"Stars, planets, plants, animals, and human beings are all let loose on a beautiful cosmic stage, with each one playing an assigned part. Very few people understand the meaning of the play because they do not pause to think deeply about it. To the unenlightened, the drama often seems chaotic and unjust. But God purposely did not automatically make all people poor or all people millionaires, because if everyone were alike this drama could not go on. Diversity is the basis of Nature, and self-evolution is one means of maintaining this diversity. By the law of cause and effect, action and reaction, we make of ourselves what we presently are and what we will be. The result of this variety, created by both man and Nature, is what we experience as the cosmic drama. However, God does not want us to suffer because of these differences. He wants us to know that whether one is currently playing the part of a king or of a servant, he must do his best, but never forget that as a soul, made in the image of God, he is only enacting a temporary role. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether we scrub floors, or whether we are the leaders of great nations; unless we know that we are merely playing a part on the stage of time, we will suffer from the dualities inherent in the consciousness of being identified with these different stations and conditions. Stage actors do not bemoan their particular parts, but enact their roles to the best of their ability, knowing they are temporary portrayals. Do you see? It is only when we take life too seriously that we suffer."

~Paramahansa Yogananda