The Universal Purpose

Many of us wonder whether the universe has a purpose and, if it does, what is that purpose? Was creation an accident, a random, anthropically-tuned fluke lacking purpose? But if the universe has no purpose, could our lives have any real meaning? Yes, meaning in a purposeless universe could derive from the evolutionary need to support the common good, coupled with the biological imperative to procreate. But that does not seem to satisfy the full import, breadth, and depth of meaning. The fact that we are meaning-makers and meaning-seekers, that we consider our lives to be full only if they are full of meaning, is a strong indicator that meaning flows down to us from the universal purpose. Purpose creates meaning.

Prior to the creation there is nothing, an undifferentiated and empty void. If there is a purpose to the universe, then that proto-void is inhabited by a will, the Will of the Creator. Will is neither matter nor energy, and so can inhabit a void without negating its emptiness. Will is the force that shapes the fields of various energies, including electromagnetic, gravitational, and others. Quantum entanglement is unity of will, the instantiation of love. In the void, there is One Will, undifferentiated, with complete entanglement. This is Nirvana, the Unfathomable, Unconditioned Source: unconditioned in the sense that it is prior to time, space, and the laws of nature.

We might wonder, given the presumed perfection of that original state, why did the Creator create this universe? This world we live in is full of imperfections. We are full of imperfections. Why would the Creator Self-impose the limitations inherent in the Creation? Perhaps, you might argue, the Creator remains above those limitations. Fair enough. But something of the Creator enters this universe, this creation, this world, leaving perfection behind and suffering the consequences. If the Creator is in us, then our suffering is the Creator's suffering, as is our joy and our love. Thus, the Act of Creation is an act of self-limitation, a sacrifice, a constriction, a self-crucifixion, a cleaving of the perfect Oneness into three forces and from there down into space, time, and materiality. In Kabbalah it is known as the shattering of the vessels.

Why did this happen? There are various religious and spiritual teachings about that, but in truth we do not know. To know, we would need to climb up into World 1 and understand the purposes of the One Who occupies that place. Perhaps if humanity evolves further, our descendants may know. For now, even though the purpose of the Creation remains beyond our understanding, we can nevertheless discern its outlines and participate in that purpose consciously. We are part of the Creation, perhaps a key part.

If something of the Creator, some of the original will, flows into us, then we are not separate from the Creator. And because will is outside of time, in the realm of will there is no separation between now and the Big Bang. Consider this from the physicist John A. Wheeler: "… the observer is as essential to the creation of the universe as the universe is to the creation of the observer." This implies that we ourselves are participating in the original act of creation.

To align ourselves with the purpose of the Creation is to align ourselves with the purpose of our life. What can we see about the purpose? What does this alignment mean?

Imagine a realm of pure, undifferentiated will.[1] If not exercised, will stagnates. To be clear, the exercise of will can be in the active, receptive, or reconciling modes. So this realm of unexercised will was stagnating, shrinking. To reverse that, it needed new, independent centers of will to enter and merge with that original realm. To enable that to occur, the universe was created and some of the original free will was put into it. Eventually beings arose who had the possibility of developing a strong, independent, and selfless will that could merge with the original, Creator Will and replenish the Source. After the creation, the Source becomes like the empty eye of a hurricane as the universe swirls around it.

Almost all will inherently conveys purpose. This holds for the active, receptive, and reconciling forms of will. Passive will is often without purpose, tantamount to ceding will to automatic manifestations. To live as will is to live in purpose. It is abhorrent to think of the universe as having arisen by accident. If it was not an accident, then it was intentional and being intentional it has purpose.

The path of returning to the Source, as a unified and purified will, can be looked at in a different way. The purpose of Creation can be seen as the spiritualization of the universe,[2] which means the realization of one will throughout the universe, a will directly aligned with the Creator. This starts with us. Our body is part of the universe. Can we spiritualize our own little corner of the universe, our own body, by unifying and purifying our own will into perfect alignment with, and beyond that into union with, the higher will, the will that flows through us all? That is the ultimate purpose of any real spiritual path.

How? Through the spiritual practices and the sacred impulse of conscience that lead us toward unifying and emptying ourselves. For this week, please consider the meaning of your life, on all scales. Can we live with and as purpose?

[1] This scenario drawn from the Holy Planet Purgatory chapter of G.I. Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, 1950.

[2] See J.G. Bennett's The Dramatic Universe, Volume IV, 1966.

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