I often hear people ask, “Why is God so cruel?” And it’s easy to understand why people might think this, especially when they see tragedy befall their loved ones. We live in a world where people are killing people everyday, in wars, in crime, and in accidents. Millions others are dying everyday from disease. And if God is infinite in knowledge and power, why does He allow such a state of affairs to exist?
We have such a short view of things, don’t we? To understand why life can be so full of suffering, it might be helpful to explore what the purpose of life is. In modern culture, through the mass media, we are bombarded everyday with images of how life is supposed to be. We see beautiful homes, cars, clothes, plasma televisions, etc. It becomes very much suggested that the aim of life or the goal of life is to have all of these things. And some people suffer because they are prevented from acquiring them. And in their suffering, they too say God is cruel.
But is that really what’s happening? Is that the purpose of life? Did God create the universe so that after a few billions years we could get to the option of subscribing to HBO?
The other day when someone asked me this question, “Is God cruel?” I answered in this way:
God is no more cruel than the surgeon can be called cruel for cutting you open during surgery. Without the proper understanding, the cutting might seem cruel. But when you see the whole picture, that there is something that needs to be removed, or repaired, then the cruelty ceases to be an issue.
Or consider this possibility. You and a friend are driving through the mountains and your car breaks down. You are several hours walking distance from the nearest town. A snow storm is picking up intensity. After a couple hours of walking, you tell your friend that you have to rest, that you are just too tired to walk any farther. Your friend, knowing that if you stop to rest, that you will end up freezing to death, continues saying, “Keep walking.” You start to wonder why your friend is so cruel, not allowing you to rest. You don’t see the big picture. You only know that you are tired and that your friend doesn’t seem to care.
Or consider the spiritual masters over the ages that have appeared cruel to certain disciples. One master, whom I read about today, came from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism about a thousand years ago. His name was Tilopa. He became the master of a disciple named Naropa, and his treatment of Naropa could be looked upon as cruel. Naropa, in obedience to his master, suffered beatings, broken bones, burns, and all kinds of physical sufferings. But Tilopa was always quick to heal him. The sufferings were brought on to impart lessons on the nature of the clinging mind. Eventually, Tilopa bestowed Self-Realization on Naropa. The sufferings turned out to be nothing but the clearing of obstructions to pure self, and in that sense, the cruel treatment was actually compassionate, as it ended all the self-created suffering that otherwise would have been waiting for Naropa. I found this story on the internet today and you can read this amazing historical spiritual drama in two parts, part 1 and part 2. Your time spent will be well worth it.
But even if you are not a spiritual aspirant, you still come into this world with lessons to be learned. In that sense, we are all on a spiritual path, and we are the creators of our own trials and tribulations. That might be hard for you to accept, but the evidence is out there. For more on this theme, please read my article, Spirit World — Life Between Lives, which focuses on the work of Michael Newton, Ph.D. and his book, Life Between Lives
Is God cruel? No. Is life painful? Yes. But through that pain and suffering, we are able to transcend the physical and discover the formlessness of our true eternal existence. We are not here for a joy ride, but to clear the obstructions to real self – our source of being.
The other night, my wife and I watched the movie, Glory Road, about the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team. This team, comprised of mostly black athletes — overlooked by all of the major college basketball programs – went through tremendous physical and mental suffering, including threats on their lives, in the course of their season. But it created in them the perseverance to defeat the number one ranked team in the nation, the University of Kentucky, and win the national championship. Nobody outside of the Texas Western team and coaching staff thought it was possible. See the movie and you will be amazed by their determination and courage.
Was God being cruel to the team, or was he just creating greatness in them? See the movie and let me know what you think.
{ 7 } Comments
If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse.
It’s not possible to have victory without first experiencing defeat. Now is the time in history when we have the opportunity to become truly victorious spiritually. It takes faith and courage to be victorious over anger, greed, lust, ego and attachment. It also can’t be fully accomplished without God’s help. At this time the entire atmosphere of the world is very negative with the vibrations of sorrow. But the rewards of going within to find the strength to conquer one’s own vices and negativity have never been greater. When the child takes one step of courage, the Father helps with 1000 steps.
lol ur denial! sorry to say but u use some bad examples! the way people die is no excuse! ok god may have a plan for that person, blah blah, so may as well take them out suffering?! ok i get cancer im meant to die, but he ahs to make it lag on formonths weeks of me suffering? thats one fucked up plan
The Lord our God is mean. He is not fair nor is he just. I have been kneeling and praying to him for most of my life. I am a simple man and and have only asked for a good job to take care of my family. I have gotten great paying jobs on my own merit, only to be laid off. this has happened many times. I have only been left to scratch and claw to pay the bills until I could get the next job. I have been at the foot of my bed praying to the Lord so many times, going over all the scripture I have learned, and read the bible for the faith to go on. The Lord has only fed me scraps and made me beg and claw. My faith has finally run out and I won’t pray or ask for forgiveness any longer. The religious zealots will have something to say I’m sure, but they, as well as the lord can kiss my ass too.
