Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Where God Comes From




Every once in a while in the course of timelessness, as the story goes, the universe contracts down to a point that is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. As it nears the extreme extent of its contraction, sentient beings for the most part are shipped off to a happy land of radiant joy in the upper reaches of the possible places to land in such event. For a very long while, they live and play there with the greatest of ease, unbothered by snakes and fleas, with rays of pure light flashing from their mind-made bodies as they feed on rapture, float through the air as if there was nothing to it, and generally have a real good time. Every so often you can hear them shouting out in joy, “Hey, alright!” That’s because they are feeling good, and are moved spontaneously to make that understood! They may even start to imagine, given the extended happiness that they are experiencing, that this pleasurable condition will just go on forever. After all, it certainly seems like heaven, so why not?

Because things are the way they are, however, and sooner or later, after the lapse of a very long period as we might measure time, the cosmos begins to expand once again. In the course of this re-evolution, a vacancy one level down from Joy City opens up. As possible dwelling places go, it is really like a mansion with many attractive features, great views, excellent curb appeal, and so forth. Then a certain being, having reached his expiration code date, drops down from Happy Land and proceeds to occupy the vacancy made available in the course of the expanding universe. There he lives and plays with the greatest of ease, unbothered by snakes and fleas, with rays of pure light flashing from his mind-made body as he feeds on rapture, floats through the air as if there was nothing to it, and generally has a real good time (although not quite as good as the previous engagement). And he continues on in that enjoyment for a long, long period of time.

 After a while, however, as a result of dwelling there all alone for so long a time, there arises in him dissatisfaction and agitation, and so he says to himself: “Oh, I wish that other beings would come to this place!” Sure enough, just at that moment, due to their number coming up, certain other beings drop down from Joy City and find themselves knocking on the door of the first guy’s mansion. He is happy to welcome them in, and there they live and play with the greatest of ease, unbothered by snakes and fleas, with rays of pure light flashing from their mind-made bodies as they feed on rapture, float through the air as if there was nothing to it, and generally have a real good time (although it is not quite as much fun as the last place). And they continue on in that enjoyment for a long, long period of time.

 Eventually, the one who re-arose there first, pauses in the midst of his fun and thinks to himself: “Hey, I must be God, the Great One, the King of the Hill, the Top of the Heap, the Lord Himself, the Creator, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Father of all, and these beings have been created by me. Why? Because first I made the wish, and sure enough, they all appeared!"

Moreover the beings who re-arose there after him also think: “This must be God, the Great One, the King of the Hill, the Top of the Heap, the Lord Himself, the Creator, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Father of all. And we have been created by him. Why? Because we see that he was here first, and we appeared here after him.”

 Just so, the being who re-arose there first possesses longer life, greater beauty, and greater authority than the beings who re-arose there after him. One might say it’s an “early bird” kind of deal. In any case, in the course of time, it comes to be that a certain being, after dropping down from that glorious plane at the expiration of his code date, takes rebirth in this world. Having come to this world, it feels as if he has gone from home to homelessness. He sits down to ponder his fate, and after considering the matter for a good long time, he begins to remember his immediately preceding life (but none previous to that). In the meantime, others gradually drop down and join him in this world, filled alas with snakes and fleas and other bothersome things.

Remembering what had gone before, he exclaims to his new disciples: “We were created by Him, by God, the Great One, the King of the Hill, the Top of the Heap, the Lord Himself, the Creator, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Father of all. He lives and plays there in His heaven with the greatest of ease, unbothered by snakes and fleas, with rays of pure light flashing from His Body. He feeds on rapture, floats through the air as if there was nothing to it, and generally has a real good time. But we, who have been created by Him and born into this world, are impermanent, miserable, and doomed to perish. We better start offering stuff to Him, like those sheep over there.”

Just so, theistic religion is born, and what follows next – the confused history of the people -- is based on that initial misunderstanding about God and the universe.


 
~Based on a free transliteration of the Brahmajāla Sutta