But there's a way to see it through the "previous life" lens without it becoming 'mechanical' and uncaring, no?
The latter reminds me of a story I read somewhere about a group of Buddhists who turned themselves into heartless killing machines during a war because they knew their victims would just reincarnate anyway.
If you substitute
"we know that they need that surgery because they have a given condition"
for
"we know that they need to experience this suffering because they have a given condition called "karma"
and we can still feel sorry for the person having to go through the pain of the surgery despite having that knowledge.
I suspect there are limits to this though. Even if karma is real, I don't think it applies to all situations. Some things just happen. Ra called it "random catalyst." Bennett called it the "law of hazard." Maybe the years' long torture and rape of a child, followed by that child's murder, is karma, for instance. But what if it isn't? What if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time? As another example, using nukes wouldn't be a huge sin if it was all just karma and a manifestation of higher-choice free will to have your body and soul ripped to pieces.
So here's another pair of contradictory ideas: higher-self determinism, according to which every single event in your life is "planned" and "chosen by free will", versus actual free will, where sometimes bad people do bad things simply because they can, and sometimes accidents happen. I think these can be reconciled. On some level, we "choose" to be here, even if that means accepting the risk that things will not go entirely according to plan. But the universe is set up such that we can learn from those things too, even if it takes several lifetimes.
Found this Ra excerpt which is germane:
42.
7 Questioner: I would like to try to make an analogy for this in third density. Many entities here feel great compassion toward relieving the physical problems of third-density other-selves by administering to them in many ways, bringing them food if there is hunger as there is in the African nations now, bringing them medicine if they believe they require administering to them medically, and being selfless in all of these services to a very great extent.
This is creating a polarization or a vibration that is in harmony with green ray or fourth density. However, it is not balanced with the understanding of fifth density that these entities are experiencing catalyst and a more balanced administration to their needs would be to provide them with the learning necessary to reach the state of awareness of fourth density than it would be to administer to their physical needs at this time. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. This is incorrect.
To a mind/body/spirit complex which is starving, the appropriate response is the feeding of the body. You may extrapolate from this.
On the other hand, however, you are correct in your assumption that the green ray response is not as refined as that which has been imbued with wisdom.
This wisdom enables the entity to appreciate its contributions to the planetary consciousness by the quality of its being, without regard to activity or behavior which expects results upon visible planes.
42.
8 Questioner: Then why do we have the extreme starvation problem in, generally, in the area of Africa at this time? Is this, is there any metaphysical reason for this, or is it purely random occurrence?
Ra: I am Ra. Your previous assumption was
correct as to the catalytic action of this starvation and ill health.
However, it is within the free will of an entity to respond to this plight of other-selves, and the offering of the needed foodstuffs and substances is an appropriate response within the framework of your learn/teachings [i.e. lessons] at this time which involve the growing sense of love for and service to other-selves.
So basically, both perspectives are valuable, each representing a different "center." Compassion and the desire to relieve suffering is an expression of the "heart" (equated to 4D in Ra, or the higher emotional center). This is augmented by "wisdom" (equated to 5D, perhaps higher intellect), which sees all these instances of suffering as lessons and possible chances to polarize either toward STO or STS. It's entirely within our free will to help directly when we can, but in situations we can't, "This wisdom enables [us] to appreciate [our] contributions to the planetary consciousness by the quality of [our] being, without regard to activity or behavior which expects results upon visible planes."
You know what this reminds me of? That night Laura had that 'Night on the Porch' when all the past-life memories came flooding in. The main thing she said that she learned from that experience is that NO ONE on this planet is innocent.
Does THAT fact change the way we view other people's 'unnecessary' suffering?
That probably comes down to the individual. Some might conclude that everyone "deserves it." Others might take the Jesus route: "they know not what they do." But to know that you have been responsible for that unnecessary suffering might also be the catalyst not to be the source of it any longer and to see that in the long run, it's all lessons.
So perhaps, one thing we can achieve at this level is to sort of have a dual awareness. Much like what some therapists try to encourage in their clients in some trauma therapies, which allows them to look at the painful memories, while keeping some perspective of the present, sort of like having one foot here and now, and the other foot in the painful memory.
Or maybe like watching a movie or reading a novel (or even a history book)? I know personally that there are often scenes that are not strictly speaking "enjoyable," but after finishing it I will say I enjoyed it as a whole (even tragedies). Part of that is the meaning that is given to the suffering within the wider story, which might be analogous to a higher perspective on life. We live in a "dramatic" universe.
But let's hypothetically say ALL suffering is sensible and fair, let's say we tentatively accept that free will is always respected because that's how the Universe works, even if we don't always have access to the information that would elucidate the situation for our own peace of mind.
First, is this a reasonable perspective given what we know from the C's?
I don't think so. Free will isn't always respected. It's just that there are consequences for the violations, and opportunities to grow when our free will is violated. When discussing the Trump assassination attempt, the C's said: "Violations of free will on that scale are similar to violations of gravity in your realm." That implies that violations on a smaller scale are
not similar to violating the law of gravity. Ra put it
like this: "those of negative polarity do not operate with respect to free will
unless it is necessary. They call themselves and will infringe
whenever they feel it possible." As for all suffering being sensible and fair, there's the example of nukes, which I suspect probably isn't the only such example.
Regarding Karma, because it's being mentioned a lot in this discussion and it makes me wonder anew, do we all fall under the same law? I.e. if I am a being from a collective soul pool, do I fall under the same law of Karma as a being with an individuated soul? What do you think?
I'd guess it would have to be different. The way Ra describes it, lessons are more or less random for "new" or "unpolarized" souls, until they acquire a bias towards STS or STO, at which point lessons are more directed or planned. But there's no real analogue to the OP in Ra. (For those interested,
here are all the mentions of karma in the law of one.)
None of which answers the question, though!
I'd just add one final thing, and that is what Troels Engberg-Pedersen writes about joy in his work on Paul and the Stoics. Basically, joy is the state of a highly spiritually advanced person, even in the face of suffering. From a
random blog on Stoic joy:
Seneca mentioned three aspects of stoic joy: not afraid of death, not afraid of difficulties, and not indulgent in pleasures. I reflected that real joy, according to Stoicism, is not surface-level cheerfulness. Rather, it is a deep sense of purpose, inner confidence, and emotional stability.
Here's a couple sections from Paul and the Stoics:
Second:
But to be honest, that seems to be the only logical answer.
