In perfect harmony

A few days ago, the author was contacted by a close friend. What we discussed was so relevant to our daily lives, that the author thought it would be beneficial to transform the discussion into an article.

To give a bit of a background on the discussion we had, the friend is serving in the South African Police Service. His field of duty is a very rural and dangerous area, which is of course filled with various crimes including rapes, murders, assaults, etc. Hearing about a murder or a rape case daily becomes nothing out of the ordinary when one lives in that specific part of South Africa.

Since childhood, the friend has been an honest, compassionate person. His service to society and Humanity is truly an expression of his beautiful heart. Nevertheless, he expressed that he feels Humanity has just stopped 'caring'. He prays daily for life to get better, but it seems like we have reached a state where we are 'beyond recovery' and he feels that it may be better if God just ended all of this sadness and suffering we are experiencing.

The author truly felt his heart. At some point, some of us may have felt the same. Seeing so much sadness and suffering around us, makes us consider things like "Is there really a God?" Or, "Does God actually care?"

A contradictive way of thinking

It is normal to ask these questions. The author had similar thoughts in the past, thinking if God is supposedly so kind, loving, graceful, how can He allow people to suffer like this? Reflecting back on the author's childhood, being raised in a Christian family, we were always blaming the 'devil' for all the evil and the suffering in the world. Whenever we perceived something as negative, we blamed the devil. However, when life goes well, then God is good and mighty and in charge.

This view may actually be a bit of a contradiction, isn't it? Thinking, on the one hand, there exists a most powerful God, but on the other hand, there exists an equally powerful devil. These two are in constant battle, a celestial battle between good and evil, black and white, darkness and light. We believe the light is stronger than the darkness, that God is more powerful than the devil, but still, somehow, it seems like sometimes the devil gets the upper hand, and whatever we label 'negative' follows. Some of us probably had such thoughts at some point or another... 

By having such a belief or accepting such extreme dualities, we shall forever sit with this problem of good and evil fighting for ultimate control of the Universe. Now, think about this... does this even make sense?

We can approach this in a different way, which may make more sense. The author's response to the friend's message was something similar to the following;

It is all about perception

We are living in a reality where we constantly experience life in terms of contrasts, in terms of duality. For something to be 'far' we need a reference point for something that is 'near'. For something to be 'high', we need to have a point of reference for something to be 'low'.

With this in mind, what is 'far' for one person, is maybe 'near' for another person. Consider this, for the friend living in South Africa, Table Mountain may be considered 'near'. However, for the author sitting in Europe, Table Mountain is considered to be 'far'. 

On the basis of that, we can say that duality depends on two extreme opposites of each scenario, to exist. So, are things really dual, or are they merely two sides of one coin? Meaning that 'far' and 'near' cannot be separated. Further, we can say duality also depends on personal perception. For one person, something may be 'high' while for another person it may be 'low'.

Keeping this in mind, our overall experience of life is in ways of good and evil, light and dark, God and devil, but let's penetrate this a bit deeper.

We tend to see only the current situation we are experiencing and we label it good or bad, but is it truly good or bad or just a matter of opinion? Further, when speaking in the context of God and people suffering, imagine that the whole world was just happy, peaceful, in bliss and joy. Would there be any need to seek God? Would there be any need to develop ourselves? And, would we ever have any opportunities to grow and mature spiritually and gain wisdom?

Maybe a perfectly harmonious life would be too monotonous, too boring and we may end up feeling purposeless. Or...?

Therefore, we may consider the following; What if our suffering is served by Love? What if our sadness is actually part of God's plan to bring us back to Him?

Just as we need to understand dark to know light, we also need to understand real suffering, to really seek and experience real joy. The absence of peace and happiness allows us to search for peace and happiness.

Thus, we may say that God wears both masks. The mask of a devil, and the mask of an angel. God plays these roles, in order to suit our individual needs of growth, understanding, and development.

With this in mind, we may stop to think of the Universe as a constant battle between good and evil, between right and wrong. We can accept that everything is already in harmony, everything is already happening according to the Will of God. Understanding this gives us peace, it grants us the wisdom to stop the need to change the plan of God, and to allow His Will to play out perfectly.

In the end, we can consider this all to be a Cosmic Dance, a play of creating and destroying, as represented by the Hindu God Shiva. In Sanskrit, called the Lila, the Divine Play.

Destruction allows for creation.
Everything in harmony.
A perfect dance.

A photo taken of street art, showing Shiva surrounded by skulls, destroying and creating.
Photo taken in Varanasi, India, 2017.