new age spirituality

finding purpose in infinite reality

Is the Universe Indifferent?

abracad, · Categories: purpose, spirituality

Some scientists, such as the atheist biologist Richard Dawkins, say we live in an indifferent universe. The universe, and all that it contains, exists purely by chance. There is no meaning, no significance, everything simply just is.

But surely our personal experience tells a different story. The universe must care, because we care. The very fact you’re reading these words shows you care enough to want to know more. But more than this, people care about each other. Society is so filled with selflessness, within your intimate circle you undoubtedly know someone who helps others with no thought of personal reward.

Yet despite the many good intentions, bad stuff happens. Planes crash, people get sick, people commit crimes... All of which appear as very strong evidence in favor of Dawkins’ indifference.

But we need to step back and consider why we exist at all. Primarily the reason for incarnation into conscious flesh is to experience, learn and grow as an eternal part of Spirit. As such, life is essentially a long lesson, with the universe as teacher.

Think back to your schooldays. Which teachers did you learn most from? Those who set you many problems, albeit in an inspiring way, or those that gave you an easy ride by doing all the work for you? Of course, you learned more from the teachers that created the conditions to challenge you most.

At times life can seem brutally unfair. Fortune, favorable or otherwise, bears little correlation to contribution. Big lottery wins, by definition distributed at random, and similar "successes" go to the apparently undeserving. While the hard-working good guys struggle to keep their heads above water and too often draw the short straw.

But what seems like injustice, or indifference, is actually the universe offering the conditions to best deliver the lessons you chose before you came here. Which doesn’t make it any easier while the lesson is in progress.

The moral from all this is to adopt a little more indifference in your response to life’s twists and turns. As Kipling said: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same."

In the unlikely event the universe is indifferent, the futility of existence might seem depressing, but of course indifferent entities are incapable of concern. Conversely, if there is significance in being, that suggests meaning in all things, thus we can ride the bumps in the road in the knowledge of some greater reality. Either way, the message is lighten up, accept, and keep going.

Never lose sight of the bigger picture within which all else exists. Don't begrudge those who seem to enjoy better fortune than you. By the same token don't be too self-satisfied at your own victories. Everything happens for a reason, and those reasons are often deeper than we perceive. Instead, whether things go good or bad, just accept, and keep going in the knowledge that there’s good reason to do so.

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