SUFFER BETTER

Why do we suffer? Is my suffering unique? Is there a set amount of suffering in the world so that if one escapes suffering, a heavier amount must befall another? Why are there some materials that are polished by the grindstone and others that break with the friction?

Suffering is part of the experience of life in the body. The word derives from the Latin sufferre, from sub, ‘from below’ and ferre, ‘to bear’. It seems that suffering, whether physical or psychological, must have a body to be borne by. The state of subjecthood, then, is the ground on which suffering rests its yoke. Without the shamed Sisyphus to roll it, the boulder would have remained a steady rock.

Does suffering have a purpose? Does a measured dose make us better? Can we outsource it? Jesus’ life as remembered in the dominant gospels has transcendent purpose: “With his stripes, we are healed” (Isaiah 53:2-5.) From there, Weber's Protestant ethic suggests that we might distance ourselves from suffering by working hard and saving up. The very promise of consumer capitalism is that we can buy our way to permanent bliss, always one more purchase away.

But what if suffering just exists? What if there is no escape, and nothing wrong with its emanation4? What if, as Thich Nhat Hanh puts it, the fragrant lotus flower needs the stinky mud in order to build its body. In that case, who is who? Mud and lotus are one system of impermanence, constantly metabolizing one state of being into another — one’s circumstances are always the perfect ground for the blossoming of awareness.