Suffering and Growth

Suffering and Growth

Every time we suffer, we grow.

Ram Dass

Cited in Mystical Hours

Wayne Teasdale gives us a more expanded view of the pithy wisdom from Ram Dass in these words:

“Ram Dass is certainly no stranger to suffering. He first experienced psychological turmoil and misunderstanding when he made a break from his academic life at Harvard, when he was a research professor in psychology. He underwent deep psychological changes in his awakening to India’s mystical tradition through his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, as well as his exposure to living conditions in India.

More recently, he experienced intense physical suffering after enduring a stroke.

These challenges, and many others, granted him considerable wisdom about the nature and value of suffering in transforming us. Suffering has a way of opening our hearts and putting us in touch with our compassionate nature. I know this from my own experience with cancer. You cannot avoid growth if your heart is open. Suffering teaches us to love and to be kind, compassionate, and sensitive to the struggles of others. It is the greatest means of enlarging our perspective”.

While in his reflection, Wayne omitted the LSD chapter, but more directly to the point, humans such as Ram Dass, who received credible wisdom teachings from his guru, in my estimation, he did not become a trusted teacher until after his stroke.

When he was riding the crest of the New Age and its shadowy foibles, he had some insightful things to say, but I felt he lacked authenticity that he later gained through suffering.

The main point here, as I see it, is to humbly recognize that we humans sometimes do not learn how to transcend or transform our egos without encountering a significant amount of suffering; Suffering that can become our gracious catalyst for growth and a valuable change agent. 

I can remember a rather blunt and yet cogent statement that comes from Mrs. Eddy and the writings of Christian Science that declared “Either through suffering or science”; that is, until we get what information and experience we need to change our ways, we retain the capacity to suffer, feel alienated, or remain unwell.

That suffering or knowledge both can provide us with keys to the doorways of change; to foster our awareness so that change, healing, or a new level of spiritual transformation can take place!

In my life experience, I can attest to the collected interfaith wisdom that states, “[Suffering is pain seeking a meaning].” Whether it has been through my recent physical injuries, or earlier insults to my character, and feeling misunderstood by others etc., suffering has served to be an excellent teacher!

Another maxim that has been attributed to Christian Science and that is quoted in its text, goes like this: “[Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity].”That God’s intervening, uplifting, and transforming graces comes to us when we are truly humbled, feeling lost, defeated– and it is usually only in retrospect, that we can gain appreciation of our suffering, and how it becomes a phoenix of wisdom and compassion within us.