Hello there Christians,
I do hope this is not a DIR violation, I just had a quick question. I understand that "you" (most christian believers AFAIK) believe the idea that we were made in God's image. Firstly, I'd be interested on what exactly this means either through explanation or links, but it's not my main point - I understand the idea. My question is what varies between pre-fall and post-fall? For example, is it pointless to make arguments like;
1. I am sinful
2. I amade in the image of God
.'. God is sinful ?
In other words, are we inherently different now than before the fall? Another question is how much like God were we created? I assume not identically. Actually I guess I'd like my first question answered as well; what does it mean to be made in God's image. I just realized that even if we are now inherently different than pre-fall, sin is what actually caused the fall, and the argument above could still be sound depending on what "in God's image" means.
I'm very sorry this post is so scattered, I am kind of thinking on the go. I guess I'm just curious on further discussion about the concept. And please - if I misunderstood DIR rules and this is not appropriate then feel free to report.
Our spiritual life can be described as a journey from the unconscious unity to conscious unity. I would like to describe this using the symbol of serpent. The serpent holding its own tail is the symbol of unconscious unity. The serpent crawling on the ground is the symbol of fall, time,becoming, good and evil, effort, sin etc. The serpent raising its hood is the symbol of conscious unity, awakening,freedom,liberation or salvation.
Scripture says that we are created in the image and likeness of God. How can we describe God:
God is Holy, Wholeness,Eternal, Fullness and Unfolding.
We have this image within us.
We are also holy, whole, eternal, fullness and unfolding.
The difference is that God's Wholeness is independent and human Wholeness is dependent.
God's energy is like the Sun that radiates its fullness.
Human being's energy is like the Moon energy, that receives the light from the Sun(God) and gives.
The nature of image of God is unfolding life. There is no movement of becoming.
When we unfold life we are in the image of God. Unfolding means manifesting eternity in the present moment. It is living in the NOW.
When we are born the image of God is not yet conditioned. But we are in a state of innocence. We are not yet conscious of this image.
So the desire arises in us to become like God. This desire is born of ignorance because we are already like God but not aware of it. The desire to become like God is not a bad desire. Actually it is a good desire. It is a desire to become conscious what is unconscious.
This desire creates in us another entity which we can call 'soul'. The nature of this entity is feeling of something lacking. It is made of ignorance and desire. It is like a cloud. It does not have any substance and it is not permanent. The Buddha described it as anatta and anicca. This sense of lack projects the object outside of itself and thus creates the process of becoming, time, effort, good and evil. This is what we call 'fall'. The fall is coming out of our unconscious state and initiating the path becoming. It is a fall from unfolding to becoming.The way of becoming is contrary to the image and likeness of God. This path is symbolized with the serpent crawling on the ground. But this path does not lead us where we want go.We are already like God but we want to become like God. So we take the wrong path. When we realize what we want to become we are already that then this journey of becoming stops and we discover we are already like God. We start unfolding our life. This is represented by the serpent rising its hood. The difference between the serpent holding its own tail and serpent rising its hood is: the first is unconscious and the second is conscious. We cannot go directly from the unconscious to the conscious but we have to go through the path of becoming. The path of becoming is like a dream. When we wake up it disappears. It belongs to our fallen state. Our image of God is timeless. It will not disappear. Christians think that fall is disobedience. But fall is a necessary process for our awakening or growth. It is felix culpa, happy fault.
To summarize:God is like the Sun, radiating from its Fullness. God unfolds its being.
The image and likeness of God is like the Moon, receiving the divine light and giving. In the image of God there is no place for religions or belief systems or scriptures and spiritual practices. It also unfolds light received from the Sun.
The fallen self is like the cloud, which flies at a certain height. It is not permanent. It is unsubstantial and impermanent. All religions, belief systems, spiritual practices belong to this level. They try to stop this movement and bring to awakening.
