WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER?

[Guest guest]

WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER?

 

The topic for this evening's talk is, " Why do good people suffer? "

The very fact, so many people have gathered here today, is sufficient

proof of our interest in the subject. Almost at every place, where I

go, in India or abroad, people put to me the question: " Why do good

people suffer? " By Sai's Grace & blessings now this is the

right time for me to give an answer thro this divine sssd group

 

The story is almost the same everywhere. The people say: " We have

been honest and hard working: we have not hurt or exploited anyone:

we have done as much good as we could: and yet we have had to suffer.

What is the reason? "

 

I am reminded of a young man. He built up a flourishing business in

Mumbai. Then he turned his attention to spiritual things. He, as it

were, handed over his business to his assistants, whom he trusted

implicitly. They proved to be dishonest. Very soon, this young man

found himself in a difficult situation. He was on the verge of

bankruptcy. Winding up his business, he went to America, where he

opened a shop. Misfortune dogged his footsteps. One afternoon, two

black men entered his shop with pistol in their hands. One of them

caught hold of him and said: " If you stir or utter a word, you will

not be alive! " The other ransacked the shop and filled the booty in a

waiting van and, before any action could be taken, the two quickly

vanished.

 

In the course of a letter this young man wrote to me: " Why did this

happen to me? I pray many times everyday. I seek God's help and

protection. Every morning, as I get up, I offer a prayer: I spend

some time in quiet meditation. Before I open the shop, I pray.

Throughout the day I keep thinking of God and offer small prayers to

Him. I pray again in night, before I go to sleep. I have hurt no one:

I have cheated no one. I have never been dishonest. Why, of all

people, did this happen to me? "

 

I think of a young woman. She stays in Singapore. She is God fearing.

She is an active member of a Yoga Society. Some months ago, she came

to India, along with her family members. They visited a number of

sacred shrines. They met holy men and sought their blessings. Then

they returned to Singapore. A few days thereafter, their office

premises were gutted by fire, and precious documents were destroyed.

The girl, with tear filled eyes exclaimed: " Why is it that this

happened to us? We visited India in a spirit of reverence, sought the

blessings of a number of holy men and women. Why did this happen to

us! "

 

I read concerning a woman. She went round the world collecting rare

and precious antiques. After six laborious years, she returned to her

country where she planned to start business in antiques. A week

before the inaugural function, a fire broke out, and a number of

shops including her own were destroyed. Her hard work of six long

years proved futile. Her priceless collections, her irreplaceable

curios, were reduced to ashes! No insurance claim could compensate

her adequately. She put the same question: " Why did the All-Merciful

God permit this to happen to me? "

 

Let me tell you of another woman. She devoted the best part of her

life to social service. She was by nature affable, amiable,

energetic, and vivacious. She went out of her way to bring joy and

comfort into the lives of many. Suddenly, one day, she found herself

losing balance as she walked. A few days later, as she returned home,

one night, she stumbled and fell across the threshold of her house.

The next day she was examined by a doctor, who, after a thorough

check up, diagnosed the disease as multiple sclerosis. She was told

that it was a degenerative nerve-disease which, with passage of time,

would gather momentum and restrict her mobility. Ultimately, she

would not be able to walk without support and she would be confined

to a wheel-chair. She might even lose bowel and bladder control and

be dependent on others for her routine chores. This lady too, could

not understand why this had happened to her, when many of her friends

lived normal, healthy lives. " Why did God permit this to happen to

me? " she asked.

