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Summary of Question:	Why Things Happen
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Sunday, 7/18/2004 3:47 PM MDT

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...just a general question that has me thinking about it a lot...i belive waheguru to be everywhere and in every living soul...what ever happens happens at the will of waheguru...just for my understanding does that mean when good things happen we beleive it to thanks to waheguru but what about when bad tragedies happen in this world are they to as a result of waheguru...good bad wahetever...if a person commits a crime since waheguru is in all of us then waheguru must be in that person too..i.e. september 11th for an example....
...also if we sow what we reap and but if everything happens according to waheguru then why do people say be good or else you'll be punished ...isn't our life already written to be the way god has scripted it to be so if good happens or abd happend basically it will happen according to god correct....does that mean that god has manifested himself in all of us and given us brians to make decisions but are we really the ones that makes these decisions or is it waheguru...
........gob bless us all ..his creation only he only he knows...maybe i don't have the compete spritual wisdom to unerstand all the happens but if you do please shed some insight God Bless...

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Sat Siri Akal.

The Light of God is in everything and it's all the play of the One. Guru Nanak describes the polarity of life in Japji. In the 17th Pauree he talks about all the countless "good people" there are - the devotees, the givers, the heros, the lovers. In the 18th Pauree, he talks about all the countless "bad people" there are - the cut-throats, the liars, the murderers, the thieves. At the end of both Paurees - he says - Hey look, I can't even be a sacrifice once to you, God. What pleases You is the only good that's worth doing. So what this means is that God has created it all - the good and the bad, the light and the shadow. He is in all of it and only He knows what's pleasing to Him. The Creator has that vast perspective.

So as a Sikh, we work both ways. We train our consciousness to see that everything is the play of God - so there's no need to judge anything, to be angry or to be afraid. At the same time, our Guru gives us instructions to live in a such a way that we can be Jiwan Mukt - liberated while alive. What you sow, you reap. If you follow the Guru's instructions, you will enjoy life in bliss and ease.

There's a saying that I love and might be helpful. "Every saint was once a sinner. And every sinner is a future saint." Sometimes, we don't know the good until we've experienced the bad. The Creator uses the shadow side of life as a realm of teaching. So - we learn by experience and that's the way He's set it up.

This is very different than other theologies that demonize the shadow-side and condemn people because of the shadow. We do NOT demonize the shadow. We embrace it as part of His play - in ourselves and in the whole Creation. The five vices exist. We do not denty their existence. We meditate in order to be in command of those vices, rather than having the vices be in command of us. God created the vices - He has a purpose for them. There's no guilt and no judgement. But if we let the five vices rule us, we live in misery. If we can rule them, we live in royalty.

The play of life is what it is - shadow and light. As Sikhs, we cling to the Guru's feet and that Guru guides us through the experience gracefully and successfully.

So strive to follow the Guru's instructions as best you can. Have no judgements towards other people. And when you find yourself in your own shadow, don't judge yourself, either. Go through the experience and see what the Creator wants you to learn.

Hope this is helpful.

Love and blessings.

GPK