God’s Will

[Listen to Asha read this story]

A strange moral dilemma puzzled me for years, even though the problem was purely hypothetical, in that it could only arise if I were a prisoner in a concentration camp! Perhaps because I was born Jewish just after World War II, it seemed important to resolve. Finally I found the right moment to ask Swami Kriyananda.

“If I were in a concentration camp, and a guard started beating the person next to me, what should I do?” I said. “Is it right to do nothing? Or should I intervene, even if it costs me my life?”

“What you are really asking,” Swamiji said, “is how to know God’s will.  Maybe you could get the guard to stop. But maybe if you intervene, the guard will retaliate against all the prisoners and many people will be hurt or killed. You can’t figure it out logically. You need intuition.

“If you want to know God’s will in a moment of crisis, you have to practice when it is easier. You have to develop in all circumstances of your life the habit of listening for God’s will. Then, even in extreme conditions, you will know what to do.”