Why is Life So Easy for Everyone Else

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   Why is life so easy for some people and so difficult for others?

   This is a philosophical question but I put this in Religious Debates because the "reason" life is difficult for some and easy for others is related to God, since God predestines everything that happens to us and we really have no control over what God does. That belief is based upon this passage:

   "O thou who art the fruit of My Tree and the leaf thereof! On thee be My glory and My mercy. Let not thine heart grieve over what hath befallen thee. Wert thou to scan the pages of the Book of Life, thou wouldst, most certainly, discover that which would dissipate thy sorrows and dissolve thine anguish.

   Know thou, O fruit of My Tree, that the decrees of the Sovereign Ordainer, as related to fate and predestination, are of two kinds. Both are to be obeyed and accepted. The one is irrevocable, the other is, as termed by men, impending. To the former all must unreservedly submit, inasmuch as it is fixed and settled. God, however, is able to alter or repeal it. As the harm that must result from such a change will be greater than if the decree had remained unaltered, all, therefore, should willingly acquiesce in what God hath willed and confidently abide by the same.

   The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty can succeed in averting it.

   God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences." Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 132-133

   ​

   
   I am not sure exactly what Baha'u'llah means in that first paragraph. Maybe it means that if we knew the end result of all we have to endure in this earthly life that would dispel our sorrows and anguish.

   Even though our fate is predestined, some of that fate is subject to change since it is impending. We can pray and supplicate to God or we can make choices that could change our course, since an omnipotent God can do anything he chooses to do.

   That brings me to the subject of free will. I believe we can make choices, since we have free will. This is a difficult subject. In short, we are not robotically controlled by God. We are causing things to happen by making a choice and then acting on it. We are doing what God knows we will do by virtue of our own free will. Our free will (what we can choose) has constraints but that is a separate issue.

   In brief, we do not have any choice except to do what God knows we will do because what God knows what we will do is identical with what we will do. God knows what we will do because God is omniscient, but God does not cause it to happen, we do. Thus we play out our own script according to what God already knows we will do. God knows how the script will play out before it plays out because God is omniscient.

   Now back to my subject: Clearly, life is a lot easier for some people than for other people. Let's just look at people within a given county such as the United States within a given socioeconomic group, because to start comparing to a third world country is not a fair comparison since conditions are so different for those people. Why then is it that most people I am surrounded by at work seem to be happy all the time? Do they not have any problems in life or do they just handle those problems differently?

   I do not think we will ever know why life is easier for some people than for others, but I think the following factors play into the answer: childhood upbringing, heredity, opportunities, education, adult experiences, and present life circumstances. Some of these factors we have no control over but some of these we have some control over.

   A Baha'i belief is that tests and difficulties are sent by God and we should thank God for them because they help us grow spiritually. There is a question as to whether God actually sends them or they are just a part of life. I am not going to say I am grateful for the tests because I believe I have had more than my share, and they are not things I bring on by being careless in my free will choices. Yesterday at the limit of my ability to handle one more thing and I was riding my bike home from work in the bike lane. For a moment I hoped the city bus would run over me and it would be quick and I would be in the spiritual world, because I know that the material world is the source of all my torment. The spiritual world bestows only joy.

   Then I thought of my husband and my 10 cats that need me and realized that dying is not the solution. I think that other people who are good are the solution. Sure we have to handle our own tests and make our own decisions, but when I am in these tests, good people just pop out of the woodwork to help me. It is as if God is sending them to me and they are the answer to my desperate prayers.

   Another Baha'i belief is that God never tests us beyond our ability to handle that test so whatever we are going through is theoretically something we can handle. In retrospect, I guess I have to agree with that, and over time I have realized it more and more. For example, what I am going through now with a tenant is much more serious than what I have gone through in the past, which was also very difficult, but I am not in as much distress now as I was with previous tenants who tried to take advantage of me, lie and manipulate. I have a sense that good will prevail over evil but right now I have no way to know what will happen, although I will have a better idea on Monday when I speak with my attorney.

   I think that one reason God allows evil people to exist is so good people will be tested and they will grow spiritually as a result. That does not mean all people will grow, some people just remain in the victim stance and blame the evil person forever. Right now I blame the evil tenant for what he is trying to do but concurrently I can see the bigger picture and how I got into this mess, by trusting someone who was a con-man. I feel rather foolish but I know it is not my fault that someone else chooses to be a liar and a manipulator. Not many landlords would rent their house to a sex offender with two offenses against minors. I wanted to see the good in him and give him a chance but obviously I made a mistake. However, that does not make me the evil person. I did nothing to deserve what he is trying to do to me now. He is just evil. I tend to blame myself for everything so in the past I would feel like it is my fault, but now I have good people are telling me it is not my fault. If I had any part in what he is blaming me for I will take the responsibility, but not until an attorney tells me I had a part.

