On YouTube
Why does God allow so much evil in the world? || Acharya Prashant (2020)
11.4K views
5 years ago
Problem of Evil
God and Freedom
Vedant
Truth
Godliness
Creator God
Christ
Maya
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why a benevolent, omnipotent God allows evil in the world by reframing the concept of need and God. He posits that if one truly needs the Truth, it is always available. People receive what they truly need; for example, a rapist needs flesh, not God, and gets it. Similarly, a murderer seeks revenge or exploitation and obtains it. These actions stem from their own godlessness. From the victim's perspective, if an individual is genuinely God-loving and filled with godliness, external events like exploitation or murder mean "exactly zero" to them. There is no guarantee that a godly person will be spared physical harm, as history has shown with figures like Christ. However, for such a person, these events hold no real significance. A godly person who is physically raped is not spiritually violated, and one who is physically killed becomes immortal. The suffering is an interpretation made by others, not the experience of the godly individual themselves. Acharya Prashant asserts that the conventional notion of a benevolent, omnipotent God is childish and must be transcended. God is neither benevolent nor malevolent, and it is not the business of Truth to intervene in daily affairs like a headmaster. Another name for God is Freedom, and Truth represents absolute freedom. God has given humans the freedom to live as they please, and they must bear the consequences of their choices. If one misuses this freedom and deprives the inner self of its deep need for godliness, they will not find peace in life or death. He further explains that the idea of a Creator God is a myth. God is the ultimate non-doer who has left the business of doing to human beings. It is you who creates the universe; you create the moon every time you look at it. When one earnestly asks, "Who created me?", both the questioner and the universe dissolve. He invites listeners to Vedant, where one sets aside the concept of God to meet Truth. In Vedant, there is no God in the conventional sense, only Truth. The concept of Ishwar (a personal God) is related to Maya (the phenomenal world) and does not hold the ultimate position. Therefore, if the world appears hellish, it is your world to manage, not God's.