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Re: Hinduism: does it explain sufferings?
Santhosh Kumar (santhosh@iss.nus.sg) wrote:
: Hi,
: I would like to share your thoughts on whether Hinduism explains
: the reason for sufferings. On one hand, the law of karma explains
: why events happen based on action and reaction law. But, on the other
: hand it went on to say that the life itself is cyclic, meaning that
: the entire process repeats by itself. If the latter is true, it would
: imply that even though we can explain the sufferings based on LAW OF
: KARMA, in the global perspective the answer fails because if the
: entire life is cyclic it would mean that everything happens because
: it is bound to happen that way. In other words, we are just an
: instrument in the entire process who cannot decide/choose our
: destiny, but is pre-programmed.
: I would like to share your thoughts on this, and would greatly
: appreciate if you could mail a copy of your reply at:
1. The "Karma" siddhanta is not an attempt to explain suffering. In
fact, all religions fail to explain that question. The question,
that if God is so all powerful, and "all-compassionate", why did
(S)He create a universe so full of misery and pain, though a very
valid one, has not been answered by any religion. The Christians
and the Muslims try to explain it by saying that we have a free will,
and so, even though God is good, we create or destroy our happiness,
since we have a free will. The answer how-ever then again raises
the same question: Why did God give man a free will, esp. after He
(in semitic sense) knew that usage of this will had a very good
chance of creating a lot of misery.
2. The idea that since things are cyclic, and hence are pre-ordained
is not right. What happens NOW is an outcome of the following:
a) Past
b) Your actions and thoughts
While you cannot control the impact of past, you do have the option
make the right action. So, things are not as pre-ordained as we think
them to be. However, if you think that all you are is a product of
past actions, then the future for you is pretty much written. But,
if you chose to think, and act conciosuly, then you DO have a good
chance of changing your future. Had the "pre-ordained" theory been
true, then the entire Gita darshan would have been a useless one.
But, Krshna DID urge Arjun to fight. Because he had the option to
chose between non-fight and fight.
--
Nachiketa Tiwari
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