10. About trials and sufferings
Why are there trials and tribulations in life? Is it possible to do without them? Trials, difficulties and contradictions are necessary. When the Creator sends us into the world, depending on the actions committed in previous lives and the life path He sets certain conditions, and we "sign" certain obligations that we will do this or that. Everything must be tested, but only in its own time and place: a teacher in a school, a priest in a church, a warrior on the battlefield. Trials are a privilege for those who understand and accept them. Without trials, a person cannot approach the Creator. When we go through trials, we do not know the point towards which the Creator is striving. There are trials that cannot be avoided, because there are things absolutely predetermined in our present life. If you want to avoid small troubles and trials, then know that big ones will certainly come to you. There is no need to deceive yourself in the slightest and hope that if everything worked out today, everything is in order, then tomorrow will not change your life and will not bring you well-deserved retribution and suffering, from which you escaped and which you did not expect. As when you sweat, impurities come out of you and your breathing becomes better, so when you suffer, it shows that you have gone astray and must pay for the sins you have committed. Fate or Providence predetermined what trials a person's life will go through. Why? To cross a deep river you need a boat; to cross an ocean you need a steamboat. In order to move from one world to another, you need a more powerful steamer called "faith". And trials and tribulations are also necessary - this is fuel, this is your ticket to travel.
People influence each other. If you live among sick people, you will experience their condition. If you live among healthy people you will also experience their condition. The second case is preferable for your health and development. By virtue of this law, a person must desire in his soul that he has a healthy body, noble feelings and bright thoughts. This he should wish for the people around him.
The more significant the trials, the more a person has the opportunity to approach the Great Bright Brotherhood. Without passing through unbelief, hopelessness, hatred, evil, the darkness of life, poverty, a person will never come close to the Creator. Need to know what is being tested strong people and not the weak, the knowledgeable are tested, not the ignorant. In general, the weakest and ignorant people have the fewest trials. It is only through trials that one who finds the truth becomes free. The Earth is a divine School, to which a person is sent to study, in order to pass the tests that are destined for him in the current incarnation. In other words, the Earth is a School for the individual human soul.
Only through trials does a person understand what true Love, Faith and Hope are. Only in this way will he understand that Love is stronger than hatred, indifference and pride, hell and death, Faith is stronger than unbelief, Hope is stronger than hopelessness, goodness is stronger than evil. And who are our neighbors? These are rational souls - thanks to them we are tested every day. Our neighbors are Angels manifesting on Earth through people. You meet a sick, weak, infirm person through whom you are being tested. A certain Angel appears through him, he wants to examine you, to see how you do. Christ says: “What you have done for the poor, the sick, the suffering, the prisoners, is the same as what you have done for Me. I was in them." Therefore, if you are caring for the sick, the poor, the suffering, it is the same as if you were caring for Christ. Takova outer side tests. Having endured it, you will come to the inner essence of the exam - it is more difficult. Having withstood it, you will meet the One who loves you, Whom you love too.
Jesus Christ was the God-man. The word "Jesus" means the Man who descends to Earth, the Brother of the afflicted. He possessed a science that to this day remains hidden from man. But even as the Son of God, Christ was subjected to great trials. For 40 days in the wilderness, he ate one Sacred Bread - the Word of God. Whatever misfortune befalls you, learn from it. Any suffering, any trial takes its place in life, and in the future it will bring innumerable benefits to those who understand and accept it. The teacher said: “If you want to understand the meaning of life, take an example from the dead. When you are praised or reproached, when you are happy and when you are unhappy, not a sound, not an echo, not a word about this. There are no accidents in nature. Through the path of comprehension of perfection, a great future awaits humanity. Earth is a great school, a great university where people came to study. Jesus Christ spent 33 years at this university. Having superbly passed the examination, He returned to Heaven and took the very high place allotted to Him. A student of the Eastern school is usually given artificial trials, and he endures them. In the West now, as a rule, they are not created. There are only natural tests, and the student must endure them well. For example, someone will come and be rude to you - be a hero, go up to him, say: “Please come back to my house!” To do this, one must be vividly aware of one's connection with the Creator, not thinking much about consequences, but about principles.
