“Now I have often said that suffering of itself is not “good for the soul”. It is not a virtue, yet certainly many individuals seem to seek suffering. Suffering cannot be dismissed from human experience as a freak matter of distorted emotions or beliefs.
“Suffering is a human condition that is sought for various reasons. There are gradations of suffering, of course, and each person will have his or her definitions of what suffering is. Many people do indeed equate a certain kind of suffering with excitement. Sportsmen, race-car drivers, mountain climbers – all seek suffering to one extent or another, and find the very intensity of certain kinds of pain pleasurable. You might say that they like to live dangerously.
“Some sects have believed that spiritual understanding came as the result of bodily agony, and their self-inflicted pain became their versions of pleasure.”
(Dreams, “Evolution” and Value Fulfillment Vol 2, Session 911)
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