Saturday, March 10, 2012

Pondering Creation

The Creating Power, that which was before Creation, is generally considered to be eternal – uncreated in itself. God, Brahman (as Brahma) or whatever we call it, has always been, and from its being, the Universe somehow came into existence. As human beings, producers of tools and art, we tend to think of Creation as an act of construction. We tend to think about it as a decision made, followed by an act of crafting, which is the process we typically follow when we make various items.

However, if we look at the idea of Creation from the perspective of Eternity, we may come to look very differently at it. There are two ways of thinking about an eternal Creator, as I see it. “He” either exists outside of time, or He exists forever and ever. Existence/Being outside of time is really hard for the human mind to comprehend, but for the sake of this argument we may think of time-less existence and eternal existence as the same thing, and formulated as a story it goes something like this:

Initially God IS. God has always been. For countless eons, eternities followed by eternities (try to picture it), God is. There is nothing else. The existence of God is all that is, and this is-ness has no beginning. So here is the question: Why would God , suddenly one “day” consider to create a Universe? What would, after an infinite number of “days”, cause God to stir in this way? There is nothing outside of “Him” to provoke a change or a decision. What would then give rise to this desire, need, or wish in God?

I don't know about the reader, but for my own sake, this question, together with the idea of Oneness, made me look very differently at the concept of Creation. I no longer understand Creation as an act at all. I think of Creation as being something visible only from the human perspective – from the perspective of time, so to speak. I don't think God changed anything at all. I believe that Time and Space are ways of perceiving God. When God interprets Himself in a certain way, He understands Himself as The Universe.

Can an infinite, eternal power change? … and what does It change in relation to?

Let there be...

With this in mind let's take a look at John 1:1-1:4:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

A simple image may arise of Christ sitting by the side of the Throne of God, anticipating his future arrival, but for me these lines speak about the very nature of the Creator. They tell me that In God is the possibility (inevitability) of Creation. In Timeless Being, the perspective of Time exists from scratch. Christ is not only a means of salvation, but also that trait of God which made us possible to begin with. “...and that life was the light of men”. Christ is materialization.

Have you ever seen one of those pictures which you can read in two different ways? (do you see the young lady, or the old hag?) I suggest, that the Universe came about in a similar fashion. That which IS didn't add anything new, because there was nothing to be added. It simply beholds its own dynamic Mystery, and in its Consciousness, time and space is perceived. Bang!

That is how we perceive the world, and that is why we call ourselves “We”. God is ONE, and I wonder... from His perspective, Creation might never have happened...? I believe that we are ONE with Him right now. We are simply unable to comprehend it. Experiencing this is what Enlightenment/Salvation is about, as I understand it.

Let's end this post with going back to John 17:21: ”
... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us...

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