Why do innocent people suffer?

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Dear sir, why do innocent people suffer?

Acharya Prashant: So as usual — I’ll dig into the question first.

What’s the assumption behind this question? Yes?

Listener: Innocent people should not suffer.

AP: That innocent people should not suffer.

What’s the assumption behind your answer?

The questioner says, “Why do innocent people suffer?”

I asked, “What’s the assumption behind this?”

Anshu (listener) says, “The assumption behind this is that innocent people should not suffer.”

Now, even Anshu is coming from an assumption. What’s the assumption?

That innocent people exist.

The assumption is that being a person you can still be innocent, that there is something called an innocent person. Wake up. There is nothing called as an innocent person. To be innocent is to be free of all blemishes, bondages. To be innocent is to be perfect. There is nothing called an innocent person and that’s why we all have to suffer and we will suffer.