The Game of Life
Reader: Have you studied much of his (Sri Dava Prakasha) writing, JJ?
JJ: Just enough to get a flavor. I intend to read some more shortly. One thing, I do not see him as an incarnation of God any more than you or I are. Such claims only serve to establish oneself as an unearned authority.
Reader: What are your thoughts on freewill?
JJ: If God were perfect the way religions teach then he would create us with such perfect free will (like Jesus) that we would always make the right decisions.
Reader: And why do we choose pain, suffering and evil in order to arrive at such fruits of knowledge and experience? Is pain, suffering, evil and matter-entrapment necessary?
JJ: A logical answer to this is found in the Book of Mormon which says: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
“Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.
“And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.” II Nephi 2:11-13
Reader: I have a feeling that a divine God, a loving God, a perfect God did NOT create the physical universe (including all its inherent imperfections, suffering and death), although I think He may have permitted it to arise due to the free choice given to His creatures.
What do you think?
JJ: This is quite an ancient thought, the most popular being that God consists of degrees of emanations. The teaching is that the physical world is too impure to have been created by the Most High, but by lesser Gods who are corruptions of the First Cause. The idea is that we are so removed from God that he doesn’t pay much attention to us as well as we toward him.
A Course in Miracles presents a similar idea telling us that God the Son attempted to leave the heaven created by God the Father and created the Universe of time and space concerning which the Father had nothing to do.
I see a thread of truth in the above in that there is a considerable number of planes with some much more material than others and the consciousness of God interplays differently in each through Its various creations.
However, as I see it, the One Great Life is not completely removed from any part of creation for both spirit and matter are vehicles known to him.
The Psalmist worded it well:
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
“If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” Psalms 139:7-12
Why is suffering necessary?
Why are the most popular games those which pose the greatest perils contrasted with the greatest opportunity?
I often give Monopoly as an example of this. If every throw of the dice made you pass Go and collect $200 it wouldn’t be much fun would it?
If every movie only presented carefree people with no problems none of us would attend, would we?
The only thing that could attract the reflections of God down to physical matter is the excitement of a game of contrasts. That is the possibility of great joy verses failure and misery.
Fortunately, the game is created so all of us eventually win, but not before many perils are transversed.
Reader: Quoting me:
“The human entity did not pass through the lower kingdoms. Instead, the living parts that make up the various bodies of man have passed through and were gathered from the lower kingdoms.”
This feels correct to me. Yet in saying this we are negating much of the Theosophical teaching and numerous others (Max Heindel, maybe?). Was Blavatsky deluded?
JJ: I think that some did not have a full understanding here.
Greater consciousness is developed by the gathering together of lesser lives to create a vehicle for the more advanced. Atoms do not become human, but unite to create molecules, cells and beings greater than themselves. They only become human to the extent that they can share in consciousness higher than themselves, just as we become masters when we can master the Oneness Principle and share consciousness in the Kingdom of God. A Master is not a Master alone.
Reader Thanks for your time, JJ. I hope you might continue with me, at least in order to satisfy that question about how we became trapped in matter.
JJ: And thanks for your considerate post and welcome to the group. I will be writing more about the beginning of things in the Book 4 of The Immortal.
Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others.
Jonathan Winters
July 23, 2004
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