   Another reason God allows evil to exist is to bring out the good people and so that people like me can see that there are indeed many good people in the world. In between good and evil people there are of course people who are just complacent about other peoples' problems and do not want to be bothered with them.

2. What is the topic of challenge?

   There are many disagreeable reasons with what you posted on why life is easier for some and not others. What's your theme?

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3. 

   shunyadragon shunyadragon

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   I disagree that based on the Baha'i writings that 'God predestines everything that happens to use. . . '. I believe to certain extent God predestines the the nature and course of our existence, but there are citations from the Baha'i writings that human will has a degree of choice, but to what degree it is open to discussion.

   "Because of his spiritual qualities man has been endowed by the Creator with the special faculty of free will, a faculty which is absent in the rest of His creation on earth."
   (Adib Taherzadeh, The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 1).

   Not all choices are capable by human will, but indeed it exists to a degree.

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   Key word here is seem. People often put on a "face" in public. Do not confuse this "face" for an actuality of private life. Toss in the fact that the human mind is capable of compartmentalizing this "face" may not even be an act of will.

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   I fully agree that we have free will and so we make choices and cause things to happen. The fact that what happens is predestined (thus God knows it will happen before it happens) is not what causes it to happen. When we make choices and act on them we cause things to happen. Thus we create our own destiny, the destiny God knows we will create.

   Regarding free will, as I said in my OP...

   "That brings me to the subject of free will. I believe we can make choices, since we have free will. This is a difficult subject. In short, we are not robotically controlled by God. We are causing things to happen by making a choice and then acting on it. We are doing what God knows we will do by virtue of our own free will. Our free will (what we can choose) has constraints but that is a separate issue.

   In brief, we do not have any choice except to do what God knows we will do because what God knows what we will do is identical with what we will do. God knows what we will do because God is omniscient, but God does not cause it to happen, we do. Thus we play out our own script according to what God already knows we will do. God knows how the script will play out before it plays out because God is omniscient."

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   shunyadragon shunyadragon

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   I disagree that the foreknowledge of God extends to the details of every decision humans make, but that will be the subject of future posts.

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   I agree with you to an extent. I mean we cannot know what their private lives are like. However, it is pretty difficult to fake being happy and it is easy to see which people are definitely happy. It is not only what we can observe, but what we overhear. When people say they are doing well and start talking about what they are happy about then there is no reason to question their sincerity. Even if in some cases it could be an act I do not think that is the norm.

   Then of course we have to define what it means to be happy. There is such a thing as material happiness and then there is spiritual happiness. Most people I am observing around me are materially happy but I do not think they are spiritually happy. Rather, they are content with the ease of the passing day, their family and friends and their material things and activities that they enjoy. Of course I do not know everyone's spiritual lives but given they place so much importance on material things i conclude that God does not play a big role in their lives, since I do not believe that the heart can be divided up that way. As Jesus said:
   Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
   Baha'u'llah said similar things about the heart.

   Off topic a little, but people who are happy tend to think that other people should be happy too so they talk to them as if they are talking to themselves. They just cannot imagine someone not being happy all the time because they are. That is so annoying, especially when I explain what is going on in my life and someone says " I do not know what you'd do if you did not have these things going on." How insensitive. It is as if she thinks I enjoy all these troubles, that I created them so I won't be bored. That is absolutely not true. I simply endure them because I have to. Some people have arranged their lives so they have complete control over their lives, but if they had my life they would be singing another tune. In fact, many people who hear my stories say they have no idea how I endure.

   You are right about compartmentalizing but you know what they say -- out of sight, out of mind... So if they are unaware of something missing in their lives, then they do not know it is missing. Moreover, if the lives of people are filled with constant activities and friends and family, they don't have much time or need to think about anything else. Children alone can be a huge diversion. When the entire focus is on the children one does not have to look at themselves. Most people have children and when older grandchildren, so it is easy to divert.

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   So you do not think that we have to do what God knows we will do? If God is omniscient God knows what we will do, so how could we do otherwise?

   Maybe I am being too literal. I look forward to any feedback anyone has on this subject. I have discussed it at length on other forums, mostly with nonbelievers, and I think they have influenced my thinking on this subject.

