Did the kundalini serpent lie when revealing that your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.?

October 8, 2004

> > Five entities in the Bible have called men Gods. They are the> serpent in the garden, the God of the Old Testament, Moses, David,> and Jesus.> > DID THE SERPENT

LIE?> > Because the serpent was the first to identify man with God the> doctrine is greatly distrusted by orthodox Bible believers. They> call it the first great lie and seem to believe that this serpent> can never tell the truth. They do not recognize that it would be> impossible for any being to carry on an intelligent conversation and> lie all the time. Even Hitler, Nero and Judas usually told the> truth. The bad guys in history often used the truth to entice others> toward a

deceptive act. Thus when the serpent enticed Eve to eat > the forbidden fruit by saying: "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall> be as Gods, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:5 it is possible he was> telling the truth. In fact we know he was telling the truth because> it is verified by one of the Gods: "And the Lord God said,

Behold,> the MAN IS TO BECOME AS ONE OF US (one of the many who realize > that God is in man), to know good from evil." Gen 3:22>

In some Gnostic Christian texts, those that predate the Council of Constantinople, the Holy Spirit is called "God the Mother." Kundalini is often considered a manifestation, or an alternate interpretation of awakening to the Holy Spirit. Traditionally, in Hindu texts, the Kundalini Shakti is referred to as a Goddess; Goddess Shakti. In most Kundalini oriented writings, you will find this convention. Kundalini is the Goddess.The serpent is symbolic of untapped creative energy, life force/the kundalini. The literal translation of kundalini means coiling, like a snake. This symbol of "coiling" represents ready & able energies which are not yet tapped into by the Self. That will happen as one becomes spiritually enlightened. The kundalini is like the base of operations of your consciousness, so when you are finally ready to move & make changes in your life, then the kundalini will pave the way

for your consciousness to evolve & make those changes.

This figure above is taken from a Mesopotamian seal of c. 2200 B.C. and shows "the deity in human form, enthroned, with his caduceus emblem behind and a fire altar before." The symbol of this Serpent Lord was a double helix, similar with the representation of DNA.

Campbell writes about this omnipresent snake symbolism representing sacred scenes: "Throughout the material in the Primitive, Oriental and Occidental volumes of this work, myths and rites of the serpent frequently appear, and in a remarkably consistent symbolic sense. Wherever nature is revered as self-moving, and so inherently divine, the serpent is revered as symbolic of its divine life."

Campbell dwells on two crucial turning points for the cosmic serpent in world mythology. The first occurs "in the context of the patriarchy of the Iron Age Hebrews of the first millennium B.C., [where] the mythology adopted from the earlier neolithic and Bronze Age civilizations . . . became inverted, to render an argument just the opposite to that of its origin." In the Judeo-Christian creation story told in the first book of the Bible, one finds elements which are common to so many of the world's creation myths: the serpent, the tree, and the twin beings; but for the first time, the serpent, "who had been revered in the Levant for at least seven thousand years before the composition of the Book of Genesis," plays the part of the villain. Yahweh, who replaces it in the role of the creator, ends up defeating "the serpent of the cosmic sea, Leviathan." The second turning point for Campbell occurs in Greek mythology, where Zeus was initially

represented as a serpent. However, around 500 B.C., the myths are changed, and Zeus becomes a serpent-killer. He secures the rule of the patriarchal gods of Mount Olympus by defeating Typhon, the enormous serpent-monster who is the child of the earth goddess Gaia and the incarnation of the forces of nature.

In the Eastern traditions the serpent represents the power of Kundalini, "an enormous reserve of untapped potential within each of us. It is normally depicted as a coiled or sleeping serpent, located in an area towards the base of the spine.

The Kundalini, in the form of latency, is coiled like a serpent. One who impels this Sakti (energy) to move will attain liberation. Hathayogapradipika, Chap. 3, v.108

"Kundalini'' literally means coiling, like a snake. In the classical literature of hatha yoga kundalini is described as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. The image of coiling, like a spring, conveys the sense of untapped potential energy. Perhaps more meaningfully kundalini can be described as a great reservoir of creative energy at the base of the spine. It's not useful to sit with our consciousness fixed in our head and think of kundalini as a foreign force running up and down our spine. Unfortunately the serpent image may serve to accentuate this alien nature of the image. It's more useful to think of kundalini energy as the very foundation of our consciousness so that when kundalini moves through our bodies our consciousness necessarily changes with it.

