Pain is the medicine, pleasure the disease

How can we explain all the pain and suffering in the world. We all live within the “Hukum”. This is God’s Will or Law. We cannot step outside the Hukum. God is Just and Merciful, but it cannot be denied that there is suffering in the world. Natural disasters occur , just as there is so much natural beauty in the world the world does have problems. For example Earthquakes are caused by “faults” below the Earth’ surface and are sometimes referred to as “Acts of God”, but I don’t think we blame God for these, but accept them as part of the Natural World, God’s World, Our World. The second type of suffering is that casued by the actions of Man. There is both good and bad in the world. God created both and both are within the Hukum. Man has been given some free will and chooses how to behave, but whatever he does is within God’s law and whatever Man does he also suffers the consequences or reaps the rewards. Think about how you feel when you know you have done something wrong. Gurbani says “pain is the medicine, pleasure the disease”. Suffering makes you think about what you are doing, if all is going well you are unlikely to think. However, some argue that some people gain pleasure from doing bad, but are they truly happy? Man longs to be happy and at peace with oneself.

Bhupinder Singh