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Is there an end to suffering?

If your question is about ordinary pain, the answer is No. Ordinary pain, whether physical, as in having a broken bone, or emotional, as in having your heart ripped to pieces when your love of many years leaves you, is a natural consequence of being embodied. Only spiritual pain can be ended. Spiritual pain is the state of being separated from the blissful nature of your higher self (soul). The important thing is: when spiritual success ends spiritual pain, so end all cares for any other pain.

I am not implying that we should ignore ordinary suffering. We should treat physical and emotional pain (as in disease) as seems appropriate. Yet, there are no permanent solutions for the discomforts of body and mind, because it is natural to experience discomfort while living in this transitory world. Sensations of pain do not end even when spiritual liberation is attained and sadhaka becomes free from the suffering inherent in ego-centered living. It is only the concern for them that ends. Hence, a wise person focuses solely on removing the spiritual suffering.

The interesting thing is that spiritual suffering is usually experienced unconsciously or indirectly. In mild cases, it manifests itself as existential concerns: worrying about the future, feeling lost in the world, or not knowing what to do with oneself or one's life. If one is fortunate, spiritual pain will manifest itself as melancholy, which is a louder message in the language of the soul (and which must be distinguished from clinical depression). The message says: "You either change your ways and listen to me -- or I will make your life really miserable." Of course, dismissing mild symptoms as nothing and drowning severe ones in (prescription or illicit) drugs are the preferred remedies in our materialistic culture -- which postulates pain as an inconvenience, not a message in the forgotten language of the soul.

Another interesting thing is that the way out of spiritual pain is painful at times. In the evolution from cruder to subtler awareness (which is what the spiritual path comes down to), the practitioner's mind must expand and be purified -- and this is not a painless process. The human ego structure is by its very nature dominated by the Static Principle (Tamas): the ego does not like change. Oftentimes, such mental change is experienced as emotional pain. However, an experienced meditator knows that behind such pain lies the great pleasure of expanded awareness and a greater capacity to enjoy life. Therefore, sadhakas welcome delayed gratification because they know that such suffering is a symptom of sadhana working correctly -- and that it is just a hurdle on the way to a deeper and fuller life.

As I said, suffering, as distinguished from ordinary pain, stems from spiritual ignorance, which is the condition born of faulty perception. The only remedy for this affliction is the removal of the faulty perception by following a genuine spiritual path, which can be defined as acquisition of spiritual knowledge through an authentic spiritual practice (sadhana). Spiritual knowledge is essentially (and primitively put) an awareness that everyone is interconnected and everything is orchestrated by the Supreme Being. Such spiritual understanding requires great degree of inner stability (emotional maturity) and a matchless level of subtle awareness. Yet, in my view, it is the only solution to pain worthy of pursuit, because it addresses all human concerns through singular effort. When we are connected to the bliss of our innermost being, that Divine Bliss is so overwhelming that all our cares are nothing in comparison and disappear in the splendor of the Light.

Spiritual pain is removed by action -- a particular kind of action. All living spiritual traditions teach the same thing: observe your spiritual sleep and wake up, notice how you go to sleep again and again, and practice the awakened state until you no longer go to sleep. Spiritual fulfillment is impossible without constantly working on refining one's awareness through meditation. The reason spiritual practices are called practices is that they require practice. Reading spiritual books alone will not do. Thinking about meditation will not do. On the spiritual path, a "do or die" attitude rules. If you want to end spiritual suffering, you must do something about it.

-- Anatole