The Role of Suffering in Our Lives

Let’s start with a conversation between the famous Swami Yogananda and Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.

Yogananda: Why does God permit suffering in the world? Should He not with His omnipotence do away with it at one stroke and ordain the universal realisation of God?

Maharshi: Suffering is the way for realisation of God.

Yogananda: Should He not ordain differently?

Maharshi: It is the way.

Yogananda: Are yoga, religion etc., antidotes to suffering?

Maharshi: They help you to overcome suffering.

Yogananda: Why should there be suffering?

Maharshi: Who suffers? What is suffering? (Ed. Maharshi is saying that in absolute terms there is no entity who can experience suffering.)

For most of us suffering accumulates over time. It is heightened by our growing awareness, sensitivity and empathy which while being valuable spiritual qualities, open us further to suffering.

This emotional suffering is held in your subconscious self and floats up as thoughts, feelings, desires and reactions when triggered by external conditions. How much and when it is released depends on your capacity to learn and grow and is managed by the omniscience of God. It is God who releases your karma to you and it is an educational process, not punishment.

Most of our suffering is psychological and based on our attitudes and reactions to our experiences rather than on the experiences themselves. Suffering is needed to help us awaken and without it we would remain lost in our stories, believing them to be real.

As suffering increases it acts like a fire which starts to cook and refine our energy field. This cooking can make us doubt everything and we may become panicky and even lose our sense of self. We can get lost in the world and the mind, as we pursue pleasure and attention as ways to suppress the suffering caused by the cooking. We may also blame others for our suffering and demand that they relieve it.

In fact, the whole purpose of suffering is to develop our relationship with the silent Presence within us. When we awaken to Presence we are healed because the mind becomes silent and for a while we no longer identify with the body or thoughts.

Suffering is designed to humble us and to reveal a true perspective on our lives. We also need to recognize and accept what suffering has made us become, whether that be selfish, insecure, lost, helpless, fearful or lonely. Suffering reveals that we are nothing of ourselves, if we are not awakened to the silent Presence of God.

The many pressure cooker experiences we have on the journey are simply meant to promote our relationship to the silent Presence. However, for the majority of us it simply pushes us deeper into the ego’s pride, separation, addiction, avoidance, arrogance and judgement.

Then even more cooking is required!

The silent Presence stands behind everything we experience in nature and is always aware of our suffering. As the One Life how can it not know and feel everything that happens within its own Body?

God is always present with us and always aware of you, me and all beings. God responds to our prayers and invocations with infinite, tender care and compassion and an eternal invitation to every one of us to awaken now.

There is plenty of material in your mind that the ego can use to generate more suffering and as if that is not enough, the planetary ego and mind will cram it even fuller. Desire and fear are the ego’s stock in trade and business is thriving across our planet.

The Solutions

By simply owning and accepting whatever fear, sadness, anger, loneliness or other emotion rises up in your mind allows them to move through you and be released back into nature.

As these emotions are released from your energy field, the ever-present silence and love is revealed as the fundamental Reality in your life.

Nothing in this world lasts forever and by accepting and embracing the transient and impersonal nature of our experience a deeper awareness of Presence is revealed.

In the acceptance of transience lies a beautiful joy that comes from touching the world gently and knowing it is not ours, but a gift offered by God to support our awakening. Really, we are simply here to have some work experience and this training provides us with the opportunity to graduate as co-creators with God.

Suffering will not end as long as we identify with the body and mind, but we can heal by being present with it and accepting the need for it.

Feeling and accepting emotions that float up allows them to be released and subside like an emotional tsunami or tornado that has run out of energy.

Its true you do need some spiritual maturity and faith to accept and practice this method of transmuting suffering.

Suffering will be the main form of education on this planet for a long while yet and so only by embracing this challenging curriculum will we be able to heal and gradually embody the love and oneness of the Self.