If you love to eat apples, you must know that they grow on beautiful apple trees. However, have you, by any chance, seen apples growing on a mango tree? Never! Why? Because apples are not meant to grow on any other trees except apple trees. If we expect jackfruits to grow on coconut trees, that's just not possible. Why?
There is a Universal Law that states, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” As per this law, if you plant mangoes, you cannot get apples. If you want jackfruits, then don't plant coconuts. If you do, then expect coconuts to grow in your garden. While we understand this law, why is it that we don't understand that bad things can't happen to good people, just as apples cannot grow on mango trees?
Some people don't get this straight. They look at a fruit and wonder, “Why I have got this fruit?” They don't realize that the fruit depends on the root. It is a Universal Law – as is the root, so will be the shoot and the fruit. If we plant mangoes, why are we expecting apples to grow on the tree? If thorns pop out of our garden, we shouldn't question, “Why?” Obviously, we have planted them.
While it doesn't seem so difcult to understand that apples can't grow on mango trees, we human beings struggle to understand why bad things happen to good people. Bad things can't happen to good people. It is just not possible! Such is the Universal Law. But people say, “Of course, we see bad things happen to good people all the time! What kind of law are you talking about?” It is simple. It is the law of the Cause and Effect!
There is no doubt that bad things are happening, and they seem to be happening to good people. There is no doubt that these people are good, but unfortunately, we miss upon one important fact. While these people may be good, if bad things are happening to them, they must have done some bad deeds, just as it is impossible for apples to grow on mango trees. Those who understand the Universal Law of Karma, understand that it is a Law of Cause and Effect. If mangoes are growing on a tree, mangoes are just an effect. The mango seed is the cause. Because of mango seeds, there are mangoes. There cannot be apples. If bad things are happening to some people who seem to be good, somewhere in life, they must have done some bad deeds. Either the bad deeds have been performed in the distant past that is now forgotten or even in a life prior to the present one, but as per the law, if bad things are happening to seemingly good people, these are just an effect of the cause. The cause is bad deeds done in the past. As per the law of the universe, it is impossible that without bad deeds, bad things can happen to anybody.
While there is no proof of this Law of Cause and Effect, there is inference. Just like we cannot prove gravity but we infer that it is in force because every time we throw up something into the sky it is pulled back towards the earth by a force that we call gravity. When there is such inference, there is no need of any further proof. The inference itself is the proof.
Shyam was diagnosed as being HIV positive. By the time he realized it, it was too late and he was about to die. All he did was to cry and ask, “Why?” He could not reconcile to his suffering for he felt he had not done anything to deserve it. Could the deadly disease appear without a cause? There was no doubt that it was his own action that caused it, whether it was a direct action that led to this or whether it was an indirect one done somewhere in the past that was getting back at him. He started to curse God and blame God for being unjust and unfair.
However much we may blame God, can we accept that God caused apples to grow on the mango tree? While we understand His Universal Law of Cause and Effect, we are somehow unable to relate to this law in our life. We may consider that God is not powerful enough to stop injustice or we may even consider that God is cruel when we see a bad effect without a bad cause. We are not using our intellect to realize why this is happening. We don't trust in the Universal Law and don't try to accept it. Thus we continue to live and die in ignorance.
Rajesh lived in a village but he always aspired to go to the town. He had no parents and he lived with his uncle who had a large farm. One day, Rajesh was given a bucket of seeds as his uncle wanted to plant a row of trees all around the periphery of the farm. Rajesh started planting the seeds but before he could complete it, his friends started troubling him, asking him to join them for a movie. Rajesh was caught between the task assigned and his friends. He was tempted to go with his friends to the city for the movie. His friends convinced him, “Just dump those seeds in one corner, and tell your uncle you nished the planting. How would he know?” Rajesh did exactly that. He was thrilled that he could now go to the city for the movie as dumping the seeds at one place saved him a lot of time!
Thereafter, Rajesh found a job in the city and moved out for the period of his contract. After the contract, he returned to his uncle's farm and joined his uncle for a walk, giving him an update of his work in the city. As they walked, the uncle pointed at the beautiful row of trees that Rajesh had planted before he left. He had forgotten what he had done, until the farmer, while appreciating his work, asked him the question, “What happened here, Rajesh?” They reached a point where the farm turned into a marsh. Suddenly, the beautiful row of trees turned out to be a jungle. Rajesh instantly remembered that he had dumped all the left-over seeds here. He covered his face in shame and cried, narrating what had happened that day. The farmer explained to him, “In life, you may cheat anybody, but you can't cheat nature. Whatever you sow, you will reap. You had beautifully planted the seeds till here, and the row of the majestic trees are a proof of your good work, just as the jungle is a proof of your irresponsibility. There can be no effect without a cause, such is the law!”
