The creation of Adam, the first man, is a great mystery, and we are all related to this mystery in a very significant way. To understand who we are, we have to understand who Adam is, what his creation means because we are a re-creation of that original creation. To know ourself we can start with this question, why was this species called man created, why did God create Adam?
We have been told by the saints and the prophets that God created the world and other beings before He created man. When God told the angels that He was going to create a being who would be greater than they are, with a capacity to know Him greater than theirs, certain angels objected, certain that if He created this being he would not be obedient, he would not do what God said, he would kill other creatures and argue with God. What the angels could not understand, and what we find it difficult to understand, is a state higher than our own. The angels could not understand God’s reasons for creating man because they did not know what God knew. In just the same way, we often assume things we cannot understand, we are limited by what we know, limited by our own state.
God did have a reason to create man. The rest of creation had been brought into existence as things which He produced from Himself yet not from His essence. He wanted to create something that came from His essence. The Old Testament says that God created man in His own image although we are told that God has no image, we are told that God is incomparable, we are told not to create pictures or representations of Him, nevertheless He created man in His own image. Why would God want to create something in His own image, why would He want to create something like Himself?
Before the beginningless beginning, God knew Himself through Himself, there was nothing else, there was only God. In His vastness He understood His own being, yet we can only understand other things by looking at them. To see ourself we need a mirror, but think about looking at a mirror without any backing while still being able to see ourself, to know ourself. God knew Himself in a way we cannot understand, He knew Himself by looking within Himself, there was no external reflection or image. He knew Himself from within Himself, but He wanted to know Himself from without as well, He wanted to know Himself as a reflection of Himself.
God decided to create a vice-regent in this world, a king for the world under His dominion. He wanted to make something in this world which included everything within itself, in the way that everything was included within Himself. Of course this creation is not God, we cannot make that mistake, but this creation is the closest thing to God in the created universe. This thing He created He called Adam, the first man who was given dominion over the whole world. It is said that God created the world with two hands, everything else with one hand, but when He created man He also blew His breath into him, something which separates us from the rest of creation.
We walk around with God’s breath within us, that breath which is the soul exists within us. As a symbol of His breath within us we are sustained by breath, our breath never stops, if it stops we stop. Just as our breath sustains us, God sustains the world, He continues to sustain the world.
Interestingly enough, when Adam was given dominion over everything he was unhappy even though he controlled the world, all the creatures, everything in the world. He had a relationship with God which was a response to something higher than himself, in that sense a limited relationship, and he asked God for a companion he could have a relationship with on his own level, as a way to know himself.
As God wanted to create a being who would know Him, understand Him and reflect Him so that His glory would be more evident, Adam wanted the same thing. The response to his request was a companion, Eve. Much later on the prophet Muhammad would tell us that half our path lies in marriage, we come to know ourself through marriage. How do we come to know God? By knowing ourself. This means the most important relationship we have in our worldly life is our marriage, and the second most important relationship in this world is with the rest of humanity. God put what he gave Adam in all of us, we have an opportunity to recognize it in everyone. Some of us recognize God in ourself yet we fail to see God in everyone else, rather like the angels who objected to the creation of Adam.
Satan complained that God would create a being unlike Him, separate from Him, a creature who would do things with appalling consequences for His creation. This is the kind of thing some of us now say about other people. When we do, what are we like, what are we imitating and why? We say this because we do not recognize what Satan and his followers refused to recognize in man. We refuse to bow to others while we bow to ourself, we will not give that respect to others. Until we do, until we offer that understanding to everyone we do not have it ourself, we cannot see God.
When we recognize God in ourself alone we are looking at our base desires, the animal aspect of our nature, yet we are different from the animals on this planet. If we look upon others as animals it means we have seen only the animal in ourself. If we see others as higher beings close to God, if we see the soul, the breath of God in other beings we can understand that in ourself. If we cannot see it in others we cannot see it in ourself.
The ability to act correctly is such an important part of our life. How can we trust God if we do not trust what He has placed in others? How can we be worthy of trust? Either we are worthy of it or we are not. Our proving ground for trustworthiness lies in our relations with the world, beginning with the family, the way we act within the family, expanding then to our relations with teachers, with friends and acquaintances.
If we say something, how important is our word, is it meaningful, are we conscious of what comes out of our mouth, are we conscious of the way we act? Do we understand what is right, is this understanding a part of our life? God created us as His vice-regent, His trustee for this domain, and that implies His trust in us. We need to acquire a level of trust by earning the trust of those around us; we trust their hearts and they trust ours.
We need to recognize our sameness, this immense glory where the unity of God exists. As we move away from this sameness we step into separation, the realm of separation from God. If we resist affection from our companions we resist affection for God, if we resist associating with our friends and family we resist associating with God. If we try to assert superiority over them we are trying to be superior to God, if we try to be the authority instead of letting them have their say we are trying to have authority over God.
We are all made from the same cloth and woven on the same loom, we came from one Creator. Anyone who says your God is different from my God has a god who is just an idol. Either we believe there is one God or we do not, if we believe it then He is everyone’s God. We need to know our place in creation because the story of Adam is our story. Until we learn that every story is our story we cannot know ourself. There is only one story, His story, the one we have to include in our existence.
We should learn the complete history of His story, the reason for the things He created. We should go to the realm of wisdom which lies beyond intellect. Wisdom cannot be explained by science, it can only be learned from those who live in that realm, who are in touch with divine knowledge, true knowledge which they have received from others who had that wisdom. Sometimes it appears that this knowledge has been lost to the world, that it cannot be recovered, but it is not lost, it is merely not searched for. We have to search, we have to make that effort.
The world is a powerful place, everything God produced, everything He created has a certain kind of power or force, powers which have magnetic properties, hypnotic properties which fascinate us. We have a choice to make, we can be fascinated or we can move towards God. The world can point us to God or to the things of the world. It depends on the direction we choose, we can pursue the things of the world or understand that these things point to God.
A sanctified being once said the world is God’s translator. Either we use the world to translate God for us, or we try to find the meaning of the world. If we try to find the meaning of the world it’s like peeling an onion, nothing is there at the end. If we are not looking for God there is nothing to find, He is the only thing there is to find. When we go in search of the wrong thing we are never satisfied. One main ingredient on this path is love, this is the path of love. We cannot form the right relationship with others unless we care for them, unless we care for them we cannot have the respect for others necessary to establish appropriate respect for ourself, appropriate respect for God. May we understand the nature of creation and proceed on that path to Him, the path He created for us.
