The Cause of All Causes is a Person part1
Fri, 01/25/2008 - 17:50 — admin
And can we not see ‘impersonal creative forces’ which also carry out this function? For example, the material particles which are formed together in the shape of a beautiful and fragrant flower previously existed in the ground from which the flower grew, and in the water, air, and natural elements which the flower took in from its environment. Is the aesthetic development of a flower not an example of non-personal creation?
TEACHER: Ah, this is a very good point, Michael! In the case of a flower growing, or other beautiful processes in nature, scientists may be able to describe to some degree the process itself, but they can certainly not point to any impersonal cause for it! Remember earlier when we discussed Information Theory? The conclusion of this theory is that the sophisticated complexity and order within the bodies of living organisms could have come about only under the influence of an outside organizing force or forces. Now this sort of purposeful organization is only possible when there is an organizer or designer. We have many experiences of persons who organize and design, but we have no experience of any impersonal organizer or designer. You may accuse me at this point of answering your question with the very thesis you are questioning, but this is not my intention at all. Am I right, though, in suggesting that your question might also encompass whether or not design, harmony, etc., might not be possible by impersonal forces and not only a person?
MICHAEL: Yes, that is my point.
INNER PEACE, SELF-REALIZATION, SOCIAL HARMONYMICHAEL: I would like to raise an objection, if I may. The manner in which you have referred to creation-for example, your reference to an artist's creation-is not really creating something in the sense of bringing a thing into being which had no previous existence. Rather, it is the creation or design of a specific thing out of material elements which were already existing. The artist takes paint and canvas, or a lump of clay, and produces an aesthetic arrangement. Isn't this sort of “creation” merely the rearrangement of that which already exists?
The yogi’s interest is inner peace and self-realization and social harmony.
Science of Identity Foundation – Siddhaswarupananda
And can we not see ‘impersonal creative forces’ which also carry out this function? For example, the material particles which are formed together in the shape of a beautiful and fragrant flower previously existed in the ground from which the flower grew, and in the water, air, and natural elements which the flower took in from its environment. Is the aesthetic development of a flower not an example of non-personal creation?
TEACHER: Ah, this is a very good point, Michael! In the case of a flower growing, or other beautiful processes in nature, scientists may be able to describe to some degree the process itself, but they can certainly not point to any impersonal cause for it! Remember earlier when we discussed Information Theory? The conclusion of this theory is that the sophisticated complexity and order within the bodies of living organisms could have come about only under the influence of an outside organizing force or forces. Now this sort of purposeful organization is only possible when there is an organizer or designer. We have many experiences of persons who organize and design, but we have no experience of any impersonal organizer or designer. You may accuse me at this point of answering your question with the very thesis you are questioning, but this is not my intention at all. Am I right, though, in suggesting that your question might also encompass whether or not design, harmony, etc., might not be possible by impersonal forces and not only a person?
MICHAEL: Yes, that is my point.