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the first questions have to do with why

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there is so much suffering in the world
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and this email comes from SAP Tashi who
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is 19 years old he has been a student at
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the Narendra paramah krsnah mission
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vidya lie in Kolkata and is currently
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studying at a Medical College where in
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the hospital he is regularly confronted
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with sorrow and death and as he says he
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has seen the heartbreaking cry of a poor
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loving mother who lost her nine-year-old
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son to disease so he asks if there is
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suffering because we do not know how
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true nature is Brahman then why did
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Rahman deliberately manifest this world
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of Maya where suffering exists or does
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suffering exists because as Tucker said
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this is the leela of the supreme or god
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if so then what kind of God is he or she
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who likes creatures to suffer is this
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God mad or insane or cruel who likes to
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hear the cry of people and then wants to
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search for him or is it because God is
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aware of the fact that oh these little
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creatures do not matter because
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everything took birth from me and
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eventually everything is going to end in
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me the whole creatures the whole
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creation is going to end let them cry so
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what and we also had a similar email
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from de-pants who asks if there is no
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it's there is no external god as such
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and it's all within ourself our own self
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then whom to pray to and seek protection
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from adversities and danger if there is
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an external God to whom the majority of
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the world's population pray why is there
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so much turmoil innocent killings
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heinous crime happening all over the
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globe and God doesn't stop them or save
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the innocence when Humanity is self is
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being devastated is this all unless then
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all right real heavy stuff to start off
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with yes but it's a very serious
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question and sure all of us we have had
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this question at some time or the other
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we had this question all the time why is
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there suffering in the world if God
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exists now I'll give you two answers
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first a detailed discussion and directly
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respond to the question and then a
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deeper answer the second one later on
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first of all this question itself why is
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there suffering in the world if God
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exists why is there evil in the world it
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God exists this question has been asked
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by people throughout the ages and it
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continues to be asked and theologians
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and philosophers in all cultures in all
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religions have tried to respond to this
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notice one thing here our idea of God is
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that God is all powerful and all good so
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God is all powerful and all good God
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loves us and God is good then suffering
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should not be there if one of these
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conditions are not satisfied then there
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can be suffering actually imagine a God
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is all-powerful but not all good
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a cosmic dictator in the sky extremely
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powerful can do whatever he she or it
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wishes the riddle to ask why there is
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suffering you would say yeah because the
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big guy up in the sky is is a dictator
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so that's why we are suffering and it
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was so in a certain phase of human
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history I was very interested to find
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out that the old story of Noah's Ark
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there was a great flood there's a flood
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myth in many ancient cultures of the
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world so there was a great flood and you
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know why the flood was there because God
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found a lot of unrighteousness in the
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world and so sent a flood to wipe out
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all this unrighteousness and to restore
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justice and order in the world now
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that's a good God I wrote you Scott but
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the same still exists in a more ancient
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culture in Babylon and it still is
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slightly different in one very
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interesting detail there's in the story
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God is there all
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powerful but only all-powerful the idea
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of being just or good is not there just
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God is all-powerful then what happens if
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God is disturbed by the noise that
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humanity humanity makes God's desk let
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the step because human beings are very
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noisy so you decided I'll wipe them all
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out I drown them all and there is this
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righteous person whom he selects dislike
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nor the names are different and
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difficult names are forgotten the names
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but he gives them an arc in which to
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take animals two by two and preserve
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them until the flood tides go down and
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then the all life can be restarted and
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hopefully it will be quite a next time
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there is no concept of goodness or
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righteousness or fairness or justice
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there it's just power then you cannot
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ask why are we suffering because God is
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all-powerful God can make us suffer but
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when the idea of justice and goodness
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was added as it happened in Judaism next
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the same story you see how it takes a
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turn now you cannot say God drown people
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because they were noisy we will be
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worship such a god so the idea of
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concept of God as fair as just comes in
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there you can see an evolution in our
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concept of God God is not evolving our
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concept of God is evolving we are