 

Some people believe that there are certain obligations they owe to

God, and if they fail to fulfill them, they or their dear ones are

punished. One such woman met me when I visited Ottawa, Canada. She

told me that she recited the second, twelfth and eighteenth chapters

of the Bhagavad Gita every day, before taking her lunch. She

observed, also, the Satyanarayan fast, every month. But during a

whole month, she missed out on the recitation and the fast. The day

after Satyanarayan her husband, who was perfectly healthy and normal,

suffered a stroke, and has remained paralysed since then. The woman

put me the question that was uppermost in her mind: " Has this

anything to do with my failure to read from the scriptures and

observe the fast? Is there any cause and effect relationship between

the two? "

 

I think of a young man. He was the only son of his parents, who are

good and kind, and obliging by nature. With his pleasant manners, the

young man easily won over the hearts of many who knew him. One night,

the car in which he was returning home, collided against a truck,

killing him and three of his other friends. When the news was

conveyed to his parents, they cried: " Why did the Merciful Lord allow

this happen to us? Why was our only son snatched away from us? "

 

A learned Rabbi has written a book titled, When Bad Things Happen to

Good People. In this book the Rabbi narrates how his three year old

son was afflicted with an incurable disease called Progeria. The

effect of this disease, he was told, would be that the boy would not

grow taller than three feet, would remain bald, and would age

rapidly. Even as a child, he would have the appearance of an old man!

Naturally, the father was grief-stricken. " Why has God permitted an

innocent child to become the victim of such a disease? He asked. " He

has hurt or harmed no one. Why has he been exposed to physical and

psychological torture? " The author considers several similar cases

and concludes that God is not omnipotent, as we believe Him to be.

God has limited power. Within those limitations God can exercise His

discretion. But there are forces over which He has no control. If

those forces operate, God has no way of helping you out.

 

Dr. Anne Besant, the founder of the Theosophical Society gave birth

to a child who, during his infancy, suffered from convulsions.

Suddenly, the fever would shoot up and the infant would have a series

of fits. The suffering of the infant was more than the mother could

bear. She was at a total loss to understand how the All-Loving, All-

Merciful, All-Compassionate God had inflicted so much suffering on a

harmless, guileless and perfectly innocent baby. She turned an

agnostic and said that she was not sure if there was a God.

 

She worked on the staff of " The New Review " . One day, she was asked

to review `The Secret Doctrine' by Madame H.B. Blavatsky. As she went

through this book, she came upon a chapter on Karma and

Reincarnation. She read line after line of this chapter with

deepening interest and a new awakening dawned on her. She began to

understand that the present was not the only life that she or her

child had lived; it was but one of the innumerable lives they had

lived so far. The present life was but a fragment in the continuity

of existence and, therefore what an individual suffered today could

be the product of what he (or she) had done in an earlier

incarnation. The mystery was unravelled. Her entire attitude towards

life changed.

 

The answer to the opt-repeated question, " Why do good people suffer? "

becomes clear when we understand the operation of the law of karma

and re-incarnation. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect.

Every effect must have a cause. The effect we see now must have a

cause, recent or remote. Whatever happens to me today has a cause

behind it.

 

Question: What is the concrete proof for this?

 

Answer: You will get concrete proof when you practice silence and

enter the depths within you. The meaning of the mystery of the

endless adventure of existence is there within you. As you enter into

the depths within, the mystery is unravelled.

 

Question: Can you give us some concrete example?

 

Answer: An example has been given in the Mahabharata. It concerns the

blind King Dhritarashtra. After the Mahabharata war was over, Sri

Krishna said to Pandavas and Kauravas and all others: " It is time for

me to return to Dwaraka. But before I leave, tell me if there is

anything I can do for you? " The blind King Dhritarashtra said to

him: " I have bee good to everyone: I have not been cruel or unjust to

anyone. Why is it that I am blind and have lost all my hundred

children? " And Sri Krishna said to him: " I would wish you to get the

answer for yourself. Meditate, go deep within yourself until you

touch the astral self, and you will know! "

 

Dhritarashtra entered into deep meditation and contacted his astral

self. The astral self keeps a record of our earlier incarnations.

Dhritarashtra discovered that in an earlier incarnation, he had been

a tyrant king. One day as he walked by a lake side, he saw a swan-

bird surrounded by a hundred signets. He asked his people to remove

the eyes of the swan-bird and kill all the hundred signets just to

please his passing fancy! He then understood why he was blind and had

to suffer the loss of his hundred sons.

 

Question: But isn't that a very lengthy process of getting to know?

