The Buddha’s teachings start with everybody’s sore point: suffering. Whether it’s blatant suffering or more subtle forms of stress, these are the sore points in our heart. And for many of us, we don’t like to have them touched, we don’t like to hear about them. We think that somehow if we ignore them or cover them up, they’ll go away. But it just doesn’t work. They tend to fester. And we find ourselves carrying this burden around with us all the time, thinking that it’s a normal, necessary part of life. When the Buddha talks about suffering, we think he’s being pessimistic. Actually, we’re the ones who’ve been pessimistic, thinking that we’ve got to suffer. He says that the suffering in the heart is unnecessary, and that there’s a way out."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Power to Transcend Suffering"
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