Suffering is the laws by which the Lord helps us to progress. Suffering is a consequence of mistakes, evil, once committed by us. It is these mistakes that are corrected in the process of suffering. Do you know what causes suffering in our lives? One of the significant reasons for this is the senseless extermination of mammals, the senseless killing of people. When the souls of the slain go to the astral world, they bring the conditions for nervous diseases and unfriendly relations between people. The executed robber freely moves among weak-willed people and inspires them with a sense of revenge. We have only now, in the present era, begun for real suffer and become more sensitive. Really, modern people suffer more, but their suffering is something noble, suffering is what will rebuild society.
All the suffering in the world comes from the fact that people want to live on their own. Two causes give rise to illness and suffering: one is physical (wrong breathing and nutrition), the second is mental (wrong thinking and feeling). When a person suffers, he is in the position of the sick. Loneliness is the heaviest suffering that a person can experience. Evil is always born from the desire to be the only one, to become the center of the world; it nests not in the mind, but in the heart. Often we cannot understand why we suffer. Suffering shows that we have lost the energy of our lives. We will suffer until we restore the lost balance. One must submit to temporary suffering; when we die and rise again, we will understand why they were. When you suffer, say to yourself, "I have not gone all the way of the grain of wheat." And when your thoughts, your heart are transformed and become beautiful, then you will acquire the image and likeness of God, then the Creator will resurrect you, just as the Sun revives a sown grain of wheat. So, in all cases of life, consciously breathe deeply. You are in a bad mood, sad, your head hurts, your lower back hurts - breathe deeply! Sore leg, arm - breathe deeply. Back, stomach, stomach hurts - also breathe deeply. Don't be afraid of pain. They are a blessing to you. If there were no illness and suffering in life, then your situation would be worse than the one in which you sometimes find yourself. Sickness and suffering correct people, and with the help of deep breathing, you will quickly come to recovery and be free from suffering. As soon as spring comes, start going for a walk every morning. The sooner you get out, the better. Step out into the open sky fresh air away from city dust and smoke and take a breath, gymnastic exercises at least one hour. After that, you can begin the work that lies ahead of you that day. Hindus have special breathing exercises that are not suitable for Europeans. You need to breathe deeply, strive to breathe smoothly and rhythmically. Exercise #1 for breathing: you stand straight. Slowly raising your arms up, inhaling air at a count of 1-6. Holding air and counting to at least 3. Slow lowering your arms down, exhaling air at a count of 1-6; the exercise is repeated 6 times. Exercise #2: in the morning and before lunch, inhale through the left nostril and exhale through the right. In the evening, inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the left. Do the exercise 21 times a day: in the morning, before lunch and in the evening 7 times. Exercise #3: Clench your fists, bend your elbows and touch your shoulders with your fists. Slowly straighten your arms to the sides, inhale deeply, hold it and then slowly lower your arms down and exhale slowly. If you get tired, rest a little and do this exercise a few more times. In this way, you take in enough prana and air, and the blood begins to move: the capillaries expand and blood circulation increases. During deep breathing, you will feel at first some obstruction, but by observing constancy, you will free yourself from it and gain freedom in breathing. And then you will get rid of many even nascent sufferings.
There are plants that treat the most dangerous and intractable diseases. Whoever does not know these plants suffers. Therefore we say that people suffer because of their ignorance. Study plants and them healing properties. There are many in nature medicinal plants, which, when used appropriately, free a person from any disease. For example, flowers contain a healing power that must be used at a certain time. The healing power of flowers is not always the same. It depends on the weather, month, day and hour when they are collected. Two prescriptions. If you suffer from a very bad cough, take the dry skins of 10 onions and boil them in water. Strain the water and put in it 0.5 kilograms of honey, 1-2 tablespoons of crushed mustard, 1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed. Take 1 scoop of this mixture 3 times a day - morning, noon and evening. Very soon you will feel the effect of this powerful tool. Couch grass with olive oil is also very good for coughing. Boil wheatgrass for 15 minutes and drink this water. Then brush your throat with olive oil and take a little olive oil inside. Drink in the morning, at noon and in the evening one cup of wheatgrass water. It is nutritious, and on the other hand, it has a healing effect - it will relieve all pain and stop coughing.
