why are you asking me ask god
now you say i'm not performing him the guy is serious the just young gentleman
is very serious so i can't fob him off i'm just trying to lighten up little bit
look if you don't lighten up religious dialogue they become very heavy religions are heavy anyway
and the religious dialogue becomes even heavier so you need to lighten up and this is what how
swami yokan would have reacted to saying that look why are you bothering me i didn't set this
world up and this is what ramakrishna his mentor said once when he was asked the same way he said
look when god was setting up this universe he did not make me part of the committee you know
you always have a committee so he said i was not invited to participate in the committee
when they were setting up the world so i have no clue i have no idea why things are like this you
ask him because i don't know you see it is nice sometimes to be very honest and say i don't know
people think that oh no this is terrible you must show that you know everything
we don't know everything so when there are questions where we don't know the answer we should
put our hands up and say i don't know and this is a light-hearted answer as well as the honest
answer but then you see he's not going to let me off like this because this is why he's come here
he wants to ask me what's going on why this and it's understandable because it will stir you up
and i've been saying this in the philosophy classes that we run when you look at the
suffering all around us it is horrendous not only in the human cycle humans you know society
in the animal society animal kingdom the suffering is incredible so how can a nice gentle person
gentle god set up this world in fact one major philosopher in the west called john stewart mill
said that if you told me that the world was set up by somebody called god then i think this goat must
be a monster it must be an evil monster we should fight him not worship him because he has created a
horrendous world with tremendous amount of suffering all around and of course we are talking
about not only human suffering but suffering in the living kingdom and it is quite horrendous
this issue has puzzled philosophers religious people throughout the ages
the only good thing i can say about this question is this if you are look this is how whole of
buddhism started know that this question what this boy is asking is what buddha asked and there is a
whole of buddhism started just with this question why suffering why and in order to resolve the
issue of suffering buddha left his kingdom walked out of his kingdom gave up everything and then he
by through introspection through contemplation and meditation he tried to resolve the human condition
what is going why am i like this why are everybody like this what is going on and came out with this
marvelous philosophy of the or the the idea of buddhism this is the whole foundation of buddhism
this is not a minor question this is a question that can produce the buddhas of the future this
is what produced the buddha of the past so what this young gentleman is asking is very central
the answer that would come said not from me but from swami viva would be this you would say my
boy if you feel this question is that burning spend the rest of your life trying to resolve it
you will see it will bring about major changes in you this question will be like a probe that
will continue to you know like a thorn on your side continue to prod you continue to make you
feel uneasy about your living your condition this this particular question will probe you
until you discover your essential nature as a spirit this thing there called god and religion
will become experiential for you you will actually come face to face with religion and god and what
is this all about this question if you hang on to this question and take it to his conclusion
will give you the resolution of the human condition which will in a way
turn you into the state of enlightenment like buddha and that's where you find resolution
only in the state of enlightenment can you see why how come something pure and pristine has become so
so kind of cantorous and so horrendous when it becomes manifested is the world and it is only
through experience that you can resolve the issue other than through intellect so it's a very broad
broad question but this is the question which is the foundation of a major world religion and the
resolution is self-enlightenment is the only place where you find an answer that will satisfy you
the rest of the intellectual gymnast i can offer you will not satisfy you guaranteed
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