 

Answer: It is well worth it. You do not acquire a post graduate

degree overnight. You have to put in years of study. Just as there is

the science of nature, so also there is the science of the spirit.

 

The rishis of ancient India called it Atmavidya. Vidya means science.

As natural sciences have their laws, so does Atmavidya, - the science

of the spirit, - have its laws. One of those laws is the law of

karma; another is the law of re-incarnation.

 

Question: Could you explain this law of karma?

 

Answer: The law of karma, simply stated, is the law of cause and

effect. My Beloved Master referred to the law of karma as the law of

the seed. As you sow, so shall you reap. You cannot sow thrones and

reap apples. The law of karma is universal in its application: it

applies equally to all. We are sowing seeds everyday in the field of

life. Every thought that I think, every word that I utter, every deed

I perform, every emotion I arouse within me, every feeling, fancy,

wish that awakens within me, are seeds I am sowing in the field of

life. In due course, the seeds will germinate and grow into trees,

and yield fruit, - bitter or sweet, - which I shall have to eat. No

one else can do that for me. There are causes that produce their

effect immediately. There are other causes that produce their effect

after a long time. As an example, if you go to a party and overeat,

it is a cause you have created. This cause produces an immediate

effect, - acute indigestion. There are other causes which take very

long to produce their effect. But every cause must produce its

effect; every seed must yield its fruit. This in simple words is the

law of karma.

 

We are told, all men are created equal. No one can be so blind or

foolish as to imagine that there is actual equality of ability or

environment or conditions of birth for all. Why, in the same family,

all children do not have equality of ability or intelligence. There

is a family of which the eldest son is an IAS officer and the younger

is unable to pass the SSC examination. We have a proverb in Sindhi

which says: " The mother gives birth to children, each brings with

himself his destiny. " In other words, each one brings his karma with

himself. There is a family of which youngest son is a multi

millionaire, while the eldest is so poor that he and his children are

virtually starving, literally begging for food.

 

Two questions arise:

1. Is this inequality the result of karma?

2. And if so, is it fair?

 

The answer to both, - as the great teachers of India have taught us, -

is in the affirmative. You are the architect of your own destiny.

You are the builder of your own life. Every thought, emotion, wish,

action creates karma: and we have been creating karma for thousands,

perhaps millions of years. If our thoughts, emotions and actions are

benevolent, so called good karma results. If they are malevolent,

evil or difficult karma is created. The good or evil we generate

attaches its effect to us and remains in our life current until we

have satisfied it by balancing it out.

 

Question: Why is our past karma kept a secret from us?

 

Answer: Don't you think it is a great mercy of God that our karmic

links are not known t o us> Else, it may be difficult for us to live

in the world. Thus, for instance, there may be a man whose wife, in

the present incarnation, was his bitter enemy in an earlier

incarnation and had now become his wife only to settle previous

accounts. If all this were revealed to us, what would be our

condition?

 

Question: How did bad karma originate?

 

Answer: Man was given free will; he was given the right of choice. He

can choose between what the Upanishads call preya and shreya. Preya

is the pleasant: the path of preya is the path of pleasure that lures

us but leads to our degradation. As a Danish proverb has it: " After

pleasant scratching comes unpleasant smarting. " Shreya is the good:

the path of shreya may, at first, be difficult to tread but

ultimately leads to our betterment and well-being and spiritual

unfoldment. At every step man is given this choice. Many of us, alas,

choose the easy path, -the path of pleasure, - and so keep on

multiplying undesirable karma.

 

Question: If all that happens today is the result of our past karmas,

does it mean that everything is pre-destined?

 

Answer: No, certainly not! We are the architects of our own destiny.

We are the builders of our future. Many of us blame fate, kismet for

our misfortune. But let me tell you, dear friends, that you are the

builders of your own fate. Therefore, be careful especially of your

thoughts. We pay scant attention to our thoughts, believing that they

are of no consequence. We say, after all, it was only a thought, what

does it matter? Every thought is a seed you are sowing in the field

of life, and what you sow today, you will have to reap tomorrow.

