The jealousy in Cain is not just an emotional reaction. It is the birth of comparison as a consciousness pattern. Abel does not compete. Cain does. Abel offers from alignment. Cain offers from expectation. The divine preference does not create jealousy; it reveals it.
This moment exposes something fundamental: the ego cannot tolerate a world where worth is not measured by external approval. Cain collapses because his identity is built on reaction instead of presence. His offering was never about giving. It was about being seen.
The myth shows the first human struggle with projection. Cain blames Abel, but the fracture was inside him. He attacks the reflection instead of meeting the source. This is the root of violence: the refusal to face one’s inner field and the impulse to destroy what mirrors it.
Cain is not punished for the murder. His exile begins long before he kills Abel. He is exiled the moment he abandons himself.