Maya and the Dream of God

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

Tony (my tenant and friend) and I have gone through several rounds of discussion about the “dream of God.” In the 90s, I wrote The Zen Teachings of Jesus, where I reconciled Jesus’s teachings with Zen teachings. Today, I am ready to expand my scope. I find that there is also a common thread between Jewish theology and Vedic teachings.

I love the Hindu notion of Lila, which means divine play. In order for God/Brahman to play, He has to forget Himself. This is no different from an ordinary drama. In order to have a play, the actors and actresses have to forget about their original identities and live their roles in the play. The ten thousand things and the history of the world are not possible without this self-induced amnesia. Each creature and each sentient being is a representation of the self-forgetting God, just like each moon reflected on every dew drop, every puddle, every pond, lake or ocean is the same moon. This is how God/Brahman has fun and entertain Himself. Poetically speaking, God pretends that He is one of us. In the apparent diversity, there is also unity.

The phenomenal world is a result of God’s dream. This is consistent with the creation narrative in Genesis. How did God create heaven and earth? He willed them. Whatever God wills, it becomes reality. Thus, there is no clear line between…