For babies learning to walk, the suffering of falling isn't so great to not want to keep trying to walk. Maybe the pain of a fall is just trumped by the desire to learn, to walk around, gain competence and / or increase the level of freedom to explore more of this new and wonderous place we find ourselvesselves in as babies?
So when the desire for growth and all its by-products (freedom, awareness, competence, learning etc.) is higher than our resistance to pain in taking steps to get there, there's perhaps no longer any suffering. Suffering seems to imply a struggle with the process, as if this resistance to pain is almost equal to the desire for growth?
If so, it makes sense that in order to learn we don't need to suffer, its just that in the throes suffering, the alternative of growth free from suffering becomes clearer and more attractive by comparison. In which case our desire to grow, grows so-to-speak.
So you might say there's a point to suffering but it's not necessary for growth, at least that's what makes sense to me for now for what it's worth.
However, I heard this idea about how our relationship with reality is subject to suffering when we're out of aligniment with the truth. One example was a false belief on diet eventually leads to physical illness. Could it be the same with feelings we have about ourselves from early trauma (e.g. I am defective) being out-of-step with who we really are is the reason for emotional suffering that goes along with it?
If so, it suggests to me there's an intrinsic purpose in creation to bring us to truth both externally and internally. If this is a purpose of creation then we have a reliable barometer for when we're out-of-step with truth - pain.
Even though it's reliable it does seem indirect. I know as a dad I'd like to tell my daughter about dangers to avoid. I know there's merit to her figuring things out for herself, but if that was the only way she could learn, then there'd be no point me even being around. Clearly its not the only way we can learn so there is a point.
So I wonder if coming to truth is an intrinsic purpose guiding creation and we can also innately learn by direct guidance, would that direct guidance to truth be what people for thousands of years considered the personality of God accessed via prayer?