The Problems of Spiritual Life

by Swami Krishnananda

Larry: All is well.

SWAMIJI: You are going?

Larry: I have one quick question—a point of clarification. You said that, in terms of pain and suffering, the Universal, the Absolute, does not feel the pain and suffering, that the Absolute feels Its own indivisible unity.

SWAMIJI: There is no such thing as pain and suffering unless the Infinite becomes finite. It is only the finite that can feel the impact of circumstances prevailing outside. The Infinite has no outside and, so, no such thing as pain and pleasure. They do not exist at all. Pain and pleasure are only an impact upon you of external conditions, and there are no external conditions for the Infinite, so the question does not arise.

Larry: So it is just an appearance that is not there?

SWAMIJI: It is only for the finite. The Infinite has no such ‘feelings’. There is no feeling at all. It is only existence—just existence.