178 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
178 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
For God's Good Pleasure
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World Scripture
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FOR GOD'S GOOD PLEASURE
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As creatures, human beings are created with a purpose that is determined not by
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themselves but by their Creator. This understanding is particularly well
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understood in the monotheistic religions, which recognize that God's purpose
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for creating human beings is to find those creatures who would recognize,
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serve, glorify, and love Him. Therefore, human beings can find fulfillment in
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the service of God.
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In the Jewish tradition and in some new religions, the loving God Himself
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rejoices when He is glorified and adored by human beings reflecting His image;
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thus we can speak of the purpose of life as fulfilled in returning joy to God.
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God's love for humankind blossoms into divine ecstasy as that love is
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multiplied and happiness spreads throughout the human race. (On the other side
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of divine passion, namely God's sorrow over the evil plight of mankind, see
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God's Grief, pp. 457-62.) Analogously, in Mahayana Buddhist texts the Buddha
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rejoices as sentient beings are enlightened by the Dharma. In Hinduism the
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embodied Self within stands as the Enjoyer of all phenomena. The joy of God
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may be recognized as the divine counterpart to the quest for human happiness
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described in the previous section.
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On the other hand, in religious conceptions which lack a personal God, or which
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stress God's absolute sovereignty, Ultimate Reality is already perfect, beyond
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desiring, impassible, and without need of anything. In Islam, God is often
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conceived of as the Sovereign Lord, high above the world and unilaterally
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enforcing His will on mankind. In Hindu Vedanta, God's apparent motivation for
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activity in the world and among human beings is nothing but lila, divine play.
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Several passages teaching the divine impassibility are given at the conclusion
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of this section.
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I have created the jinn and humankind only that they might serve Me.
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1. Islam. Qur'an 51.56
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How then to become true to the Creator?
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How to demolish the wall of illusion?
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Through obedience to His Ordinance and Will.
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2. Sikhism. Japuji 1, M.1, p. 1
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Do not try to develop what is natural to man; develop what is natural to
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Heaven. He who develops Heaven benefits life; he who develops man injures life.
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3. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 19
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If it be your wish, O people, to know God and to discover the greatness of His
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might, look, then, upon Me with My own eyes, and not with the eyes of anyone
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besides Me. You will, otherwise, be never capable of recognizing Me, though
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you ponder My Cause as long as My Kingdom endures.
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4. Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 127
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There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.
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5. Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 8.6
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All that God created in His world He created only for His glory, as it is said,
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"All that is called by my name, for my glory I created and fashioned and made
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it" (Isaiah 43.7).
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6. Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 6.11
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O Lord of all, hail unto Thee!
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The Soul of all, causing all acts,
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Enjoying all, all life art Thou!
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Lord of all pleasure and delight!
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7. Hinduism. Maitri Upanishad 5.1
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I was a secret treasure, and I created the creatures in order that I might be
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known.
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8. Islam. Hadith
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Qur'an 51.56: Cf. Qur'an 9.72, p. 200. Japuji 1, M.1: Cf. Yasna 34.12, p. 771.
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Chuang Tzu 19: On how developing man injures life, see Chuang Tzu 17, p. 294.
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1 Corinthians 8.6: Cf. John 6.38, p. 770. Hadith: Cf. Qur'an 89.27-30, p. 552.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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God's purpose in creating the universe was to feel happiness when He saw the
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purpose of goodness fulfilled in the Heavenly Kingdom, which the whole
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creation, including man, could have established.... The purpose of the
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universe's existence centered on man is to return joy to God, the Creator.
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9. Unification Church. Divine Principle I.1.3.1
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O Son of Man! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My
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essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on
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thee Mine image, and revealed to thee My beauty.
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10. Baha'i Faith. Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 3
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Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it
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cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.
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11. Christian Science. Science and Health, 57
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God longs to hear the prayer of the righteous.
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12. Judaism. Talmud, Yebamot 64a
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When all human beings have accomplished the purification of their minds and
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come to lead a life full of joy, I, Tsukihi (God), will become cheered up. And
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when I become cheered up, so will all human beings. When the minds of all the
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world become cheered up, God and human beings will become altogether cheered up
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in one accord.
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13. Tenrikyo. Ofudesaki VII.109-111
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Those who can hold to this scripture
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Shall cause me and the emanations of my body,
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As well as the Buddha Many Jewels, now passed into extinction,
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All without exception to rejoice.
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The Buddhas of the present in all ten quarters,
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As well as those of past and future,
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They shall both see and shower with offerings,
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Enabling them, too, to gain joy.
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14. Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 21
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Divine Principle I.1.3.1: Cf. Sun Myung Moon 2-12-61, p. 117; 6-20-82, p. 146;
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10-20-73, p. 197. Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 3: Cf. Gleanings from
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the Writings of Baha'u'llah 27, p. 311. Science and Health, 57: Cf.
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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.17 and 1.4.3, p. 252. Yebamot 64a: Cf. Hosea
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11.1-9, pp. 460f.; Matthew 23.37, p. 458. Ofudesaki VII.109-11: Cf. Ofudesaki
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XVII.64-70, p. 460. Lotus Sutra 21: The 'Buddha Many Jewels' is the Buddha
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called Prabhutaratna, who symbolically represents the Dharma. The Buddha and
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his emanations will enjoy ecstasy, which is an element of the latter stages in
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the Noble Eightfold Path--cf. Majjhima Nikaya iii.251-52, p. 170.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
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and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
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but you shall be called My Delight is in Her,
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and your land Married;
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for the Lord delights in you,
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and your land shall be married.
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For as a young man marries a virgin,
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so shall your sons marry you,
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and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
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so shall your God rejoice over you.
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15. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 62.4-5
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Ever is He in bliss, ever fulfilled.
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16. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 3, M.1, p. 2
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O mankind! It is you that have need of God: but God is the One Free of all
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wants, worthy of all praise.
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17. Islam. Qur'an 35.15
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Brahma's creative activity is not undertaken by way of any need on his part,
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but simply by way of sport.
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18. Hinduism. Brahma Sutra 2.1.32-33
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We created not the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in play.
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If We had wished to find a pastime, We could have found it in Our presence--if
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We ever did. Nay, but We hurl the true against the false, and it prevails over
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it, and lo! [the false] vanishes... To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens
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and the earth. And those who dwell in His presence are not too proud to
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worship Him, nor do they weary.
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19. Islam. Qur'an 21.16-19
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Isaiah 62.4-5: Cf. Revelation 21.1-7, pp. 1118f. Japuji 3: Cf. Majh, M.5, p.
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198. Brahma Sutra 2.1.32-33: Cf. Chandogya Upanishad 7.23-25, p. 95.
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