Trees reflected in lake
“Why has God created this beautiful universe?” has been a question asked for thousands of years. The reason is very simple to understand. This beauty that is created cannot see itself. In the same way, God who is the source of beauty, cannot see His own beauty. Like a pearl cannot enter into itself to see its beauty, like the sky cannot understand its own beauty, the stars cannot see their own beauty, the sun cannot behold its brilliance. In the same way, God Almighty cannot behold His own being. He needs a mirror. And that’s how He has created this beautiful universe as His mirror.
In this mirror, He has created now the beautiful things like the sun. The sun has to see his own reflection also. So He has created these beautiful trees to see that when he shines they come up so well and look so green.
Reflections in lake
Then He has created those birds to rise early in the morning to greet the sun, so that the sun knows that “Yes, I am there, I am existing.” Or else He has created these beautiful lakes for these trees to see their reflection and the lakes to feel their existence when the ripples start moving within themselves.
So then He created human beings. The human beings also cannot see their own beauty, their own glory. That’s why they are in the darkness. They are ignorant. They cannot see what lies within themselves. So they are running after something which is absolutely against themselves, which is ugliness, which is self-destructive. And the struggle to get to reality is such a lot that, as a result, they destroy themselves – like people have taken to these drugs, taken to all bad habits because they do not know what beautiful things they are.
So now a mirror has to be created for them to see for themselves, how beautiful they are. Their mirror is their spirit. That spirit is to be brought in their consciousness, in their attention. If it comes in their attention, then they can see their image.
Shri Mataji, 1983
(First photograph: estrip.org; Second photograph: cavinguk.co)