Chapter 5 - The Mystery of Suffering

Let us be sure that we are gaining a clearer understanding of the term matter as we consider the pages of this small volume; for without more light on matter, we shall not come nearer to a solution of the problems that confront us in our daily lives. Of these that of suffering is one of the most insistent, whether it takes the form of evil or of pain.

What is suffering? What is evil?

In order to approach a satisfactory answer to these questions, it is necessary to study carefully the meaning of form or matter.

What has been our concept of form? Something manifesting in limitation, and subject to inharmony and decay, is perhaps as clear an answer as most of us could give. The visible has been thought of as that which is separate from the invisible. We have been dealing with what we conceived to be two phases in the life process -- a visible and an invisible existence, only one of which, the invisible, has been thought of as perfect. Imperfection has always clung to that [41] which is manifested. Why should this be? Belief in separation is the answer. Let us make sure that we see form as Living Substance in manifestation, expressing according to the law of unity in infinite variety. To the one who sees this truth, the mystery of suffering begins to clear. What is the conclusion that thinkers in the realm of natural science are moving toward? It is a conclusion that has already been reached and accepted by