Part 1 Chapter 6

And what of suffering? Is suffering the way and the path to God? Some say it is the only way.

 

I am not pleased by suffering, and whoever says I am does not know Me.

Suffering is an unnecessary aspect of the human experience. It is not only unnecessary, it is unwise, uncomfortable, and hazardous¹ to your health.

 

Then why is there so much suffering? Why don’t You, if You are God, put an end to it if You dislike it so much?

 

I have put an end to it. You simply refuse to use the tools I have given you with which to realize that.

You see, suffering has nothing to do with events, but with one’s reaction to them.

What’s happening is merely what’s happening. How you feel about it is another matter.

I have given you the tools with which to respond and react to events in a way which reduces—in fact, eliminates—pain, but you have not used them.

 

Excuse me, but why not eliminate the events?

 

A very good suggestion. Unfortunately, I have no control over them.

 

You have no control over events?

 

Of course not. Events are occurrences in time and space which you produce out of choice—and I will never interfere² with choices. To do so would be to obviate³ the very reason I created you. But I’ve explained all this before.

Some events you produce willfully, and some events you draw to you—more or less unconsciously. Some events—major natural disasters are among those you toss into this category—are written off to “fate.”

Yet even “fate” can be an acronym⁴ for “from all thoughts everywhere.” In other words, the conscious-ness of the planet.

 

The “collective consciousness.”

 

Precisely⁵. Exactly.

 

There are those who say the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Our ecology is dying. Our planet is in for a major geophysical disaster. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Maybe even a tilting⁶ of the Earth on its axis⁷. And there are others who say collective consciousness can change all that; that we can save the Earth with our thoughts.

 

Thoughts put into action. If enough people every-where believe something must be done to help the environment, you will save the Earth. But you must work fast. So much damage has already been done, for so long. This will take a major attitudinal shift.

 

You mean if we don’t, we will see the Earth—and its inhabitants—destroyed?

 

I have made the laws of the physical universe clear enough for anyone to understand. There are laws of cause and effect which have been sufficiently⁸ outlined to your scientists, physicists⁹, and, through them, to your world leaders. These laws don’t need to be outlined once more here.

 

Getting back to suffering—where did we ever get the idea that suffering was good? That the saintly “suffer in silence”?

 

The saintly do “suffer in silence,” but that does not mean suffering is good. The students in the school of Mastery suffer in silence because they understand that suffering is not the way of God, but rather a sure sign that there is still something to learn of the way of God, still something to remember.

The true Master does not suffer in silence at all, but only appears to be suffering without complaint. The reason that the true Master does not complain is that the true Master is not suffering, but simply expe-riencing a set of circumstances that you would call insufferable.

A practicing Master does not speak of suffering simply because a Master practicing clearly understands the power of the Word—and so chooses to simply not say a word about it.

 

We make real that to which we pay attention. The Master knows this. The Master places himself at choice with regard to that which she chooses to make real.

You have all done this from time to time. There is not a one among you who has not made a headache disappear, or a visit to the dentist less painful, through your decision about it.

A Master simply makes the same decision about larger things.

 

But why have suffering at all? Why have even the possibility of suffering?

 

You cannot know, and become, that which you are, in the absence of that which you are not, as I have already explained to you.

 

I still don’t understand how we ever got the idea that suffering was good.

 

You are wise to be insistent¹⁰ in questioning that. The original wisdom surrounding suffering in silence has become so perverted¹¹ that now many believe (and several religions actually teach) that suffering is good, and joy is bad. Therefore, you have decided¹² that if someone has cancer, but keeps it to himself, he is a saint, whereas if someone has (to pick a dynamite¹³ topic) robust¹⁴ sexuality, and celebrates it openly, she is a sinner.

 

Boy, You did pick a dynamite topic. And You cleverly changed the pronoun, too, from male to female. Was that to make a point?

 

It was to show you your prejudices. You don’t like to think of women having robust sexuality, much less celebrating it openly.

You would rather see a man dying without a whim-per on the battlefield than a woman making love with a whimper in the street.

 

Wouldn’t You?

 

I have no judgment¹⁵ one way or the other. But you have all sorts of them—and I suggest that it is your judgments¹⁶ which keep you from joy, and your expec-tations which make you unhappy.

All of this put together is what causes you dis-ease, and therein begins your suffering.

 

How do I know that what You are saying is true? How do I know this is even God speaking, and not my overactive imagi-nation?

 

You’ve asked that before. My answer is the same. What difference does it make? Even if every-thing I’ve said is “wrong,” can you think of a better way to live?

 

No.

 

Then “wrong” is right, and “right” is wrong!

Yet I’ll tell you this, to help you out of your dilemma¹⁷:

believe nothing I say. Simply live it. Experience it. Then live whatever other paradigm¹⁸ you want to construct. Afterward¹⁹, look to your experience to find your truth.

One day, if you have a great deal of courage, you will experience a world where making love is consid-ered better than making war. On that day will you rejoice.

1 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

2 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 obviate   

v.除去，排除，避免，预防

参考例句：

• Improved public transportation would obviate the need tor everyone to have their own car.公共交通的改善消除了每人都要有车的必要性。
• This deferral would obviate pressure on the rouble exchange rate.这一延期将消除卢布汇率面临的压力。

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

7 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

8 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

9 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

10 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

11 perverted   

adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落

参考例句：

• Some scientific discoveries have been perverted to create weapons of destruction. 某些科学发明被滥用来生产毁灭性武器。
• sexual acts, normal and perverted 正常的和变态的性行为

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

14 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

16 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

17 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

18 paradigm   

n.例子，模范，词形变化表

参考例句：

• He had become the paradigm of the successful man. 他已经成为成功人士的典范。
• Moreover,the results of this research can be the new learning paradigm for digital design studios.除此之外，本研究的研究成果也可以为数位设计课程建立一个新的学习范例。

19 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。