The Spider Guru - Creation and Withdrawal

Krishna pointed to a corner where an intricate web glistened with dew. "The spider is a profound teacher, Uddhava. Watch how it works."

Uddhava observed the spider busy at its web. "It spins from its own body."

"Yes. The thread comes from within the spider. It doesn't gather material from elsewhere. From its own being, it produces the silk and weaves the web. And when the web is destroyed or no longer needed, what happens?"

"The spider consumes it again, drawing it back inside."

"This is exactly how creation works. I emanate the universe from My own being. The material is not separate from Me - it is My energy taking form. The elements, the worlds, the creatures - all emerge from Me like thread from the spider."

"So creation is not made from something other than God?"

"There is nothing other than God from which creation could be made. The web is spider-substance; the universe is Divine substance. The potter needs clay separate from himself. But I need nothing external. I am both the potter and the clay, the weaver and the thread."

Uddhava contemplated. "And at dissolution?"

"I withdraw everything back into Myself, as the spider consumes its web. The forms dissolve, but the substance remains. Nothing is lost - nothing could be lost, for there is nowhere outside Me for it to go."

"This explains why sages say the world is not truly separate from God."

"It cannot be. The web appears separate from the spider once it's woven. You can see the spider here, the web there. But the web's existence depends entirely on the spider. Cut the connection, and the web has no independent reality."

"So the world is real as God's emanation, but unreal as an independent thing?"

"You've grasped it. This is why scripture says the world is neither completely real nor completely unreal. As My energy, it is real. As something separate from Me, it is illusion. Understanding this resolves many philosophical confusions."

"Does the spider choose what kind of web to weave?"

"In a sense. The spider's nature determines the web. Similarly, the gunas - the qualities of My energy - determine the patterns of creation. But the intelligence behind all patterns is one. The web may look random, but it perfectly serves the spider's purpose."

Uddhava watched the spider move across its creation. "The spider lives within its own creation."

"As I live within this creation. Not trapped but present. The spider can move anywhere on the web, can repair it, can destroy it at will. It is never bound by what it has made. So too, I pervade this universe without being limited by it."

"When I see a spider now, I shall see this teaching."

"See it everywhere, Uddhava. The sun radiates light from itself. The fire produces heat from itself. The mind produces thoughts from itself. All of creation is God spinning Godself into forms, playing among the patterns, and eventually drawing all back home."

The spider completed a section of web, small universe in miniature, teaching without words.