Stillness of intent meaning no intent or just aware of the ego’s desires?

You're interpreting through a sin-based theological lens. From a non-dualistic perspective, what you call "death" was actually awakening—the birth of self-awareness necessary for the soul's evolution.

God Himself confirms in Genesis 3:22: "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil." The serpent's promise was fulfilled exactly as stated.

What you frame as "broken fellowship" and "shame" is the necessary descent into duality—what is called Maya—without which there can be no experience, no growth, no journey back to Source.

In Hinduism, Brahman must become the many to know itself. Consciousness requires contrast. It is the evolution of God, in, as, and through us.

The "death" wasn't punishment—it was transformation. The expulsion from Eden was the soul's graduation into the Realm of the Relative, where knowing oneself experientially becomes possible. Paradise without self-awareness isn't consciousness—it's oblivion.

The serpent was wise—and what Adam and Eve did was not sin, but the evolution of God.