Eckhart Tolle says suffering is the pressure that makes your seed of awakening sprout. Without enough pain, the seed stays dormant. Suffering isn't pointless, it's what triggers the beginning of spiritual awakening.
The potential for awakening is in every human being, like a seed that is in every human being. In many humans, the seed does not yet sprout in this lifetime. If it's not sprouting yet, it usually means you need more time, and that means you need more suffering. And eventually suffering fulfills its function of awakening you. The pressure of suffering causes the seeds to sprout, and that is the beginning of the awakening process.
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