The famous Jaina Guru, Mahavir, used to give several
answers to one question. For instance, when asked about the
existence of God, he would reply: “God is, God is not, He
both is and is not, He neither is nor is not, He is beyond
all these.” This seems to be a very contradictory
statement about the nature of God. The gods and goddesses
are depicted as having many eyes, mouths, hands and feet.
This is a symbolical feature in religion which speaks about
the multiple aspects of God. Truth cannot be limited or
confined to description and conception. What baffles us more
is that God is everything at the same time. For instance,
God is both form and formless. One may believe that form and
formless are separate and different, but the truth is that
He is both form and formless simultaneously. The wave and
particle nature of the electron created a fuss in the
scientific community when the discovery was made. However,
things are as they are, whether it baffles us or not.
Shankara, a famous Hindu mystic, says that the world
is illusive like a dream or a shadow and that its substratum
is Brahman or God, the Ultimate Reality. Let us analyse the
nature of illusion. That which is illusive is not
necessarily inexistent, but it is that which has a relative
existence and above or beyond which there is a higher
reality. A dream, for example, is a dimension of our
existence and has its importance. Similarly, the illusive
world, too, has its importance. Otherwise, we would not know
God. Therefore illusion is, from one angle, a must, hence we
cannot despise the world. When the realisation of Brahman
dawns upon us, then we realise the ultimate nature of God
and the illusory nature of the world.
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But in the Bible, it is said that no mortal has ever
seen the Lord. If taken literally, this is contradictory as
all religions, prophets and seers teach to realise God, to
have union with Him. How to reconcile the statements and
sayings of the great ones? The mystic, when talking about the
experience of God, which is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi
in the East, asks us to reflect on the following: when a tiny
grain of salt falls in the sea and dissolves, what happens?
Does the salt dissolve and disappear in the ocean or does it
become the ocean? It both disappears and becomes one with the
ocean. If the salt maintains its identity as salt, it cannot
attain mergence and if it attains mergence, then it is not
there. It loses its identity, therefore the salt cannot say,
“I know the ocean.” Similarly, to know God, man must lose
himself, he must be ready to disappear. Hence the statement
“No mortal has ever seen the Absolute.”
The contradictory nature of Truth is a reality when
considered from one angle of vision. Another point which
presents the very contradictory nature of God is that religion
says that everything in the Universe is predestined, that is,
whatever is happening is going according to a well-defined
plan. There is even a theory which is called determinism,
which states that everything is pre-planned. The question
which comes to the mind is that if everything is planned, then
man is only a robot and is not responsible for whatever is
happening. Or still, an individual is not responsible for
whatever he does. Logically, it is God who is responsible for
every detail in His own creation. He is the sole director.
Man, however, does not feel or know that God is the sole
motivator of all. He feels that he is the sole doer, therefore
he alone reaps the fruits of his actions, whether good or bad.
But religion says that God is all, thus He is the only doer.
The Hindu scripture Vishnu Sahasranaam says that
Krishna is the Supreme Enjoyer. This statement is amongst the
most beautiful praises in favour of the divine glory. On one
hand, religion says that God is omnipresent, omnipotent and
omniscient. On the other hand, according to the law of karma,
man is seen enjoying the fruits of both good and evil actions.
If God is omnipresent, then how can man enjoy the fruit of
actions? It should be God! Adam and Eve were drawn away from
the garden of Eden simply for not obeying God’s order of not
eating the forbidden fruit. God is supposed to be
compassionate and forgives our sin. He, being God, knows the
result of his creation. Then the question arises: did He
purposely forbid the original couple to eat the apple? The
Bible as well as the Gita teach that God is all, then who ate
the fruit, God or human being?
Another point of view which baffles nearly all is
Satan. Who gives birth to this mysterious principle?
Christianity speaks about Lucifer who was an angel of Light,
but who, out of jealousy, rebelled against the Creator.
Strange indeed! Being a creation of God and that too an angel
of Light, from where did the seed of jealousy germinate in
him? Why did God let live Satan so as to torment us and
finally, we are the ones sent into eternal fire? Some
believers say that it is our test and Satan exists so that we
may go beyond him, thus proving God to be our priority. What
happens if we fail - and failure is always there? If we lose
the battle against Satan, then hell awaits us or suffering on
earth becomes our lot. He who is omniscient surely knows well
the whole play, as He is the planner of the cosmic drama. Then
why did He not destroy Satan once for all so that we remain
eternally in bliss and in His holy presence? There definitely
is an answer to all this! Most of the revelations of the
scriptures have an esoteric meaning. It is our duty to seek
and decipher them so that we can get the right understanding
concerning the nature of Truth.
Let it be clearly understood that these questions on
the inconsistent or contradictory nature of Truth are meant to
lead the seekers of Truth and everybody else into deep
reflection and meditation on the higher nature of Truth.
Normally, these kinds of questions do haunt the seeker at a
certain stage on the ladder of evolution. Therefore, from a
certain angle of vision, God is contradictory, but this is not
a weakness or criticism against Truth but is complementary of
God. It is the beauty of His mysterious and awe-inspiring
nature. However, though contradiction and inconsistency may
exist in our concept related to God, that is only one aspect
of Him since He is beyond all attributes. Also, let this be
understood that contradiction and inconsistency are in
relation to the mind. If there is no mind, then who will
perceive contradiction and inconsistency?
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