Ignorance...

Ignorance is the root of suffering.
When I use the word "ignorance,"
I am speaking about ignoring the truth of who you
are in favor of some problem or identification with suffering.

Ignoring the limitless truth of yourself,
ignoring the eternal presence of divinity, of beingness itself,
is the very source of continued suffering.
Continued suffering occurs
when your concepts of happiness, truth, and freedom
are seen as separate from who you already are.

When I speak of suffering,
I am referring to what could be called "unnecessary" suffering,
when you are wrapped up in replaying your own
or the world's dramatic stories
over and over in your mind.

Unnecessary suffering is actually the resistance to suffering.
Unnecessary suffering can be dropped in an instant,
yet it is usually perpetuated through cycles
of mental and emotional activity
as an attempt to escape the experience of emotional pain.

~Gangaji
Excerpt from "The Diamond In Your Pocket,"