By gradually and safely awakening this serpent and employing its power, you will benefit greatly from an elevation in consciousness, promotion of physical well-being and an expansion of awareness. You will feel more relaxed and at ease with yourself. Your life will be transformed into one which is happy, healthy & harmonious." (Dolfzine Online Fitness) The divine power, Kundalini, shines like the stem of a young lotus; like a snake, coiled round upon herself, she holds her tail in her mouth and lies resting half asleep at the base of the body. Yoga Kundalini Upanishad (1.82)

Given the utmost importance of the revered serpent of the yogis to attain enlightenment and immortality how has this knowledge been suppressed from the gnostics and lost over time?

Elaine Pagels is a preeminent figure in the theological community whose impressive scholarship has earned her international respect.

Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. In three consecutive years, she was awarded the Rockefeller, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships.

As a young researcher at Barnard College, she changed forever the historical landscape of the Christian religion by exploding the myth of the early Christian Church as a unified movement.Her findings were published in the bestselling book, The Gnostic Gospels, an analysis of 52 early Christian manuscripts that were unearthed in Egypt. Known collectively as the Nag Hammadi Library, the manuscripts show the pluralistic nature of the early church and the role of women in the developing Christian movement. As the early church moved toward becoming an orthodox body with a canon, rites and clergy, the Nag Hammadi manuscripts were suppressed and deemed heretical.

According to the noted historian Elaine Pagels for nearly 2,000 years, Christian tradition "has preserved and revered orthodox writings that denounce the gnostics, while suppressing — and virtually destroying — the gnostic writings themselves. Now, for the first time, certain texts discovered at Nag Hammadi reveal the other side of the coin: how gnostics denounced the orthodox. The Second Treatise of the Great Seth polemicizes against orthodox Christianity, contrasting it with the "true church" of the gnostics. Speaking for those he calls the sons f light, the author says:

.. . . we were hated and persecuted, not only by those who were ignorant [pagans], but also by those who think they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals.

The Saviour explains that such persons made an imitation of the true church, "having proclaimed a doctrine of a dead man and lies, so as to resemble the freedom and purity of the perfect church (ekklesia)." Such teachings, he charges, reconciles its adherents to fear and slavery, encouraging them to subject themselves to the earthly representatives of the world creator, who, in his "empty glory," declares, "I am God, and there is no other beside me." Such persons persecute those who have achieved liberation through gnosis, attempting to lead them astray from "the truth of their freedom."

The Apocalypse of Peter describes, as noted before, catholic Christians as those who have fallen "into an erroneous name and into the hand of an evil, cunning man, with a teaching in a multiplicity of forms," allowing themselves to be ruled heretically. For, the author adds, they blaspheme the truth and proclaim evil teaching. And they will say evil things against each other. . . . many others . . . who oppose the truth and are the messengers of error . . . set up their error . . . against the purest thoughts of mine...

The author takes each of the characteristics of the catholic church as evidence that this is only an imitation church, a counterfeit, a "sisterhood" that mimics the true Christian brotherhood. Such Christians, in their blind arrogance, claim exclusive legitimacy: "Some who do not understand mystery speak of things which they do not understand, but they will boast that the mystery of the truth belongs to them alone." Their obedience to bishops and deacons indicates that they "bow to the judgment of the leaders." They oppress their brethren, and slander those who gain gnosis.

The Testimony of Truth attacks ecclesiastical Christians as those who say "we are Christians," but "who [do not know who] Christ is." . . .

The bitterness of these attacks on the "imitation church" probably indicates a late stage of the controversy. By the year 200, the battle lines had been drawn: both orthodox and gnostic Christians claimed to represent the true church and accused one another of being outsiders, false brethren, and hypocrites.

How was a believer to tell true Christians from the false ones? Orthodox and gnostic Christians offered different answers, as each group attempted to define the church in ways that excluded the other. Gnostic Christians, claiming to represent only "the few," pointed to qualitative criteria. In protest against the majority, they insisted that baptism did not make a Christian: according to the Gospel of Philip, many people "go down into the water and come up without having received anything," and still they claimed to be Christians. Nor did the profession of the creed, or even martyrdom, count as evidence: "anyone can do these things." Above all, they refused to identify the church with the actual visible community that, they warned, often only imitated it. Instead, quoting a saying of Jesus ("By their fruits you shall know them") they required evidence of spiritual maturity to demonstrate that a person belonged to the true church.” 1The Kundalini was the first to identify man with God. So did the serpent lie when revealing that ""Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil."? Definitely not.jagbir

1. Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, Vintage Books, 1989, p. 102-4