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in fact, Adam has never for a single moment left the Garden of Eden. Because where can he go? This whole is the Garden of Eden, paradise is all over the place. It is God's world -- where can God expel Adam? Where? There is no other world, expulsion is impossible. This is the only existence there is.
So my understanding of the Biblical parable is that Adam has fallen asleep, he has become unconscious. Knowledge proved to be a kind of poison. It is -- knowledge always makes people unconscious. Because knowledge becomes content in their consciousness, and the content surrounds their consciousness like dust surrounds a mirror. And the more knowledge, the more dust. And one day the mirror is completely lost -- there are layers and layers of dust and it is very difficult to search for the mirror.
And you are that Adam and that Eve. It is not something that happened in the past; it is not history, it is already happening. It has always been happening and it will always be happening. Collect knowledge, eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and you become unconscious.
Then what is the way to become conscious? Drop contents, drop thoughts, drop knowledge. Unburden yourself. Let your mind become empty, let your mind become no mind. And suddenly you will be surprised that you have never gone anywhere else, you have been in paradise.
That's what happened to Gautam Buddha. The day he became enlightened, do you know what were his first words he uttered? He said: 'Wonder! Wonder! I have always been this. Wonder! Wonder! The whole existence has become enlightened with me.' Two things he said: 'I am surprised! For what have I been seeking and searching? And I have been always that!' And the second thing, he was surprised that 'Everybody is seeking the same that I was seeking, and everybody is really enlightened.'
All beings are Buddhas from the very beginning. You had been a Buddha in the beginning, you are a Buddha in the middle, you will be a Buddha in the end. Buddhahood is essential. It is not something accidental that happens and then disappears, sometimes happens, sometimes doesn't happen. It is your inner nature. It is you.
You ask me: IS
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