Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

"Life is struggle" the Buddha.

This is an anecdote well known to Buddhists.

It is a tale about a woman named Kisagotami who was so named because “kisa” means thin; she was a slight woman who married a very rich man. Kisagotami was loved by her husband although his family did not approve of her because she came from a poor background.

She eventually gave birth to a son and this changed her status to the disapproving relatives. She adored the beautiful healthy boy and the child brought her more happiness that she had ever experienced; she was living a sheltered life and knew nothing of real pain and suffering.

One day the little boy fell ill and died suddenly. Grief stricken Kisagotami ran in the street asking for help to restore her son. Someone guided her to the Buddha and she fell at his feet and begged Him to bring her boy back.

The Buddha considered her demand and replied, “I know of a medicine, but I will require certain ingredients. The one thing I need is mustard seed,” and, as Kisagotami ran to the door to begin her hunt for the seed, the Buddha continued, “the mustard seed must come from a home that has not ever experienced the grief brought by death.”

Kisagotami went from house to house and when she returned to the Buddha she was empty handed. She told him that she had been unable to find anyone who had not, at some time, experienced death and suddenly became enlightened and let go of her son’s lifeless body realizing that she was not alone with her grief.

To this the Buddha stated, “Though one should live a hundred years without seeing the Deathless State, yet better indeed is the single day's life if one who sees the Sublime Truth". (Dhammapada V 114).

Kisagotami found comfort when she learned that no one is immune to death and suffering and it is indeed a part of life and she was not isolated in her time of sorrow.

Is there a reason for everything that happens? Why do bad things happen to good people?

In Eastern beliefs Karma and reincarnation are plausible explanations. If we are suffering in this life it may be because of Karma that we are indebted to from a previous life, not necessarily the present one, which to me makes a great deal of sense. It provides a logical explanation as to why there are innocent children who are born suffering terrible illnesses or abuse. Simply put it is a case of reaping now what we have sowed in the past.

Suffering is the foundation of the Buddhist doctrine. The Four Noble Truths reveal that living is anguish and that it is brought on by ourselves. In order to stop the pain we must learn to let go of control and desire and we must surrender. The answer is the Eightfold path, which describes the way to end suffering;

1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

Essentially, because our Karma is the result of our choices, the key is to relinquish desire for results and abandon ourselves to the way of the Eightfold, thus avoiding more irresponsible choices that may have led us to our present suffering.

Christians hold the belief that there are no innocent people on this earth and, because of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace we are all born with sin. The only way to avoid spending our eternity in Hell is to accept Jesus in our hearts as He is the one who atoned us by sacrificing Himself to the Cross.

There is the view of Free Will. When God created us he bestowed us with Free Will and this has allowed us to make our own choices without His interference, therefore blaming God for our misfortunes becomes futile as they may well be the result of our own foolish choices.

Another interesting, albeit somewhat dismal opinion is that all the bad nasty stuff which occurs in the world is due to the Devil and the pain in the world is his doing. The thought of the Devil permeating our existence is somewhat disturbing to me. The encouraging thing is by turning to God we can ask for help in order to avoid the Devil’s temptations.

It is human nature to want an explanation for pain and suffering. We need to make sense of tragedies. This is not always possible which is what leaves us in a state of limbo awaiting answers which do seem to be forthcoming.

Being good and righteous does not ensure that bad things will never happen to us and we do not have an answer as to why they do. The important thing to remember is that there is no good and there is no bad, only our perception. Some of life’s greatest lessons and gifts have sometimes been acknowledged during periods of serious illness and grief.

The only action we can take to is look for the good in people and things and when we come across someone who is suffering lend them a hand, let go of results, live our best life, turn to our Creator for help and we can’t go wrong.

I want to sum it all up by including this piece. It is called “The Story of Life” and it by an unknown author.

“Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be, your neighbor, your coworker, a long lost friend, or a complete stranger. When you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart. Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become.

Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

Most importantly if you Love someone tell him or her, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store.

Learn a lesson in life each day that you live. That's the story of Life."



"My life has been filled with miseries and failures, most of which have never happened." Mark Twain

Karma

“For every event that occurs there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.” (The Law of Karma).

What is Karma? It has been claimed that one explanation for unfortunate crisis or doses of good fortune in our existence is Karma which is due to us. The word "Karma" comes from an old Sanskrit word for "action". It is the law of cause and effect. For every action there will be reaction being positive or negative and it is assumed that Karma restores balance. What you give you will get in return.” As we sow so shall we reap."

According to “Aspects Group” run by John Fitzsimmons, Karma is action. Any action being positive or negative incurs some Karma which will come back to you, albeit not immediately and not necessarily from the person you gave it to. John says that if you are having difficulties in a certain area of your life chances are this is the result of negative Karma from possibly another lifetime which is manifesting for you now in order to learn and change from it. According to John, even sitting doing nothing can incur Karma such as the fact that you may not be helping someone who needs it and you may find you will not helped sometime down the track.

It is the intent behind every action that determines your Karma. Should you accidentally hurt someone you should not incur bad Karma because it would not have been your intention to cause harm which of course is in contrast to purposefully creating pain.

Hindus and Buddhists believe Karma can be passed on from previous lifetimes. They affirm that one's soul cannot ever die and that it is reborn in a new body when one's physical body dies and Karma works its way through all these life spans. The idea is that during each incarnation if one does good, creates positive Karma and gracefully settles his or her karmic debt, the next life will be much improved.
The goal is to eventually break free of the reincarnation cycle and achieve never-ending bliss of the soul. This is called Moksha.

Francis Bevan is a gifted clairvoyant, who also writes for several Australian Magazines and Newspapers and has appeared on various Australian television programmes. "Karma has many meanings depending upon the religion or faith of the person. However, I believe in the Buddhist concept of what you did in a past life affecting your present one. Of course you can have good Karma as well as bad Karma, so it's important to try to store up some brownie points this life time for your next. What you put out to the Universe comes back three fold," he says.

Michele Finey from “Celestial Insight” in Melbourne Australia agrees," Karma is basically the law of cause and effect, whether one believes in reincarnation or not. I often think of it as being akin to Isaac Newton's law of motion, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, only applied in a metaphysical sense."

There are 3 types of Karma: Sanchita, Prarabdha and Kriyamana.
Sanchita is Karma from past lives not yet resolved.Prarabdha is Karma planned for the present life. Kriyamana is the results of your immediate actions, which may balance out in this lifetime or stored for future incarnations.

I read an extract from an article by Charles H. Grooms on "Spirit Guide.com." It told the tale of a woman and her children. They were driving home one day and spotted a man, a woman and two young kids hitch hiking. She drove on home to have her evening meal with her family. They were not particularly affluent and only had dried beans and rice, although they were fortunate to have plenty. After dinner she began to think about the family she had passed on the road and decided to go out and attempt to find them and offer them some of her food. She did not locate them. She did not actually help these people, but she was touched enough to feel bad for not assisting them when she first saw them and made an attempt to aid them, therefore with her intentions she managed to generate good Karma for herself.

There are occasions when we can see Karma's consequences in a relatively short period of time. I have experienced instant Karma. One day I was driving along the road, and another vehicle, which had been traveling quite erratically veering in out of traffic, cut me off and because I sounded my horn in fear of my life the driver cursed me. He sped off dangerously up the road. Five minutes later I passed the same car parked on the verge behind a police vehicle and he was being issued an infringement notice by two officers. I was annoyed at the man for his negligence, but I did not have to react, the law of Karma took care of the situation. This is one thing to remember that what goes around (being good or bad) will eventually always come around.

I read this on “Answerbag.com.” I thought it was an amusing example of instant Karma, “I cheated on my boyfriend and the person I cheated on him with gave me the flu. I was in bed for days. Talk about karmic retribution!”

Not all instant Karma produces negative results of course, such as the lady who helped the blind man across the street and was rewarded later on the same day with a Jackpot win. These are also from “Answerbag.com”:
"I gave someone $5.00 for lunch, turned around to walk away, and found $2.00 on the ground. Went into a store (it was at the mall), walked down an isle way and found $3.00 more....NOBODY was around either time!"

"I put $20.in the contribution box then found a $20 bill in a book at home I'd forgotten about 15 years earlier."

Paddy Sterrett is a psychic and teacher from the UK and he has quite a different view in regards to Karma. "You are stepping into dangerous territory investigating Karma," he says," Karma surfaced in the movement during the latter part of the year 1946 and it was claimed that when any human suffered great difficulties or problems this was their Karma because of what they had done in previous lives. Today in the Spiritualist movement there are people who have all sorts of explanations to justify this description. It is a myth and I will explain why I say this. During the time that the Spirit is within the human frame, because the Spirit has no brain, it is the physical body that has the brain, it needs some means of storing it's experiences and the knowledge gained while in that body. It creates around the physical body from the age of five an Etheric Image of the body. Within that image is where it stores that which it wants to store for future use. Any evil carried out by the physical body against the wishes or influence of the Spirit is not recorded in the Etheric Image and dies with the physical Brain.
When the physical body's life comes to an end the Spirit along with the Etheric Image departs back into Spirit. Should that Spirit at sometime in the future decide to return to another physical body it leaves behind in Spirit part of it's energy field along with the Etheric Image until the day comes when it will again return to Spirit. The second body to which the Spirit has returned has no association or connection with the previous body that the Spirit had been part of and it cannot punish the second physical body for the evils or failings of the first body, hence Karma does not exist. It would be like a child in a family dying and the family of the next child born being punished because the first child was naughty or badly behaved. My knowledge of Spirit has been gained through personal experience so I know it to be fact every thing I teach my Students is based upon facts that I have experienced."

Regardless of what your understanding is, I think Karma is our teacher. Whether we attest to Karma itself, doing good in our lives will always create positive energy, without which we will never experience pure joy and there is a lot to be said about the power of thought.

"I am the owner of my karma.
I inherit my karma.
I am born of my karma.
I am related to my karma.
I live supported by my karma.
Whatever karma I create, whether good or evil, that I shall inherit."
The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya V.57 - Upajjhatthana Sutta
"I would never disrespect any man, woman, chick or child out there. We're all the same. What goes around comes around, and Karma kicks us all in the butt in the end of the day."
- Angie Stone.

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life - happiness, freedom, and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else."
- Peyton Conway March- Helen Keller.

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
- Dalai Lama.

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