Re: If god exists, what created god?
Madhudvisa (shelter@calvados.apana.org.au)
Mon, 01 May 1995 07:56:53 -0900
In article <kgalil.355.00710F54@julian.uwo.ca>,
kgalil@julian.uwo.ca (K.A. Galil) wrote:
> Just a question for all you religious types out there...
>
> -Does God's Knowledge trancend the bounds of Time?
> [Now, if you think it doesn't, you can finish reading this post...*BUT* If you
> think that his knowledge does trancend the bounds of time then, the logical
> Question is...]
>
> -What is the point of Living since God will know the status of your soul at
> the time of your death [ie. Good, so go to Heaven or, Bad so [excuse the
> expression] go to hell] Why not send us to heaven or hell without putting us
> on earth and wasting all that valuable time?
>
> Well, Your opinions are always welcomed.
>
> -kgalil
>
Time as we know it (past, present and future) only exists in the
material world. In the spiritual world everything is eternally present.
A concept we find very difficult to come to grips with. Krishna [God],
and the liberated souls are in this other existence which transcends
time as we know it.
The question you have asked is very commenly raised by thoughtful
people. It is sometimes phrased slightly differently, "If God knows
past, present and future then how do I have any independence? Surely God
is causing everything to happen." Then, of course, on can go on to blame
God for all the suffering in the world...
The reality is a little different. God does know past, present and
future:
vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana
"O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know
everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening
in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know
all living entities; but Me no one knows." (Bhagavad-gita 7.26)
So Krishna knows everything, but knowing everything doesn't mean He is
responsible for everything. He gives us limited independence. In reality
we are always controlled, either by the material energy, Krishna's
external energy called maya, or we are controlled by His internal
spiritual energy. But we can choose between the two. We can choose to
act independently of Him and try to be happy separately or we can choose
to serve Him.
Although we think we are independent, we are actually controlled at
every step. We have to experience the reactions of our activities. It's
called karma, so we generate good or bad reactions by our activities and
thus we determine the future suffering and pleasure in this life and the
next. So we are responsible for it, not Krishna. Of course Krishna,
being all-knowing, knows what we are going to choose...
So back to your question. "Why not send us directly to heaven or hell
without wasting all this time?" The reason is He is merciful. Although
we are called nitya-baddha, it means "eternally conditioned", meaning we
are destined to take birth here on earth and on other planets, both
heavenly and hellish, practically eternally, He appears Himself and
sends His devotees to help us to make our way back to the spiritual
world, the "Kingdom of God". Even though we may be destined to go to hell
He appears or sends His representative to give us a chance to change
that destiny by hearing from Him and enganging in His service. So it's
not a waste of time, it's a very valuable opportunity to end the cycle
of samsara (repeated birth and death) and to go back home, back to
Godhead.
This earth planet is in something of a special position, above us are
the heavenly planets and below us are the hellish planets, we are
in the middle. Here we can see both sides of the coin. We can see
happiness and we can see distress. This is good because if we were
always happy we would never consider leaving this world and if we were
always suffering we would be simply preoccupied with trying to stop the
suffering.
So Krishna and His devotees (like Lord Jesus Christ) appear here
periodically to show the way back home, back to Godhead, and for some
time people follow religious principles. After some time the religious
principles are lost and Krishna appears again to reestablish them...
Of course someone blinded by the phantasmagoria of this material world,
thinking he can be happy here, trying to make a comfortable arrangement
even though he knows he can only stay here a few years can't appreciate
this knowledge...
One who is on the highest platform of spiritual life sees everyone, even
the demons, serving Krishna. He only thinks of himself as not serving
Krishna. So he doesn't see the need to preach. But often, because
preaching is so pleasing to Krishna:
"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional
service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There
is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there
ever be one more dear." (Bhagavad-gita 18.68-69)
He comes down to the second platform to preach. Such preaching can be a
very difficult task because generally people don't like it. The just
want to get on with more sex, more drugs and more rock-and-roll, so it
is somewhat annoying to them. But what can we do about that?
Please chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
--
Madhudvisah dasa Swami |
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