“I dare not make a generalization about others’ suffering, and shall thus speak only of my own experience. For years, I have asked myself the question: Why do I continue to choose suffering … EVEN while knowing that there exists another option. My conclusion, thus far, parallels my view of the basic structure of the Universe: It’s play. It’s exploration. Suffering, like any dark, deep place, can be explored, excavated, etc. I have settled on the idea that I am not yet done exploring this space, and will continue to do this work / play until the path of least resistance is to leave it.

I believe that the Universe is exploring itself through various forms of consciousness, and humans have been endowed with the ability to suffer to profound and extraordinary depths (among other endowments). As with anything else, the existence of a force elicits a counter-force, and to try to impose a force of ending suffering will naturally create an oppositional force of prolonging and deepening that suffering. Only when the natural current washes us out of suffering naturally, can we actually transform into wellbeing.”