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Does God's knowledge trancend time?


In article <kgalil.355.00710F54@julian.uwo.ca>,
kgalil@julian.uwo.ca (K.A. Galil) wrote:

> Just a question for all you religious types out there...
>
> -Does God's Knowledge trancend the bounds of Time?
> [Now, if you think it doesn't, you can finish reading this post...*BUT* If you
> think that his knowledge does trancend the bounds of time then, the logical
> Question is...]
>
> -What is the point of Living since God will know the status of your soul at
> the time of your death [ie. Good, so go to Heaven or, Bad so [excuse the
> expression] go to hell] Why not send us to heaven or hell without putting us
> on earth and wasting all that valuable time?
>
> Well, Your opinions are always welcomed.
>
> -kgalil
>
   Time as we know it (past, present and future) only exists in the
   material world. In the spiritual world everything is eternally present.
   A concept we find very difficult to come to grips with. Krishna [God],
   and the liberated souls are in this other existence which transcends
   time as we know it.

   The question you have asked is very commenly raised by thoughtful
   people. It is sometimes phrased slightly differently, "If God knows
   past, present and future then how do I have any independence? Surely God
   is causing everything to happen." Then, of course, on can go on to blame
   God for all the suffering in the world...

   The reality is a little different. God does know past, present and
   future:

                   vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna
                bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana

          "O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know
          everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening
          in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know
          all living entities; but Me no one knows." (Bhagavad-gita 7.26)

   So Krishna knows everything, but knowing everything doesn't mean He is
   responsible for everything. He gives us limited independence. In reality
   we are always controlled, either by the material energy, Krishna's
   external energy called maya, or we are controlled by His internal
   spiritual energy. But we can choose between the two. We can choose to
   act independently of Him and try to be happy separately or we can choose
   to serve Him.

   Although we think we are independent, we are actually controlled at
   every step. We have to experience the reactions of our activities. It's
   called karma, so we generate good or bad reactions by our activities and
   thus we determine the future suffering and pleasure in this life and the
   next. So we are responsible for it, not Krishna. Of course Krishna,
   being all-knowing, knows what we are going to choose...

   So back to your question. "Why not send us directly to heaven or hell
   without wasting all this time?" The reason is He is merciful. Although
   we are called nitya-baddha, it means "eternally conditioned", meaning we
   are destined to take birth here on earth and on other planets, both
   heavenly and hellish, practically eternally, He appears Himself and
   sends His devotees to help us to make our way back to the spiritual
   world, the "Kingdom of God". Even though we may be destined to go to hell
   He appears or sends His representative to give us a chance to change
   that destiny by hearing from Him and enganging in His service. So it's
   not a waste of time, it's a very valuable opportunity to end the cycle
   of samsara (repeated birth and death) and to go back home, back to
   Godhead.

   This earth planet is in something of a special position, above us are
   the heavenly planets and below us are the hellish planets, we are
   in the middle. Here we can see both sides of the coin. We can see
   happiness and we can see distress. This is good because if we were
   always happy we would never consider leaving this world and if we were
   always suffering we would be simply preoccupied with trying to stop the
   suffering.

   So Krishna and His devotees (like Lord Jesus Christ) appear here
   periodically to show the way back home, back to Godhead, and for some
   time people follow religious principles. After some time the religious
   principles are lost and Krishna appears again to reestablish them...

   Of course someone blinded by the phantasmagoria of this material world,
   thinking he can be happy here, trying to make a comfortable arrangement
   even though he knows he can only stay here a few years can't appreciate
   this knowledge...

   One who is on the highest platform of spiritual life sees everyone, even
   the demons, serving Krishna. He only thinks of himself as not serving
   Krishna. So he doesn't see the need to preach. But often, because
   preaching is so pleasing to Krishna:

       "For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional
       service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There
       is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there
       ever be one more dear." (Bhagavad-gita 18.68-69)

   He comes down to the second platform to preach. Such preaching can be a
   very difficult task because generally people don't like it. The just
   want to get on with more sex, more drugs and more rock-and-roll, so it
   is somewhat annoying to them. But what can we do about that?

   Please chant Hare Krishna and be happy!



--

Madhudvisa dasa          |
                         |   S H E L T E R   I N T E R N A T I O N A L
                         |____________________________________________

           One who deos good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.
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