Deep layers of alienation, long muted by myriad drugs and alcohol, are now surfacing and leading to acts of desperation.  A pervasive sense of despair has become especially evident in young people.  Children and adolescents are harming themselves and others in ways that were once unimaginable.  Some are clearly crying out for help; others appear to be cut off from everyone and everything.

The wisdom teachings explain that when we identify ourselves with our bodies and with things of the material world, we experience life in isolation—from one another and from the larger whole.  We see ourselves like the individual seeds of a pomegranate, failing to recognize that we are part of a greater life.  This illusory sense of isolation and separation is one of the basic causes of human suffering.  The “remedy”—inherent in the unfoldment of human consciousness—is awakening to the essential relatedness of all of life.

The growing experience of pain and alienation on the material level appears to have accelerated the pace our global awakening, as it has led countless thousands to search for the meaning of life.  All who undertake the quest for the light of higher truth inevitably experience the healing that comes with reconnecting—with one's own soul, with the Source of all Life, with other human beings, and all living creatures.  On this inner quest, the light begins to dawn that we are each an intrinsic part of a greater Life whose divine essence is love.  We are not alone.

The fact that ever rising numbers of human beings are awakening to their higher nature and expressing soul qualities in the world is a great cause for hope in these difficult times.  The unprecedented scale of human suffering around the globe has brought forth an equally unprecedented outpouring of love and compassion.  The heart of humanity is opening wider and, in the light of higher awareness, we are discovering the deeper causes of suffering and how to heal them. 

In the Ageless Wisdom, we are told that pain serves a higher purpose.  In a chapter of When the Soul Awakens entitled “The Fruits of Suffering, we wrote:”

Each of us can learn to reap the fruits of suffering by viewing life from a higher plane of awareness—through the lens of the higher Self, often called 'the Observer.'  Toward this end, we have drawn a number of practices from the wisdom teachings that may be helpful.  Whether you are experiencing personal pain, or identifying with the pain of humanity and other kingdoms of nature, we hope that the simple practices presented here will serve you on your path.