There are many Universal Laws prevalent on earth and each of these laws advocates a profound truth. They are natural laws, laws that are unquestionable, laws that apply to all of humanity. It is for us to understand the laws, to accept them and to live by them gracefully. If we don't, we are bound to suffer.
We have already mentioned the Law of Gravity. While we can't prove this law, we are sure it exists, just like we don't see apples on mango trees. When we throw an apple up, it gets drawn back, down to the earth. It never ies away into the sky. This is another Universal Law that prevails just like the Law of Karma does. The Law of Karma doesn't make a mistake, just as the Law of Gravity is perfect. All Universal Laws unfold everywhere in the universe without exception.
The Universal Law of Opposites exists in several domains of the universe. There is day and there is night, just as there is pleasure and pain, loss and gain, summer and winter, north and south, amongst others. The Law of Opposites exists and we must accept it, just as we must accept the Law of Cycles. Everything in this world is cyclic. Have you seen winter following winter and again, followed by winter? Never! It is followed by spring, which then turns into summer and autumn before the cycle returns to winter. Like all these Universal Laws, the Law of Cause and Effect, Action and Reaction, is rmly grounded in our life. Some may call it the Law of Karma, and others the Law of the Boomerang.
The Universe works with these laws and it is these laws that cause a smooth ongoing life on planet earth, just as they do in the cosmos. The Law of Balance somehow works in the world and makes things balanced. We have not been able to understand this law very well but we see that a Law of Balance prevails. It brings back the balance in our life and the world around us.
There is a Law of Order that synchronizes everything on earth. Our human body has over 30 trillion cells and the body functions in perfect order, just as trees grow in a forest, sh swim in the water and birds y in the sky. Don't we nd perfect order in God's creation? What causes this order? A Universal Law!
It is very important for us to understand these Universal Laws, only then we will realize why bad things cannot happen to good people. Instinctively, we know apples cannot grow on mango trees. But this is because of the prevalence of a Universal Law. Similarly there is a law called the Law of Energy and it has so many tenets that we must have heard of. This law pronounces that everything is energy. The universe vibrates with this energy. Science has developed several branches like quantum physics and quantum mechanics that work on the principle that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from one form to another. This famous principle has further evolved into the 'Wave-Particle Duality'. Science has discovered that energy and matter are no different. Energy becomes matter and matter becomes energy and this is coined as the 'Wave-Particle Duality'. It is just another Universal Law.
There are many such Universal Laws. The entire universe functions and operates through the existence of such laws. The Law of Compensation ensures that everything in this universe is compensated. This brings further balance and moderation and avoids extremes. Together, all the Universal Laws synchronize to create a perfect universe. They ensure that there is no conict.
Have you ever pondered on the Law of Causation? Every effect has a cause. The effect is nothing but the cause itself in another form. If you remove the cause, there is no effect. Gold is the cause. The ring, the bracelet, and the chain are just the effects, the different forms of gold. But if you remove gold, neither will there be a ring, a bracelet or a chain. The effect appears because of the cause. Apples on the tree are just an effect. The cause is what we planted, just as bad things that take place in our life are an effect of the bad deeds committed by us in the past. They cannot happen to people, who seem to be good unless there is a cause. We must realize the Truth about these Universal Laws.
Have you ever thought why the Sun rises rst in Hong Kong and then in Mumbai? This is because the earth is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Suppose tomorrow, the earth decides to change its rotation and starts rotating in a clockwise direction, then the Sun would rst rise in India and then later in China. But this doesn't happen. It has not happened for several thousand years because it is based on a Universal Natural Law. These Universal Natural Laws have been created by the Creator as the universe runs by these laws. Nobody can stop these Universal Laws from prevailing and unfolding.
(WHY has GOD CREATED THESE LAWS SAMSUNG Owner example?)
In this universe, if bad things happen, then these bad things are only a reection of our own actions. Maybe we are not able to understand why, because we do not remember what we have done when, but if we understand the Universal Law of Action and Reaction, then we will not question the unfolding of these bad events on earth.
The rotation of the Earth or Earth's revolution proves that the Law of Cycles exists. Summer follows spring, just as spring is followed by autumn and what arrives after this is called winter. Seasons change and we all know it. Have we seen the universe unfolding in a manner when all 4 seasons turn out to be winter alone? This would throw the cosmos out of gear. Humans and beasts, all would die. While we understand the unfolding of such Universal Laws, why do we nd it difcult to understand the law of action and reaction? When we are sure apples can't grow on mango trees, then why do we question bad things happening to good people?