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understanding more and more and then the
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question can arise
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why is God there so much evil and
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suffering in the world if God is
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all-powerful but also just and the
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problem becomes even more complicated
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when you say God is all loving right it
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may be that we deserve suffering so it's
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just to punish us but a loving God would
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not want us to suffer imagine parents
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you love your children so much you would
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never want your children to suffer the
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only reason children suffer is because
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human parents are not all-powerful they
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cannot prevent that suffering Jesus
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mentions a human a mother crying because
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she lost her child disease if she could
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actually definitely save the child she
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can't so we
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combined omnipotence with benevolence
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then this question arises really God
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lobsters okay and really God can do
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everything then why do we suffer and an
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answer is necessary otherwise it shakes
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faith in fact one of the arguments
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against the existence of God is the
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existence of evil the portal is called
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the problem of evil in theology
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different religions of the world is to
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call the problem of evil and we want an
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answer where I will tell you what not
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one answer but 23 don't worry I will not
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lift up all the 23 answers there's this
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book the problem of Google in Indian
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thought by Professor Arthur Harmon
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Arthur Harmon you can find it online
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also what this gentleman done is not
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lonely limited himself to Indian thought
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but he has taken a survey of this
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question and the answers to it in
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different religions of the world not
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only religion in philosophy in
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literature and he has come up with a
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list of 23 answers
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23 answers to this question why do we
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suffer in this world and you twisted
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those answers I'll tell you some of them
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I mean looking at me is 23 answers I
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thought the question was not answerable
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23 answers yes I'll tell you some of
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them prepare to be underwhelmed now you
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will notice one thing about the answer
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some of them are simple maybe a little
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silly some of them are very clever but
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all of them have one thing in common
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they are not satisfied for example there
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is a one answer is God is testing us
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these are actually serious theories put
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forward by some thinkers at some time in
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human history God is testing us but then
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the same question will arise what kind
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of a test is it to make a baby suffer
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what could what can the baby to look at
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the enormous suffering in animal kingdom
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what can they do except suffer what
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tests in the past so there are
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objections to these theories this is a
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similar theory which says another answer
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it's a called a soul making theory God
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is building up our character by
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suffering it might work for an
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that person who is responsible who is
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conscious and who can change but again
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the same objection will arise how do you
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account for the suffering in Norma's
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unchanging suffering in the animal
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kingdom for millions of years and if
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nothing that you can do is stop it when
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a lion jumps up on a deer and eats it
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when a lizard a gecko catches an insect
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no matter what you may say if you look
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at the insect struggling you feed
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suffering them how can you stop that and
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how is that building up anybody's
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character the Holocaust remembers Enix
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clear you cannot explain that kind of
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suffering when millions of people are
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killed just massacred so how is it
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building up character in any way so
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there are doubts about this kind of
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theory also and there are never many
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other theories all of them have some
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problem or the other and this professor
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discusses each of them and shows the
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problems with these theories the theory
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that God has given us free will that's
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one big theory God has given us free
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will and God will not interfere with our
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choices and it's our choices that lead
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to suffering but you will there we have
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these dispositions which lead us to to
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slip and make mistakes and commit error
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and evil and what kind of a responsible
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parent is it who gives a loaded gun to a
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toddler we will I will not interfere let
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the toddler do what it wants with the
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gun
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the end will not be good so while give
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us free will and a set of dispositions
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which almost all the time we tend to
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misuse the tree will and again it does
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not explain suffering and animal kingdom
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or even for helpless infants and
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children so all these theories one more
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theory which he considers very good the
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professor he says the law of karma
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causation cause and effect cause and
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effect if we consider ourselves as
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conscious beings traveling from life to
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life and enjoying and suffering the
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results of our past karma generating new
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karma and enjoying the suffering results
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they are all so we are
