God and creation are not different. Matter and energy are inseparable. For the layman, God is the creator of the universe in the creation. But in the ultimate analysis, creator and creation are not two. God is not a human being. God is not limited to one place. God has no form. He is the universal law. Therefore, time, space and object are his manifestations.
When you see the world outside, you feel that it is different from the creator because you see the matter with your eyes, and you understand it with your mind. But your mind is infirm, subject to relativity, and therefore the perception which you have through your mind and senses is imperfect.
First of all, we have to establish whether there is creation at all, is this an experience or a reality? Philosophers have been trying for hundreds of years to establish that this experience is real, but they have not yet been able to do it. If your experience is real, then it should not be subject to any change. What is the definition of reality? That which cannot be counteracted by any other experience is reality.
How can you say that this waking existence is reality? If it is reality, then it should continue in the night also. But when night comes, you sleep and dreams become your reality. You forget you are man or woman. In the waking state you are all right, but in dream you find someone is coming to stab you. Therefore, since your experience undergoes a change, it cannot be regarded as reality and what is not reality is unreality.
After the advent of the great scientist Albert Einstein, physics has been blending into metaphysics. Is mind real? If mind is real, then what is the basis of the mental experience? The basis of mental experience is time, space and object. Bereft of time, space and object there is no experience. Therefore, what is the reality of matter? Does matter exist? Or is matter an experience? You must read physics and metaphysics. You will find that they are now moving parallel to each other.
Philosophers in India have been discussing the nature of the creation for thousands of years. Even in the most ancient text, the Rig Veda, there is a beautiful passage: 'Is there a creation? And is there a creator? Or, is the creation there and the creator gone?' The text says it is a mystery. Oh, it is a mystery, because your concept of creation is a product of your mental knowledge. As the mind changes, the experience will also change.
Sometimes, we receive conflicting information about God and creation. It is said, 'Father in heaven.' A little later it says, 'Thy kingdom come.' And a little later, 'I and my father are one.' Which of the three are true? I think all three. There is a state of mind when the father is in heaven. There is another when his kingdom comes here. And the last point, no heaven, no kingdom, 'I and my father are one.' If I and my father are one, why don't you ask, 'the creation and the creator are one?'
So that is the answer.
28 September 1982, La Spezia, Italy Printed in YOGA Vol. 20, No. 12 (December 1982)