If God created the world, then who created God?

This question has equally baffled the young and the old; the wise and not so wise; the scientists and the spiritual beings, and even some of my friends. If you are also curious to take a deep dive for exploring the answer, then we have to analyze the question itself.

The word "God" is perhaps the most widely perceived word in the language. It has varied meaning depending on the the upbringing, religion, culture and the mindset of the person, who is asking the question. Most of the religious people or I would say the beginners believe in a God with some form of personality (Vishnu, Shiva, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Guru Nanak or others of that kind). For such believers, the question makes some sense - “If God created everything, then who created God?”

However, when you go further deep into spirituality or the spiritual aspect of most of the religions, then the true God is mostly described as a omnipresent, eternal (which ever present, never born, never dies), conscious and blissful formless supreme Energy which is beyond the experience of five senses. I am referring to the “Par-Brahm-Parmatma” or “SatChitAnanda” of Hindus, “Sat Shri Akaal” of Sikhs, “Allah” of Muslims or “The God” (in the trinity – the God, the Son and the Holy Spirit) of Christians. Such a God is described by Saints as “Akaal Purush”, the one that is beyond time. When the true seeker begins to understand the meaning of such a Sat-Chit-Anand (Eternal-Conscious-Blissful) God, which always exists, which never born or die, then the question itself begin to evaporate.

How? It is a universal law that whatever gets created, gets destroyed also with time. The true God, the formless ever-present eternal conscious blissful Energy, never gets created, nor destroyed. All the forms of living and non-living things originates from that Supreme Consciousness and finally merge into it. Just like, at the surface of the ocean, water appears to be present in so many forms – the drops, the waves, the foam, the bubbles etc, but deep down it's all One – just the Water. Similarly at the physical level of five senses, you see so many forms in this beautiful world, but deep down – its all One Conscious Energy – the God.

Someone asked a Self realized Saint, “Sir, when we look at a beautiful painting, it reminds us of the painter as well. Similarly, when we look at this beautiful creation, then we should also be sure that the creator of the world exist- the God. Do you agree?”

After a moment of silence, the Saint replied, “Son, your argument makes sense. But I would like to add that in case of painter-painting analogy, the painter remains separate from the painting. The painting might continue to exist even when the painter die. So more appropriate analogy is that of a dancer and the dance. This world is like a beautiful dance of the Supreme Dancer. When the Dancer stops dancing, only the Dancer remains. Even while dancing, the beautiful dance is just an illusion, the Truth remains the same – The Dancer only.”

While describing such an eternal God, here are some verses from Vedanta:

From Shrimad Bhagwad Gita:

"jyotisam api taj jyotis, tamasah param ucyate

jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam, hridi sarvasya visthitam" ||Shrimad Bhagwad Gita 13-18||

Meaning: "He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is un-manifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart."

From Shri Mundaka Upanisad:

"tat etat satyam yatha su-diptat pavakad; visphulingah sahasrasah prabhavante

sa-rupah tathaksharad vividhah saumya; bhavah prajayante tatra caivapi yanti"

Meaning:The Supreme God is real and eternal. As many thousands of sparks come from a blazing fire, so many different living entities are manifested from the imperishable Supreme God and then again go & merge into Him.