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building our own light we're the kind of
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says there was never a blow that was
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undeserved unkind thing to say but let's
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take responsible for our own
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responsibility for our own lives you can
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even see how that can the global kind of
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thing you know the cause and effect
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causes have effects actions have
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consequences that can actually even
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explain the suffering scene where you
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are helpless
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say somebody said what karma can a
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butterfly do nothing it can only
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experience the results of past curlbox
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you can only do conscious Karma when you
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come to a human birth but if this cause
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and effect can actually explain
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suffering and experience in animal life
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in any kind of conscious life so past
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karma is giving results sometimes it may
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be inhuman bird sometimes I may be an
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infant sometimes I may be an insect in
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the mouth of a gecko which is all past
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karma little more clever answer this
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time this answer is in fact the
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professor says this is the best possible
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solution you can a whole chapter on the
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defects of the law of karma whole
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chapter and it says in spite of
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beautiful there's nothing as that comes
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close to the law of karma even then it's
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not a perfect theory sri ramakrishna was
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asked this the one of the question as
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mentions the theory of lilith
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Ramakrishna says it is the leader of God
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somebody actually Ramakrishna why is
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there so much suffering in the world if
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God exists the same question in the
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gospel you will find this question and
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three Ramakrishna gives the answer which
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this young boy has given that it is the
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leader of God into the play of God what
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can we do and the devil to ask this
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question did not take it well his reply
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was it may be the leader of God but it
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is dead to us in Bengal he said pastor
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alarm Romani it may be the divine will
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of God it's play for god it's dead for
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us then Sri Ramakrishna gets the VLJ
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plan on coming to the real reply which I
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would like to give when he says it's
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death to us Sri Ramakrishna said just
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one little thing after which there was
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no no further questions
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Sri Ramakrishna said death to us you say
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but who are you do you know who you are
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we enroll by if you did investigate who
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you are that's what they wanted us what
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would you find you are one with God the
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same God will manifest this universe you
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knew yourself what we thanks at Timmy I
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am an anthem grandma you are that from
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that point of view knowing if it touches
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you or anybody else think about it
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Advaita self Delma satyam jagat mithya
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Jeeva Brahm Haven author brahmand accept
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EMV anima anthem gramma infinite
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existence consciousness is the only
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reality the world of appearance and
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suffering is an appearance it's false
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then what about me am i real or false
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you are one with drum and you are real
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you are real as well money and asked you
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a question
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the greatest of tragedies the worst of
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things worst of suffering it's
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permissible in only one case it's even
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enjoyable in one place one case when
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think about it when is the only time you
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would not be upset with suffering when
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you would even say it's good it's great
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unison in art in a story in fiction if
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it actually did not happen in a dream
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when you wake up from that image your
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thank God it was a nightmare if it
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actually did not happen then you would
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not be outraged isn't it
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we might even enjoy it you might even
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enjoy it but only from a point of from a
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place of security from place of safety
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when you are not being touched by that
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suffering so the real answer is here no
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clever theory will ever satisfy your
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question in the question which you have
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is suffering I may give you the
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cleverest of theories the professor good
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professor gives a law of karma which is
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great either beyond the law of karma
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explanation given by vedanta Maya that's
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the even better explanation I think even
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that will not satisfy you you know what
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will satisfy you
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this answer to this question will be you
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will get a satisfied satisfaction only
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when you
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same suffering and the only way you will
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transcend suffering is by
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self-realization by realizing that you
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are one bit card moksha Nirvana whatever
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you call it the open ocean says Tarot to
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show come math mobit the knower of the
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self of Atman transcend sorrow that's
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the only way of expressing sorrow
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these questions are good answers are
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worth exploring you can go and look at
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those 23 answers and select the one
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which appeals to you the most still you
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will be underwhelmed you will not be
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satisfied by that the only thing that
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will satisfy which are satisfied anybody
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else in the world is realization finding
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God self-realization enlightenment
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whatever you call it