What is the purpose of pain? Everyone hopes to avoid pain, but pain helps us survive. Without the sensation of pain, our bodies can be damaged without our awareness of such danger. Pain tells us that something is wrong. In medicine, physicians are trained in determining where the pain is coming from, and prescribing medicine or treatment in repairing the source of pain. In the oral cavity, pain signals that something is wrong with our teeth or gums. Pain certainly is unwanted, but it is a necessity for our bodies to survive.

If pain has a beneficial purpose, can suffering also have beneficial properties for the soul? What or who causes suffering? Some say that God test us by giving us suffering like Job in the bible. Others say that suffering is God’s punishment for evil. The proponents of causality state that we cause our own sufferings by our thoughts and actions. These sufferings remind us that something is amiss with our minds. Causality is the process of purifying our minds. When we have good thoughts, we plant seeds of joy in the future. Causality besides explaining why we suffer, also explains why we have joy and health!