I think we all have at least once looked up and questioned why me? truthfully speaking there was a time in my life when not a night would go by when I didn’t look up and shouted why! as painful full as those nights were the aftermath was even more comforting as I grew stronger in my silence and it was not because things started to go right or I grew wiser it was simply as I call it the ‘consistency effect’- which means when you or someone presses a point way too long, the pain disappears simply because of your bandwidth for that particular thing increases. It was at this initial increase of my bandwidth I pondered on this question why do good people suffer the most? is it not the duty of karma to get it right?
Just when I was looking for hope words arrived. I came across a catchphrase
“If you Don’t Eat A Lion that Does not Mean that The Lion Won’t Eat You” by Udaylal Pai.
And then in that utter silence as I was still savoring these words when an unsaid conversation followed it was as if my soul was directing my mind.
“Good people suffer all the time. So much so, there’s almost no direct correlation between how good or spiritual you are vis-à-vis how much suffering you may have to endure in your life. Being good or great cannot protect you from physical or mental diseases if it's meant to be. Being good doesn’t mean that we can’t be hit by a truck or a drunk driver. Being good has no bearing on your stock prices or the life of your loved ones. In other words, goodness grants neither immunity from nor compensation for everything that we may deem as not good.
The concept of karma is flawed, karma is not some cosmic force policing you on your behaviour. during the ancient periods, the elders who lived a full life discovered that if you help enough people during your lifetime then it is very likely that it will be returned at the time of need,( we also have to remember that the population was not as much as it used to be and most people lived their lives at one place ) thus the theory of reciprocity for the need of survival made us do more good and kept our behaviour on check.
The question then arises if that’s the case, why be good at all? If my goodness does nothing to alleviate my suffering (not directly anyway), why bother with all this goodness and kindness business?
There are two answers to it one is spiritual and the other is scientific but both the answers are a lot simpler than the question itself.
Firstly we are designed to experience happiness when we practice goodness. Therefore, people are good because that’s our natural dharma. If you help someone there is an undeniable feeling that arises in your stomach, that feeling alleviates your mood, your soul.
Secondly, this factor has been mentioned in most of our Indian Vedic texts and is called the “exchange of energy”. Just like how wind energy is harnessed and transferred to kinetic and then electric energy, thus establishing the principle that energy can not be destroyed only transformed, similarly when you do something for someone they bless you from their heart, and at that point, your magnetic fields change as they share their energy with you thus balancing if not healing your magnetic field or chakras.
I feel it would be ignorant to still believe that there’s a way out of the suffering. Here, I am not differentiating between pain (what is) and suffering (what we think it is). the ancient texts say that if I can forever remember the impermanent, even unreliable, nature of this world, I would not suffer as much. You may wince but you won’t cry, you may crumble but you won’t be crushed.
But remember detachment does not mean that you own nothing but that nothing should own you.
Lastly, I feel, the opposite of goodness doesn’t shield you from suffering either. it’s not when we have our way but when we make our way that we experience joy and happiness.
In the end I just feel one should treat other how you would want to be treated! Even though that does not guarantee any success in life and perhaps, this uncertainty is what makes our life adventurous.