124. The Gracious Object of Creation

DISCOURSES ON

RADHASOAMI FAITH

BY

MAHARAJ SAHAB

Pandit Brahm Sankar Misra, M.A.

124. THE GRACIOUS OBJECT OF CREATION

            192. The Supreme Being is an infinite ocean of all absorbing rapture and love, of supreme intelligence from which nothing remains concealed, of supreme energy or spirit which supplies force and vitality to everything, and of supreme light whose lustre is indescribable. In this all-glorious condition, eternal and infinite, unaffected by anything, He exists. Association with such a source must necessarily produce the beneficial attributes of His essence. The pre-creational association with and subordination to the infinite source of the planes other than that of the infinite source were, therefore, pregnant with a supreme gracious object. When in the fulness of time the association was intensified, the lower strata burst forth into a glorious creation by the advent of a mighty current of the essence of the Supreme Being. The region which was nearest to Him and which in point of expanse was immensely greater than the rest of the creation itself became intelligent as a whole, and became attached for ever to the supreme source. The denizens of this region, too, whose numerical proportion compared to that of the denizens inhabiting other parts of creation, is inconceivably larger, woke up from a state of unconscious stupor into an immortal and immutable life of extreme rapture and bliss, susceptible in no way t the feeblest shadow of a condition of an opposite character. By far the largest portion of the pre-creational region below that of the supreme source became the recipient of a favour which is beyond description. It is hardly necessary to remark that the gracious object involved in organizing a creation of the region referred to is almost inconceivable, and the Supreme Being alone, Who is all-bliss, could conceive of such an object. In the evolution of other parts of creation, His object was not less generous. The pre-creational deficiency of spirituality prevented the other parts of creation from receiving in a full measure the benefit that had been showered by the Supreme Being, but the gracious object did not fail to effect its ends to the highest degree possible. The evils of the deficiency were mitigated and minimized, and such a place was assigned to those other parts in the economy of creation that eventually they always contributed to an enhancement of the bliss of existence. The evil we have referred to is almost nominal in the second grand division of creation, and when the time arrives for its manifestation, the great dissolution takes place, and the evil is not allowed to assert itself. In the second grand division of creation also, which constitutes the major portion of the fractional creation left behind after appropriation of the spiritual region by the Supreme Being, the object of creation was practically to confer almost ever-lasting bliss and happiness similar to some extent to that of the first grand division. The spirituality of the third grand division is of the lowest order, and evil tendencies, pains and torments are accordingly associated in a large measure with existence in this division. During the first three Yugas these, however, do not manifest themselves, and life with its joys is an immense boon compared to the pre-creational condition. In about the eighth part of the life of the third division, the denizens are under the direct influence of material and evil desires, and are afflicted with various sorts of troubles, anxieties, fear, etc. During that period, they have also to pay, in hell, the penalty of their evil acts. But these adverse conditions produce a shifting which results in the alienation of material covers, and at no distant date they become fit to receive the grace which accompanies the advent of adepts. If the time for the great dissolution has arrived, this grace comes direct from the gracious Supreme Creator of the purely spiritual regions, otherwise it descends from Brahmanda. In the former case, the denizens of the third division derive immense spiritual benefit, and a very large number of them are trained for admittance into the immortal regions of the first grand division. If, therefore, we consider the immensely large time allowed to all denizens for the enjoyment of existence, and the comparatively short period during which they are subject to pain merely as a corrective measure, the gracious object of creation in the lowest division becomes manifest in a very pronounced form, and the wisdom of the Supreme Being in all that He has ordained appeals forcibly. When the inherent powers of the spirit become developed to some extent, all occurrences and conditions, whether they be adverse or favourable to our well-being, show by unmistakable signs and in unmistakable ways the all-gracious object of the evolution of creation, and the devotee enraptured by a glimpse of that gracious object is translated into a condition which is one of ecstasy, love, and admiration of the Supreme Creator. If the effect is too strong, the faculties of expression are lost, and in that rapturous state he is in communion, as it were, with the Supreme Being. To know the object of creation by pure intuition, and not by the hazy methods of argumentation which hide the true view, is to know the gracious ordainment of the Supreme Creator. The school of spiritual training where such knowledge is acquired, is therefore a blessed institution and is specially under the supervision of the Supreme Being. Intellectual training and development, even of the highest possible degree, is not sufficient by itself for the purpose of comprehending in an experimental way the object of creation, and this should be kept in view when the object of creation is studied. Our knowledge is confined to the planes of three dimensions of this world. They are not, however, the only planes in this nature where action takes place and effect is produced. There are other innumerable plaes which perform important functions in the economy of creation. They are, however, perceptible by intuition or the subtle senses of knowledge, and not by these physical senses. We do become, at times, cognizant of their action on the planes in our view, but such phenomena are so few and far between that a posteriori reason cannot build up an accurate conception on the basis of these occurrences of the other planes in question. It does not, therefore, appear to us to be unreasonable to observe that the subtle senses within us should be trained for the proper comprehension of the planes beyond the planes of three dimensions referred to, and that a reduction of everything to these three planes should not be insisted upon as a necessary condition of knowledge.