middle" of the Garden (Gen. 2:9). Let's explain this symbolism a little further.

In ancient times, a tree was seen as symbolizing a course or direction in life, because it rooted itself deeply, branched out, and gave fruit. This represents having a foundation (establishing roots), expression (branching out) and rendering the results (giving fruits). This is why even in modern English, this symbolism still exists, as we often talk about "putting down roots" or "branching out" or "giving fruit." The reason we use these phrases is because our ancestors - thousands of years ago - considered the tree symbolic to our particular direction in life.

Thus the "tree" symbolizes the different choices in life people can take. Each choice has its specific form of foundation (roots), expression (branching out) and its particular results (fruits). The fact that this particular tree is a tree of "life" brings us another dimension of the wisdom of Genesis and this parable about our fall from the spiritual realm.

Genesis also described different types of trees within Eden:

And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)

In this context, the "all kinds of trees" is describing the variety of life within the spiritual realm.

The spiritual realm is full of so many different lifestyles, just as the physical world contains so many different lifestyle choices. However, the difference between the spiritual world and the physical world is that here our lifestyle choices revolve around our self-centered search for happiness, while the lifestyles of those in the spiritual realm revolve around what makes the Supreme Person happy.

In other words, Eden's "all kinds of trees" represents the various types of loving relationships that exist between God and His children.

Understanding the two "trees" in the "middle" of Eden is critical. The "tree of life" represents love for God; and the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" (better translated to "self-centered pleasure and pain") represents our freedom to love God or not.

Love for God and loving service to God are being symbolized by "life" in this parable because love for God and loving service to God is our real life. It completes our existence. Each of us was created by God to be His servitor, and to exchange a loving relationship with Him. This is what will ultimately fulfill us - because we were made for this reason.

This is why we are all so desperate for love. This is why each of us constantly looks for love within the physical world, whether it be in our "soulmate" or friends, family or even fame and glory. Our books, movies, television shows, and culture revolves around love stories. This is because we are all chasing true love. We were each created to love and care for the Supreme Person, God.

Why did God build a barrier?

Why would God put a barrier between us and the spiritual realm? Let's consider again the barrier discussed in this verse. Now why would God put a barrier between us and the spiritual realm? It is because Adam (we) disobeyed God? Is God upset because Adam (we) ate the fruit that God said not to eat?

Don't be ridiculous. God is not a petty person. God is the Perfect Person. Every trait that we admire (or want to admire) in someone else - God has in the fullest extent possible. God is magnanimous, understanding, merciful, loving, giving and gracious. He does have emotions and was certainly upset that Adam (we) decided to rebel against Him. But this emotion is pure love. He deeply cares for us, and wants the best for us. He doesn't need us, and He doesn't need us to love Him. But He knows we will be happy when we are loving Him.

So why were we cast out of the spiritual realm then? We wanted out. We wanted to get away from the Supreme Person. We wanted to be on our own. God tossed us out because we wanted to get away from our loving relationship with Him. Why?

Because we became envious of God. We became jealous. We wanted what He has. We wanted the attention, fame, admiration, pleasure and power that God has. We got jealous of Him. This is symbolized by the serpent's statement:

"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)

As we know from practical life, a person who becomes jealous of another cannot continue having a loving relationship with that person. It is impossible to love someone and be jealous of them at the same time. Jealousy takes over the relationship, as we no longer want to please the other person. We want what they have.

So we wanted to get away from God. We needed to have our own space so we could try to exercise our desires for pleasure, power, and independence. This is why God designed and created the physical dimension. This world is part playground and part rehabilitation center.

And this is also why God created a virtually impenetrable barrier between the spiritual world and the physical world. We cannot get back to the spiritual world - our home - until we are ready. And then we have to be invited back in by the Supreme Being, and escorted by Him and/or His loving associates.

But this must come when He knows we really want to return to His loving arms. This requires us to be serious. We cannot return whimsically.

