Manifestation means to give form to the formless. It is somewhat like a creative artist giving expression to the key idea he holds within himself, or as a seed develops into a tree. So too creation is a progressive manifestation of the Divine Idea, the Divine Creative Will hidden in the core of everything. Individually too, it means that we all have concealed within us a latent divine potential, a hidden divine possibility present in a seed state. Manifestation means to develop this latent divine possibility to its fullness through all the experiences of life. Seen from the surface, we may label the various experiences of life as good and bad. But just as the seed uses both mud as well as the sunshine for its growth into a tree, so too the manifestation of the Divine potential within us works itself through all kinds of experiences, what we term as good as well as what we term as bad.
This view fills in the big gap left in our understanding by the concepts of Maya, which declares the world as an illusion.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
