“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man
whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, punditster@... wrote:
What connection, if any, does the story of the three wise men presenting gifts
to the infant Jesus, have to do with the fact that even today we decorate trees
during our most Holy Day of the year, just like it was the same Asian Tree of
Plenty? A cargo cult?
Also, is it a coincidence that the emblem for MUM is the Tree of Knowledge
which is akin to the Bodhi Tree of the historical Buddha?
Three motifs loom large on the stage of world mythology; the dying and rising
tree spirit, the tree of life, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the
cast-skin. The myth of immortality can be traced back to Neolithic times and
had it's origin in Southeast Asia well over 5000 years ago. These myths through
a process of diffusion and human migration have spread out in more complex
combinations in Western mythology.
In Asian mythology the fruit of the Tree of Plenty was discovered by children
through experimentation. Their parents decided to cut the tree down to get the
fruit. In this myth, the cutting down and destruction of the sacred tree acts
as a trigger, or is necessary to the general distribution of its product (Eden
in the East 356).
The myth of the Sacred Tree in Genesis and the Great Flood myth mentioned
in the Epic of Gilgamesh could be versions of two of the most basic myths
known to history. The rite of tree worship, in which the dying and rising
tree-spirit is destroyed and then brought back to life, points to man's ability
to harvest food. It is well known that the first cultivation of rice took place
in Southeast Asia and hence spread to India.
Likewise, the myth of the flood could have originated when the polar icecaps
melted along with a general warming of the planet, forcing countless thousands
of coastal habitations to migrate all over Asia, China, Tibet, India, and the
Middle East, about 7,000 years ago.
There are at least 2 more tree references, used in the TMO.
1. On the new currency by Maharishi: The Raam Mudra is named for the ancient
Indian prince whose image appears on the notes. The colorful bills also feature
Sanskrit messages of peace and prosperity, a cow and a wish-fulfilling tree.
2. On the cover of a textbook for the Ideal Girls School: The cover,
designed by Heather Hartnett, depicts the Kalp Vriksha, the wish-yielding
tree that symbolizes the effortless ability to fulfill desires from the level
of Natural Law.
Works Cited:
Harris, Stephen J. Understanding the Bible. Mountain View: Mayfield, 2000
The Jerusalem Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1966
Oppenhiemer, Stephen, M.D., Eden in the East. London: Phoenix, 1998
Other titles of interst:
De Camp, L. Sprague. Lost Continents. New York: Dover, 1970