Why do the good suffer, and I succeed?

To be successfull in business one has to be somewhat ruthless and cheating others , That is the nature of acquiring money .Way around this type of conducting business is to give a portion of your earnings to help other people in ways that you find or projects you feel good about . Not the military either
Karma awaits for us in future lives . Wealthy people often understand these principles instinctively .Thus they counter sinfull actions with good ones
Your dear mom just did not have that ruthless business sense or drive to accumulate money . She had a higher taste so she was already successfull . I admire people like that . I too have seen many of these really lovely almost saintly ladies die early from cancers .
Ofcourse the cancers many are getting in their 50s could be a result of the polio vaccines that were contaminated by a money virus that caused cancer later in life .
So mum isn't being punished , she was just a victim of others sinfull actions .
Now you are going to live in another country to be more simple is your own realizations of the futility of empty greedy lives that fools lead
So do the needfull now by offering help to others in any little ways you can . God will always be there for us no matter our beliefs . We are part of the Whole Divine , just a little forgetfull right now

reply to post by ExCommando


I had this dilemma when I returned from Viet Nam. When I came "back to the world", people spit at me on the street and called me "baby killer." I thought that even though I did what I did in the name of this country (USA), I do "have it coming." So I waited. Nothing happened. What can I do to deal with PTSD, guilt, and shame? After several years of this dilemma, one day, an epiphany came to me. A still, small voice came to me and told me, "You are trying to figure out how to be 'right.' The situation is not a matter of right, wrong, good, or bad. The situation is a matter of value. The question is, 'Am I valuable?' Value is defined as being more valuable to somebody, somewhere alive than I would be dead. I became a doctor. Even had a free children's clinic for children 13 and under. At some point twenty years later, the still small voice said, 'It is enough. You have redeemed yourself."

In every endeavor of my life since that epiphany, I have sought redemption through the creation of value, that regardless whether people like me or not, I am of value to them and there is always an avenue of redemption. I learned through the years that I extend the opportunity of redemption to all others around me, to give people a "second chance" or "the benefit of the doubt" if the situation merits such considerations. As I treat others, I treat myself, and visa versa.

The other thing I learned is that I am man. I am not a "good" man, a "bad" man, a this or that man. I am man, no more or less. I quit judging myself. Judgement gets in the way of creating value for self and others. This has taught me to quit judging people and to accept them as they are. If I do disagree with someone, I reserve the choice to not be around them.

Most things matter and do not make a difference, or do not matter and make a difference. I act only on those things in my life that matter and make a difference. This cut out over 90% of the static in my life and in my relationship to others.

A monk once taught me that everything begins with correct condition (of the heart). Correct condition leads to correct action. Correct action leads to correct relationship. Correct relationship leads to correct situation. Correct situation leads to vast mind, everyday mind, just-like-this mind. I have learned to live by this and not try to change the situation but rather look at my condition, to change myself.

I hope this may be of some use to you. Peace to you.

reply to post by ExCommando


You are so right. I was brought up to treat people as i would like to be treated. This has changed over the past 5 or so years. Today my rule is treat people as they treat others or me. I got sick and tired of getting ran over and always on the losing end. I told my wife 5 years ago i was going to start to be a dick to everyone because im sick of the tire tracks on my back. In the past 5 years i have ended up getting promoted 2x with more money and less work. It did not last long as i got a bad sickness and ending up pulling me out of the workforce. I guess i waited to long to be a dick..

reply to post by ExCommando


Good people are being led to let go, so they can move on to higher realities after death. Letting go is painful but necessary.

Bad people are being led to cling to things that, in the end, don't matter because they are only temporary and hence illusory. They will be trapped in the material realm for many lifetimes.

A bad persons flawed and shallow idea of success is part of that trap.

Ultimately ops, that's simply life.
People whom can step on others to attain goals will of course attain goals with a greater success rate than those whom don't.
As far as the cancer thing..well, that's just mother nature slapping us silly humans. she doesn't care about good, bad, young, old, or anything else.

The only justice this world has is what you give it. If you can step on people, know you robbed them of justice. If you helped someone, know you have given them a bit of justice. Its about what you want to be in life I guess.

King sky ghost is absent..there is nobody that's going to adjust living based on merits...(its just what poor people tell themselves to make their overall day less miserable, yet continue to live in a unfair world anyhow).

I consider myself a "good" person as much as I care to be. Probably why I am not doing exceptional in life...however, I can look in the mirror at night pretty easily. I think ultimately being satisfied with self is more important than a second boat or whatever...(not to say people with means are automatically hard and shallow...but it is easier to get lost in stuff when there is soo much of it to get lost in).

Originally posted by BlueMule
reply to post by ExCommando

 

Good people are being led to let go, so they can move on to higher realities after death. Letting go is painful but necessary.

Bad people are being led to cling to things that, in the end, don't matter because they are only temporary and hence illusory. They will be trapped in the material realm for many lifetimes.

