Suffering does not happen because there is evil in the world. Suffering does not happen because people don't have enough faith or aren't spiritual enough.
We suffer because we are attached to things in our lives. People, things we own, our jobs, our status in society, our health, being pain-free. We fear losing these things and so we become attached to them and this attachment brings us much suffering.
Suffering happens because life is impermanent. We realize that people, things, jobs, our health, are not going to be here forever. We will eventually lose them. So we are suffering now before we ever do lose them. The attachment brings us more suffering than the actual loss. Suffering has an earthly cause, not a spiritual cause.
So should we accept our suffering or strive to alleviate it?
Both.
In the first place, let's say you are suffering because you have a disease. You must first recognize that you are sick before you will go to the doctor for treatment. You may then go to the doctor for treatment and alleviate the disease or its symptoms. If you could do that, you would. I don't know anyone who would choose to remain sick if they could alleviate their pain. But then, after you've done everything you can do to recover from your sickness, if there is still pain or illness, there is a place of acceptance. There are things we can learn from our illness. We can say yes to life, whatever that life brings.
When you try to apply this strategy to emotional or mental issues however, there is often the tendency to avoid acceptance, because we always suspect that there's more work to do and if we just do the work, we might be able to alleviate our pain. We're never sure we've "suffered enough." If you go to the doctor and the doctor tells you there's nothing else that can be done for your condition, well, you have a final answer. But when looking inside yourself at emotional issues, who can plumb the depths of your psyche and tell you there's nothing else you can do? No one, not even you, can do that. The mind is a deep well. Who can know if you've reached the bottom?
As a result, there must come a point where you accept that you've done enough. At that point, acceptance can still bring peace. That doesn't mean that if a new miracle cure for your pain comes along that you won't take it. It doesn't mean you aren't spiritual enough because you still suffer.
Of course, our goal is to alleviate the attachments that cause suffering. And from that standpoint, if you are able to let go of an attachment, that will make your psychological pain less. It may not affect our physical pain, but if you come to accept that you don't have a right to expect to be completely pain free, you can then work with the physical pain in a new way.
Suffering is not noble. There is no reason to suffer if you can alleviate your pain. Accepting that you have pain does not mean you have to give up trying to alleviate it.
But you CAN give up the suffering that comes from being attached to the idea of having no pain. If you think the only way you can be happy is to have no pain, then happiness will always allude you.
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Copyright Judie C. McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living
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