You say: “But animals suffer from cancer,
too. This is not 'amazing'. It is sick.”
In our
observation, there is answer to all questions. Be an objective observer—you will
find one thing leading to another which in turn lead to another—there is
nothing called good or bad, but just consequences. If you are a keen observer
even into subtle areas, then you know that your thoughts and emotions travel
faster and more powerful than your words. When someone is angry with you, you
can sense it even without he expresses it through some ways visible or
invisible. That means everything is connected, it’s just one whole. All
cultures and religions retain the memory of a golden age that once existed here
on earth. That time, it was like one world, one family—with peace even among
animals. When man turned egoistic, divisive … positive environment changed
accordingly, even among the animals leading into the present situation as you
described. This will again change into previous glory in its own time—it is a
cycle like day and night, or like seasons. Yet you may have heard people
asking:
•
How
is it possible for God to allow so much suffering in the world?
•
Oh
my God! For how long do I have to endure this experience?
•
There
is so much injustice in this world. ‘Good’ people get to suffer and ‘bad’ people
get to enjoy life!
•
The
above phrases are very common nowadays. Atheists usually like phrase #1.
•
Unconscious
people number 2.
•
The
last one is usually uttered by ‘moralists in pain.’
When
the perception we have about the world is of continuous suffering and pain, our
minds become sick and mental diseases will arrive at one point or another. Too
much emotional pain is unbearable and the mind protects itself by disconnecting
from a painful ‘reality’. That is why it is important to learn the art of ‘enjoyment.’
The location of your consciousness will bring you an experience. For example,
if my consciousness is located in anger, the experiences which are simple
consequences of my deeds, will be perceived as ‘bad.’ Anger brings further
animosity. Anger cannot bring love as a consequence.
John
was angry with his son Paul. John went into a fight with his son and decided to
expel Paul from his house. Consequently, Mary (Paul’s mother) became upset with
John and because she missed Paul so much, she became very ill. John felt
guilty. Even though he knew that his son didn’t act correctly in his house.
John felt bad because he thought that he was the cause of Mary’s disease. Paul
developed greater animosity towards his father. He did not want to see John
ever again. Do you see the consequences of the location of John’s
consciousness? Is this consequence ‘good or bad’?
It
is neither. It is just a consequence, which will bring a different set of
consequences to different beings. Those consequences will return to the ones
involved. There are no victims. I can hear you saying: This is known as the law
of karma. You are not telling me anything new!
There
is neither ‘bad’ karma nor ‘good' karma; just consequences!. Isn’t this new?
Come
on, Isn’t this consequence ‘bad’ for John?
No,
if he learns about his anger from this experience. Otherwise, how is he going
to learn? By reading a book? Or by listening to the talk of a guru? Not a
chance.
But…
What about Mary? You may ask. She is innocent but yet suffering the
consequences… Well… Mary had to go through that experience to learn about
attachment. How is she going to learn that? By listening to a class on
attachment? Or by praying to God? She learns by being aware, conscious of her
own actions/ feelings/ emotions.
Now,
we could attempt to answer the questions from above:
Q:
How is it possible for God to allow so much suffering in the world?
A: Do you expect God to stop you from doing
something that you want to do? You have the consequences to deal with. Do you
think that God has to bail you out? How are you going to learn then? And
because many people in many places do not care about what they do in life… then
you have the consequence, that is, what you perceive as suffering now. Simple
math! It has nothing to do with God.
Q:
Oh my God! For how long do I have to endure this experience?
A:
As long as it takes you to give up your stubbornness of operating in the same
way in life… It will be the same experience until you get tired of it, until
you relinquish your old ways. Then obviously, the consequence will change.
Q:
There is so much injustice in this world. “Good” people get to suffer and “bad”
people get to enjoy life!
There
are neither ‘good people’ nor ‘bad people’. There are merely consequences of
our own actions. A so-called ‘Good person’ now could have been a tyrant before.
When he decided to turn into “good” then obviously, he had some debts to pay
from previous deeds which are neither “good nor bad.” Just consequences.
The experience of the consequences of our actions, will give
a clue about our location of consciousness. Different location means a
different experience. To wake up in life means to be aware of our own location
of consciousness.