The Importance of Suffering

In this podcast Eckhart talks about suffering and how to transcend it. He says suffering is everyone’s spiritual teacher because it drives us to a kind of willingness. He believes it cracks open the hard shell of the ego, suddenly allowing the light to shine through. Eckhart mentions thelegendary singer Leonard Cohen who wrote a song about this universal experience. He sings: “There’s a crack… a crack in everything... That’s how the light gets in.” Eckhart also uses the example of Buddha who suffered by becoming obsessed with doing and attaining enlightenment. Eckhart explains how Buddha put himself through extreme practices and nearly died until one day he decided he had suffered enough. This is the moment Eckhart says Buddha’s ego cracked open and enlightenment poured in. Eckhart says we all will suffer until we realize we don’t need it anymore to grow spiritually.