“Master?”
“Yes, my Apprentice?”
“I’ve been thinking, Master.”
“That’s good.”
“When I first came here, I did it searching for God.”
“Yes.”
“I was told that this place, these mountains, and you, Master, were sacred. That I would be closer to God.”
“That they say, yes.”
“All of this… This landscape that surrounds us, is indeed beautiful.”
“I agree.”
“But I don’t know if I feel closer to God, Master.”
“Why, my Apprentice?”
“Well, these mountains belong to the world. Some people immediately imply that the world was made by God.”
“But we know that’s not true, my Apprentice. Science says so.”
“Yes, ours is but one planet around our Sun. Also, now we know that there are many more planets out there.”
“That was easy to surmise.”
“Yes, Master. But let’s remember that it’s not been that long since galaxies were recognized as such, and the true scale of the Universe started to reveal itself to us.”
“Indeed. The Milky Ways holds thousands of millions of stars, and the universe has thousands of millions of galaxies.”
“I’ve always found it staggering, Master. And yet…”
“And yet?”
“Science claims no God created the Universe. That it comes from the Big Bang.”
“A misnomer.”
“Yes, Master. I’ve learned that there was, or so science believes, a convoluted process of creation. What we usually call The Big Bang was just a part of it. And it still holds mysteries.”
“Yes.”
“The unbalance between matter and antimatter. What’s dark matter made of. What is the dark energy that makes the universe expand.”
“Those are some of the most common problems, yes.”
“And I wonder, Master.”
“Yes?”
“Are we bound to know? What if humankind can never discover the true nature of the universe? What if there are closed doors behind closed doors? New mysteries after we break the existing ones?”
“Interesting, my Apprentice.”
“Scientists tell us that it makes no sense to ask what happened before the Big Bang, because time was created right then. But still one has to wonder: whence it came from? Perhaps that was God?”
“What do you think, Apprentice?”
“I don’t know! Some religions claim the universe is cyclic. That it dies and renews. The Big Bang could have been the start of one of those cycles. But in order to do that, our universe should stop expanding and start contracting at some point in the future. And it doesn’t seem that will happen.”
“Currently scientists don’t see how it could happen, no.”
“But even so, if it was true… The universe has always existed? Always expanding, then contracting, and repeating the cycle all over again, forever?”
“What is really in your mind, Apprentice?”
“I… I’m frightened.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know what makes me more uncomfortable: the idea that the universe has existed forever and always will, with no beginning and no end, or the idea that it did have a beginning, and it will have an end.”
“Well put, Apprentice, well put.”
“And if there’s a God, or Goddess, or a Pantheon… What kind of beings could, or would, create such a universe? One that starts and ends, or one that always existed?”
“Have you considered, my Apprentice, that if there’s such a God, shouldn’t there be a God that has created God as well?”
“What?”
“Think about it as well. I’m happy, My Apprentice, for you are well into the path of enlightenment. But be aware that the path is a long one.”