Why do we suffer?

Without suffering there wouldn't be compassion! -One of my fave quotes from A Walk to Remeber...and it's so true.

We all would prefer never ever have to suffer in any way. But suppose that were possible. What would we learn about life then. If we have no trials and everything goes great and only continues to improve with each passing day we soon come to believe it will always be and somehow we have an intrinsic right for that to be. Suffering, regardless of great or small, leads us to understand and appreciate our blessings. We as humans are so quick to become complacent about everything. It may very well be that suffering is necessary to teach us and make us understand better the pain that others go through.

According to Vedanta (ancient scriptures from India), suffering is due to our forgetfulness of our natural and pure state of consciousness, and our forgetfulness of our relationship with God. We also misidentify with our bodies, taking them to be ourselves, when the truth is, we are pure spirit, we are that soul that resides within the body. Ignorance is suffering. With knowledge, we can end our suffering. This knowledge is accessible within the heart, we just have to want it badly enough. Unfortunately there are unlimited number of distractions, it's hard to focus and persevere, but like any endeavor we undertake if we want something badly enough, this true spiritual knowledge is also within our reach if we just want it badly enough. Suffering is supposed to uplift us, we are supposed to learn from it. Without suffering, we become too complacent, and we'd never make the endeavor to understand how to liberate ourselves from ignorance. There are a few precious individuals who may achieve understanding of this knowledge simply through their intellect and intense desire for it. But for the most part, most of us need that kick in the you-know-what to motivate ourselves. And even then, we are so stubborn, sometimes it's as though we prefer our suffering rather than achieving true enlightenment. Life is easy, we just have to open up our hearts and realize that.l

God lets us suffer because He wants us to endure hardships, He wants to make us stronger and He wants to build our character. Christ Jesus suffered and so we should suffer also because we are to become like Christ. I suggest you read the whole New Testament in the Bible.

i think we cant avoid,it is an experience of our life. over years,we will suffer a lot of pains,my heart is broken when i lose a loved one,or even when a beloved pet is hit by a car,or when i saw my friends suffer.but that gives us strength,understanding and compassion.once i heard someone said a heart never broke will never know the joy of being imperfect.