A bad persons flawed and shallow idea of success is part of that trap.

edit on 20-7-2013 by BlueMule because: (no reason given)

Yep, its stuff like that which makes me almost certain that such things are put out by the rich whom don't want any challenge to their status.
It makes some almost desire to have nothing and give away their stuff
The funny thing is, its not a giving up of desire for things...its actually trading in the way you describe it.
Give away your early materials and once you die and your ghosty bits fly up to heaven, you will have way better stuff than anyone else..

What a scam. medieval church separating the people from their wealth in order to "save" them (and consolidate power amongst all kings with that wealth to become a powerhouse organization)

No...that's bull..if a person gives up something to give to a less fortunate, let it not be to make brownie points in heaven. it needs to be because he wants that person to simply have a slightly better existence here....otherwise, its even more greedy than if he simply kept it.

I am sorry to hear about your wife and I hope her example will give you the courage to seek an answer to your question. That said, please open your wife's Bible and find the account where Jesus is in he desert and is given three temptations from the present ruler of this world. You will see and then understand why you are rewarded for the evil you have done.You have been rewarded for services rendered to the god of this present world. Please read Luke 4:1-12 Please consider this well.

Be assured your question has an answer, it can change your life and you will understand the love exemplified in the life of your wife. There is no doubt she prayed many times over the years for you to comprehend her dedication and love of God. I am including something I wrote for my children and family which I truly hope you will read and pray about as it will lead you to your answer. P.S. pay particular attention to the section: What All The Words Is Seeking.

God bless.
www.knowforyourself.squarespace.com

I made an error in my original reply to your post. I referred to your mother as your wife. I apologize for my mistake. God bless. Dan

We are all full of faults brother. You think that you are less of a man because you have faltered? No sir. No man is without secrets. Learn from them, and try to make yourself a better man. Then, and only then, will you move onward in life.

to quote shakespear,, tis a season too all things,,there have been times,,so it is rumoured,, when the good flourished,,,
not that long ago.

Originally posted by ExCommando
I want to be honest.

I'm not a good person. I've cheated, lied, been unfaithful. I've killed (for my country, but let's keep it real, I pulled the trigger).

And yet, after all of this, I'm rewarded with huge financial and business success; I have a wife I don't deserve, and a perfect, gorgeous baby girl. I've got it all.

On the flip side, my mother; the light of my life. Devoted her life to spreading the word of God; she spent years working in orphanages in the darkest reaches of the world. She gave tirelessly of herself, and not a person who met her wasn't changed in some way for the good.

What's her reward? Brain cancer. What followed was 6 of the most horrible months of my life. She spent the whole time in the hospice bed ridden, in pain, and ever so slowly lost her body, mind and spirit.

The last 24 hours she lay there gasping for breath, until she suffocated to death with me by her side.

How does this make sense? I've never really believed in a God or a higher power, and this only furthers my opinion.

Good people suffer, while those of us with darkness inside of us flourish.

I just don't get it.

There's nothing to get. This life is like a bus ride from zero to the rest of your eternal existence. You grabbed a good seat and good for you for getting that seat. Your mom decided that she'd give her seat to someone else, and that was her choice. Her ride is done, and yours will be done soon enough too. When she got off the bus, she was probably glad to leave that bus behind, but you might have a lot more trouble letting go of your seat. Maybe not, but if it's a good seat and you feel you worked hard to get that seat, then you might resent having to hand it over to someone else when it's time to kick you off the bus. Not really any reason for any of it (good seat versus lousy seat, or even being forced to stand in the isle). It's just how it shakes out for a person, and how much a good seat means to them as they're riding the bus. You want something bad enough and you'll do what it takes to get it.

They say that if you want that bus seat too much, and you love that bus seat too much once you've won it, then you'll cripple your ability to make the transition from sitting on that seat to whatever it is that awaits you after you've been tossed off the bus, but who knows. Maybe you get to be a big cheese at the bus ride destination too? Maybe you're just the luckiest and greatest guy ever? Or maybe this is just the beginning of your slow painful spiral into self doubt, self loathing and ultimate contact with the pavement, and your mom's death just put the whole epic catastrophe into motion?

Could be a variety of things.

I've been thinking about this and I've come to conclusion that the world the OP outlined does not exist, it is a fantasy. All people are a complex mix of both good and bad. Not only that, but people the world would call good or bad based on a certain culture's values are treated indiscriminately. They are both rewarded and punished equally.

What the OP has expressed is superstitious thinking based on rank speculation. Is he a bad person? Who the hell knows or cares. Did he get that sweet business contract because he cheated on his wife or killed a couple people in the war? Absolutely not. The answer is either much more complex and universal or far simpler and mundane than he thinks.

Originally posted by Unrealised
You've lied, cheated, killed and been unfaithful to your angel.

You'll have to live with those things, and if you have a conscience, you should find them hard to come to terms with.





You haven't flourished.

You have been given a beautiful flower, only to stomp it into the ground.

edit on 19-7-2013 by Unrealised because: (no reason given)

You ever have those flashbacks that shake your mind ? You close your eyes to shake the thought away.... the dread of remembering and reliving that moment.... That is part of your punishment..... in this life. In the next, who can say?

While you still have breath, you can still right some of the wrongs, but that will not absolve you from your crimes.
In the end, you will be saved by grace, if your to be saved. (and for those who don't believe in God, it's purely moot)
Simply exposing your sins shows a want, a need to try to get it right. If you are breathing, there's still time for amends.

reply to post by j.r.c.b.


