Monday, July 11, 2011

Garden of Eden

                                                                   
                                            Garden of Eden

In the Old Testament Moses teaches us: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Bible, Genesis 2:8) 1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 6…She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat… 8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden… 13And the LORD… 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.  22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:  23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Bible, Genesis 3)


Golden Age by h.koppdelaney
(Flickr: Creative Commons; Some Rights Reserved)

According to Emanuel Swedenborg: 115. I have been taught from heaven that the most ancient men on our earth… were celestial men… in fellowship with angels and… through them heaven was conjoined to the world. For this reason that period was called the Golden Age, of which it is said by ancient writers that the inhabitants of heaven dwelt with men and associated with them as friends. …But after this there followed a period… of heaven with man, but less intimate. This period was called the Silver Age. After this there followed men who… were in natural good, and not, like those before them in spiritual good. This period was called the Copper Age. After this man gradually became external, and finally corporeal, [or having physical form] and then the knowledge of correspondences was wholly lost, and with it a knowledge of heaven and of the many things pertaining to heaven. It was from correspondence that these ages were named from gold, silver, and copper, and for the reason that from correspondence gold signifies celestial good in which were the most ancient people, silver spiritual good in which were the ancient people that followed, and copper natural good in which were the next posterity; while iron, from which the last age takes its name, signifies hard truth apart from good. 252. Those who talk with the angels of heaven also see the things that exist in heaven, because they are then seeing in the light of heaven, for their interiors are in that light; also the angels through them see the things that are on the earth. …Such was the conjunction that existed between angels of heaven and the most ancient people on this earth, and for this reason their times were called the Golden Age. Because this race acknowledged the Divine under a human form, that is, the Lord, they talked with the angels of heaven as with their friends, and angels of heaven talked with them as with their friends; and in them heaven and the world made one. But after those times man gradually separated himself from heaven by loving himself more than the Lord and the world more than heaven. …Then his interiors that had been open into heaven were closed up, while his exteriors were open to the world; and when this takes place man is in light in regard to all things of the world, but in thick darkness in regard to all things of heaven. 253. Since those times it is only rarely that any one has talked with the angels of heaven; but some have talked with spirits who are not in heaven. (Chapter13 & 28 Heaven and its Wonders and Hell from Things Heard and Seen by Emanuel Swedenborg)

                                                                Joseph Fielding Smith
The Eastern teachings inform us we are living in the Kali-Yuga, or Iron-Age, and the earth used to be in the Satya Yuga or Golden Age. The Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, from the Mormon Church, in his book Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 1 teaches that the earth used to be in a Celestial State until its fall and that it will be restored back to a Celestial State in the Future: This earth is to be renewed and brought back to the condition in which it was before it was cursed through the fall of Adam. When Adam passed out of the Garden of Eden, then the earth became a telestial world, and it is of that order today. I do not mean a telestial glory such as will be found in telestial worlds after their resurrection, but a telestial condition which has been from the days of Adam until now and will continue until Christ comes. When Christ comes the earth will be changed and so will all upon its face. It will become a terrestrial world then and will so remain for a 1,000 years; and all those who have lived a telestial law will be eliminated. …The earth will be cleansed from its wickedness and pass into the terrestrial order. This will necessitate a change in the very elements of the earth, and also of its inhabitants; yet they will still be mortal. Those who belong to the terrestrial order will dwell upon the earth during this period. Joseph Fielding Smith also taught: Adam had no blood in his veins before the fall. Blood is the life of the mortal body. After Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, blood became the life-giving fluid in Adam’s body and was inherited by his posterity. Blood was not only the life of the mortal body, but also contained in it the seeds of death which bring the mortal body to it’s end. Previously the lifeforce in Adam’s body was the spirit. (Man: His Origin and Destiny p362 & 376-7) This is supported by the Ascended Masters Who teach that Their blood stream is a Liquid Golden Light. They also teach there have been six or more Golden Ages down through the centuries that were maintained for thousands of years with no destructive force and these people got the Ascension and then the civilization decayed. Atlantis was the sixth Golden-Age however complete Perfection has never been reached on this earth since the second Golden Age. Animals were not in existence upon this planet during the first two Golden Ages! They only began to appear after humanity had generated the discord which followed those first two periods. (See p149-150 The Magic Presence by Godfre Ray King) The Lord Maha Chohan teaches that; of all the vast civilizations which have come and gone the records of them still remain; and all mankind will one day have access to them and know all that has really been. The research of the outer world cannot possibly determine all that has gone before; but the records kept thruout four and a half million years, will show to mankind the Evidence and the Truth of all that has gone before. Some of these ancient civilizations include Atlantis, Lemuria and the civilization on the Hyperborean continent. (The Voice of the I AM 1943 January p16-17) I believe Lemuria is also referred to as the continent of MU. Everything in the Pacific was at one time part of the land of MU. In the book Theosophy and the Seven Continents by David Pratt he points out what H. P. Blavatsky wrote: We believe in the seven continents, four of which have already lived their day, the fifth still exists, and two are to appear in the future. (The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky 2:404) The first continent- the Imperishable Sacred Land- is the most mysterious of the seven continents. …This sacred land… is stated never to have shared the fate of the other continents; because it is the only one whose destiny it is to last from the beginning to the end. …It is the cradle of the first man, and the dwelling of the last divine mortal. (S. D. 2:6) Hyperborea: The second Hyperborean continent. (S. D. 2:7, 11-12, 401, 775 & Theosophical Glossary by H. P. Blavatsky p147) Lemuria, the third continent embraced large areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans (S. D. 2:781) …Australia is the largest relic of Lemuria (S. D. 2:314) and other fragments are the many islands in the Pacific; it also included a large portion of California. (S. D. 2:7, 328,788) Atlantis’ main centre being located in what is now the Atlantic Ocean. (S.D. 2:402, 405) …The Atlantic portion of Lemuria was… known as Atlantis. (Theosophy and the Seven Continents by David Pratt) The Goddess of Justice teaches us concerning the next Golden Age on this earth: In the building of that Golden Age, which is to be permanent to the earth, is the Culmination of the Fulfillment of the Divine Plan! (The Voice of the I AM 1945 February p22) Quan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, points out that; The United States of America, as a Nation, [shall] ascend into that Octave of Light’s Activity which brings in the full Perfection of the Golden Age. (The Voice of the I AM 1941 August p21-22) Beloved Mighty Virgo asks: Help me return the Substance of the Earth Element upon this Planet to the Beauty and Perfection of Its Higher Mental Body; returning it to the Beauty, Purity and Perfection of those two first Golden Ages. …If they [mankind] would give obedience to that Beloved “I AM” Presence… they would not have to work as the outer world does and by the sweat of the brow method. (The Voice of the I AM 1945 March p14)



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