Suffering...

The strange thing about suffering is that by taking it on you go through to the underlying peace that passes understanding. Some people seem to suggest that when you see Who you are, there is no more suffering. On the contrary. In a way, it's the exact opposite of that. You take it all on.

You take on the pain of creation, not only human suffering but the whole tragic history of the world and the suffering of other centuries -- not because you are a saint or a good person. You have no option. That's the way you are made, and that's the way through.

I'm not saying, mind you, that a life consciously lived from its true Center will be safe or painless, easy or consistently joyful. Real adventure is made of sterner stuff. You embrace the suffering of the world no less than its splendor and its thrill.

The real joy, the joy that casts no shadow and knows no variation, has come through the fire. You could say that the remedy for suffering is homeopathic.

~ From: Open to the Source, by Douglas Harding