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   osgart Nothing my eye, Something for sure

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   I wish there was good reasons for all things that happen to people. I have seen some pretty decent people suffer unbearably. Nature is indifferent.

   About free will, we are free to will what we will even though that means for some they are not free to do their will. I know i do not let my biology decide my will though. If i can conceive of myself in the best way possible despite my biology, im going to make that best way my will. Whether we achieve our will is another matter.

   I mean i have brain damage, and severe sleep apnea, and chronic back problems, but i dont let that affect what i will for others and myself. The mere fact that we can be so self aware as to conceive of whatsoever we wish i think frees us of our genetic dispositions in the will.

   I must say i have been enjoying these Ba'hai writings, i hope a lot of these things are true.

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    Sunstone De Diablo Del Fora

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    For the past few decades, there has been a sustained effort my scientists to study happiness. The science is far from settled yet, but the last time I looked into it, one of the more popular models theorized that happiness was about a third due to the quality of relationships one had with one's close friends and family. A third due to circumstances. And a third due to one's natural buoyancy.

    As for the separate question of why some people seem to have easier lives than others, I'm not sure people living in the same societies and of the same socioeconomic class do tend to have very different levels of that. It could be they do, but I'm not sure they do.

    Of course, some people can suffer great hardship, yet still remain happy, while others can suffer minor hardships and yet be quite unhappy.

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    Yes, we can have the will to do something but we are not always able to carry out what we will. I am pretty willful but I know my limits. Half the battle is being self-aware and the other half is knowing what leads to loftiness and abasement.

    I do not have any physical problems, but I do have mental-emotional problems that I cannot just waft away, as some people seem to think. So like you I work around my problems and do what I can despite my imitations.

    It is difficult to see innocent people suffer and one has to wonder why. I know I wonder. I have faith that they will get recompense in the afterlife as all good people who suffer do, although it is not always easy to endure till then. I often have to remind myself of this passage:

    "O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain."
    Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 329​

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    Cacotopia Let's go full Trottle

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    Yes, that is part of it, a big part.

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    The brain compartmentalizes. They may feel happy when talking about X, Y, Z. but not A. If no one brings up A a person does not think about A thus their happiness is not effected.

    Enjoying materials things does not mean one has no spiritual happiness.

    Sure people do project a lot.

    Children are not a diversion in most cases. More so raising children can often create issues especially when one's family is not financially set.

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    True.
    No, not necessarily, but attachment to the things of the world can come in between a person and God.
    Or when the parents are not emotionally capable.

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    CG Didymus Veteran Member

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    Which one is "irrevocable"? Is it fate, because it says the former is "fixed and settled"? So predestination can be altered? Either way, wouldn't an all-knowing God know that he will be making this apparent change and already know what the outcome will be, which would be a whole lot of ripples affected a lot of people. But then, how could he have ever seriously considered the original plan knowing he was going to grant a prayer request or something that would change human history?

    But definitely, life doesn't seem fair for a lot of people. And, a lot of people don't know God or belong to some religion that teaches weird things, so they don't know the real God... and they have miserable lives. They die in pain from disease. Or are in the middle of some war and get blown up or shot or gassed. Then, what is their reward in the next world? They weren't trusting in God in this world, had horrible circumstances that they had to go through... and then they get to go where in the spiritual world?

    I know Baha'is don't believe in reincarnation, but that's why I wouldn't mind it being what happens. That way, all of us get to live a life in all sorts of different circumstances. And, all the things we learn in those different lifetimes, eventually, leads to some kind of enlightenment or something. Otherwise, I think it's totally unfair and a God that would put people through all of this isn't all that loving and kind.

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    That quote from Gleanings is very clear. Any fate can be altered by God whether it is impending or irrevocable, but God never alters the irrevocable fates because it would cause more harm than good. I assume that God sometimes alters the impending fates because it is in our best interest and because we pray and ask to have it altered. I just noticed something I had not seen before. It seems as if Baha'u'lllah is referring to an impending fate that could have had evil consequences had it not been altered. So the reward for praying and supplicating to God is that this evil fate was altered by God.

    "The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty can succeed in averting it.