Dear Nunya,
It’s unfortunate that you are feeling so much pain and sorrow in your life. Life isn’t meant to be pain and sorrow. The world was created in perfection and beauty, peace, purity and happiness for all souls. At that time there was a very small population. As the population grew gradually things degraded. Souls moved from soul consciousness into body consciousness, from pure love to fear. Today the world is a karmic mess, but it’s not God’s fault. Human beings created the mess by living their lives in the consciousness of fear. Fear begets more fear. Taking and begging creates more and more a sense of emptiness. Giving creates fullness. But giving has to be done with no strings attached and it has to be done on the thought level as well as the physical level.
To change your life it will require a huge shift in consciousness, from negative to positive, from hopeless to hopeful. I don’t know if you can find the strength to do it right now, but even if you can do it a little bit you will find your life changing. And just know that the whole world is in the same state as you are in right now, but there will soon be a big shift. You can find God, but religion has distorted human beings perception of God. You have to open yourself up to find God and you need to be humble. God is here right now and is here for you, but not through religion, (unless that is the way you have to go and it doesn’t sound like it for you). A lot of souls have become disheartened by religion. Try not to defame God because you are closing doors of your own heart by doing that.
God can’t find you a job no matter how much you beg Him. That’s not His job. His job is to give you strength and courage so that you can go out and find a job.
Take care and good luck with your life.
Love and peace,
Carol
P.S, to Nunya,
I must say God’s job isn’t even to give you strength and courage. God is there and you can connect to that pure being of light and might, purity and power and draw your strength and courage, (which is really just recognizing that you already had it all along, but had forgotten it due to the belief that you are a limited body and not an unlimited soul). God has complete unlimited love for you, but is also totally detached, which means that God doesn’t take one trace of sorrow from anything you do, say or think. God also isn’t trying to bail you out of anything. You’re in a hole which you got yourself into, in this birth and also from past births. God is totally detached about that fact. But He is always radiating unconditional love to you all the time, just like the sun shines down it’s rays, but doesn’t worry about whether or not anyone takes them. Some people equate detachment with not caring, but actually the opposite is true. Because God doesn’t want anything from you, you are free to take from Him or not. As you wish. You are free to perform your own karmic actions as you wish. And often we have performed some really wrong karma, not even realizing that it was really wrong. Whenever you are in taking mode, taking sorrow, stealing energy, you are creating bad karmic consequence. God doesn’t punish you, your own actions punish you.
To change focus on seeing virtues in everyone and everything. Transform negative into positive. It’s never too late.
The whole world is in a bad way. Everyone is taking rather than giving. How can peace come like this? God has a plan that no one expects. It’s very simple. Purify the entire world and send all the souls home to the land of peace, to the world of souls. Become peaceful in knowing that this is coming and change yourself. It’s time for change. It’s time for love. It’s time to banish fear. It’s time to realize yourself as a soul, and not as a body. It’s time to let go of the past. It’s time to become a truly giving soul and benefit others, but first to start with the self.
It’s time to realize that God has come and we souls all have to return to our peaceful home.
Lots of love and blessings from the heart,
Carol
TO THE FOLLOWERS OF ‘GOD”.
THIS IS “GODS” WORLD….AMEN! HE CAN DO WITH IT AS HE PLEASES. MAY BE YOU ARE JUST NOT ONE OF ‘GODS” CHOSEN LIKE JACOB ISSAC AND JACOB.
LIKE JOB JUST TRY TO LOVE BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. AMEN! JUST FOLLOW HIS COMMANDMENTS AND TRUST THE GOOD IN YOU AND THIS WILL BE A BETTER WORLD.
FOR PROVERBS 3 5-7 SAY: LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING AND REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN YOUR SEEM LIKE OUT OF SIGHT WITH ‘GOD” AMEN! NO MATTER WHAT DON’T BE LIKE ‘GOD” BE LIKE HE SAY THAT HE IS AND LOVE HIM FOR JUST GIVING YOU A CHANCE. REMEMBER : IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL I WIN!
REVERN ROCK
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