Summary
Highlights
The things that seem to prevent personal growth and flowering are actually the main motivation and driving force behind the awakening of consciousness. Suffering, particularly the greater amounts, is generated by human unconsciousness. This can range from slight irritation to overwhelming dissatisfaction with life. Suffering is produced by unconscious living, where individuals not in touch with the 'being dimension' continuously experience and cause pain. Paradoxically, suffering, born of the unconscious, is what ultimately awakens us. The ego, through a 'self-destruct mechanism' and by divine grace, eventually erodes itself through suffering.
Suffering can be viewed as challenges, adversity, or tribulation. Everyone experiences challenges from an early age, often stemming from unconscious parents. There is individual suffering and collective suffering that affects millions simultaneously. Suffering fuels awakening, providing the necessary impetus for inner transformation. What appears to be an obstacle to consciousness is actually the path to it.
An obstacle or limitation is necessary to generate an additional influx of energy. Just as physical exercise strengthens the body by making life difficult for it, psychological suffering creates a 'gap' that demands more energy and consciousness. The suffering we experience, especially psychological suffering, creates a desperate need for awakening and more consciousness. This suffering is often self-generated from unconsciousness, even when it appears to come from external sources.
To understand how suffering arises, observe the mechanism behind any form of unhappiness, even slight irritation. Often, it's triggered by thoughts about how things 'should' or 'shouldn't' be. Tolle suggests that in any situation where unhappiness arises, ask yourself: 'How would I experience this moment if I did not add any thought to it?' By letting the moment simply be, without mental interpretation or the 'baggage of thought,' suffering can dissolve. It's the mental narrative about a situation, not the situation itself, that often causes distress.