Why did God create Man? What is his interest in doing so? A person accumulates lot of good/bad karma from thousands of his past lives. He / she suffers a lot because of the accumulated bad karma. Had not God created man in first place, all this karma would not have been there and there would not be any suffering because of ego, jealousy, lust, and so forth. The point I am asking is that if God had not created Man in first place, then there would not be any war, crime, violence, and suffering.
—Ramesh Aritakula, India
Dear Ramesh,
A very good question! I’m going to answer you with these words from the book, Paramhansa Yogananda, With Personal Reflections & Reminiscences, by Swami Kriyananda :
“In the beginning”—that is to say, before Cosmic Creation—there is in existence only the ever-calm Spirit, vibrationless, fathomless. Its nature is ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss, or Satchidananda. (It was Paramhansa Yogananda who added “ever-new” to the translation.) Why would perfect Bliss, complete in Itself, feel any need to create at all? In India it has been suggested that “God wanted to enjoy Himself through many.” Swami Sri Yukteswar answered the inevitable question of why God created the universe by saying, “Leave a few mysteries to be solved after you reach the Divine.” Yogananda’s expression, however, “ever-new,” in addition to the concept of Bliss suggests a more fully satisfying explanation (satisfying, that is, to human reason). What it hints at is that the very nature of Bliss is to want to express Itself. The ever-new aspect of Cosmic Bliss causes it periodically to express Itself creatively, expanding Self-awareness into outward manifestation.”
We are all part of God and our whole purpose is to realize our oneness in God. All suffering is a result of man not tuning into this purpose and choosing to live from ego-consciousness rather than God-consciousness. The important point to always keep in mind is not why there is suffering but how do we go beyond suffering into the bliss of God.
Blessings on your spiritual journey.
Nayaswami Pranaba
