Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna . Many devotees have asked me this question and I am publishing it with my views / answer . I hope it will benefit you .

Question: “I practice devotional service regularly, but still from time to time, bad things happen to me. When they do, I can’t help but blame God. ‘Why do You put me through this? I thought You’re supposed to relieve my suffering?’ I know I shouldn’t think this way, but I can’t help it. What should I do?”

Answer: Many people faithfully observe the regulative principles of devotional service, which consist of the chanting of the maha-mantra (Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) and abstention from the four pillars of sinful life (meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex), but still suffer frustration from time to time. This is because the practice of devotional service does nothing to guarantee material fortunes. In fact, many times just the opposite occurs. Krishna will take away things that we are attached to so that we can better focus on our service to Him. Since our attachments to material things are so strong, many of us get angry and frustrated when bad fortune occurs. Many people try their hardest not to blame God, but they just can’t help it. Generally speaking, this type of anger directed towards God is viewed as irrational, but it can also be a sign of great devotion.

For aspiring transcendentalists, the first lesson taught by the Vedas is that we are not this body. What are we then? We are spirit souls, part and parcel of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The body, along with everything else in this material world, is temporary but our true identity, represented by the soul, is not. The illusory energy known as maya clouds our judgment and causes us to associate with our body. Maya tricks us into thinking that if we perform just enough activity, we will be happy. This is how karma works. Other people are also performing fruitive activities, meaning that everyone is essentially trying to be God. Since there is only one God, every person’s pursuit of material perfection is bound to fail. This failure doesn’t come all at once. Rather, the conditioned living entities suffer many setbacks in life, but this usually doesn’t deter them from trying to find material happiness.

“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)

There are two energies that exist in this world, the material and the spiritual. The spiritual energy is eternal and full of bliss. The material energy is just the opposite. Everything relating directly to God is part of the spiritual or superior energy. The material energy is completely revolved around matter, which is temporary, thus it is known as the inferior energy. We living entities technically belong to the marginal energy, meaning we have a choice as to which energy, superior or inferior, we associate with. Associating with the spiritual energy means we are afforded complete protection. This protection is for the soul and not the body. Associating with the spiritual energy means we become free from the effects of karma; we are no longer forced to suffer through birth and death. The material energy provides no such protection. The conditioned living entities are competing with each other to become God, thus they are completely in the material energy, where they have no protection. Those who are in the material energy have no right to blame God for their problems, for they have chosen to associate with an inferior energy.

So always associate with the spiritual energy with whom you are afforded protection from the Lord . Please always chant : (Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare)