is suffering essential ( 13 july 06)

Is suffering essential?There are so many varieties and complications and degrees of suffering. We all knowthat. You know it very well, and we carry this burden right through life,practically from the moment we are born until the moment we collapse into thegrave....If we say that it is inevitable, then there is no answer; if you accept it, then youhave stopped inquiring into it. You have closed the door to further inquiry; if youescape from it, you have also closed the door. You may escape into man or woman,into drink, amusement, into various forms of power, position, prestige, and theinternal chatter of nothingness. Then your escapes become all-important; the objectsto which you fly assume colossal importance. So you have shut the door on sorrowalso, and that is what most of us do. ...Now, can we stop escape of every kind andcome back to suffering? ...That means not seeking a solution for suffering. There isphysical suffering—a toothache, stomachache, an operation, accidents, variousforms of physical sufferings which have their own answer. There is also the fear offuture pain, which would cause suffering. Suffering is closely related to fear and,and without comprehension of these two major factors in life, we shall never c omprehend what it is to be compassionate, to love. So a mind that is concerned withthe comprehension of what is compassion, love, and all the rest of it must surelyunderstand what is fear and what is sorrow.

Book of Life - July 13th