You don't need to tell him what was the worst time of his life. His mother dying of cancer is the worst time of both of their lives. be a little understanding here. Just because he didn't live through the symptoms of the cancer doesn't mean he didn't feel the symptoms of losing a mother and watching her slowly lose herself.

Cancer doesn't have one victim.

reply to post by ExCommando


Well it is my belief, that in the long run, our past actions eventually catch up to us. They're inescapable.

I believe that whether there is a supreme being which governs karma, or not, our actions bare consequences.

I believe actions create a dynamic which causes each action to have a boomerang effect.

I also believe in an after life. Many may disagree with this belief, but I believe firmly in it. I'm not religious or anything, but I do believe that one can suffer or be rewarded for the things that we've done in another realm.

Bottom line is, our existence is inescapable in my opinion. We simply transcend from one form or the other. I believe our souls are a form of matter, and matter cannot be created nor destroyed (at least by man).

And so, I do believe your mother will reap the rewards of her good deeds in perhaps another form, and that you will suffer the consequences of your poor deeds be it in this form or another (as well as the good of course).

Your life isn't over as yet...

What have you succeeded in?


Success to me is being in peace, being content, of not wanting all the things that one wrongly thinks is the meaning of "success" in life.
Now is what counts, being in gratitude now for being alive.

I hear that 'crime pays - no good deed goes unpunished' argument a lot. Usually from people who are trying to encourage me to show more initiative. "Don't just lie around with a book; get up, go out, and make some trouble before life passes you by." It's based on the idea that bad people get away with everything while good people are on the hook. It's an idea that's supposed to explain every democratic election ever held since Pilate let the mob choose between Jesus & Barabbas.

Then, and just when the idea was becoming more of a cliche than an over generalization, Paula Deen loses her Walmart sponsorship. So who knows what to think?

Originally posted by ExCommando
I want to be honest.

I'm not a good person. I've cheated, lied, been unfaithful. I've killed (for my country, but let's keep it real, I pulled the trigger).

And yet, after all of this, I'm rewarded with huge financial and business success; I have a wife I don't deserve, and a perfect, gorgeous baby girl. I've got it all.

On the flip side, my mother; the light of my life. Devoted her life to spreading the word of God; she spent years working in orphanages in the darkest reaches of the world. She gave tirelessly of herself, and not a person who met her wasn't changed in some way for the good.

What's her reward? Brain cancer. What followed was 6 of the most horrible months of my life. She spent the whole time in the hospice bed ridden, in pain, and ever so slowly lost her body, mind and spirit.

The last 24 hours she lay there gasping for breath, until she suffocated to death with me by her side.

How does this make sense? I've never really believed in a God or a higher power, and this only furthers my opinion.

Good people suffer, while those of us with darkness inside of us flourish.

I just don't get it.

I hope you have heard about "karma". There are three types of "karma":

"Sanchit" - Karma of previous lives that are yet to be faced
"prarabhda" - Karma of previous lives (a portion of "Sanchit") that are to be faced in the current life
"kriyamaan" - Karma of current life to be faced in current life or subsequent lives.

If you killed on orders from your officer, the sins go to your officer and your king (if these deaths are not related to a just war). However a soldier would still suffer from his decision to join an evil army. And benefits obtained from such employment will be reversed (cause losses and suffering) in same or subsequent lives.

Your mother suffered a painful death due to karma of previous lives. However she did a lot of good work and she will be rewarded for that. God gives good people the strength to bear the pain; while the bad cannot take the pain. Your mother must be a role model for you.

reply to post by ExCommando


My condolances for your loss. My mother died from cancer too.

As for your question I don't know the answer to it, maybe you're not as bad as you think you are, and thank you for your service.

On the flip side of that, my friend (who is like a mother to me) and I are having a perfectly beastly year. Neither one of us I think have done any bad to anyone, she is struggling with extreme financial difficultites can't seem to ,get caught up on bills & yet the state in which we live in told her she makes too much gross income on her SS to qualify for any state relief. Glad they think so, who lives off their gross income anyway?

However trying to think of reasonable reply to your question, I think maybe it's a past life thing, whatever we did in a previous life is either rewarding/or haunting us now. As for us: we must've been pure b*****s in a previous life, if that's the case.

.

reply to post by ExCommando



Well, it is the beauty of free will. We are free to act and be as we want. Nothing is promised, and nothing is given. It is work for what you want, and gain what you work for. Anyone can do anything they want if they work for it. You get my point...

Most people succeed because of some stroke of luck. It has nothing to do with God (and yes, I believe in God). It has everything to do with us and how we go about things. Kinda like winning the powerball I guess... everyone can get lucky, right?

On that note... good for you. Be happy with what you have. There are a lot of people who would love to be in your situation. If you really feel like you do not deserve it, then volunteer to help those that are less fortunate. It will make you feel better about yourself in many ways.

Also, my condolences on your Mother. I just learned recently that my Mother has a brain tumor that covers the entire top of her head. I am waiting to hear more on it.

Cheers!