    God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences."
    Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 133

    
    ​

    Yes, God knew that the fate would be altered because God is omniscient, but God does not think sequentially like humans do, since time for God does not exist. God's essential knowledge surrounds all things so God just knows everything all at once, not like humans who learn things as we go through life. We never see the ripples because things just happen to us and we have no way of knowing what God did or did not do to alter anything that was fated. I hope that makes sense.
    I can only know what the Baha'i Writings say about the spiritual world and what happens to people after they die. Unfortunately we are not told very much about it. But from what we are told I surmise that any true believer in God who lived a good life will get recompense for their suffering they endured in this world through no fault of their own. Moreover, if they were nonbelievers and lived according to the teachings of Jesus they will not be deprived of God's mercy. BOTH faith and deeds are important, but......

    "This cycle is the cycle of favor and not of justice. Therefore, those whose deeds are clean and pure, even though they are not believers, will not be deprived of the divine mercy; but perfection is in faith and deeds. Undoubtedly, a person, who is not a believer, but whose deeds and morals are good, is far better than one who claims his belief in words but, who, in actions, is a follower of satan. The Blessed Beauty says, 'My humiliation is not in my imprisonment, which, by my life, is an exaltation to me; nay rather, it is in the deeds of my friends, who attribute themselves to us and commit that which causes my heart and pen to weep!'" (Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 9, issue 3, p. 29)​

    
    I cannot say what will happen to believers other than Baha'is because the Writings are too vague regarding that. From what I have gathered those who have heard of Baha'u'llah and rejected Him will be held accountable, but those who never heard of Baha'u'llah will not be held accountable. What that means regarding their "position" in the spiritual world I cannot say.

    Baha'is will have a special place in the spiritual world, the Crimson Ark, because they recognized Baha'u'llah.

    "Drink with healthy relish, O people of Bahá. Ye are indeed they with whom it shall be well. This is what they who have near access to God have attained. This is the flowing water ye were promised in the Qur'án, and later in the Bayán, as a recompense from your Lord, the God of Mercy. Blessed are they that quaff it." Gleanings, p. 46

    "Blessed art thou, O My name, inasmuch as thou hast entered Mine Ark, and art speeding, through the power of My sovereign and most exalted might, on the ocean of grandeur, and art numbered with My favored ones whose names the Finger of God hath inscribed. Thou hast quaffed the cup which is life indeed from the hands of this Youth, around Whom revolve the Manifestations of the All-Glorious, and the brightness of Whose presence they Who are the Day Springs of Mercy extol in the day time and in the night season."
    Gleanings, p. 302

    "The people of Bahá, who are the inmates of the Ark of God, are, one and all, well aware of one another's state and condition, and are united in the bonds of intimacy and fellowship. Such a state, however, must depend upon their faith and their conduct. They that are of the same grade and station are fully aware of one another's capacity, character, accomplishments and merits. They that are of a lower grade, however, are incapable of comprehending adequately the station, or of estimating the merits, of those that rank above them. Each shall receive his share from thy Lord. Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most Powerful, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful." Gleanings, p. 170

    ​

    
    You might now ask me why Baha'is get the reward given those who did not believe in Baha'u'llah were unable to choose to believe. The question is whether they were able and chose not to believe or whether they were unable. Only God knows who is able and unable because God knows the hearts and minds of everyone. I forgot where I read it but somewhere in a Baha'i text it says that those who were guided by God to recognize Baha'u'llah did something that made them worthy. Perhaps it was some good deed, some moral act, or just the effort they put forth.
    We do have a chance to progress throughout all of eternity but just not in this mortal world. The caveat is that if we do not acquire the necessary spiritual attributes in this world then we will be handicapped in the spiritual world and we will only be able to progress by the prayers of others or the bounty of God, and there is no guarantee we will get either. Thus it is prudent that we try to progress in this world by at least acquiring spiritual attributes (good character), even if we do not believe in God or Baha'u'llah. Of course we will be in a much better position if we do all of those things and we will be in an even better position if we did what Baha'u'llah has enjoined us to do rather than just believing in Him, followed the Laws and teachings and especially if we proclaimed and taught His Cause.

    We should not do what we do for a reward in the afterlife but that is just what we will get because that is how it is set up since that is in accordance with God's Justice which is based upon a system of rewards and punishments.

    "WORSHIP thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise.... Fire and paradise both bow down and prostrate themselves before God. That which is worthy of His Essence is to worship Him for His sake, without fear of fire, or hope of paradise.

    Although when true worship is offered, the worshipper is delivered from the fire, and entereth the paradise of God's good-pleasure, yet such should not be the motive of his act. However, God's favour and grace ever flow in accordance with the exigencies of His inscrutable wisdom."
    Selections From the Writings of the Báb, pp. 77-78

    ​

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