Suffering Consciously

I just read a passage in A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.

"The man on the cross is an archetypal image. He is every man and every woman. As long as you resist suffering, it is slow process because the resistance creates more ego to burn up. When you accept suffering, however, there is an acceleration of that process which is brought about by the fact that you suffer consciously."

As I read this I was reminded of a pamphlet on relaxation techniques for people with anxiety. The first step is to acknowledge the anxiety. Whether it be anxiety or any other form of suffering the experience is not pleasant and therefore, we, humans, tend to avoid, run away, take pills, drink, seek solace outside of ourselves. We are reinforced that these actions are okay since our suffering is temporarily relieved. In the long term, however, it intensifies and changes our suffering and draws out the experience.

This is not the first time I have heard "what you resist persists." Neale Donald Walsch also teaches this. And Buddhism acknowledges suffering as part of the human experience. But to be conscious enough to embrace my suffering, to breathe with it, that is a teaching I had not allowed myself to fully process until now.

in peace ...