Submission to God's Will
Will God inflict suffering on His own creation? Will He design to make them miserable? Will He afflict them with want and worry, pain and suffering? Suppose a millionaire has three sons. Suppose he gives away a lakh of rupees to each with the words:
"Earn the maximum amount of happiness with this amount. If you like, you may consult my trusted friends or myself as to how to derive the greatest happiness with this money."
The two sons believe that they should act independently of their father, because there can be no merit in allowing their father to lead them by the nose. The third son, on the other hand, holds that his own experience is nothing as compared to his father's and that it is worthwhile to draw on the wealth of the father's long and mature experience. The father, however, does not like to interfere in their affairs barring offering them wise counsel and his blessings. Now, two of the sons use the money according to their free choice. One of them squanders it in gambling and the other taking to drinking & wrecks his health. The third son, acting on his father's advice, sets up a small business and earns enough, so that he and his family can easily make ends meet, with enough leisure to read instructive and inspiring books, to associate with his father's wise and virtuous friends.
Now, the father had shared his wealth equally with his sons for their benefit. Two of the sons used it to their own choice and free will, while the third followed the advice of his father. Two of them lost their all and were unhappy. The third prospered and was happy. Could the two unhappy sons hold their father responsible for their own unhappiness? God has, out of His inexhaustible treasure through the countless ages, bestowed untold wealth on His children to make them happy. But we do not act on the precepts of saintly souls, we misuse our talents and make ourselves unhappy. Our ignorance and our illusions are responsible for our sufferings.
- Bandginama by Raghbir Singh Bir
ਦਦੈ ਦੋਸੁ ਨ ਦੇਊ ਕਿਸੈ ਦੋਸੁ ਕਰੰਮਾ ਆਪਣਿਆ ॥
Dadda: Do not blame anyone else; blame instead your own actions.
ਜੋ ਮੈ ਕੀਆ ਸੋ ਮੈ ਪਾਇਆ ਦੋਸੁ ਨ ਦੀਜੈ ਅਵਰ ਜਨਾ ॥੨੧॥
Whatever I did, for that I have suffered; I do not blame anyone else. ||21||