A person who wants to love the Creator must expect and experience the greatest suffering in the world. No one can endure suffering if he does not have Love. People who are afraid of suffering are not needed by God's School. We must thank the Creator for our suffering. They are the path of our ascent. Whoever has not suffered cannot experience the Divine principle of Love. When someone says that he has not seen suffering, he is still green. Green is pleasant, but when ripening comes, so does suffering. Suffering is a sign of God's Love, and may we all bear this cross. To love the Creator, we must be ready to sacrifice ourselves at any moment, just as the Creator sacrifices himself for us. Know that every adversity brings blessing, every difficulty opens a new horizon. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the misfortunes and suffering that may befall us. Moreover, if suffering comes to you, this means that you have been placed in a kiln so that you, your character (your stone), will turn into the necessary spiritual lime. There are stones so hard that they are not fired in a kiln, they show their helplessness to evolution, uselessness, that is, absolute unsuitability; they are thrown out.
When Peter says “wish,” he wants to express by this the inner process of burning that happens to the person himself. Through this firing, those higher forms are formed in the mind that can pass from one world to another. This is facilitated by the process of dilution with water. So if you have two thoughts in your mind that are bothering you, tormenting you, and you are suffering because of them, do not be sorry, take one of them, put it in the oven, light a fire under it and burn it. Doing this with the thousands of restless thoughts that pass through your mind is like burning thousands of kilos of limestone and selling the resulting lime. You can also mentally experience the sufferings of Christ, so you will be tempered in them. Thus, you will not only get rid of unnecessary burden, but also gain a lot. What happens in the physical world, by analogy, happens in the spiritual world. Every process that takes place on Earth is also taking place in Heaven at the same time. And vice versa: every process that takes place in Heaven also takes place on Earth. If you understand this law correctly, you will know that when you suffer on Earth, they rejoice in Heaven, rejoice at our purification.
When you are crucified, then you will enter the Kingdom of God. Let us all be followers of Christ, let us worthily bear the name of Christians on Earth. Let's leave aside what others say. Let us be long-suffering and supportive, and let us fulfill our duty to the Creator as we understand him in our pure thoughts and desires. And we will never stop on this Great path, we will boldly and resolutely meet the suffering that arises on our path, and we will encourage everyone who walks with us. It is the strength with which we will overcome all present and future difficulties and suffering. In suffering for Christ, man will find true life. Suffering on Earth is the greatest thing for a student, because through it he receives the best lessons. And through suffering the disciple grows, in suffering consciousness awakens. And in regard to suffering, you should not be passive. When it comes, accept it quietly and calmly. Then your position will become clear and you will benefit. At the same time, work actively to deal with it. While it lasts, do not lose balance and peace. Have a reasonable attitude towards it, understanding its inner meaning and significance. This is how you turn suffering into harmony. When a person loves the Creator, suffering is easily endured.
Wise people recognize that trials in a person's life are an exam, during which it becomes clear how ready a person is to move on to the next stage of his development.
Trials in a person's life are just a test that reveals the true nature of a person. This is what the sages of the Shaolin Monastery in China knew and used it constantly in their system of training monks, especially when it came to mastering the martial art. After all, self-control skills and imaginative creative thinking are very important for this.
Therefore, before entering the Shaolin Monastery, everyone who wished, of which there was an incredible number, went through a whole system of tests. Thus, the true qualities of a person’s character and his abilities were revealed. Moreover, the tests were very competently and harmoniously integrated into everyday life, becoming absolutely invisible, and therefore very important in terms of manifesting the true nature of a person.
"Unhappiness is the touchstone of character."
Balzac Oh
For example, applicants who were tired and hungry and exhausted from previous exams were treated to hot bean soup. In front of the cauldron with stew, earthenware bowls and very stale cakes were given out.
But when the most impatient received a generous helping of soup, all this splashed instantly on their feet. The fact is that the bottoms of the bowls were made of paper, painted in the color of clay. When the stew got inside, the bottom fell off and everything splashed out on the unlucky hasty. Thus, the applicants inevitably burned themselves and remained hungry.
The more patient and quick-witted, seeing this, simply put the cakes under the bowl, and while they were eating the stew at that time, the stale bread placed underneath, blocking the outflow of the stew, soaked and soaked with a thick broth. Thus, applicants for the belt of a monk had a hearty dinner and at the same time successfully passed the next test.
“One must be able to endure what cannot be avoided.”
Michel Montaigne, French writer and philosopher
A few more quotes on the topic "trials in human life"
As Goethe said: "Difficulties increase as you approach the goal." For this reason, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (an outstanding German scientist and publicist) correctly noted: “The word “difficulty” should not exist for the creative mind.”, i.e. the mind that will certainly achieve the goal. And for these purposes, Horace advised "In difficult circumstances, keep your mind."
"The highest degree of human wisdom is the ability to adapt to circumstances and remain calm despite external storms."
Daniel Defoe, writer, author of "Robinson Crusoe"
“Remember that the more difficult and difficult the circumstances, the more necessary firmness, activity and determination, and the more harmful apathy.” - Tolstoy L.N. In confirmation of these words, Seneca said: “Nothing in the world deserves such respect as a person who knows how to courageously endure misfortunes.”
Trials in life and time
Another very important point in understanding the essence of what is happening when trials come into a person’s life - “Misfortune is like a coward: it pursues people whom it sees trembling, and runs when they boldly go towards it. "- Juvier A. This is due to the fact that there is always a way out, therefore: "Despair is the greatest of our delusions." - Vauvenargues L. Moreover, "Great misfortunes are not lasting, and small ones are not worth attention." Lebbock D.
And this is true, but there is one "but". If a person has not successfully passed a life test, then after a while it will come into his life again. The reason is that a person does not decide, runs away from the difficulties that have arisen, still continuing to make the same mistakes that invite painfully familiar difficulties into his life.
That is why many practicing psychologists and consultants are faced with the fact that sometimes a person walks, as it were, in a vicious circle, stepping on the same rake again and again ... and therefore the same bumps are obtained again and again ... Therefore, do not run away from difficulties , and solve them, overcoming them - you move to the next level of your development.
A hackneyed thought, but it is very true. We can be offended, suffer, suffer that so much falls to our lot, but it's all ours, we need it all. When everything is easy and simple, we do not grow, when it is hard and painful, unbearable and extremely difficult, on the verge, only then we take it step by step forward, up.
We all go through many incarnations, as if we were in school. If you are in the first grade, you learn to count and write, if you get older, the lessons and tasks are completely different, but this does not mean that it is easier for a first grader than a seventh grader, no, it’s just given to everyone according to his level and his abilities. We cannot immediately jump from the first class to the 11th, we need to go through all the steps step by step.
You are given no more and no less than you can master, whatever the task, it is up to you. Yes, at any moment you can say that you have no strength, no patience, you can take and quit “training”, you can refuse the lessons that fate gives you, but there will be a next incarnation and the same tasks, only the framework will be harder, the going will be harder. It's like staying for a second year, psychologically it's very hard to accept. Therefore, in this incarnation, do everything to the limit of your capabilities and strengths, and believe me, they are limitless for you, you can do much more than you imagine. Most of us use 30-50% of our potential, up to 100% there is still to go and go. Don't feel sorry for yourself, don't deceive yourself by saying you can't. You can do everything and a little more. Faith in yourself opens all the ways and roads. Of course, they will try to confuse you, they will throw you more and more difficulties and problems, but you continue to believe and go, do not give up. Use your inner resources in the right way, right for you and not for someone else. Only you yourself know WHAT will be better for you, only you yourself are able to assess what your soul lies in and what choice to make. Do not waste yourself, otherwise you will feel tired and apathetic. The more correctly you spend your forces, the more they will become, every day you will be capable of much more extensive victories and accomplishments. Fatigue is experienced by those who do something wrong, they always lack neither strength, nor time, nor energy.
Look at yourself from the outside and ask yourself simple questions: “Am I doing everything as I need and will be useful?”, “Do I like myself?”, “Do I have anything to be proud of?”, “On my own Am I in the right place?”, “Am I living my own life?” etc. Only in this way you will come to an adequate perception of yourself and your life.
