Page 671 - Bodhayanti Parasparam Vol 6

ailing brother. The world is full of sorrow and misery. To undergo them is like undergoing an operation by the highest for setting us in proper order. That means an affectionate motherly treatment. A man may have reached the highest summit in spirituality but that does not imply that he has gone beyond physical afflictions, unpleasant to his senses. The power of endurance, no doubt, also develops with it. These things do not touch the deeper layers of water. One of the commandments of our Master directs us to be thankful to God for all the miseries and troubles. There are reasons for it. When we are in thankful mood we touch the inner core of our being coming in closer contact with it. As a result every nerve of our body gets charged with that pious influence effecting all the uniform state all over. In this way man so cleverly turns hell into heaven for himself. (Sruti Vol.II pages 330 & 331).
Suffering, pain, sorrow are the necessary elements in our training and development. They are not permanent. If we examine partially, this may appear unconvincing. But if taken holistically, this appears to be true. Moreover, the Divine Power is not there to torment us, but to guide us in the path of spiritual development. We should not expect everything to happen according to our calculations. In times of distress we may surrender to the Divine Power, without giving up our effort. The Divinity gives us everything at the price of an effort.
Every experience of misery and agony comes to teach us a lesson we need to learn. But this becomes clear to him who joyfully accepts everything that comes to him, as a Divine gift, attempting to avoid nothing.
It is the part of courage, when misfortune comes, to bear without repining the ruin of our hopes, to turn
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