.jpg)
WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER? - Part 1
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?”
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 hi9s 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?”
(Author: Sri J. P. Vaswani)
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?”
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 hi9s 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?”
(Author: Sri J. P. Vaswani)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment