Quote of the Day — The Meaning of Suffering

The Quote

I came across this great quote that really crystalizes the meaning of “suffering” as well as how we might interpret events in our lives in a manner that always results in our betterment:

“Do you want a sign that you’re asleep? Here it is: you’re suffering. Suffering is a sign that you’re out of touch with the truth. Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth, that you might understand that there’s falsehood somewhere, just as physical pain is given to you so you will understand that there is disease or illness somewhere. Suffering occurs when you clash with reality. When your illusions clash with reality, when your falsehoods clash with truth, then you have suffering. Otherwise there is no suffering.”–Anthony de Mello

The Author

Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist known mostly for his books on spirituality. One of his most noted conferences, “Wake Up To Life,” is the only full length conference he permitted to be recorded. He died suddenly in 1987, after which many of his teachings were questioned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in 1998 as being distanced from the Christian faith and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Considering spirituality–and not religion–was the main point of his teachings, this is not a surprise. After all, if everyone took responsibility in full for their own spirituality, why would we need a church?