Why Does Bad Happen to Me, Even Though I Don’t Do Bad to Anyone?

“I don’t do bad to anyone, so why does bad happen to me?” It is one of the most common questions people carry. But look closely, because two different things are mixed together here. Not doing bad to someone is one thing, and bad happening to someone is another. They are not the same.

Why don’t you do bad to anyone?

Do you refrain from doing bad so that good happens to you, or because you believe it is right not to do bad to anyone? Is it in the hope and expectation that nothing bad will happen to you, or because it is the right thing to do?

If you do not do bad to others because you fear that bad will happen to you, look carefully at what is happening. There is a fear sitting behind it. And if that fear goes away, it means you might do something bad. It is done only in the hope that nothing bad will happen to you.

If you do good only because doing good is the right thing to do, because it is a virtuous act, because one must do good and one should not do bad, then the second question might not even arise.

What does “bad” even mean?

What does it mean for something bad to happen? And what you consider good, how do you know it is good for you?

If everything you have wanted in your life so far had kept happening just as you wanted, just look at your desires. You want this to happen, that to happen, this not to happen. It would have just killed you. If all these things actually happened, would you then consider that something good is happening to you?

Has the urge to slap someone hard ever arisen in your mind? In some argument, in some situation, it must have come up. But it was for the best that the urge was not fulfilled. It was good that it did not happen.

What you feel is bad today, is it truly bad for your future as well? How do you know?

The medicine. You get sick and go to the doctor. The doctor gives you bitter medicine. You do not like the taste, and you feel bad in that moment. But is that bitterness good for your life, or bad? What you call bad in your life today, do you know whether it is actually right for your future?

The parents. Your parents tell you not to be on social media, not to post constantly, to focus on your studies. You feel very bad about it. But if you do not study, can your future be bright? Will you get good grades?

And then comes the complaint: “I do good for my relatives, but they do not do any good for me. I do good, yet bad things happen to me.” Well, they were bad, so bad things happened. What does your doing good have to do with it? What relation does it even have to your doing good?

Do good because it is right, not because of what you will get

As long as you keep doing good deeds with the expectation that good will happen to you, while setting aside the fact that doing good should be your only goal and doing the right thing should be your duty, you will remain trapped in this cycle.

It is like saying, “I studied a lot, but different questions appeared in the exam.” Did you study only for the exam, or did you study to gain knowledge? If you studied for knowledge, because you were interested and wanted to understand the subject, then whether you come first, second or third, or whatever questions are asked, what difference does it make? But if you are studying for the exam, you will study in that specific way. You will take notes and solve question papers. And if the questions do not turn out like that, it is over.

It is the same at the office. You work only so that you can get a promotion, not because you are genuinely interested in the work. You want praise from the boss. But the boss is in a different mood and does not say you did a great job, and you start getting upset. You start thinking, “I always do a good job, but something bad always happens to me.” Doing a good job is a different matter. That is your work. Do it as your work, or as your duty, and whatever happens next will be seen later. Why mix the two together?

The intention behind the action

When you go to do anything, there is a reason and an intention behind it. If your intention is pure and clear, without expectations and without desires, you will be able to do that work for the right reason. You will be able to live your life in the right way and make your decisions with the right intention. Then, whatever the outcome of that decision is, it will not matter to you.

When you go to a temple and hold out your hand for prasad, do you think, “I should get a lot of prasad today”? You are happy with however much you get, because your intention is to receive God’s blessings, the blessings of that Supreme Being. If your intention is right and your reason is right, then whatever happens next, good or bad, you will be able to take it.

Whatever work you go to do, keep in mind why you are doing it. Now pay a little attention to the reason, because even the reason is connected to the doer. Wherever anything is connected, there is a fear of it breaking. And wherever nothing is connected, there is no issue of breaking at all. So keep the cause very clear. Do not attach yourself to it. Do not become the cause yourself.

Look at what is happening otherwise. You start dividing things into good or bad. You start looking at a result that is not even the result of that action. The result of the action you have already received. When you do something good for someone, you already feel good. You did it with a good intention, and the moment you did that work with good intentions, you feel how good it makes you feel. You get that result even before the action. If you attach it to someone else, it will not become true, and you will just keep worrying.

The rain falls equally

The work you are about to do is itself complete. The work is just happening. It rains, and a field is sown. Some seeds become crops and some do not. The rain fell equally. If a seed keeps saying, “The rain fell more on them and less on me, that is why this is my condition,” then absolutely not.

Inside and outside

Look at this even more closely. When you go to do something, that event is happening inside you. When anything else happens, that event is happening outside.

Suppose you did something good for someone. First the intention came. An understanding of what to do came. Then you did the work. This event happened inside you first, and we can see clearly what happens inside us. The bad thing that happened to you happened outside. Feeling bad happened inside you. But the event itself happened outside.

And what does it matter to you what is happening outside? Because you want control over outside events as well. You want them to unfold exactly as you wish, and when they do not happen your way, you feel very bad.

Feeling bad or good is an event within your own internal system. The events themselves are happening on the outside. These are two different things, and you must see them clearly.

Stop doing any work with the hope that something good will happen to you. Whatever is happening to you is already good. Nothing bad can ever happen to you, because in life, you are complete in yourself. This good and bad is a creation of the mind.