Act, live and never give up!
Raw and boiled or the only way to find out the truth about yourself
Why are external difficult circumstances given to a person?
In order for us to change under their influence, for what else! Well. Why should we change, you ask?
The answer is simple. The thing is that only by changing under the influence of external aggressive circumstances, a person can discover his true nature.
In order for a masterpiece to be born from a block of marble, it must be hewn with a sculptor's chisel. In order for a lump of shapeless clay to become an excellent utensil, which will adorn a private collection or a museum through the centuries, this clay must first be ruthlessly crushed with fingers - a potter, a demiurge, and then, burned - a hot oven.
How difficult circumstances change a person and reveal their true nature
“Finding yourself” is, after all, the goal of human life. Psychology, religion, and philosophy agree with this. The only people who disagree with this are those who are currently being crushed or pushed into the fire...
I will tell the old a parable about how people react differently to the difficult circumstances of life. From this parable it turns out that there are only three types of people - according to three types of reactions to the so-called "discomfort" ... In any classifications, for some reason, there is always an oversufficiency and three types- and no more is needed.
However, if you have any thoughts of your own, and you want to argue or continue this metaphorical series, or even rethink it in some other way, then we will be able to adequately “finish” this parable. Here she is.
The Parable of the Egg, Carrot and Coffee
Once a young disciple came to the guru and complained to him about his difficulties:
- Teacher, I'm so tired, I have some kind of wrong, hard, hard life. It feels like I'm swimming against the current all the time, so I have almost no more strength ... You are wise. Tell me what should I do?
The Guru instead of a long, lengthy answer in "words" performed a strange ritual.
He went to the stove and put three identical pots of water on the fire. The guru threw raw carrots into one pot, an ordinary chicken egg into another, and ground coffee was poured into the third pot ....
After a while the guru took out the carrots from the boiling water. Then an egg. And then he took beautiful cups and poured into them fragrant coffee brewed in the third pot.
- What has changed, in your opinion? the guru asked his young disciple.
- Egg with carrots - boiled ... Well, coffee, coffee just dissolved in water, - the young man answered.
- This is a correct, but only a superficial view of things - this is how most people judge, so they are never happy, the wise guru chuckled.
I will teach you to look at ordinary things and ordinary processes that occur with these things as spiritual metaphors , giving the key to understanding the nature of things - the guru chuckled.
Look at the first metaphor
Once upon a time hard carrots, having been in boiling water, suddenly became soft and pliable.
And here is the second metaphor
liquid the egg, having been in boiling water, suddenly became hard.
Outwardly, they have not changed much. However, they - both the carrot and the egg - have changed their internal essence under the influence of the same external adverse circumstances - boiling water.
Isn't that what we see in people's lives?
Under the influence of misfortune, outwardly strong people can become limp, become weaklings ...
While some, about whom they said: they are too “fragile and tender” for this life, will only harden and get stronger in adversity and difficulties ...
“Well, what metaphor does this fine coffee represent?” the disciple asked his guru.
- ABOUT! Coffee is the fun part!
The third metaphor is coffee
As you can see, our coffee has completely dissolved in the new hostile environment and, having dissolved, changed it. Coffee, ground into powder, turned some tasteless boiling water into a magnificent aromatic drink.
There is a third type of people, oh special people!
These people do not change due to difficult circumstances that aggressively try to suppress them - no! They themselves will change these circumstances and turn them into something new and beautiful ...
Who you are? Carrots that have become soft and “cooked”?
Hard boiled egg hardened by fire?
Or coffee, which “created something new and beautiful”, having fallen into the difficult circumstances offered by someone (who was not asked about it)?
You will never know this until you stop seeing only “negative” in difficulties and from this - to be afraid and avoid them in every possible way.
Furthermore. If it suddenly turns out that you were conceived as coffee , but you never had to get into the “boiling water” ... this is what will happen...
The coffee will expire and lose its aroma. Such coffee will be thrown out immediately or brewed, but they will immediately throw away the resulting “burda”, loudly disappointed in the quality of the drink received and the time wasted in vain ...
And finally...
