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Coping with Suffering– Part 4

But wouldn’t science and technology help?

Yes, scientific advancement could help us hide old age, but not overcome it. If your hair is turning grey, science would help you dye it. If you have too many wrinkles on your face, you could get a face lift. Losing your teeth? You could have excellent dentures. Losing your hearing capacity and are embarrassed to let others know it? You can now have hearing aids inside the ears that no one can see. The body is inevitably aging, and although science can’t cure it, the cover up is done expertly. Science will surely give cosmetics but not youth, medicines but not health.

The solution to our problems in this world creates a bigger problem than the original problem.

Some time ago in history walking was a problem; it took long time to travel. Automobile invention seemed to solve the problem. Today however the automobile industry -called the ‘slow bomb’-has taken pollution levels to alarming levels; we lack fresh air to breathe. From walking problem we now have ‘breathing’ problem!

This anecdote says it better:

A saintly man believed in peace and non-violence. As he sat in meditation under a tree, one ant from the branch above fell on his beard. As he gently tried to place the ant back on the tree, a large group of ants fell on him. In a frantic attempt to save his beard, he ran to a nearby pond and dived into it. He came out with a clean beard, but in the process of trying to save one ant, he landed up killing so many of them.

Three steps to handle suffering

Suffering and pain is inevitable in this world. And to recognize and accept this fact is the first step.

The second is to see the plan and intelligent design in everything of this world. From the intercellular existence to the cosmic arrangements, one can see an order. Whether it’s the way the thirty trillion plus cells work inside our body or the seasonal changes that take place outside according to a well-defined structure in this universe, we can see intelligence superior to ours at play.

To be continued…

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