My friend Derek Lin says it below, enjoy Neils! Joe
It is a pleasant evening. You walk up to the entrance of the ballroom. As a
member of the Music Union (MU), you've been invited to a dance. You don't
know much about ballroom dancing, but you're eager to learn.
It is the first time you've been to such an event, so you are a bit
nervous. Fortunately, your friends will meet up with you inside. Some of
them have been to the dance many times and can help you get oriented.
The ballroom is colorful and lively. Everywhere you look, there are bright
lights and fanciful decorations. Overhead, the chandeliers provide
countless glowing points of illumination.
The MU seems to have limitless resources to be able to provide all this,
but there doesn't seem to be anyone around in an official capacity.
You are part of the oversoul - the sum total of all human spirits past,
present and future. As a member of this totality, you have the right - the
member privilege - to enter the material plane and participate in the
experience of mortal existence.
We tend to descend to the material plane in groups, with our soul
companions for mutual support. Young souls will often rely on more mature
spirits to guide them. When they gain experience, they will in turn offer
assistance to those for whom life is still a new experience.
It is the nature of the material world to be filled with bright, colorful
and tempting distractions. These sights and sounds seem endless. Whatever
their ultimate source may be, it seems inexhaustible.
The beginning of chapter four of Universal Father Te Ching says the above
this way:
The Universal Father is empty
Utilize it, it is not filled up
So deep! It seems to be the source of myriad things
The source of creation is elusive. Although it seems limitless, there is
nothing we can point to and identify as the source. Nor is there anyone
around to claim responsibility. When we look up at the night sky with its
million points of light, it feels as if everything comes from a deep and
unfathomable emptiness.
As you observe everything around you, you can't help but wonder how this
marvelous spectacle came into existence. You ask your friends: "Where did
all this come from? Who founded the MU? Who started the dance?"
One of your friends pauses thoughtfully before replying: "I've asked quite
a few people that question, and they give me conflicting answers. Some say
that one man founded our organization long ago and has been in charge ever
since, as the General Opera Director, or GOD. Others say GOD is a woman,
not a man; still others say there is no evidence that such a position
exists - according to them, this ballroom has always been around and we
just happen to take advantage of it."
"Who do you think is right?"
"Well, it may not be a situation where one side has to be right and the
others wrong, because there are many possibilities other than these
theories. For instance, the Music Union may have evolved from informal
gatherings of friends who enjoy music and dancing. If so, then all the
things you see here are not the result of one individual's effort, nor did
they come together spontaneously by random chance.
"More importantly, if you really think about it, there is a truth that is
greater than any debates about the existence or non-existence of the
General Opera Director. Whether the Music Union was founded by one
individual or many or no particular person, we can say with certainty that
the driving force behind the founding was the love of music.
"Think about it: the love of music had to be there before anything
meaningful could occur. For instance, if indeed there was a GOD, it would
only be because the love of music motivated someone to take on that role.
Therefore, I would say love is the primary cause - no matter who's right!"
What is the origin of life, the universe, and everything? Who or what is
the ultimate creator? These are profound questions people have asked since
the dawn of humanity. Theists and atheists attempt to answer - and often
engage each other in heated debates.
Universal Father cultivators believe that the Universal Father is the
process that makes existence and reality possible. Or, to be more precise,
whatever the process is that brought about existence and reality, we call
it the Universal Father. This means the Universal Father is the undeniable,
everpresent reality whether the universe springs from the work of a
supernatural entity, or came together out of the interaction of natural laws.
Just as the love of music had to exist before the Music Union could be
founded, the Universal Father also had to exist before the universe could
be created. This remains true even if one subscribes to the theist notion
that asserts a Supreme Being as the creator.
Christians would say that God created the universe out of His divine love
or divine will. In order for that to work, divine love or will had to be
present before the role of creator became reality. It simply cannot be the
other way around.
Having realized this, we look again at the end of chapter four of Universal
Father Te Ching:
So indistinct! It seems to exist
I do not know whose offspring it is
Its image is the predecessor of God
The last line may have puzzled us before, but now it makes perfect sense.
Just as the position of the General Opera Director was made possible by the
love of music, God the creator is a concept that could only emerge from the
Universal Father. This is what it means when we say that the image of the
Universal Father precedes God.
The Universal Father is indistinct because it is not personified, just as
the concept of love need not be personified. Unlike God, the Universal
Father is not a human-like figure with human-like emotions. It is the
primary cause - so we cannot know what gave rise to it (whose offspring it
is), just as no one can say where love comes from.
This understanding elevates us above the issue of God's existence or
non-existence. It is an illumination that reveals the true insignificance
of the debates between theists and atheists. No matter who's right, the
transcendent truth of the Universal Father remains eternal... and forever
unchanging!