We seem to live in a responsive universe. Many, throughout
the ages, have noticed a tendency that "what you send out you receive back" (in
this life or "the next"). Another
way of saying something similar is, what you sow, you shall reap. A version of
this idea is repeated many times in both the Old and New Testaments of the
Bible. A paraphrase of verse 11:24 of the Gospel of Mark, puts
a slightly different spin on it: "As you ask and feel and believe, you will
receive."
There is another, more modern, view that we are given what
we need, not what we necessarily want in this life. We are given the stumbling blocks or experiences we need in
order to learn the universal lessons about what is real and true. How both of these perspectives or ideas
square with the suffering of the innocent is another matter. And what about all
the "bad" folks who seem to "have it good", that is, live lives full of
material prosperity and good fortune?
Here are some possibilities or glimmerings that have been
shown to me.
The something More, the Source, the Mystery at the heart of
existence which many of us call God, set things in motion, or created the
Universe. Although we think of the
universe as a place, it is really more of an event, albeit one that takes place
over billions of years. This
Universe is dynamic and reflective of its Creator- but not controlled by that
which we call God. God loves this
creation and all that is a part of it.
Indeed every part of it is imbued with divinity. The Breath of Life
blows through all things even those that seem to have no life, inanimate
objects such as rocks and planets. Some traditions talk of small bits of divine
light, as shards of a splintered mirror, imbedded in all beings and all things.
Human beings, as part of this event we call the Universe,
diverged from the rest of creation when we developed
awareness/consciousness/ego. All
the rest of creation knows, beyond thought, that it is a part of the Oneness,
so deeply connected that there is never any sense of loneliness or different-ness
or sin (actions that separate or create space between the
Creator/Created). An interesting
example of this can be found in cats and purring, their unmistakable expression
of contentment. Cats purr when they are obviously contented, but also when
giving birth and when mortally wounded or dying!
Although Creator and created are deeply connected they are
not the same. The Creator loves
creation and every little thing in it and of it, but does not (and cannot?)
intervene in extraordinary ways. On the other hand, the Universe is intrinsically responsive
to itself- since everything in it is deeply connected. The Creator made it this way, or since
creation is imbued with the essence of its Creator, it mirrors or reflects God,
though is not the same as God.
All of the suffering in the world is created by two things:
1) The natural forces of the planet we live on, for instance the cycles of
hurricanes/tsunamis, of drought and flood, the cyclical changes of our planet's
distance from the Sun creating ice ages and its opposite, the evolving, alive
planet which includes volcanoes and drifting continents... (Of course all these
kinds of things can be and have been aggravated and exacerbated by what we
humans have done and are doing in our attempts to control these forces of
nature and from the unconsciously
destructive underbelly of development), 2) the enormously powerful downside of
our separation (or perceived separation) from the rest of nature/creation and
the Creator, because of our awareness/consciousness/ego. This gift is the
defining thing about us and is precious- but comes with a price that so far
seems to outweigh its usefulness and beauty. As a direct result of this feeling
of separateness, often times experienced as agonizing loneliness or fear of
annihilation, we humans have created domination systems of governance that
cause and legitimize vast suffering of the majority of us, other beings and the
planet as a whole. We have, of
course, also created incredible beauty, art, culture, music and inspired each
other to amazing acts of altruism and bravery.
Just the fact of our awareness/ego has caused us tremendous
suffering in and of itself, since along with it has come the illusion of
separateness, or the pervasive forgetting of our connectedness to everything
else and to God. It seems that this great forgetting which happened at some
point in our history/evolution as a species and happens to each of us
individually sometime around the time we learn to talk, is inevitable, but not
insurmountable. In fact, every great religious founder, leader, saint and
prophet has tried to teach a way to know and experience this connection
again. They have told us stories,
showed us with their lives and been the recipients of verses and scriptures
that hold keys to transforming ourselves, to remembering our deep connections
and experiencing the numinous love of the Creator. This has, unfortunately, not
stopped us from using and abusing the religions founded upon their lives and
teachings to legitimate the domination systems we, in our loneliness and fear,
have created.
[To be continued...]