So when a non-devotee is punished by the material energy, it’s obvious, he is not going to see that he is being punished by the Lord because he is in maya. He is in illusion. He is covered. Therefore he is thinking “Why I am suffering in this way?” Typically the first thing he thinks is “I don’t deserve this suffering.”
That’s typically the very first thing that a person thinks if he is punished, made to suffer. Typically he tries to find something or someone to blame. That a typical symptom of someone who is under the influence of illusory energy. But a devotee who knows that the material energy never acts separately from the will of the Lord, he always makes a connection. That’s the symptom of a devotee. He is always making everything connected to Krishna.
December 23, 1997, Tallin