Why did God create this world? We do wrong things out of ignorance and we suffer. Only experience teaches us which is hard teacher. How can I remain happy being aware of the fact that some people doing wrong things and will have to suffer. If there is no creation, there would be no ignorance and no suffering.
—Siddharth Patel, India
Why did God make this universe? Why do we suffer? These are the two great questions humankind has been asking since time immemorial. From an intellectual and ego point of view, there is no satisfactory answer to this question. “My ways are not your ways,” God tells us in the Christian Bible (Old Testament).
Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda’s worldwide work, put it this way: “It is the nature of Bliss to want to share.” Swami Shankacharya, long ago, described God, the nature of God, and the purpose of the creation as Satchidanandam: “Ever existing (immortal), ever-conscious (omniscient), ever-new Bliss.” The creation, it has been said, was manifested by God and AS God in order to play the drama of “hide-n-seek.” God hides, and we seek Him, mistaking the temporary satisfactions of material existence for His Bliss. As our journey progresses, and through the agency of our own dissatisfaction and suffering, we begin to awaken to the “truth that shall make us free.” The truth is simply: “The kingdom of heaven is within you.”
As creation myths throughout the world aver (including the story of Adam and Eve), we suffer because we made a bad choice at some point. (And, in all honesty, we make many bad choices, day-to-day, lifetime after lifetime!) Most people wouldn’t have it any other way: we seek material gains, pleasures, etc. etc. Few humans have yet to cognize that the nature of life’s drama is that it is simply that: a drama; a dream of God.
Yet even though we have made poor choices, we didn’t create this drama, with its temptations of delusion and seeming substantive reality. God has created us; and, created temptation and delusion. God, therefore, must give to us the means to our freedom! Freedom lies in discovering “Who am I?” This universe and our bodies are not ours for our ego is not real. We are children of God; we are Spirit temporarily inhabiting a body.
Yes, this is an unsatisfactory explanation, especially when we suffer or when we observe others suffering, and we do not yet have the keys to our freedom.
So, the more useful question we must also ask ourselves is: What do I do about it? The “Why” questions are a good beginning but cannot give us the means to overcome our dissatisfaction. We must be practical and put our “shoulder to the wheel” of redemption and salvation. Meditation was given us that we might go within and seek Self-realization as a child of God. In our times, Kriya Yoga is the most advanced technique for salvation through self-effort given to man.
The Buddha set out to solve the riddle of life: why do we suffer and how do we get out of suffering? Through meditation and right action we dissolve the karmic bonds that tie us to delusion and we begin our journey toward Self-realization. We have to pay off our karmic debt in order to be free. The shortcut is to sever the “head” of ego. Meditation helps accelerate the work of ego transcendence. So also does grace: the grace of God through the sat guru.
We must do the work but we will discover in doing that we are NOT the Doer! Freedom is not as far from our grasp as it might seem. We must accept our part in our suffering and we must, therefore, do our part to be free. Just as God’s power created the cosmos, so too God’s power can lift us toward freedom provided we erase the trail of karma that we have created and that has led us to bondage and suffering.
Time? Yes, it takes time. But, what is time, in an eternity? Right here and right now, God dwells within you. In stillness, in silent inner communion, there is no time, only God. Begin now and without counting the hours or the effort, you will soon be free!
Blessings to you,
Nayaswami Hriman