Carrot Salad with Egg…
The fate of the boiled “carrot” is not so sad ... This real carrot is not destined to become hard anymore, once bathed in boiling water. But man is a completely different matter.
It just so happened that outwardly “strong” people, having fallen into difficult circumstances and weakened in them, always meet unexpected support and support in the person of those who seemed to everyone outwardly “weak”, but in the face of hardships showed fantastic courage.
For some reason, these people are always unconsciously drawn to each other and always find each other, as if fate helps them in this ...
Examples can be cited - many.
Maybe fate disposes of it this way, in order to make the “supposedly strong” less self-confident, and therefore more tolerant and humane, but the “supposedly weak”, on the contrary, more confident in their truly limitless powers?
Do you love challenges? Are you eager to get another portion to test your faith? You are confident in your faith - then expect trials!
First, let's understand the concept of "test".
From Greek (δοκίμιον) - test, test. In the passive voice, this word conveys the idea: "approved after verification", "tested for approval", "authentic" (Cleon L. Rogers, Jr., A new linguistic and exegetical key to the Greek text of the New Testament, 843). The purpose of trials is good. Trials show the authenticity of our faith.
A test is a test of our faith. It is a process or means for determining the authenticity of something, testing, means of testing (BDAG, 265). The essence of the test is to test our faith for authenticity.
The parable of the sower illustrates well the essence of trials: if a person’s confidence in his salvation is the result of false faith, then any future trials will show on what basis adherence to the Christian faith is built.
In trials, God uses any means. And at the same time, it is important to understand that God does not test with sin (James 1:13-16), He does not tempt anyone.
1. Trials as a Test of Our Faith
The following verses well argue the value of trials for our faith. Naturally, our flesh will resist them. We will rebel against
to eradicate even the slightest sin, but the Lord in His grace patiently works on us and sends all the necessary means to purify everything that defames His glorious name.
"Receive with great joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the test of your faith produces patience; and
but patience must have a perfect effect, so that you are perfect in all its fullness, without any defect.
"
(James 1:2-4)
"Rejoice in this, now grieving a little, if necessary, from various temptations,so that your tried faith may be more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.. " (1 Peter 1:6,7)
2. Trials as a means to manifest God's glory.
Rarely do we think about this aspect of testing. Much more often, some people think that God has no right to use man to manifest his glory. The clay begins to point out to the potter based on its illusory rights. But how! Obviously, to our ears, such a tool for the manifestation of the glory of God sounds cruel, but this is only because we do not fully understand God's nature and do not know the plans of His "heart". Our selfishness and sense of self-worth feeds our sense of self-preservation.
"And as he passed, he saw a man blind from birth.His disciples asked Him: Rabbi! who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus replied: neither he nor his parents sinned, but [this is] [in order] for the works of God to appear on him. " (John 9:1-3)
3. Trials as a way to punish.It is this aspect of trials that many Christians gossip about when something bad happens to their neighbor: “Ah, God punished him!”. A person fell ill with an incurable disease - God punished, a loved one died - God punished and so on. Perhaps so, but not a fact, since we see that there are several reasons for testing. And only God fully knows why He allows trials.
And through punishment God tests our faith.
"The Lord severely punished me, but did not put me to death."(Ps. 117:18)
"I know, Lord, that Your judgments are righteous and You have justly punished me.." (Ps. 119:75)
4. "Tests" as a consequence of our stupid deeds.This point is not so much a test as it is what we often think of as a test, but it is not in the biblical sense of the term. When we do stupid things, we rarely think about their consequences. For example, we take a loan from a bank to buy a car, a certain time passes and we understand that we will not be able to give money for the car. And the sophisticated human mind immediately begins to justify itself, placing responsibility for its actions on God, saying: "The Lord is testing me." But it's not like that. Undoubtedly, through such circumstances, our qualities of character are manifested, but the problem that we cannot give money for a car lies in our inability to adequately assess our financial capabilities. And nothing more. It is possible that God also uses our weaknesses to test our faith.
God calls us to rejoice in trials. The reason for such joy is not masochism, we do not like to subject ourselves to suffering. We are happy because we know the ultimate goal of trials - transformation into the image of Jesus Christ.
