a few thoughts on suffering

I hear a lot of people wondering about how come there is suffering in this world, is it possible that god MAKES us suffer in order to learn certain spiritual lessons, why does it seem like spiritual people are MORE subject to suffering?

at a simple level, my experience is that suffering is a natural part of life, and it's true that when people jump into a strong spiritual practice, they often experience a kind of amplification of their own suffering.

why?

because whatever is in them that isn't acting in a divine way, that's blocking them from seeing the truth of their own inner light, is coming up to be confronted and washed out.

god doesn't make us suffer -- we make ourselves suffer when we are holding ANYTHING back from god (both inside and out). where we suffer most is in our negative emotions, like pride, egoism, jealousy, unworthiness, fear, anger, etc.

as the brilliant American writer Henry Miller said,

"I never understood the need for suffering... suffering, to me, is the algebraic demonstration of spiritual inflexibility."

if I let it go, whatever it is, I don't suffer. if I hold on, I may very well suffer.

it's really pretty simple.

ohhhhhh.... but it's not necessarily easy.