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This is such a difficult issue and I'm sure humanity will be discussing it right until the very end.
I think that suffering is to an extent part and parcel of being human and living in a human body with a human mind and emotions, while experiencing the fragility of life and loss.
Some say that suffering is a response to attaching oneself to being human and losing oneself in having a human life, which may be true, but I think everyone barring a few rare totally enlightened souls get attached to being human and living this life. With the absolute best intentions most of us feel the pain of attachment and loss. At least I think so. Who doesn't get attached to their kids? To their pets? And miss their partner when they're away?
But if one can extricate one's identity from this human life and realise that we are more than it, then I guess suffering doesn't have to be prevalent the way we see it in the world today. Most of suffering arises from being totally lost in the identity of being human and thinking our thoughts and emotions are totally who we are, like 'I am angry' rather than 'I am experiencing anger right now' and as a result we suffer more because we are unconscious to the transcendent that lives in us. If we can realise we are transcendent and not just our thoughts and emotions, life becomes easier to manage and suffering is less when we do experience the pain and loss of living a human life.
I believe that we are all part of Spirit, or God, so there IS a higher authority that we are part of and connected to, and we can draw on in times of need. I believe it lives within us and outside us.
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