Is God or the Universe Intentional?

Is God or the Universe intentional? Like a song or a sunset, we can be awed by relational, but impersonal, experiences that connect us to the Whole.

Last week, I wrote about a spirituality that is relational, but impersonal, here.

Some believe that Ultimate Reality is benevolent. Beauty, goodness and truth are foundational. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Others believe that Ultimate Reality is malevolent. Happiness is impossible, life is doomed and suffering is normal. Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “Nature is red in tooth and claw.”

Perhaps Ultimate Reality is neutral. Stuff happens. Good things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. “Why me?” we might ask when bad things happen. Why not me? Sometimes, a neutral Universe appears benevolent. At other times, a neutral Universe appears malevolent. Fundamentally, the Universe might NOT have intention.

Perhaps the Universe evolves naturally, rather than being created supernaturally. Perhaps we are here due to evolution and the natural origin of species, rather than design and “fine-tuning.”  Recently, I met an artist on a retreat who was musing about whether Ultimate Reality is intentional. He said, “Maybe the Universe’s only ‘intention’ is to create,” which is a pretty neutral intention.

Are We Intentional?

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk, tells an interesting parable about intention. A man was rowing his boat upstream when, suddenly, he saw another boat coming toward him. He shouted, “Be careful!” but the boat plowed right into him, nearly sinking his boat. The man was initially angry until he realized that there was no one in the other boat. There was no intention.

I wrote that we might NOT have free will here. Most of us believe that we have free will until we realize that our thoughts come to us. In fact, we do NOT decide to think our thoughts, any more than we decide to breathe our air or digest our food. Scientists tell us that we “choose” to do something up to ten seconds AFTER we do it. Perhaps our brains are reporting, NOT choosing.

Scientists tell us that almost 95 percent of our thoughts come from our subconscious minds. Most of the thoughts that come from our conscious minds derive from either nature or nurture. Thus, our “choices” are largely produced by chemistry, conditioning, experiences and entanglements, mixed with a bit of randomness.

In The Way, I quote Salvadore Poe, a spiritual teacher, “This is why the world is such a mess, because everybody thinks they’re the doer with free will. Then everyone blames everyone else because they think they’re the doer with free will.” Singer Tom Waits says that “We are monkeys with money and guns.” If we have more free will than other animals, it is likely only a matter of complexity.

If we do NOT have free will (or if we do NOT have as much free will as we think we have), are we floating “gently down the stream,” as the song says? And are we empty boats, as the parable says?

Is God or the Universe Intentional?

If we make God in our own image, as some philosophers say, then it would make sense that cultures that value individuality and personhood, like those in the West, might view God as personal. Meanwhile, cultures that do NOT particularly value individuality and personhood, such as those in the East, might view the Universe as impersonal, akin to Brahman, Emptiness, or the Tao.

Westerners imagine that God is personal and that they have a personal relationship with God. Their politics are all about personal responsibility. Their religions are all about personal salvation. However, God’s hiddenness and the presence of evil make it difficult for some of us to imagine a personal God. Would a personal God allow evil and suffering?

Personhood suggests individuation, partiality and separation. How is a transcendent God individual, partial or separate? Does such a God have personal qualities (or all qualities or no qualities?) Does such a God inhabit everyone and everything or just “good” things? And what are “good” things? Does such a God prefer one to another or this to that? Why would God have partiality?

Perhaps the Universe is naturally and organically unfolding with greater complexity, diversity and interconnectedness, because complex, diverse and interconnected universes tend to thrive, and NOT because these universes are designed or fine-tuned. If the Universe is NOT personal and NOT supernatural, how could an impersonal, natural Universe be intentional?

If the Universe is NOT intentional, then why are we praising a personal God for “good” things or blaming a personal God for “bad” things that may actually happen due to our chemistry, conditioning, experiences and entanglements, mixed with a bit of randomness?

Spirituality in an Unintentional Universe

Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary, wrote, “The approach to music is like entering into relation (emphasis added) with another living individual.”

In an interview, McGilchrist talked about this impersonal relationality: “I think that relationship is, again, absolutely primal in the cosmos, and that whatever we mean by the creative divine force—however we may conceive of it—it is effectively relationship. This again, most spiritual traditions have put in their own way, such that God is love or whatever.”

A good friend who had a powerful transcendent experience explained, “It’s like what we call God or the Universe is actually the space that connects us.” In a way, we might be like fish in water, asking “What the hell is water?” to cite David Foster Wallace’s memorable commencement address, “This is Water.”

Think about how we encounter a song or a sunset. Neither the song nor the sunset is intentional, but they can inspire us, move us, or even overwhelm us. Both a song and a sunset can connect us to something greater than ourselves. We become part of the Whole, essentially “woven into the fabric of the Universe.” This powerful feeling is relational, but impersonal.

Is God or the Universe intentional? Like a song or a sunset, we can be awed by relational, but impersonal, experiences that connect us to the Whole.