We can compare this with any relationship. If we broke up with a former girl- or boyfriend, or spouse, and ran off, and then called them up out of the blue asking to come back to them, would they let us back in their arms right away? Not likely. They would likely want to start slowly. They would want us to reacquaint ourselves first and take it one step at a time. Because there is a trust issue here. How do they know we won't run off again? They want to be sure we are serious this time.

It is no different with the Supreme Person. He wants to make sure that we are serious before we can return to Him. He doesn't want us to whimsically be running back and forth between the physical and spiritual worlds - back and forth between our self-centeredness and a relationship with Him.

Is this any different than any loving relationship? Any loving relationship requires commitment. It requires dedication. Our loving relationship with the Supreme Being is no different - and even requires more dedication because this is a very deep relationship.

This is why this verse discusses the "way" back to the "tree of life" as a path or journey.

There is a lot of work to do for us to prepare for returning to the spiritual realm. It is not easy, as it requires a complete change of heart. It requires us to refocus ourselves upon our loving relationship with Him and focus our lives upon pleasing Him. Our preparation thus consists of thinking of Him, praying to Him, offering gifts to Him and singing/repeating His Holy Names.

As we begin this journey, we can know that He will be there to guide us. For every step we take, He takes a thousand. As we seriously continue our journey He speeds it up.

He wants us to come home to Him. He wants us back in His loving arms. But only we can start that journey. Only we can decide to change course and begin our journey to return home to Him.

Consider another translation of this verse in Chapter Three of the New Book of Genesis.

Genesis 7:1-4 - "Go into the ark, you and your whole family ..."

"Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." (Genesis 7:1-4)

Why did God choose Noah and his family?

Here the Supreme Being is giving Noah instructions to counteract the great flood to come. This text clearly indicates that Noah had a personal relationship with the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being was giving Noah instructions, and Noah was following those instructions. This indicates not only dedication, but trust. Noah trusted in the Supreme Being. He loved and served God. This confirms that the Supreme Being is a person - a person we can have a personal relationship with.

Noah's devotion was not only indicated by God's saying that "I have found you righteous," but was also confirmed by the verse following:

And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him. (Genesis 7:5)

Noah could have rejected God's instructions. He could have doubted Him. But he didn't because he was devoted to the Supreme Being. This devotion is why the Supreme Being entrusted Noah to carry forth the next generation.

The flood indicates the complete authority of the Supreme Being. Through nature, the Supreme Being has the ability to create and rearrange and restructure civilization as needed. We can see from the text that all creatures were not being wiped out. Rather, a certain segment of society and certain animals were being eliminated. This is opposed to aquatic creatures, birds and other creatures that can survive in the air or water.

In the end, a degraded part of human society was being cleansed and repopulated.

Genesis 7:21 confirms the event:

Every living thing that moved on the earth perished--birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.

Did God really wipe out all humans except Noah?

The translators and interpreters of these texts indicate that God is vengeful, gets angry at people and lashes out at humanity. Let's discuss this in a moment.

But first we must ask whether the flood is a historical event. Did the flood really happen? The historical evidence of the flood is discussed with the previous verse. This indicates that while a flood did occur a few thousand years ago, it was not a flood that covered the entire earth. It was a regional flood, that covered a region of the Middle East.

Sure to those residents, it would have been considered the whole earth. But that's because the local people were not sailing ships around the world checking to see if everything was flooded. They just assumed that everything was flooded, since all the land around them was covered.

Does God really get mad at humanity and wipe out everyone when things get out of control? If we are speaking of God then how could things get out of His control. God is in full control all the time. How could anything take place out of His control?

Is this the same God that Moses, Jesus and others have encouraged us to love, serve and trust? How can they trust Him if things are out of His control? Or if He gets angry and is vengeful? How can we trust and love someone who is vengeful and lashes out towards all of humanity?

The fact is, the Supreme Being is not a vengeful or angry God as portrayed by the translators and scribes of these texts. And nothing takes place out of His control. He maintains control always.

Rather, the translators and scribes - most employed by emperors or ecclesiastical sectarian institutions - who have recorded, translated and characterized oral traditions of the ancient teachers - have mistranslated and mischaracterized those teachings, including this particular event.

