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Stopping The Suffering...

 
dsmith@cs.brandeis.edu (Donald A. Smith) wrote:
 
You have raised lots of issues but one I find very important. The idea that "No
good religion sanctions such things" [war, suffering, etc.]. Yet war, suffering,
disease, old-age and ultimately death are very real aspects of the world we live
in... Religion may not sanction them but it can't make them go away. I have
sometimes met people who say their God is all-loving, He wouldn't have a place
like hell, He knows we're all sinners so no matter what we do He will forgive
us... But such people have great trouble coming to grips with the suffering that
goes on in this world.
 
It all comes from a misunderstanding of what this world is. This material universe
is something like a prison house. We are all rebellious souls who have misused our
independence. Instead of serving God we want to serve ourselves. We want to be
God. So Krishna has created this place for us... We can, to a certain extent,
become the master, become God, here but everything ends in frustration. It's
designed that way!
 
We create our own suffering. IT IS NOT GOD'S FAULT! God has established universal
laws and when we break these laws we have to suffer. It's called karma. If we
generate bad karma then we have to suffer the result in the future. It is all our
fault. We choose to ignore the laws of God then we have to suffer... 
Suffering never comes without a reason...

 
So what is the solution to all of this? It is certainly not mundane welfare work,
hospitals and doctors to stop the disease and death, technology to make our lives
comfortable... NO. These things cannot help us. They cannot stop the suffering.
The bad karma is there in our hearts and it will manifest at the predestined
time... There's nothing we can do about it. We may, with our technology, eliminate
some of the causes of suffering. But the suffering will still come via another
route. We have eliminated some diseases... but is there any less diseases today
than 50 years ago? No. So many new diseases are here, more than enough suffering
to account for any suffering eliminated by the advancement of medical science...
 
The only real solution is to help people to get rid of the bad karma... If the bad
karma is finished the suffering won't manifest. This is the only worthwhile
activity. So how to do it, how to remove the bad karma? We have to reestablish our
relationship with God... And how to do that in this difficult age of Kali?
 
            harer nama hare nama hare namaiva kevalam
            kalau nasty eva nastya eva gatir anyatha
 
"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy [Kali-yuga], the only means of deliverance
is the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no
other way. There is no other way." (Brhad-naradiya Purana 3.8.126)
 
So this is the process. In this age all the names of God have great potency. So we
should chant and glorify the name of God. Any bonafide name of God is effective,
but there is one special mantra, the maha-mantra, or "great mantra for
deliverence" which is particularly effective. It is:
 
     Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
          Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
 
So chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
 
 
>Oh, I have trouble with this! Let's not forget Bosnia, Aucshwitz, Pot
>Pol, Somalia, Rwanda, rape, torture, theft, and beatings.  Are these
>just all part of the Dharmakaya?  Excuse me, but I don't understand
>that.  No good religion sanctions such things.  (But too often
>religion does lead to persecution and war!)  Of course, Buddhism very
>much teaches non-violence and love and compassion.  Why?  It's sort of
>ironic: some of the most pacifist people may be Buddhists (and
>Jainists?), although they're not theists.
 
 
Thank you. Hare Krishna!
 
Madhudvisa dasa       
(madhudvisa@krishna.org)     /sudarsana
 
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
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