We suffer because we do not understand how to suffer.
All genuine spiritual traditions attest that suffering is the foundation of the human condition.
In Soul Creation, suffering is the result of the lower and higher parts of the Soul progressively coming into contact through our Being.
If pursued consciously, this 'coming into contact' can bring about a reconciliation of our natures - the crystallisation of a Soul - that supports the workings of reality. Our suffering, then, is vitally needed.
A previous post outlined that 'unconscious suffering' - the predominant form of suffering in human life - essentially produces almost nothing useful and only adds further suffering. However, conscious suffering, in particular 'intentional suffering', can completely transform the situation because it changes our relationship to it.
If, in effect, the purpose of Human life is to suffer, then, What is suffering for? Like any relatively self-sustaining entity, human life, at one level, is a transformer of energy within the ecology of energies - in that, our various energies serve something lower and also serve something higher.
The energies of the physical body (the lower part of the Soul) serve physicality - the materials in building and making things for the outer world. The energies of the higher parts of the Soul serve spirituality, a finer materiality in building and making things for the inner world.
The development of an 'I' - that indestructible centre of gravity in one's consciousness - is like a midwife to the constant birthing of suffering.
The powers of making 'efforts' to effect the outer world are reflected in the powers of intentionally 'suffering' to effect the inner world. Effort and Suffering have an intimate relationship, forming a cardiovascular-like function between worlds.
Productive suffering must flow through the body to be effectively digested as neither the emotions nor the intellect have sufficient capacity or capability on their own. Indeed, trying to cognitively or emotionally deal with/digest suffering can even be harmful and lead to all sorts of illnesses.
The more I can connect with the body - sustaining my attention on the organic sensations - the greater the ability to digest the products of suffering and support its integration into Being.
If I cannot sustain an effort to connect, the flow of suffering can become restricted - confining itself to the intellectual or emotional or sexual centres for example - and produce all sorts of disturbances and erratic behaviour in the organism.
Suffering well is the key to wellness.
Suffering, like the energy of attention and the field of sensation, can flow between people, amplifying or reducing in common - literally, suffering is 'shared', very much like the air we breath.
If shared productively, that is, when each person can consciously endure the 'vibrations of suffering' of the other to support its flow - a load is lightened for all. Shared suffering is the true meaning of compassion.
Suffering that is unconsciously and involuntarily shared, that is 'vomited out', where nothing is endured for another, is immediately 'reflected back' through painful or defensive fits causing chaotic and turbulent relationships. It follows that the true measure of a human being is the capacity to suffer for others.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 KJV