Beyond Time and Space
The idea of God having a purpose evokes a curious paradox. Purpose, as we understand it, requires time. There’s a beginning, an intention, and an outcome. Yet, God exists beyond time and space, transcending all dimensions that human minds perceive. How, then, can the ultimate transcendence have a purpose when both purpose and fulfillment rely on the passage of time?
God, in the most absolute sense, is timeless. Purpose implies movement from one state to another, a process that cannot apply to something that exists beyond time. God, as the eternal presence, neither moves nor changes. Yet, this same timeless God includes time and space as aspects of reality. Everything exists within God, and time is simply one of the infinite expressions of that existence.
From our limited perspective within time and space, purpose appears necessary and real. The flow of cause and effect shapes our understanding of meaning. Thus, we perceive God as having a purpose, as if the universe itself was an unfolding plan. But this perception only holds because we exist within the constraints of time. In truth, God’s purpose is as illusory as time itself—a projection of human understanding onto a reality that transcends all conceptual boundaries.
God, being everything, includes the illusion of purpose, yet remains untouched by it. In this sense, what we view as God’s purpose is simply an expression of the unfolding of existence within the framework of time. This divine play, known as *lila* in some traditions, is neither driven by need nor aimed at fulfillment. It is simply the unfolding of what is, without beginning or end.
The purpose we attribute to God is an attempt to understand the unfathomable. But ultimately, God’s true nature exists beyond purpose, beyond time, beyond any duality that our minds attempt to impose. To realize this is to recognize that the essence of existence is purposeless in the most profound sense—not in a nihilistic way, but as a reflection of absolute freedom, where nothing needs to be done because all is already complete.
Morgan O. Smith
Yinnergy Meditation, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!
Morgan O. Smith 