Showing posts with label immortality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immortality. Show all posts

Thursday, January 5, 2017

The Tree of Life: The source of eternal Life and Blessing


We all know the story of Adam and Eve and The Tree of Knowledge that changed everything, but we do not know much about The Tree of Life mentioned in Bible “Genesis 3:22”: Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of The Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever”

We know that the Tree of Life was located in the center of the Garden of Eden also called ”The Garden of the LORD” According to the Genesis is a real Tree same as The Tree of Knowledge, my logical thinking say if there was The Tree of Knowledge there was also The Tree of Life, the source of eternal life and blessing


Garden of Eden photo: prepareforchange.net

Other parts of the Bible also mention the power of this Tree, Ezekiel 47:12 (NASB) "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. 
Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." 

Revelation 22:2 : The River of Life
"1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a Tree of Life, producing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

John Stephens artwork Paisaje de fantasía, Ilustración de paisaje, Arte fantástico

The conclusion is that only The Leaves from The Three of Life can heal, and the twelve kinds of fruit will be only for food. The Bible tells us nothing about how to use these leaves to benefit from these Divine healing powers, even if we find the Tree of Life would not be easy to attain immortality.


Tree of life - Wikipedia

The Tree of Life is mentioned in many of the world's mythologies including:

Ancient Iran ( Persian mythology, the Gaokerena world tree is a large, sacred Haoma tree which bears all seeds) wikipedia

Tree of life Gaokerena world tree - Wikiwand

Ancient Egypt  ( To the Ancient Egyptians, the Tree of Life represented the hierarchical chain of events that brought every thing into existence. The spheres of the Tree of Life demonstrate the order, process, and method of creation ) wikipedia

photo: pinwheel

 Assyria ( The Assyrian Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines ) wikipedia


The Assyrian Tree of Life Mesocosm

Baha'i Faith ( The concept of the tree of life appears in the writings of the Baha'i Faith, where it can refer to the Manifestation of God, a great teacher who appears to humanity from age to age )

An example of this can be found in the Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh:

Creed and beliefs of Baha'i Faith: A brief history & notes on progressive revelation

"Have ye forgotten that true and radiant morn, when in those hallowed and blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence beneath the shade of the tree of life, which is planted in the all-glorious paradise? Awestruck ye listened as I gave utterance to these three most holy words: O friends! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless hearts, defiled with worldly desires and cravings. Would ye but sanctify your souls, ye would at this present hour recall that place and those surroundings, and the truth of My utterance should be made evident unto all of you."

Also, in the Tablet of Ahmad
"Verily He is the Tree of Life, that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great" wikipedia


Buddhism


( The Bo tree, also called Bodhi tree, according to Buddhist tradition, is the pipal (Ficus religiosa) under which the Buddha sat when he attained Enlightenment (Bodhi) at Bodh Gaya (near Gaya, west-central Bihar state, India)

The Bodhi Tree ferrebeekeeper

A living pipal at Anuradhapura, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), is said to have grown from a cutting from the Bo tree sent to that city by King Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. wikipedia


China

( In Chinese mythology, a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix and a dragon; the dragon often represents immortality. A Taoist story tells of a tree that produces a peach every three thousand years. The one who eats the fruit receives immortality) wikipedia


Urartu


( In ancient Urartu, the Tree of Life was a religious symbol and was drawn on walls of fortresses and carved on the armor of warriors. The branches of the tree were equally divided on the right and left sides of the stem, with each branch having one leaf, and one leaf on the apex of the tree. 


The Urartian Tree of Life photo: wikipedia





















Servants stood on each side of the tree with one of their hands up as if they are taking care of the tree. ) wikipedia


Serer religion

In Serer religion, the tree of life as a religious concept forms the basis of Serer cosmogony. Trees were the first things created on Earth by the supreme being Roog (or Koox among the Cangin) Thus, Somb is not only the Tree of Life in Serer society, but the symbol of immortality. wikipedia


Middle East


The Epic of Gilgamesh is a similar quest for immortality. In Mesopotamian mythology, Etana searches for a 'plant of birth' to provide him with a son. This has a solid provenance of antiquity, being found in cylinder seals from Akkad (2390–2249 BCE)wikipedia

17th-century depiction of the Tree of Life in Palace of Shaki Khans, Azerbaijan photo: wikipedia


Kabbalah


Jewish mysticism depicts the Tree of Life in the form of ten interconnected nodes, as the central symbol of the Kabbalah. It comprises the ten Sephirot powers in the Divine realm.

Sephirot powers Alchemy tattoo, Occult symbols, Fullmetal alchemist Pinterest

The panentheistic and anthropomorphic emphasis of this emanationist theology interpreted the Torah, Jewish observance, and the purpose of Creation as the symbolic esoteric drama of unification in the Sephirot, restoring harmony to Creation. wikipedia


Islam


The "Tree of Immortality" is the tree of life motif as it appears in the Quran. It is also alluded to in hadiths and tafsir. Unlike the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, also called the tree of immortality, which Allah specifically forbade to Adam and Eve.


Carpet Tree of Life photo: wikipedia

Satan, disguised as a serpent, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, thus disobeying Allah. The hadiths also speak about other trees in heaven. wikipedia


And just like The Great Flood of Noah, The Tree of Life or of Immortality, It is common in many religions of the world that could not interact with each other and to me it's proof that this Tree to exist somewhere.


Let's imagine that we want to find the tree and become immortals

If we start a campaign with the goal of finding The Tree of Life the first step would be to find the location of the Garden of Eden or one of the locations from mythologies above, where The Tree of Life was mentioned. 



Where Is the Garden of Eden Located Today? by Andrei Tapalaga History of Yesterday

We will continue with Bible and our Tree of Life.Throughout history many scientists and explorers have tried to find the location of the Garden of Eden 


Although the Garden of Eden is considered to be mythological by most scholars,there have been other suggestions for its location: for example, at the head of the Persian Gulf, in southern Mesopotamia (now Iraq) where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea in Iranian Azerbaijan, and in the vicinity of Tabriz; and in the Armenian Highlands or Armenian Plateau.


Map by Pierre Mortier, 1700, based on theories of Pierre Daniel Huet, Bishop of Avranches. A caption in French and Dutch reads: Map of the location of the terrestrial paradise, and of the country inhabited by the patriarchs, laid out for the good understanding of sacred history, by M. Pierre Daniel Huet. photo: wikipedia

According to the Bible, the location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 10-14:

A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams.


Map showing the rivers in the Middle East known in English as the Tigris and Euphrates. photo: wikipedia

The first is named the Pishon, and this winds all through the land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this country is pure; bdellium and cornelian stone are found there. The second river is named the Gihon, and this winds all through the land of Cush. The third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.


After we found the Garden of Eden all that remains is to identify The Tree of Life and discover how to use these leaves to achieve immortality.

I hope you enjoyed my article


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