The essence of life is Love
Why did Cain kill Abel?
As for Cain, it’s clear—envy and jealousy drove him to kill his brother.
But why did God spare the murderer’s life?
On one hand, it was so that suffering could help him change, and on the other hand, perhaps Abel was also at fault in some way…
But how could someone whose offerings were accepted by God be guilty?
I pondered this for a long time and came to an inevitable conclusion—blood brothers carry a common tendency. It’s likely that they both committed a crime.
But one did so secretly, while the other—openly. If Cain’s sin was jealousy, then Abel’s was probably pride—a sense of being chosen by God.
This feeling most likely emerged in Abel when he saw that his offerings were pleasing to God.
It’s likely that he experienced a sense of superiority over his brother. Sin begins with the loss of love for another person.
After all, God resides in each of our souls, and a sense of superiority subtly kills love.
Pride gives rise to envy. The stronger Abel’s sense of being chosen grew, the more Cain’s jealousy and envy flared up.
This mythical story brilliantly illustrates the roots of sickness and misfortune.
Cain and Abel’s parents tasted the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
If we interpret this parable superficially, we start believing that once upon a time, a bearded old man forbade two people from eating something, and they disobeyed.
So, to overcome this primary sin, one must be obedient. And since we cannot see the Divine will, we must obey the priest, our spiritual mentor.
However, if we delve into the meaning of this parable, a different picture emerges before us.
What is good and evil?
The concepts of good and evil are tied to our body, spirit, and soul.
Pain for the body is considered evil, while pleasure is deemed good. Life’s hardships are viewed as evil, and stability and well-being as good.
When a close person hurts us, we perceive it as evil, but their care, warmth, and affection are seen as good.
The notions of good and evil are applicable to what is being destroyed, to what can be lost.
Destruction and loss are considered evil; acquisition and the increase of blessings are considered good.
The story of Eden encodes the stages of life’s development.
The essence of life is eternal. Love exists beyond time, beyond good and evil.
For a monotheist, God is above good and evil.
But for a pagan, God is good, and everything the pagan dislikes is evil. A pagan externally identifies with God; for him, God is his instincts and desires.
A monotheist feels internal unity with the Creator; his eternal soul, rising above good and evil, cannot be inherently aggressive. External aggression is appropriate only as a defense of what is being destroyed.
Tasting the fruits from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes immersion in the material, causative world. It is the knowledge of God through external development.
There is always a great danger in such development, the essence of which is that one may forget the Whole for the sake of a part.
One may forget about love for the sake of instincts. One may forget about one’s divine self, focusing only on the human «self.»
In this case, a sense of superiority, absolute righteousness, and the primacy and significance of one’s desires arise.
The faster we develop, the more control we gain over the world, and the more extensive and varied our desires become, the more intense our striving towards God must be, the stronger our need for love.
Otherwise, an invisible sin will become visible and manifest itself as a crime or an illness.
This raises the question: if superiority and condemnation give the initial push for future misfortunes, how should one view Judas, who betrayed Christ?
He lived beside the Teacher for three years and was far from the worst of the disciples, given that he was entrusted with the community’s funds. The position of treasurer in Christ’s community was a high status.
So how can we avoid condemning Judas, who robbed and betrayed the One who was saving his soul?
After long contemplation, I eventually came to a simple conclusion.
In the system of coordinates proposed by modern religion, it is impossible to overcome condemnation.
When evaluating a situation either from the standpoint of good or from its opposite, it is impossible to refrain from condemnation.
This made me ponder why we think in extremes, why we cannot perceive any process dialectically.
It is clear that the reason lies in religious misconceptions stemming from naive pagan beliefs.
In the eyes of today’s Catholics and Orthodox believers, God is absolute good. Therefore, there must also be absolute evil. The devil was assigned responsibility for this.
All that is good comes from God, and all that is bad comes from the devil. This is how the modern believer thinks.
Thus, Judas can only be either bad or good. The concept of the Church’s infallibility arose from such a scheme of thought.
A good person is always right, always holy, always sinless. Everyone must strive to become good and stop being bad. Such a way of thinking kills love.
It leads to the deification of good and the emergence of contempt for evil.
For a pagan, acknowledging that both good and evil come from God is practically an impossible task.
This not only gives rise to diseases but also to misfortunes and tragedies.
S.N. Lazarev, «The Survival Experience, Part 4»
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