1. GOD AND SUFFERING
Not only by love being obstructed, but also by love being wrongly forced, are living beings caught in and eaten up by all kinds of miseries in life.
Not only by love being obstructed, but also by love being wrongly forced, are living beings caught in and eaten up by all kinds of miseries in life.
Q Buddha is said to have ignored questions about God.
R
Yes, and because of this he has been called an agnostic. In fact Buddha was concerned with guiding the seeker to realise Bliss here and now, rather than with academic discussions about God and so forth.
–
Q Is there a separate being Iswara [personal God] who is the rewarder of virtue and punisher of sins? Is there a God?
R
Yes.
Q What is he like?
R
Iswara has individuality in mind and body, which are perishable, but at the same time he has also the transcendental consciousness and liberation inwardly.
Iswara, the personal God, the supreme creator of the universe really does exist.
But this is true only from the relative standpoint of those who have not realized the Truth, those people who believe in the reality of individual souls.
From the absolute standpoint the Sage cannot accept any other existence than the impersonal Self, one and formless.
Iswara has a physical body, a form and a name, but it is not so gross as this material body. It can be seen in visions in the form created by the devotee.
The forms and names of God are many and various and differ with each religion.
His essence is the same as ours, the real Self being only one and without form.
Hence forms he assumes are only creations or appearances.
Iswara is immanent in every person and every object throughout the universe.
The totality of all things and beings constitutes God. There is a power out of which a small fraction has become all this universe, and the remainder is in reserve. Both this reserve power plus the manifested power as the material world together constitute Iswara.
Q So ultimately Iswara is not real?
R
Existence of Iswara follows from our conception of Iswara. Let us first know whose concept he is. The concept will be only according to the one who conceives.
Find out who you are and the other problems will solve themselves.
Iswara, God, the Creator, the personal God, is the last of the unreal forms to go.
Only the absolute being is real.
Hence, not only the world, not only the ego, but also the personal God are of unreality.
We must find the absolute – nothing less.
–
Q God is perfect. Why did he create the world imperfect?
R
Are you something separate from God that you should ask this question?
So long as you consider yourself the body, you see the world as external to you.
It is to you that the imperfection appears.
God is perfection and his work is also perfection, but you see it as imperfect because of your wrong identification with the body or the ego.
–
Q But why should there be suffering now?
R
If there were no suffering, how could the desire to be happy arise?
If that desire did not arise, how could the quest of the Self arise?
–
R
If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution.
Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil.
What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view?
In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes.
One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.
–
Q But one may not be quite sure of God’s grace.
R
If the unripe mind does not feel God’s grace, it does not mean that this is absent, for that would imply that God is at times not gracious, that is to say, ceases to be God.
Q Is that the same as the saying of Christ According to thy faith be it done unto thee?
R
Quite so.
–
Q Is God personal?
R
Yes, He is always the first person, the I, ever standing before you.
Because you give precedence to worldly things, God appears to have receded to the background.
If you give up all else and seek Him alone, He will remain as the ‘I’, the Self.
–
R
Not from any desire, resolve, or effort on the part of the rising sun, but merely due to the presence of his rays, the lens emits heat, the lotus blossoms, water evaporates, and people attend to their various duties in life. In the proximity of the magnet the needle moves.
Similarly, the soul or jiva subjected to the threefold activity of creation, preservation and destruction, which takes place merely due to the unique Presence of the Supreme Lord, performs acts in accordance with its karma, and subsides to rest after such activity.
But the Lord Himself has no resolve; no act or event touches even the fringe of His Being. This state of immaculate aloofness can be likened to that of the sun, which is untouched by the activities of life, or to that of the all–pervasive ether, which is not affected by the interaction of the complex qualities of the other four elements
–
Q Does he exist in any particular place or form?
R
If the individual is a form, even Self, the source, who is the Lord, will also appear to be a form. If one is not a form, since there then cannot be knowledge of other things, will that statement that God has a form be correct? God assumes any form imagined by the devotee through repeated thinking in prolonged meditation.
With regard to his location, God does not reside in any place other than the Heart.
It is due to illusion, caused by the ego, the `I am the body' idea, that the kingdom of God is conceived to be elsewhere.
Be sure that the Heart is the kingdom of God. Know that you are the perfect shining light which not only makes the existence of God's kingdom possible, but also allows it to be seen as some wonderful heaven.
To know this, is alone Jnana [knowledge].
–
Q Does knowing myself imply knowing God?
R
Yes, God is within you.
Q Then, what stands in the way of my knowing myself or God?
