Tod Cage Spiritual Teachings |
About God |
|
| The question did God create matter is a very old one. Many westerners never even bother to ask this question because it is so ingrained in the west's inherited culture that if you believe in God then of course the answer is automatically yes. In fact most westerners have never heard an alternative viewpoint to this. The concept of God creating the cosmos for most westerners comes directly from the Torah or Christian Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, as well as being supported throughout the scriptures of both sources. The Quran also supports this teaching. For a fundamentalist or literalist it is very difficult to imagine otherwise. God existed, and through him all things were created. This is true but However, God did not create matter. Matter is eternal. If then matter is eternal how can it be that God created it? It seems to be a very great paradox that leaves people perplexed, or rather willing to say that matter has a beginning in creation. There is however a great misunderstanding about the word create or rather what it meant to the wise men of old. The ancients understood creation to be an inception from nothing or to be conceived without prior existence. People envision an artist to be creating a work of art when painting for example, but did you know that the act of creation for the artist is not the execution of a painting? Rather the creation of the artist is that he has brought from nothing an inception, which when it is developed through skill is fashioned, or manifested. So really the skill of building or manifesting the creation is a different matter altogether. I must tell you that God is not creating by putting something together or building. Really, God is creating by bringing forth from nothing, something in its inception. This can be likened to when the artist dreams or imagines his work that will be manifested. You may not believe me but this is how all life began. All life, every living thing has a spirit. It is this spirit that God gives each person. It is not created, It is not born, it is eternal. Nothing that is eternal is born. Nothing that is eternal dies. Your spirit is eternal and God is eternal. Matter is eternal. Man is of spirit and man is of matter, we have both. The matter we are made from is not living, it is dead or ajiva. The spirit or jiva is alive. Man is made of both. Man is made in the image of God. What does this mean then? What is eternal, is God. For those who are willing to accept it, God is all things eternal, He is all things. So that God created all things is sure, that God created matter is not, for matter is a part of God's eternal nature. It is this nature that God shares with all life. |
|
| [Up coming] |