Why Do Good People Suffer? Here's Why - Free Press Journal

People often ask me - 'Why do good people always suffer?' Why do bad things keep happening to kind people? A submissive employee is made to do more work by his boss, a loyal friend is often cheated or a hard-working daughter-in-law is always given more work by her mother-in-law. This could be your story too. Do you feel your generosity and good heart are taken for granted? Do you feel people take advantage of you or manipulate you due to your kindness?

If you consider yourself a good person, why do you think you suffer? Is God doing injustice? Let me give you the answer to these questions faced by most of you. The gist of our scriptures is - ‘if you are good, you will not suffer and if you are suffering, then you are not good.’ I know you will find it difficult to believe but this is the ultimate truth. Let us understand how!

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As stated in Bhagavad Gita, chapter 8, verse 15, “मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दु:खालयमशाश्वतम्”, pain and suffering are certain to come your way. Even great avatars were not able to escape painful situations. Lord Ram had to live in exile in a jungle for 14 years. Lord Krishna’s own evil uncle Kansa, wanted to kill him. Yet, they happily accepted it, handled the situation with a calm mind and acted wisely.

The solution to overcoming your suffering is to use your head, heart and hands together and equally i.e do hard work wisely with a good heart.

If you only use your head i.e. only have wisdom, without the other two you may become an egoistic scholar. By just working hard, you will only be like a skilled labourer. With only a good heart, you will always be taken advantage of and made to suffer.

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When you see injustice, rather than accepting it, you need to raise your voice and unite to fight against it. You should be the leader of your own life rather than just being a follower and complainer.

No matter how good you are, life will always present you with favourable and unfavourable situations. But, I have given you the solution of using wisdom, having a good heart and doing hard work together in equal proportion to win over them. Now it’s your choice to continue to suffer or rise above your suffering.

(The writer is a spiritual leader and the founder of Antar Yog Foundation. To know more about the foundation, visit https://learn.antaryogfoundation.in)

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