By living according to dharma, we can strive for a higher quality of life

What is this Big Picture, that finds mention in spiritual talks? Simply stated, it means to know something in its totality. For example, we wish to know about ourselves in great detail, i.e. who we are; where have we come from; where are we going; and so forth. These and many more questions can be answered if we go to the source of everything, i.e. God, who is everything. (The Bhagavad-Geeta 7.19) We, souls, are His parts (15.15); we exist eternally; we are presently in material bodies.

This happened because that is all we qualified for. There are superior planets like Heaven and, of course, the Vaikuntha – God’s planet (15.6). How are we judged? It is purely based on ‘karmas’ (our acts), both material and spiritual. Most of us are engaged mainly in material acts. We may have a slight percentage of spiritual acts like occasional visits to a temple, hearing a spiritual talk, etc. These count but are not enough to go to the highest planet, i.e. the Vaikuntha. We keep on getting born on the earth's planet with an occasional visit to Heaven.

What is the role of God in all these? God is the creator of all that we see; He is its controller also. Logically, God must know the Big Picture. He does; God is omniscient. He knows past, present and future also. Just as our present is the result of our past, our future will be the result of our present. God is aware of how we will use our free will because that is influenced by our nature – part of our fate. As the Creation is to last for a very long time, control must be exercised to ensure its continuity. God does that. He uses the Divine Authority to assist Him; it works under His superintendence. (9.10) They in turn reward and punish us based on our karma. There is nothing like chance, whatever happens to us is already preordained. In short, there are three levels of control. God is the head.

Then comes the Divine Authority and, lastly, it is the material nature, which has been set in motion by God.

That is how we have seasons, rains, etc. We must live in synchronisation with it to have a healthy life. Our all acts must be ‘yukta’, i.e. appropriate according to the highest principles known as ‘dharma’. These rules have been formulated by God Himself.The Big Picture won’t be complete without a detailed description of our souls and how we can get help from God to improve our lives. We are many, eight billion plus on the earth planet itself. Surely, we are small and need help all the time, especially from God, who only knows the Big Picture. We are relocated after the present lifespan is over, which is preordained. Quality of life is all-important for all of us.

Unfortunately, we seek it from material objects, which are never satisfied. We must serve other souls to be served in turn by others. How can we improve the quality of our lives? We must begin by accepting the reality. This is where the Big Picture enters our lives, whatever we can know with our limitations.

This includes accepting the Cosmic Design, and having faith in God and His System. We should try to be good in whatever we do; we generally know what that is. We must be useful to others, otherwise the world would not have any use for us. We need to be tolerant, because the earth planet is no heaven, but is not a concentration camp either. One can have a reasonably good life.

(The writer is a spiritual teacher; views are personal)