Questions of Illusion and Love

So the question comes up, from reading BG 7.14 (see 22 May 2007 entry below), if God is full of compassion, ready to release us from illusion, why did he place us in illusion in the first place? This is an important question.

I read that a well known author, a contemporary English atheist, was recently persuaded thru logic of the existence of God. This caused a big shock in atheist circles. The converted atheist said, ‘God exists, I cannot deny it, but He must be an evil being.’

This gentleman was being sincere in his understanding, or misunderstanding, based on his observations of nature. But this only underscores the problems we have in trying to understand God from the human platform. We are here in the material world of physical and mental laws (including the duality of good and evil) due to our being ignorant of the higher laws of divine love. Ignorance is the cause of our illusion, not God. Shadow is the cause of darkness, not light.

The illusion of being independent and free is a symptom of our ignorance. How can we be free or independent when we are completely controlled by nature in the form of time, space, the senses, birth and death? The same nature that controls us also supports our illusion. But God is not being cruel by placing us in illusion. He is only fulfilling our own misguided desires. He does not impose illusion on us. We impose it on ourselves thru our own karma. He facilitates us to experience our karma by providing the grand illusion of this material world. And he gives us the chance to clear our karma by sending us agents from the world of divine love.