If you are to give up anything in the world, give up suffering. It is that simple. Suffering is useless. Oh, perhaps it has a utility in that it is like a big sign that says: "Stay out! Don't come back."
But suffering of itself is futility. Suffering does not serve. It simply gorges on itself.
I do understand that pain can be inflicted upon you, but it is accumulated sense of suffering that I speak of. You do not have to claim suffering. You do not have to call it your own. If you can let go of a hot potato, you can let go of suffering. No longer see yourself as one who suffers. No longer see the world as a field of suffering.
Even on a battlefield, a daisy grows. Amidst the field of suffering, there are other places for your eyes to look. There is the sky above with stars by night and sun by day. Certainly there is that which turns light on suffering, takes it from darkness, transmutes it, turns it into compost.
It is not wise to be caught in the frame of mind of suffering. Suffering is like quicksand, beloveds. You sink deeper, and you pull others in with you. What folly!
In one sense, suffering is no different from happiness. In happiness, you pull others with you. Instead of down, however, you pull them up. "Come, stand up here," you say. "There is room. Come where it is nice to be."
If you yourself stand in a pit, how can you pull others up?
Don't go into the pit in the first place. Do not cause others to descend either.
You are to ease suffering on Earth, not dredge yourself in it.
You gain no medals by jumping up and down about the existence of suffering. It is not for you to point it out. It is for you to point to the way to get out. "Exit here. This way to happiness" is to be the sign you carry. Let "Down with suffering. Up with joy" be your placard. Look, beloveds, go on strike when it comes to suffering.
There is enough suffering in the world without your broadcasting it or rehashing it or expanding on it or analyzing it or stuffing it into your heart. Suffering is not a prize to be carried around. It is to be let go of.
Suffering leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Why hang on to it? Why mull it over? Why swallow it? Why even sip it to see what it is like? Spit out suffering, beloveds. Spit it out. It does not belong to you. It is not what you were born for.
If you were meant to swim in life, then come in here where the water is fine. The Ocean is fine, beloveds. Come swim with Me. Come into the sunshine. Come with yourself, and leave suffering behind. It can only weigh you down. But you already know that. So why not leave it? Why not let it go?
Suffering leaves a bad aftertaste, yet it is like smoking. You got used to it. If you find you have run out of a topic of suffering, you feel you must run out to the store to get more. You perhaps get nervous when you are without a cigarette of suffering, so tied to suffering your life has been that you are at a loss without it. What would you do without a cigarette but not smoke? What would you do with suffering but not suffer? Give up the habit, beloveds.
If you fail a test, must you suffer? If you get a flat tire, must you feel aggrieved? If life doesn't pan out the way you wanted, do you have to beat yourself up? Whatever occurs, is it really necessary to add suffering to the mix?