 

God has created a universe of beauty, fullness, happiness and

harmony. Each one of us is a child of God. God wishes each one of us

to be happy, healthy, prosperous, successful and to enjoy all the

good things He has created. We keep ourselves away from all those

bounties because of our karma. Change your karma and you will change

the conditions in which you live. And you can change your karma by

adopting a new pattern of thinking.

 

Question: Can karmas be wiped off by japa?

 

Answer: It is believed that the effects of karma can be mitigated

through nama japa. In any case, the suffering can be reduced, because

nama japa acts as a sort of chloroform. It is like going through an

operation. The surgeon puts you under anesthesia and you come out of

the operation without feeling the acute pain. Else the pain is so

excruciating, that a person could die of it. This is what Nama Japa

does to you.

 

Question: Can saints take over the karma of their disciples?

 

Answer: They can. However, normally, they do not wish to interfere

with the law of karma. For they know that the law of karma is not

punitive but reformative. The law of karma does not wish to punish us

for what we may have done in the past. The law of karma wishes to

reform us and so sends us experiences which may help on our spiritual

advancement. It is true there have been cases when men of God have

taken the karmas of their devotees upon themselves. It is like having

birds released from their cages. A man may purchase the birds and set

them free. Likewise, a man who is rich in the wealth of the Spirit

may, if he so desires, pay for our karma and released us from the

cage of maya.

 

Question: Tell us how to face suffering?

 

Answer: If our attention is on suffering they get magnified beyond

all proportions. In the midst of suffering let us count our

blessings. Usually, we suffer only in one area of our life. There are

so many other things for which we should be grateful. Take a piece of

paper and make a list of all the blessings you still have. There was

a man who started from scratch and build up a flourishing business

and one day become bankrupt. The first thing he did was to take up a

piece of paper and write down all the things he still possessed. He

found, he still had a great deal to be thankful for. With gratitude

in his heart, he started anew and built up a still larger business.

If we count on our blessings, our suffering recedes in the background.

 

In all conditions of life, let us thank the Lord. Let us make it a

habit, - to praise the Lord at every step, in every round of life.

Even in the midst of fear and frustration, worry and anxiety,

depression and disappointment, let these words come out of the very

depths of our hearts: " Thank you, God! Thank you, God! " and we will

be filled with a peace that will amaze us. When we thank the Lord all

the time, we build for ourselves a ladder of consciousness on which

we can climb and touch the very pinnacle of peace.

 

Let me tell you the story of a woman. Her husband fell seriously ill.

The doctors dispaired of his condition and said he would not be able

to last longer than six months. The woman had deep faith in God and

started thanking the Lord a thousand times everyday. " Thank you, God!

Thank you, God! " she prayed again and again. " Thank you, God, for

having healed my husband and made him whole. " She continued to offer

his prayer even though there was no sign of healing in sight. Strange

enough, a few months later, when the husband went for a check up, the

doctors were amazed at his miraculous recovery. " A power above and

beyond ours has been at work! " they exclaimed.

 

Whatever be the condition in which you find yourself, whatever be the

suffering through which you pass, keep on thinking the Lord all the

time. When you do so, your heart expands and you become receptive to

the helpful and healing forces of God.

 

In every situation, do the very best you can and leave the result to

the Lord. When Henry Ford was seventy-five years old, he was asked

the secret of his success. He answered: " My life is built in these

three rules. I do not eat too much, I do not worry too much and, if I

do my best, I believe that what happens happens for the best. "

 

Baba is every where just feel him and keep on saying ‘Om Sai Ram’ to whom so

ever you meet.

 

OM SAI SRI SAI JAI JAI SAI!!! Let us pray at the lotus feet of Bhagwan Baba who

is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all, to show mercy on us, and

increase our devotion towards him

 

Let us pray Shri Sai to give us the intellect and wisdom to make tomorrow's

world a happier place to stay by following his principle of " Shraddha " and

" Saburi "

 

Jai Sai Ram

Swamy Mahadevan

Bow to Shri Sai-Peace be to all

Baba Bless you ever!!!