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The perfect life

There is a saying, whoever made the lock also made the key to open it.
Without the right key for the lock, it very difficult or impossible to
open. The only person who can provide the right key for the lock is the
person who made it. We are dependent on the original creator of the
lock to be able to open it.

All beings in this world are mortal. They are locked into the cycle of
birth and death. The creator of the lock of birth and death is Lord Krish-
na (God). He has made the key to open the lock. It is the Bhagavad-gita,
which is the dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna. Arjuna was
confused about his real duty in life. He needed answers to his ques ons
concerning why he was suffering and how to a ain a perfect life.

Why do people suffer

Suffering is a message that we have done something wrong. If a child
misbehaves, the parents or teacher will give some remedial, correc ve
punishment. The purpose is not to harm the child, rather to train the
child to stop bad behavior. Similarly, persons who violate the laws of
society are subject to arrest, arraignment, trial and if found guilty, sen-
tenced. The en re process is designed to give an alleged criminal the
opportunity to prove innocence or accept guilt for a crime. If guilty, be-
fore sentencing, the criminal is given a chance to acknowledge his
wrong-doing, apologize and accept the verdict a er due process. If the
criminal is sentenced jail me, he is given the opportunity to rehabili-
tate himself in jail and perhaps be released from prison to live in socie-
ty again as a law abiding ci zen.

Similarly, all living en es were originally in the spiritual world and en-
dowed with limited free will. By misuse of free will, some living en es
decided to disregard God’s (Krishna’s) instruc ons. Their willful deci-
sion to live apart from God to become a dominator and independent
enjoyer was the cause of their fall down from the spiritual world to the
material world. The material world is a prison for errant souls who are
given a chance to rehabilitate themselves to return back to the eternal
spiritual world. Suffering different miseries in the material world such
as birth, old age, disease and death are reminders that we have made
some fundamental mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. The real cause
of perpetua ng our suffering is forge ulness of God whether this is
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