The Scriptures were written for a particular point in time and the story of original sin is one of humankind’s descent into matter. In the Christian religion traditionally it is said that the first humans disobeyed the Lord and that because of this disobedience, they were cast out of Paradise. But since we are entering a new period, human beings need new explanations; in fact humans had freedom of choice: to stay in Paradise or to leave. Besides, the serpent told them they could either stay or leave.

The first humans made a choice, to explore…
The fall is nothing more than the choice of the first humans to study in order to acquire knowledge. This can be explained by the image of the tree. Suppose that the homes of the first humans were at the top of the tree. The top represents the flowers; they lived in these flowers, and there they were in contact with light, warmth, life, beauty and freedom. Only they asked themselves, ‘But what is this tree? Where does this energy, this sap, come from? We see a trunk, but further down there is something else — what is it? We would like to know more about it.’ And because exploring is the key to knowledge, they left their magnificent homes that touched the sky, and they went down through the trunk to see, to study. Now that they are in the roots, they cry out because it is dark and heavy and they feel crushed. The roots are a period, a cycle. This is what is called the descent; and the earth into which they ‘descended’ was not as subtle, as luminous, as beautiful as Heaven.

God was not angry; He was not against this experience and did not banish the humans completely. Quite on the contrary, He is always there if they want to come back. The only thing is that they have to finish the experiences they have begun, and since the conditions on the earth are not the same as above, they face some difficulties: the need to work, to labour.

Earth is therefore a school where people learn many things but we must not imagine that God is angry with humans, no, He is waiting for the day when they will want to come back. He is generous, understanding, so He has given them eternity. He says, ‘They will suffer for a little while, a few million years, and then they will come back. Their spirit is immortal, what is a few million years in comparison to eternity?’ The Lord’s reasoning is not like ours, He is not in a hurry… and as they wait for the time they return to Him, human beings will learn many things.

We all have a memory of our life in Paradise
But the wonderful thing that you don’t know — or maybe you just know, subconsciously — is that all this life we lived in Paradise is recorded inside us, engraved in our memory. It is there, and from time to time we feel nostalgic for that life, a memory, and we relive moments of Paradise in beauty, music and poetry. This Paradise is within all human souls, for all souls have already sojourned in Paradise.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov