Thoughts of Bharat Bedi.

Whenever we face Problems, the first question we ask is WHY ME.

Why am I suffering & facing Problems when I have not harmed anyone & am always
Good & Helpful towards others.

The question in itself questions the impartiality of God. When we are blessed with
good tidings we feel so elated. We feel God is rewarding us for being a good human
being. We feel proud & with that egoistic. That time we don�t give a thought to
others sufferings. But when we suffer we question God�s wisdom. When we question
God�s wisdom we attribute human traits to God. God is above all this that is why
we pray to him.

We judge ourselves by our own yardstick. Our opinion is biased towards others &
especially towards ourselves. Our judgement is normally based on what is good &
beneficial to us. We forget that God is impartial, very loving & very forgiving.
For him all beings are equal. His blessings are based on our karmas. Bad karmas
can�t give us God�s benevolence.

God, for our convenience, can be compared to Mother on Earth.

It is widely accepted that, on Earth, Parents are the Representative of God.

Especially Mother. Like God, she nurtures, protects & guides her offspring towards
the tried & tested path, the Right path, which has withstood vagaries of time. She
dotes & pampers her offspring but to keep her wards on the right path she will not
spare the rod. The offspring will cry, rave, rant & curse the Mother for the
punishment meted out by her for his mistakes �Karma- but the next moment, when he
feels okay, he forgets his past Karmas for which he was punished & again starts
enjoying himself. Same is the case with us.

Human form is a precious gift given by God to our Atman. It is the highest form of
being by which we can be helpful to the society & also uplift our Atman to Moksha.
It is like our parents presenting us with a precious gift like a computer.
Computer can be used for generating knowledge & growth of our overall potential.
How our Parents will feel if we utilize it for all the wrong purposes. They will
feel betrayed, cheated, angry & annoyed with us. They will punish us to bring us
to the right path.

If our past karmas were good then their anger will be more because, they didn�t
expect this from us. Naughty child is expected to trouble everybody & he gets so
used to scolding, beating & reprimands that the effect on him is negligent.
Whereas a sensitive child is easily hurt & takes any kind of reprimand to heart.
He feels that nobody cares for him & his misdeamour didn�t deserve this
punishment. Same principle applies to relations between God & his creations.

The Deeds �Karmas- add up to form his image & character for the future. Past
record � Karmas - decides the level of punishment meted out by the authorities
selected by society to keep us firmly on the right path, i.e. Parent, Teacher,
Society, Law & other institutions. The norms for which has been set & tested
through centuries. These norms have come to be known as customs & traditions by
which the qualities of our karmas are categorized.

General norms regarding ideal behavior are listed down from our holy texts &
traditions regarding our moral obligations & duties towards the Society at large.
When we drift from the stated path then it is said that our Karmas are not good,
for us & especially for the Society. Severity of punishment for our Karmas depends
upon the laid down norms of what is reasonably acceptable & what is totally
avoidable. Repetition of mistakes i.e. regular misdeamour like fights will have
lighter punishment then heinous crimes like murder or rape.

In this world punishment for our karmas has been categorized according to the
limited knowledge we have. They are a part of the rules & regulations governing
the Universe. This knowledge has been gained & imparted to us by the Saints &
Prophets. Managing this world is such a hard job then we can imagine management of
the Universe.

God is not bound by any religion or faith. He is bound by our devotion & faith
combined by our good karmas. Our salvation depends upon our karmas. God has
extended a rope to us. One end binds us by our karmas & the other end binds God
thru our devotion. Bad karmas will tighten the noose & good karmas will loosen the
hold of this world on our atman. Good karmas with devotion & faith towards the
almighty will lead to a place near Him. Our Atman will attain the ultimate goal �
Moksha.

Karmas � Past & Present � decide the severity of punishment. In this world it is
according to our laid down rules & regulation where our body is the sufferer but
in the realm of the Supreme Being the Soul � Atman - is the sufferer as it is
governed by rules of the Universe whose control is with the Ultimate Creator
--God.

God, like mother suffers more,
bad Karmas. After all we are a
our mistakes as soon as we are
from our past Karmas & rectify
him. He wants us to follow the
be near him & attain Moksha.
when he has to be severe & metes out punishment for
part of God. We suffer for our Karmas but forget
back to our normal routine. We don�t try to learn
them. God suffers more because we are a part of
simple path he has laid down for us. He wants us to

The simple rule for all Human being is to be Humane, Consistently Humane & not as
per our wish & convenience. All creatures & living beings in this world act &
react according to their prescribed nature. Human beings are prescribed to act
Humane with all beings but Humans rarely do so. Being Humane means loving all
creations of God. Our Karmas rarely are positive in this aspect. This way we
accumulate negative Karmas. Past Karmas plus Karmas accumulated in this Birth are
the cause of our sufferings.

When we say that, when I have not harmed anyone why am I suffering. Who are we to
judge our capabilities? We are not perfect. We are prone to mistakes that is why
we are humans & not God. But to be aware of mistakes & rectifying them is the
humane path. This is God�s way of guiding us to the right path. He punishes us
because he wants us to remember our mistakes. He wants us to make amends.
Punishment will help us keep in mind the consequences of bad karma. God wants us
to be free of Birth cycles & attain Moksha. This can be achieved by clearing the
Debts of bad karmas by accumulating good Karmas.

The point, which should be elaborated, is that our Present Karmas are able to
clean the bad effects of our Past Karmas. What we call as suffering is actually
God�s way of helping us to speed up the process of clearing our debts & to prepare
us to be worthy of attaining Moksha. Which means, we will rise above this Human
form? We will be free from the cycle of Birth & Death. When our Karmas are bad we
fall to a lower life form but when they are good we become eligible for a better
life form i.e above this human form.
So when we say WHY ME we should understand rules & regulations governing this
Universe. God is preparing us to be worthy of being elevated from a Human Being to
one who will reside near HIM. Good Karma is the best way to please God.

To succeed in anything we have to prepare our self to be worthy of that particular

thing. To acquire knowledge we have to work & study hard to attain any particular
degree or position. For gold to be attractive it has to go through the process of
intense fire & severe pounding to acquire beautiful design & shape to attract
customers.

In the same way when we want to achieve the ultimate then we should be capable
enough to aim for that. We judge our capabilities according to our limited
knowledge & perceptions. Our capabilities should pass the standards set by Gods to
let Humans be able to get proximity of God.

If we are used to wear dirty clothes our efforts will be to wash it & not make it
spotlessly clean. But if we are used to wearing spotless & clean clothes our
efforts will be to wash away all the dirt & stains off the clothes.

Dirtier clothes require more vigorous & strenuous efforts to clean it. It is the
same with the stains of bad karmas on our soul. We want to achieve the best
without any extra efforts. But God has the same criteria for all. When he wants to
grant Moksha to a deserving soul he makes sure that whatever flaws are there are
first sorted out. His efforts are to cleanse & purify us of our bad karmas.

He is preparing us to be worthy of being close to him. We feel being punished &

penalized. Our perception is as per the limited knowledge we have of this world.
We have to raise our level to perceive & understand God�s Perception.

For clearing all our impurities he is putting us in the fire to clear our bad
Karma�s so that we can be capable of being near him. We should help God by being
positive in trying situations. When misfortune befalls we go into negative mould.
We start wallowing in self pity. Life becomes a burden. We become irritable,
intolerant & an avoidable parasite. This aggravates the situation. We become a
recluse. Totally negative. But if we look around we will see many who are facing
far worst problems than us. Problems which we would not like our enemies to
suffer.

When, we feel that nobody can understand or reduce our sorrow then we should try
to understand others problems & help them cope with it. This way we will be
helping our self. Our mind will remain occupied. Instead of receiving others
curses we will receive their blessings. Our negative thoughts will get converted
to positive energy. This way we will be beneficial to the needy & convert our bad
karma to good karma.