The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil

The choice between the mind of Christ and the mind of anti-christ is actually found behind the symbols in the story of the Garden of Eden. The God in the garden was a spiritual teacher who had become one with the universal Christ mind and thus represented the cosmic Christ. He was tutoring Adam and Eve (as symbols for a large group of co-creators) on the path to personal Christhood. This path leads co-creators (who start out with a limited self-awareness and an identity as separate beings) to become one with their source and reclaim their true identity as sons and daughters of God. That is why the Bible says about the Christ, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). Thus, the path to Christhood is the Path of Oneness.

As part of that path, students had to face and overcome the temptation to use the mind of anti-christ to separate themselves from their teacher and their source instead of seeking oneness with their source. This is symbolized by the “fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.” The key to understanding the true meaning behind the symbol is to realize a subtle but all-important distinction. When you see the world through the mind of Christ, you clearly see that the Creator is the source of everything, and thus there is an underlying oneness behind all appearances. You see the Creator’s purpose and you see that following his laws is to your own benefit. You also see that your own higher Being made the choice to create the Conscious You because it wanted to be part of God’s creation. Thus, there is no conflict between God’s purpose and your own higher desires. In the mind of Christ, there is an absolute standard for separating good and evil, meaning what is real and unreal. The Christ mind knows that what is one with God’s purpose and laws is real and what is separated from God’s purpose and laws is unreal.

When you see the world through the mind of anti-christ, you cannot see the underlying oneness of all life, God’s purpose and God’s laws. Thus, the mind of anti-christ does not see reality; it sees an image of reality that it has created and projected upon reality. This is described in the first two of the ten commandments, “3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exodus, Chapter 20). The meaning is that when you see the world through the mind of anti-christ, you create a mental image of how you want God to be, and you project that image upon God, thus worshiping an idol before the real Creator who is beyond form.

To the mind of anti-christ there is no absolute standard for separating good and evil. Good and evil have become relative terms, and they exist only in relation to each other. Good is the opposite of evil which is the opposite of good. Yet the mind of anti-christ defines both good and evil, and both of them are separated from reality, meaning that what is humanly good is not in harmony with God’s absolute good. This is what makes it possible for people to create a veil of illusions that separates them from their source and makes them forget their origin. This is why people can believe they are sophisticated animals instead of spiritual beings or that they are miserable sinners instead of sons and daughters of God. It can even make people believe they are very religious and guaranteed to be saved, whereas they are still trapped in the mind of separation and thus cannot enter the kingdom of God that is within them. That is why Jesus talked about a true and a false path:

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew, Chapter 7)

This is a concept that will require serious contemplation before you fully internalize it. The reason being that you have grown up in a society that is influenced by the mind of anti-christ in many subtle ways. This has caused various institutions to define their own “truth” which they claim to be infallible. It is precisely because so many groups of people each claim to have their own infallible “truth” – instead of reaching for a clear vision of God’s truth – that there are so many conflicts on this planet that seemingly cannot be resolved. It is such man-made “truths” that make it possible for two groups of people to kill each other in the name of the same God. However, this is not because of a flaw in religion itself but a flaw in humankind’s approach to religion.

The fact is that all problems seen on this planet were created because people had become blinded by the mind of anti-christ. And the reason so many problems and conflicts seem to have no resolution is because people continue to look at the situation through the relative, dualistic logic of the mind of anti-christ. It is an eternal law that you cannot solve a problem with the same state of consciousness that created the problem. There is a solution to every problem seen on Earth, but in order to find the ultimate solution, you must first raise your consciousness above the consciousness that created the problem. And since all problems spring from the mind of anti-christ, you must first reach for the mind of Christ. That is why Jesus said, “First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

There are millions of people who volunteered to come into embodiment at this precise time in history because they wanted to help solve the many problems on Earth and help bring society into a new and better age, even a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. Yet in order for this to happen, humankind must fully learn the lesson people were meant to learn from Jesus and his mission. The main lesson is that there is an alternative to the relativistic, dualistic “truth” of the mind of anti-christ. The mind of anti-christ always thinks in terms of two opposites, and one must be right and the other wrong. Jesus was saying that as long as your vision is divided, both opposites are wrong, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34).

The evil eye is a vision divided by the relative opposites of the mind of anti-christ. Thus, in order for you to fulfill your personal mission and Divine plan, you must first raise your consciousness so you can begin to see beyond the veil created by the dualistic vision of the mind of anti-christ. And only when your eye is single, meaning your vision undivided by the relative opposites, will you see clearly how to solve your personal problems and larger problems. Only when a critical mass of people attain this one vision of the Christ mind, will they be able to raise society into a better age. Thus, the starting point is to purify your mind of the illusions of anti-christ and reach for the vision of Christ—and then you will find the solutions to the problems you are here to solve. As Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The kingdom of God is the Christ consciousness, and when you have it, the solution to all problems will be added unto you. Again, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Only through the mind of Christ can you be with God.

Why is there evil in the world?

Copyright © 2012 by Kim Michaels