There is one simple answer to all of this. We do not know! We don't know if the Universe was created or if it just happened. We don't know if there's a reason or a purpose to to all, or not. We don't know if there is some kind of Supreme Being or Universal Essence, either.

We can argue the toss, but in the end, all we get is an opinion based on the knowledge, research and experiences of whoever is talking. Being a Bear of Very Little Brain, most of the cutting edge physics is beyond me. Being a very imaginative person myself, I'm prone to take 'spiritual experiences' with the usual small amount of sodium chloride. I've had a couple, and I'm not convinced it wasn't my own mind playing tricks on me!

Will we ever know? We don't know, but by all means let's keep looking. Are we part of whatever is going on? Or are we simply a by-product of some other process which has nothing to do with us and which we might never understand? Who knows?

The best we can do is live the best way we can, to help and support each other, and carry on trying to make sense of it all. There's no shame in failing, but there is in not trying.