Adam
and Eve ate just one apple, yet they incurred so much karma. Do you
have any idea how much we have eaten in our lives? We have eaten everything
including cows, horses, chickens, ducks and pigs. How can we endure
so much karma? Adam and Eve shared only one apple, each taking only
one half of it, but ended up falling from Heaven down to Earth. Then
they had to endure great pain, tiredness and hardships to earn their
bread. Their descendants, generation upon generation, were involved
in this karma as well, not to mention the additional karma we create
by ourselves. What I mean is, anything that is not given by God bears
karma. Its price and interest are beyond imagination. That's why we
have to offer the food to God and recite the Holy Names before each
meal in order to cleanse the karma. Otherwise, we would be eating the
devil's apple. Later he will ask a lot in return.
That
apple was actually created by God and placed in Eden. Why is it that
nothing carried karma in Eden but this apple? Since they were all from
God's creation, why must this apple, of all things, bear such a high
price? It's because God had not granted it to them. They stole it, so
it wasn't blessed by God. They listened to the devil, so it was blessed
by the devil instead. Not that God had to be fierce with them; not that
God had the heart to punish them, but that they belonged to the devil
once they had eaten from him. At least they became his subordinates,
tools, relatives or friends. In addition, they lost the privilege of
being God's friends.
If
they had informed God in advance, things would probably have been different.
God might have said, "Well, since you want it so much, all right. Feel
free to take as many as you want." There wasn't anything that God couldn't
do; but because they ate it furtively and received the blessing from
the devil, they brought disasters upon themselves. Similarly, if you
follow me and practice, you will have to keep a vegetarian diet and
meditate for two and a half hours, but it's no big deal. There are other
people who eat vegetarian as well. Besides, they eat only one meal a
day, live in graves instead of mansions, and meditate eighteen hours
a day. Yet they have received nothing from all this effort! What does
your two-and-a-half-hour amount to anyway? And you might eat several
meals a day, consuming more food than non-vegetarian people do!
However,
why do you still benefit from it? It's because you get the blessings.
It's because you are doing it correctly, and God has accepted you. Hes
promised, "Okay, if you do these things, I will give you this and that."
However, if you do it alone, who will ever know what you are doing?
For example, suppose there is a boss who runs a very big store. He hires
you to take care of his business. Then even if you have no customers
coming to you for two or three days, you will still get paid; because
he has made a deal with you by saying, "If you work for me, I will pay
you this amount of money each month. You'll get health insurance, I
will take care of your security benefits, you'll get a pension when
you're old, and there's special financial assistance when you're ill."
Later, the deal is done, and you have to look after the store. It doesn't
matter if there isn't a lot of work to do. You'll even get additional
money when you're sick or have an accident. You still get paid even
if you haven't sold a thing. However, if there is someone who hasn't
been hired by the boss, will he get paid for standing in the store for
fifteen years? Will he get anything for staying awake all day and night
looking after the store? No! Who cares if he stands there by himself?
Similarly, God has Hiers own system in this world, and some people work
on Hiers behalf. If we get in touch with them, they will introduce us
to God so we are connected with Hirm. If we just follow ordinary people's
footsteps, or even the devil's footsteps, we won't do ourselves any
good even when we have done as much, if not more. You get benefit because
we are connected with a totally different system.
The
Garden Of Eden Biblical Story Don't
Take The Devil's Apple