R
Your wandering mind and perverted ways.
Q I am a weak creature. But why does not the superior power of the Lord within remove the obstacles?
R
Yes, He will, if you have the aspiration.
R
Yes, and because of this he has been called an agnostic. In fact Buddha was concerned with guiding the seeker to realise Bliss here and now, rather than with academic discussions about God and so forth.
–
Q Is there a separate being Iswara [personal God] who is the rewarder of virtue and punisher of sins? Is there a God?
R
Yes.
Q What is he like?
R
Iswara has individuality in mind and body, which are perishable, but at the same time he has also the transcendental consciousness and liberation inwardly.
Iswara, the personal God, the supreme creator of the universe really does exist.
But this is true only from the relative standpoint of those who have not realized the Truth, those people who believe in the reality of individual souls.
From the absolute standpoint the Sage cannot accept any other existence than the impersonal Self, one and formless.
Iswara has a physical body, a form and a name, but it is not so gross as this material body. It can be seen in visions in the form created by the devotee.
The forms and names of God are many and various and differ with each religion.
His essence is the same as ours, the real Self being only one and without form.
Hence forms he assumes are only creations or appearances.
Iswara is immanent in every person and every object throughout the universe.
The totality of all things and beings constitutes God. There is a power out of which a small fraction has become all this universe, and the remainder is in reserve. Both this reserve power plus the manifested power as the material world together constitute Iswara.
Q So ultimately Iswara is not real?
R
Existence of Iswara follows from our conception of Iswara. Let us first know whose concept he is. The concept will be only according to the one who conceives.
Find out who you are and the other problems will solve themselves.
Iswara, God, the Creator, the personal God, is the last of the unreal forms to go.
Only the absolute being is real.
Hence, not only the world, not only the ego, but also the personal God are of unreality.
We must find the absolute – nothing less.
–
Q God is perfect. Why did he create the world imperfect?
R
Are you something separate from God that you should ask this question?
So long as you consider yourself the body, you see the world as external to you.
It is to you that the imperfection appears.
God is perfection and his work is also perfection, but you see it as imperfect because of your wrong identification with the body or the ego.
–
Q But why should there be suffering now?
R
If there were no suffering, how could the desire to be happy arise?
If that desire did not arise, how could the quest of the Self arise?
–
R
If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution.
Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil.
What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view?
In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes.
One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.
–
Q But one may not be quite sure of God’s grace.
R
If the unripe mind does not feel God’s grace, it does not mean that this is absent, for that would imply that God is at times not gracious, that is to say, ceases to be God.
Q Is that the same as the saying of Christ According to thy faith be it done unto thee?
R
Quite so.
–
Q Is God personal?
R
Yes, He is always the first person, the I, ever standing before you.
Because you give precedence to worldly things, God appears to have receded to the background.
If you give up all else and seek Him alone, He will remain as the ‘I’, the Self.
–
R
Not from any desire, resolve, or effort on the part of the rising sun, but merely due to the presence of his rays, the lens emits heat, the lotus blossoms, water evaporates, and people attend to their various duties in life. In the proximity of the magnet the needle moves.
Similarly, the soul or jiva subjected to the threefold activity of creation, preservation and destruction, which takes place merely due to the unique Presence of the Supreme Lord, performs acts in accordance with its karma, and subsides to rest after such activity.
But the Lord Himself has no resolve; no act or event touches even the fringe of His Being. This state of immaculate aloofness can be likened to that of the sun, which is untouched by the activities of life, or to that of the all–pervasive ether, which is not affected by the interaction of the complex qualities of the other four elements
–
Q Does he exist in any particular place or form?
R
If the individual is a form, even Self, the source, who is the Lord, will also appear to be a form. If one is not a form, since there then cannot be knowledge of other things, will that statement that God has a form be correct? God assumes any form imagined by the devotee through repeated thinking in prolonged meditation.
With regard to his location, God does not reside in any place other than the Heart.
It is due to illusion, caused by the ego, the `I am the body' idea, that the kingdom of God is conceived to be elsewhere.
Be sure that the Heart is the kingdom of God. Know that you are the perfect shining light which not only makes the existence of God's kingdom possible, but also allows it to be seen as some wonderful heaven.
To know this, is alone Jnana [knowledge].
–
Q Does knowing myself imply knowing God?
R
Yes, God is within you.
Q Then, what stands in the way of my knowing myself or God?
R
Your wandering mind and perverted ways.
Q I am a weak creature. But why does not the superior power of the Lord within remove the obstacles?
R
Yes, He will, if you have the aspiration.