1 President’s Column, December 2021 The Suffering Hypothesis: How the New Science Supports the Ancient Wisdom of Meaningful Suffering Paul T. P. Wong The above title sums up the main thrust of all my academic and professional activities this year. It is never easy to change people’s deeply entrenched negative view of suffering, but I have at least turned the corner, thanks to the pandemic. Now, more people are interested in learning about the protective and transformative benefits of suffering. Some people may wonder how my suffering hypothesis is related to Jonathan Haidt’s (2006) happiness hypothesis. Indeed, the two hypotheses are not only similar in linking ancient wisdom to modern science, but they are also inextricably related to each other as two sides of the same coin. In other words, neither hypothesis can stand by itself, because the single-minded pursuit of happiness without paying attention to the dark side of life and our inherent vulnerabilities is self-handicapping (Fowers et al., 2017), whereas focusing on liberation from suffering will not be effective without the joy of living. These two hypotheses represent two essential functions of the soul: (a) to satisfy the soul’s yearning for happiness through meaning work, loving relationships, and serving something or someone greater than we are; and (b) to satisfy the soul’s ultimate concerns and need to co-exist with evil, suffering, and limitations. These two functions need to work together to achieve healing and flourishing according to my dual-system model (Wong, 2012). This is how we can avoid the extreme of either too much happiness or too much suffering because every extreme will trigger a strong reaction. It is through integrating happiness and