The World is Perfect

You might think this a strange to claim to make but I think a case can be established for its truth, though we have to look at things in a slightly different way to usual. 

At first glance our material world is clearly very far from perfect. There is suffering, there is pain, there is death. And yet a closer look can start to make sense of these negative aspects of our experience here. Let's take that look.

If the world exists in and for itself then it is not perfect at all. I think most of us would agree that it is more good than bad but there is still quite a lot of bad. No wonder babies cry when they are born! However, what if the world does not exist on its own terms but is part of a much larger purpose? I submit that the part of reality we perceive as the physical world is but a small aspect of the whole and one, moreover, that, for all intents and purposes, is the most restricted and limited part of that whole. Here material conditions enclose us and curtail our freedom. They are a permanent weight on our well-being, restricting us not only physically but also mentally. The mind can work far better when it doesn't have to do so through the brain. It is more alert, more aware and better able to communicate its perceptions.

But here we are. We are in the world and it's makes sense to assume that here is where we are meant to be. For the moment anyway. We have a task to accomplish that we could not accomplish in one of the freer planes of existence. It is precisely that restriction that works to our benefit here because it forces us in certain directions. By making things harder for us, it requires us to push. By pushing we stretch ourselves and grow.

Therefore, I say that this world is perfect for what it is intended to be or what we are intended to achieve in it. It is not a holiday resort but a training ground. You might almost think of it as a kind of assault course. It certainly has that aspect to it. If everything was easy for us and we never encountered difficulty or hardship or suffering we might become like those spoilt children of wealthy parents who take everything for granted and assume that what they want they can always have. They don't grow unless they are made of very good stuff to begin with, and even then their growth will be limited for without struggle you really don't have much incentive to change or grow.

So, when I say that the world is perfect, I am not saying that is good or could not be better. But I do say that, for its purpose, it is right. It provides the right environment for spiritual growth because here we have to confront difficulty. Here we are faced with good and evil and have to choose. Here we are not given direct evidence of God but have to find that ourselves and, in finding, we make it our own. It becomes part of our inner being not just something we see out there like the sun. We all believe in the sun but that doesn't make us give light or warmth. When you build the belief of God into yourself by your own volition, then you start to become God. It's a long process but you really do start to do just that. 

And so this world with all its many imperfections is perfect as a school for evolving consciousness. Indeed, it is the imperfections that make it perfect. Suffering teaches us to overcome suffering in ourselves and respond to it in others. The possibility of sin helps us to identify tendencies to sin within ourselves and therefore be able to root them out.