Our rishis and sages have repeatedly emphasised one fact: every incident, every accident that happens to us, happens because we deserve it. Good and bad fortune are not handed to us on a platter; we have earned them through our own actions. Every action we perform, is a reaction to our past actions. But when misfortune strikes, we fail to realise this.
When they are faced with unpleasant or negative experiences, people react stereo typically: ‘Why me?’ The attitude of the sufferers is that they are innocent victims while someone else is the culprit, responsible for inflicting them with undeserved pain. By blaming others for our ills, we are only worsening the situation, or giving rise to new problems.
When we face whatever happens to us in a spirit of acceptance, we ward off very many negative feelings such as hatred, envy, malice and resentment. We rise above a sense of personal injustice and grow in the secure sense of Divine Universal Justice.
People say to me: we have been honest and hardworking; we have done as much good as we could; and yet we have had to suffer. Could it be that God is not really fair?
There is no question of any injustice in God’s dispensation. I say again and again: God is too loving to punish, too wise to make a mistake. His dispensation of justice is simple and straightforward. Each one of us has been given a field of life. We are free to sow whatever we want in this field, which is our karma-kshetra. Only one condition binds us; we must reap what we sow. We must eat the fruits of our own harvest. Bitter or sweet they may be — but I shall have to eat them. No one else can eat them for me. Where then is the question of God being unfair or unjust to me?
Finally, we must note that whenever suffering comes to us, God always gives us the strength and wisdom to bear it.
There was a man, who lost his only son in a war. He said to his friend, “When a man faces a loss such as this, there are only three ways out. The first is drink, the second is despair, the third is God. By God’s grace, I have chosen the third option: Blessed Be His Name!”
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
