Philosophical Question? [Archive] - Literature Network Forums

NikolaiI

04-18-2009, 10:51 AM

God is the Supreme Lord, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yes. While this is true, however, it may do some benefit to look at this as though God were not a Person, for a moment.

God is the infinite. God is the Divine. God is all-powerful, all-beautiful. God is supreme bliss, knowledge, beauty, renunciation (God does not need anything). God is also the source of all the universes.

If we think about this in terms of an impersonal source for a moment, it may do some benefit. God is the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Now, can we be separate from the source? No, we cannot. God is within everything, and everything is within God. Nothing can ever be separate from God, except by ignorance.

This whole material universe is called Maya. Now, Maya is illusion. We are illusioned into thinking we are part of the material universe, when instead we are part of God, the source. Maya is God's illusory energy. God is... "truth heights above all illusion," as one person put it... God is above and transcendental to Maya. God is beyond everything, as God is infinite.

God is the only thing which is real, as Maya is not real. God is all which exists; all else (this material universe, everything included within it, especially our lives based on our ego, "I", and "mine",) is nothing. Buddhists understood this, they said that the nature of all phenomena is emptiness. However, so many Buddhists today have... well, they say "there is no God." But they don't understand God as the divine, as the infinite, and as the source. All phenomena is emptiness, but this is because these phenomena are part of Maya. Beyond the material sky is the spiritual sky. Etc.

Now, I have went to some length to explain God. But your question is, did God created evil and darkness? Since I have already replied that Maya is nothingness, I may have to defend it. Because I know that it would not sit well with most Westerners to hear that evil and darkness are nothingness. But let me explain why. The reason is that God is eternal. We are actually eternal, too. But God is eternal and infinite; and being the source of reality, He is the ONLY reality. All is part of God, Maya and we are part of God, too, but this does not mean anything, it doesn't change anything.

We still have to live healthy lives. The last thing I am saying is that evil is "okay" because it is "nothing." I am saying, that God, who is our source, we will return to... there is a verse from the Upanishads (part of the Vedas) which says;

From Delight we came into existence.
In Delight we grow.
At the end of our journey’s close,
Into Delight we retire.

And actually, the condition of our lives is dependent on our actions and thoughts and feelings, etc., and I am strongly in favour of morals, in fact I do not drink alcohol or eat meat, etc., but I am not trying to preach; but I just wanted to say I am not a moral relativist(!). It is true that because God is eternal and infinite; and as we are also eternal, that everything temporary fades away... the Buddhists say it is illusion, and Hindus are kind of in consternation about it. They don't want to say it is illusion; they say it is temporary but not false. However, if one views things from the stand point of eternity, if one is fully realized of one's eternal nature, then they are false, illusions, nothings.

Umh, I know this has gone on too long probably... just lastly, the message of mystics of all religions has kind of been similar... either they describe a similar place (Pure Land, the spiritual world), or they describe a similar Infinite Light and Transcendental Reality, and its characteristics. If they cannot get the description to come through, as it is actually fairly difficult, then all they can say is, "be at peace." I believe this comes after this life, probably. It is what the mystics have described, just boundless joy and bliss.

And lastly, the Hindu description of God is perhaps best. Sac-cid-ananda, Truth- Consciousness-Bliss.

That is what God is, infinite truth, bliss. Yes the infinite does exist. I also believe God is a Personality, I argued in this way, as though He were not, for the following reason: when I was an atheist and then became aware of a spiritual reality, in the beginning it was not a Personality of Godhead. Now I am a theist and I do worship the Personality of Godhead; but my switch was from an atheist to an impersonalist perspective.

So that is what God is, from my view. I have tried to explain in a way that people if they consider carefully, they might accept. It may be difficult to accept the existence of infinite truth and bliss; but I can tell you with all my heart it is true.

Last thing I will say is; consider the main reason people do not believe in God - and in God, I mean the infinite, the infinite truth and bliss, which is the source of all worlds. Basically, it is because there is suffering. Or it is because, we don't already know about God. Or because those who are loudest in their proclamations about God are saying something woefully different than what I have, and they have numerous contradictions or something like this. Another reason is that there are a great number of influences away from God. Sense gratification is glorified while intellectual pursuit, much less spiritual pursuit, is ignored or portrayed negatively. Usually ignored. For these reasons it is a rare path, spirituality. And it is even rarer to attain the peace and truth desired by this path. All in all there is a great cumulation of causes to prevent us from having peace and divine truth in our lives. But all these do not change the existence of the infinite.

Cheers. :)