I wonder if god is an evolutionary product of the human brain? Nature favours only the fittest. Newborn animals are killed by predators..why? Even us, to make the human body survive we need many "Non-human" parts such as the bacteria that live in our guts. I now find it hard that god created all this...decay, sickness, old age etc..it really flies in the face of common sense that an all knowing being created all this as opposed to evolution by natural selection! How do u explain this?
thanks
A
—A, Canada
Good question!
A challenge that many people face with the concept of “god” is that it is expressed only in terms of an anthropomorphic understanding; that God is viewed as being limited to an expanded version of who we are, with human attributes.
But God is really the cosmic infinite that has come into manifestation in creation. God is not some vengeful person with wrathful judgment, waiting to punish those who sin. It’s not that God has thrust upon us such things as decay, sickness, old age, etc. From the yoga perspective these are the expressions of duality.
A simplified understanding of this is that God, as pure omnipresence (or absolute oneness), set in motion consciousness and energy to move into creation, which is inherently dual in its nature. The first wave of this creative movement is the causal realm, where consciousness and thought predominate. The next wave moves further into creation and away from its source and into the astral realm, where energy predominates. Finally, the next phase outward from its source is the physical realm, where matter predominates.
What this means is that all things come from that infinite oneness and simply reflects whatever realm of duality it is part of. Yoga says that we, in our true nature, are a soul encased in these three “bodies” of thought, energy, and matter.
The whole focus of anything in creation is unfolding to the true Self, which is really only an individualized spark of the Divine. Another way of stating this is that we are finding our way back to our source.
Things like decay, sickness, and old age are really neither good nor bad. They are just the mechanics of creation. They do, however, act as incentives for us not to be satisfied with this world of duality, but rather encourage us to seek the true fulfillment of life: that of Satchidananda – ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss.
There’s a fascinating book, How God Changes Your Brain, which you might find both interesting and helpful. Here is an article from the Clarity Online magazine that is an interview with Peter Van Houten, MD, exploring the message of the book.
What the book conveys is that “God” is an actual experience that takes place through techniques such as meditation; it isn’t just a matter of belief or self-hypnosis. I think you’ll enjoy reading this book.
Another book you might like to read is God is For Everyone, which you can read online for free here.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
In divine friendship,
Nayaswami Pranaba