They have portrayed the Supreme Being as a vengeful God in order to strike fear in the population, in order to gain followers and control people. This is what happens when scripture is handled and utilized by those focused upon their power and authority rather than truth.

Are we really supposed to fear God?

This mischaracterization of these scriptural texts is confirmed by the choice of words for the Hebrew word ירא (yare'). This choice is wrongly made throughout the Old Testament. In most of these sectarian versions, ירא (yare') is typically translated to "fear." But in this context, the word actually refers to becoming awed or having reverence. It means honoring and respecting someone - because they are awesome.

Being in awe, and honoring and respecting the Supreme Being is not the same thing as fearing God. A person can certainly love someone they are in awe with or revere. But it is difficult to love someone while being afraid of them.

The reality is that the Supreme Being cleansed the planet of civilization due to the degradation of society. This degradation was making it difficult for those who were sincerely seeking to revive their relationship with God and return home to the spiritual world due to the influences of society.

What is the purpose of the flood?

The Supreme Being sets up this planet with a variety of choices and consequences for those choices. It is a place of learning, where every action has a consequence. This creates the ultimate learning experience, as we get to learn "real-time" how it feels to hurt or help others. These "real-time" lessons are ultimately consequences, enabling us to learn.

You see, we are temporary visitors in this world. We are temporarily occupying a physical body in order to learn these lessons. But rather than the Supreme Being necessarily teaching us directly, He set up a system whereby we automatically learn by doing.

These physical bodies we each wear are temporary vehicles. And this physical world is a rehabilitation center. The physical world was created to house those persons who decided they did not want to live in the spiritual world, exchanging a loving relationship with the Supreme Being. Instead, we became envious of the Supreme Being, wanting to enjoy as He enjoys.

So He built us a place where we could virtually get away from Him. He gave us these physical bodies to act out our desires.

These bodies, however, are all temporary. They are virtual. They could be compared to a person's computer identity - a gravatar or internet handle. When a person signs on to their email account or a website they assume a virtual identity. When they play a computer game, they may assume an icon with this identity. This identity and icon are separate from the person operating the computer. This virtual identity can be changed or even erased from the computer without affecting the computer operator.

In the same way, we wear these physical bodies temporarily. When they die, we do not die. We simply move on according to our consciousness. This means that no one died in the Great Flood. Those persons occupying those temporary bodies simply migrated to new physical bodies.

The Supreme Being created the physical world as a rehabilitation center, to teach us about love. Because we became self-centered, we now need to be taught about love. This is why there are consequences in the physical world. If we hurt someone, we will be hurt. If we help someone, we will be helped. These are set up to help teach us the effects of our actions, to give us an awareness of others, and encourage us to consider and care about others.

Why is loving God and loving others so important?

Loving others and loving the Supreme Being is our natural position. We are not self-centered entities by nature. We are caregivers by nature.

The Supreme Being is trying to show us our real nature so that we can return to our home in the spiritual world and our natural positions.

This means that through the faculties of nature, God has arranged the physical world to help us. He is like the teacher rearranging the classroom and we are the students in the classroom. He may call a recess so that everyone must leave the room. This gives Him the opportunity to rearrange and reorganize the classroom so that when we return to a better opportunity to learn.

This is precisely what the Supreme Being is doing with the flood. Human society - at least in that region - became degraded to the point where there were significant consequences to previous activities. This resulted in a cleansing in this region.

As we see here, God's relationship with Noah was different. Noah was dedicated to God, so God took care of Noah. He protected Noah and those animals around Noah. He helped Noah preserve his lifestyle despite the inundation.

This illustrates that a loving relationship was involved between Noah and the Supreme Being.

We each need such a relationship. This is the teaching of this part of Genesis. That each of us needs to take refuge in the Supreme Being. When we do that, God will look out for us.

This is part of our innate, natural relationship with the Supreme Being. We are caregivers of God - but He is also our Supreme caregiver.