Is a Previous Life Causing Suffering?

Around the globe, millions believe that the cause of suffering is a person’s past; his present suffering is punishment for what he did in a past life. “Human suffering is due to our being bound in Karma, for all of us, as soon as we are born, carry a heavy burden of past Karma.”a That view was offered by Daisetz T. Suzuki, a philosopher who popularized Zen in Western society. Hindu sages had devised “the law of Karma” as they groped to explain human suffering. But is their explanation of suffering reasonable or truly satisfying?

One Buddhist woman said: “I thought it did not make sense to have to suffer for something I was born with but about which I knew nothing. I had to accept it as my destiny.” She found this explanation of suffering unsatisfactory. You may also. While the idea of rebirth may not be common where you live, underlying it is a teaching that can be found throughout Christendom and elsewhere—the teaching that humans have an immortal soul that survives the body. This “soul” is said to be involved in suffering—either in a present life or in an afterlife.

Such ideas are widespread, but what proof is there that they are valid? On important matters like this, is it not wiser to be guided by what our Creator says? While human ideas and strong convictions can be mistaken, we have seen that God’s statements are reliable.

As we noted in the preceding chapter, the sin of our first human parents brought on the ultimate human tragedy—death. The Creator warned Adam: “In the day you [disobey, or sin] you will positively die.” (Genesis 2:17; 3:19) God said nothing about Adam’s having an immortal soul; he was a human. In Biblical terms this means that he was a soul. Thus, when he died, the soul named Adam died. He was not thereafter conscious or suffering.

Our Creator does not promote or agree with teachings of Karma, rebirth cycles, or an immortal soul that may suffer in a later existence. Yet if we realize what the effects of Adam’s sin are, we can better understand why suffering exists today.