Duality of Man: Unveiling Hidden Spiritual Truths in Genesis

From an occult perspective, the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis in the Bible can be interpreted in several ways that delve into deeper, esoteric meanings. The occult view often seeks to uncover hidden spiritual truths and symbolic meanings within the text and records the birth of the duality of man.

The Garden of Eden is humanity’s origin story, paralleling many origin stories from other religions and traditions. However, from the occult point of view, the story is written as an allegory with many hidden symbols embedded within each aspect of the story. Here, we will explore the story of the Garden of Eden.

The Birth of the Duality of Man

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is rich with symbolic meaning. The Garden represents a state of original purity and unity with the Divine. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil can be seen as symbols of different paths of spiritual knowledge. The Tree of Life represents direct communion with God, while the Tree of Knowledge represents the dualistic knowledge of the material world.

Eating the forbidden fruit and the subsequent fall from grace is often interpreted as the soul’s descent into the material plane, resulting in a loss of spiritual awareness and a separation from the Divine. This event signifies the beginning of human experience with duality, knowledge of good and evil, and the challenges associated with earthly existence.

Is our path in this life to find our way back to the Tree of Life while understanding the material world’s dualistic nature? Dualism separates the spirit (divinity) and the mind (materiality). This duality creates a division in man and appears at the root of many challenges.

Did dualism manifest in the Garden of Eden when we chose the Tree of Knowledge, thus thrusting us into a divisive reality (good and evil, right and wrong, light and dark) and separating us from our divine nature of oneness?

Mahayana Buddhism – Everything is One

Mahayana Buddhism proposes that nothing is separate. In her article on Mahayana Nondualism, Barbara O’Brien explains the complexities that thought creates: “All distinctions we make between this and that are arbitrary and exist only in our thoughts. This doesn’t mean that nothing exists, but that nothing exists the way we think it does.”

Spiritual teachers talk about the mind as the source of our problems—specifically, the dualistic nature of the mind that has divided ‘true’ reality. “The mind is a big lie, and the world is a projection of that lie. Both are unreal,” says Amma.

Mahayana Buddhism reminds us that only oneness (nirvana) exists and that the mind’s dualistic nature creates the wedge that pulls us into Samsara. David Loy said it beautifully in his book Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy: “Nirvana is the nondual ‘true nature’ of samsara.”

Duality of Man’s Mind – Nothing To Do

Now that we understand that we have a dualistic mind, what do we do about it? As J. Krishnamurti repeatedly pointed out, one cannot escape the trap of the mind through the mind. Krishnamurti taught that choiceless awareness was a key to liberation.

The juxtaposition of these two words—choiceless awareness—implies an awareness that isn’t a decision (directed by thought). Choiceless awareness suggests no division between the observer and the observed—and thus no duality. However, K also suggests that you and I can do nothing to evoke the state of choiceless awareness. As soon as we ‘try’ to become choicelessly aware, we fall back into the thought matrix, and duality is ignited like a flame.

Doing Something?

Krisnamuti’s advice leaves us in a precarious position—if there is nothing to do, then what should one do? After twenty years of studying Krishnamurti, and with the death of my Mother, I turned to planet medicine in an attempt to answer this question.

My psychological garden required additional tending. I needed to heal the habits and addictions that I had formulated throughout my life, which had shielded my heart. Rooted in my lower nature, I suppressed the possibility of a natural awakening in my material body (the soul’s vehicle). As Blavatsky eloquently said in the Secret Doctrine, “Matter (the body) is the vehicle for the manifestation of soul on this plane of existence, and soul is the vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of spirit.”

My body, mind, and soul required more enriching and nourishing soil—my vessel wasn’t ripe enough (or healthy enough) to travel the spiral of ascension. I rekindled the pillars of fire necessary for my soul’s rebirth through meditation, yoga, breathwork, devotion, plant ceremony, study of sacred texts, therapy, mantra, kundalini, music, and art.

After 20 years of attempting to enter the kingdom of heaven through my mind, I returned to the ancient technology formulated by the great teachers and traditions of the East and South America. Though I still live a dualistic life, I now have glimpses of the unified field. Dualism doesn’t have the solidity it once did—it feels and appears permeable.

A Path Toward Oneness

Both the Tree of Knowledge and The Tree of Life appear in our journeys; preparing the ground (the soil) for our soul to receive divine grace and loosen the chokehold of duality deserves contemplation. What soil needs tending in your life?

The stories within the Garden of Eden and other sacred texts represent deeper esoteric principles and the path to spiritual awakening, and many of these stories speak directly about the beginning of duality. It’s up to each of us to find our way back to source, or oneness, and break through the illusion of the duality of man.

I leave you with a quote by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj that leads us deeper into the mystery: “Love says, ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says, ‘I am nothing.’ Between the two, my life flows.”