Suffering and sorrow

Question: Why do we have to pass through sad experiences such as suffering and sorrow?

Sri Chinmoy: Why do we experience suffering? In this world, we are always consciously or unconsciously making mistakes. When we consciously make mistakes, we are quite aware of it. But unfortunately, we do not realize how many things we are doing wrong unconsciously. These unconscious mistakes manifest themselves in the physical world, and the results come to us as suffering. In the case of ordinary, unaspiring human beings, after tremendous suffering, sincerity dawns and the soul leads them to knowledge and wisdom. If people who repeatedly make mistakes have sincere aspiration and want to know why they are suffering, then the soul's Light comes to the fore and tells them. If we are spiritual people, consciously we will try not to do anything wrong, but unconsciously we do many things wrong. We can prevent unconscious mistakes only through our aspiration, prayer and meditation. If we aspire, then God's grace and compassion protect us.

It is not necessary to go through suffering before we enter into the kingdom of delight. Many people have realised God through love. The Father has love for the child and the child has love for the Father. This love takes us to our goal. Our philosophy emphasizes the positive way of approaching Truth. We have limited light. Let us increase it. Let us progress from more Light to abundant Light to infinite Light.

The highest discovery is this: We came from delight, we grow in delight and at the end of our journey's close, we retire into delight. Delight is now in the inner world, while the outer world is all suffering. We see people quarreling and fighting. Fear, doubt, anger, jealousy and other undivine elements torture us. But when we go deep within, on the strength of our highest meditation, we discover that delight was our origin, our Source. We see that in delight we play the Cosmic Game and at the end of the Cosmic Game, we again retire into delight.

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