While there is misery and suffering in this world, and it is sad to see people suffer, we must realize the Truth behind life and suffering. If we don't, we will live in ignorance and our misery will only grow. It is one thing to experience pain, but it is another to suffer the misery, feeling that this world is unfair, or that God is unjust or not powerful enough to help us overcome our suffering.
There is no doubt that this world is full of suffering. Everybody who is born must suffer and ultimately die. This does not mean that there is only suffering. Life is a merry-go-round of pleasure and pain and we pass them both every now and then as we live. We experience the physical pain of the body, emotional pain of the mind and the agony that the ego suffers when it cannot achieve its expectations. We all experience what can be called the 'triple suffering'. But what is the Truth behind this suffering?
Can we escape from misery and pain? As long as we live, it is natural for the body to experience pain. It may be a root canal that causes us pain, a fracture of the bone during play, or some kind of disease in the organs of our body. The body ages and as it does, our aches and pains only increase. Can we escape from this pain?
The mind is constantly thinking. It is said to think a thought every second and this can become up to 50,000 thoughts a day. This constant clutter of the mind causes stress and anxiety. The mind jumps into the past and makes us regret. We nurse, curse and rehearse our hurts and feel sad. Then, it jumps into the future and causes us to fear and worry. What can we do with our mind? While it does cause us happiness, it is responsible for our hate, jealousy, regret, fear, worry, revenge, stress and anxiety. Who doesn't go through emotional torture? As long as we live, we experience joy, but we are not excused from sorrow.
Our triple suffering is completed by the ego. Not only do the body and mind suffer, but the ego is also constantly creating misery. We get angry, depressed, irritated and upset because what we want doesn't happen. The ego creates desires and very often they are not met. We become disappointed and discouraged and we suffer in our defeats. Nobody in this world can win all the time. But our ego wants to. While we are in command of our actions, we are not in control of the results thereof. But the ego doesn't want to accept this. It cries in agony and suffers in shame.
Can anybody deny that everybody in this world experiences this triple suffering? What is the solution? Some people even contemplate suicide so that all the misery of this world could come to an end. But those who realize the Truth, know that death is not the end, it is just a bend. They realize that there is a way to slowly end suffering. It may take time, but it will happen if they constantly and consistently plant positive deeds. They realize why there are no apples on the mango tree. They come to know of the Universal Law that bad things can't happen to good people. Of course, there is suffering, but we are the cause of our misery. Why do we blame God? Why do we presume that God is responsible for our misery?
Those who realize the Truth understand the meaning of life, of death, of suffering and of bliss. They understand the Law of Karma that it is a Law of Action and Reaction. Whatever be the reaction, it is the mirror image of our action. This restricts the suffering as otherwise, we put salt on our wounds to only make our suffering fester. The ones who realize that this universe operates on the Law of Cause and Effect, accept whatever is happening as an effect and realize that they are the cause, not God who is sitting somewhere far away in heaven, giving orders that misery should strike us.
When there is a sudden death of a young child, a deadly disease diagnosed in a dear one, a fatal accident of someone we love, of course we feel sad. We human beings are designed to feel sorrow and misery when bad things happen. But those who realize the Truth about the Universal Law, know that it works like a boomerang. What goes around, comes around. Whatever is happening, is our own actions returning to us and we can't escape it.
But then, there is a mystery. Why do bad things happen to good people? We can reconcile some tragedies to people who are cruel and selsh, but when we nd genuine people, who are kind, honourable, Godly, seless, loving, helpful and joyous, then we wonder, “How could such a person suffer?” People who nd this mysterious are the ones who have not realized the Truth. They have not realized that apples can't grow on mango trees. They have not understood that bad things can't happen to good people.
Those who realize the Truth, realize that these seemingly good people must have some history of deeds that are not so good. Whether they are sins committed in secret or bad deeds of a distant past, they realize that the Universal Law of Karma makes no mistake. Otherwise you would see apples growing on mango trees. It is impossible! The Universal Law will not permit it. They realize that if bad deeds have not been committed in this life, then there is a possibility of it being carried forward from a previous life.
Those who realize the truth are not heartless when they see a newborn baby suffer. They are not cruel when they do not shed tears in a sudden tragic accident. Their heart is not made of stone if they do not break down watching a dear one cry in disease. Realization of the Truth has made them as strong as steel and while they pass by misery every day that they live, they know beyond doubt that this is the unfolding of Divine law. They do not curse God, nor do they blame anybody for the tragedies that unfold, but rather learn to live in acceptance and surrender. It may seem difcult to digest, but there is no other way. This is known to those who realize the truth.
Can we escape death? The ones who realize the Truth know we cannot. Realization makes them conquer the myth and the superstition that goes with death. They realize that the one who has died has moved on with their Karma, leaving the body behind. Can anybody doubt that the dead body will return to dust? The realized ones accept death gracefully, hoping and praying for the one who has departed. But they also know that our prayers will be heard but they cannot undo the actions performed by the one who has died. They know that we cannot undo the bad deeds of our near and dear ones, just like we cannot cause apples to grow on mango trees, no matter what! The law will not permit it. As we sow, so shall we reap, is a law that is understood by the ones who have realized the Truth.
At death, one of two things happens. Those who think that we are not the body that dies, they move on as a Mind and Ego to another life. They move on to another life based on their cumulative Karma and based on their past actions, they are reborn. To them, they are ME – mind and ego, and not the physical body that dies. These people are quite different from the ignorant ones who think themselves to be the body. They constantly suffer, both physical pain and mental pain because they don't realize the Truth about the Law of Karma. They wonder why bad things happen to good people because they don't understand the Universal Law. However, those who realize the Truth, they experience something very different at death. At death of the physical body, they not only realize they are not the body, but they also realize they are not the Mind and Ego, ME. They are the ones who are liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth, just as they liberated from all misery and suffering.
Therefore, what is the Truth that we must realize? Putting it all together it is that, good things and bad things happen in this world but nothing is really good or bad. Everything is perfect because it is all unfolding as per a perfect Universal Law. The Truth is that apples cannot grow on mango trees, just as bad things cannot happen to good people. If bad things are unfolding, these are fruits that are appearing due to the seeds that were planted long ago. The Truth is that there is a Universal Law that we cannot circumvent. Nobody can manipulate this law. It is also true that we do not complete our life on earth, settling all our deeds, both good and bad. Therefore, there is an unsettled account that remains when we die. It is absolutely true that it is this unsettled account that is the cause of our birth. A young child that suffers is not suffering due to a cruel God, nor is there a devil or ghost causing misery on earth. The Truth is that we are reborn based on our own past account and our Mind and Ego, ME, will experience either fortune or misfortune in a new life based on past actions as per the Universal Law. All this is the Truth and we cannot escape it. Realization is knowing without doubt that such is the Universal Law that unfolds in our life. When we do not realize the Truth, what do we do? We ask silly questions – why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good people have to suffer? Why does a newborn child experience misery? Is God or the Creator cruel? Is God not powerful enough to remove misery on earth? Realization of the Truth eliminates such ignorant questions and liberates us from feeling helpless.
What then do the realized ones do? Is it that they escape from all misery and pain? Does Realization give them the gift of only good things and no suffering? Will such people be blessed to live a life where there is no suffering, no pain, and no misery? Will the realized ones not see disease and death? Of course, they will. Like anybody else, they will go through life, but they will not suffer. They live with peace, joy, and bliss despite whatever happens in life. While they pass misery that is caused by bad things that happen, they live blissfully. What is the secret blessing that is received by those who realize the Truth and liberates them from all misery and suffering?
