Miscellaneous - Religion   

Cause of creation

CHENNAI: The Supreme Being is the cause of this manifold creation of insentient and sentient beings. This is stated by the scriptures and the Lord corroborated it in His manifestation as Krishna. While teaching Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna said that all human values, the Saptarishis (seven great seers), the mind-born sons of the creator, Brahma—Sanaka and his brothers—and the 14 Manus were born of His will, and that all beings descended from them.

In his discourse, Swami Mitrananda said there were three causes involved in creation of anything—material, efficient and instrumental—and the Lord in this context explained this by elaboration of both the subtle and the gross aspects of creation. The best way to understand that the Lord is the cause of creation is to become aware of how the mind functions, and analyse the thoughts that constantly arise in the mind, because the cosmos was created by a supreme intelligence, and the human mind is part of this cosmic mind. When one becomes aware of the thoughts it can be seen that they rise one after another, and that there is a gap, however fleeting it maybe, between two thoughts. This interval is very brief and as there is preoccupation always with the thoughts one is not generally conscious of it. Meditation involves becoming intensely aware of this gap and increasing this stillness of the mind. As the creation has come from the source from where thoughts originate, by going back to the source it is possible to discover the cause of creation. This ultimate cause is the Absolute, who is without birth or beginning.

The description of creation by the Lord in the Gita is a poetic way of stating how the Supreme intelligence brings about this creation. The Saptarishis represent the five sensory organs, the mind and the intellect. That Sanaka and his brothers did not engage in procreation indicates their proclivity for scriptural study. So it is apparent that the source of creation is God’s mind. Further enquiry begs the question, “From where does this Supreme intelligence come from?” As it is impossible for something to originate from nothing, this intelligence is the Supreme Consciousness that must exist always—the Absolute.

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