If God exists, why is there so much of suffering and so many miseries in the world ?
Posted by Ramakrishna Srinivasa 18-09-2016
Let us answer this in 2 parts, first is about the existence of God and second is about the miseries that people face
First, let us clear our understanding of God. God for many of us is a belief instilled in us by our forefathers. A belief that you can rely on when you have problems. A belief that God will grant you a visa when you are in need, a job , a spouse, solve all your other problems. A belief that can be instantly challenged by any atheist, a belief that will fall apart when a well read person asks a few questions. Well, thats fundamentally flawed, if you are searching for God outside you, you are already moving away from Divinity. I feel this is an abstraction that can only be experienced within. An abstraction that can only be understood by knowing about oneself, by knowing about ones own mind. Let us take an example : thought and thought process. We all understand and agree every sane human being experiences thought and thought process. Even an insane does, except that it is not channelled and they operate more at a natural frequency without any conditioning. The approach of saying, I will believe in Thought only if I can see it , is fundamentally flawed. Divinity can only be experienced by being pure in every aspect and by seeing divine in every human being. Experiencing the existence of divine is within the reach of every human being , only constraint being it is multiple levels of abstraction beyond even Thought process. Every soul is potentially divine and every human is the living temple of God. If you are able to meditate for 1-2 hours a day for a few months, you should be able to see a subtle change yourself
On the second part, miseries, let us understand various kinds of stress and misery. Most people complain about stress at work. Let us be clear, work by itself does not cause stress. Human body is equipped to work atleast 8 hours a day. In many cases, it is the people around that cause stress and not the work by itself. The negative process that gets initiated within , causes lot of stress and depression. Human body can take enough corrective actions to produce additional bouts of energy, to deliver additional work. Typical fights within a family, between siblings and other disputes related to property are related to greed, rather than necessity. Most health related problems excepting the ones that people inherit genetically are related to laziness. Most of the miseries are created by Humans not by God, we created this by moving away from Natural way of Living. Natural way of Living is about living simple, possessing things for satisfying a man's need and not man's greed and always identifying oneself with Nature and God.
Back to basics, struggle for food, clothing and shelter is actual misery. A tomato seller who earns for the day, will face misery when rain washes out his living for the day. For no fault of yours , if your country is bombed and if you run out of food and shelter, that is misery. Humans created these by moving away from Nature and Natural living. God cannot be blamed for every misery that is defined and created here. Experience of pain and pleasure is attributed to Karma, the experiences that an individual needs to undergo because of his past deeds. Scriptures also say that, soul takes a shape of human being to undergo certain experiences. Well, while some things cannot be changed, intensity of pain can certainly be reduced by accepting it and by a strong belief that Divine is with you always. Certain amount of transformation is required in every individual, to alleviate the sufferings of an individual and collective mankind.
Comments
I always wondered, is God controlling every action of man. If yes, why he has designed good and bad, happiness and sorrow. If No, why should man go to God for remedies or answers. As Shankaracharya said "Aaham Brahmasmi" meaning I am God Or God is in me then can man control the actions of him and others In this competitive world.