God came down to earth and found man a slave and a victim to other men. This could not be and so He decided to set man free. A revolution followed and man was now free to be himself, to be what he wished to be. But man answered to this gift of freedom by misusing it endlessly to degrade his great and mighty soul.
God came down again and now with the freedom gave him the law, the law of love and truth, the law of harmony and unity, the law of living together as one family. But man answered to this gift by reducing it to a narrow formula whereby he would love those who were his kin and not others with whom he must fight and conquer. Groups were born and each strove against the other.
God came down again and gave man along with the freedom and the law, the sense of right and wrong, of good and bad, of virtuous and evil deeds. But man answered to this gift by being very acutely aware of the sins of others and being oblivious to his own. He punished others for the crime that he indulged himself secretly. Thus was born crude religion which thrived upon fear and guilt.
God came again and to assist man gave him the means of self-reflection so that he could introspect and discriminate truly the right and the good from the wrong and the evil. But man answered to this gift by engineering with his reason the power of self deception. Thus was formed a seemingly just and civic society that harboured hypocrisy and falsehood in its heart though appeared fair and good on the surface.
God, in His infinite patience came again and taught man the inner path through which he can tear the veils of falsehood and deception and discover what is real and thereby ascend to a state of true freedom and bliss. But man answered to this gift by expressing his helplessness in following the path of Truth and Light even though he now could know it. Thus were born spiritual paths and sects that liberated the few while the rest simply struggled and laboured on.
God came again and this time with His Power and Grace so that man can not only know but also do what he could not do. But man answered to this gift by revolt and doubt thereby loosing his balance and refusing to open to the one Truth that could still save him. Thus was born a world where power was misused to plunder nature for the ego’s comfort and pleasure rather than for the mastery over nature.
But God refuses to give up, how could He for what else is man and this world but His distorted image and a broken reflection. Therefore does He now hammer this world tirelessly so that the distortions may disappear and humanity grows into the perfect image and likeness of God. Therefore does He now close all other doors so that man may turn to the one door he has long denied to himself.
‘He leaves behind the ill with strife and pain,
Because it clings and constantly returns,
And in the fire of suffering fiercely burns
More sweetness to deserve, more strength to gain.’
-Sri Aurobindo: In the Moonlight
Alok Pandey
