The Problem with Suffering Is Lacking Wisdom

📖Master’s Reading

Many facing setback feel it unbearable, even defeated by hardship. Yet the truth is: there is nothing under heaven that is absolutely suffering; we feel suffering because we lack wisdom and do not know how to handle it.

It is like cooking bitter melon: one who does not know the method throws it straight into the pot, and it tastes bitter and hard to swallow; but a wise chef knows that if you scrape the pith clean, blanch it, and add some seasoning, bitter melon too becomes a sweet dish. Life is the same: no circumstance is absolutely suffering; it depends on whether you have the wisdom and method to turn bitter into sweet.

We often, out of ignorance and clinging, let ourselves soak in bitter water. In truth, suffering was never to destroy you but to accomplish you. Practice often says "take suffering as teacher" precisely because without experiencing bone-deep pain, how would the longing for liberation arise? Without falling and failing, how would the wisdom to avoid risk be refined?

Every difficulty and setback carries an opportunity for the soul's growth. When you no longer flee and take suffering as life's teacher, learning to transform the mind and seek a solution, the hard pass that once made you weep finally becomes a stepping-stone toward success. Remember: suffering was never the problem; lacking the wisdom to transform it is the true problem.

🌱Reflection for Daily Life

• Understand that there is nothing under heaven that is absolutely suffering.
• Feeling suffering is because of lacking wisdom.
• Learn to cook bitter melon, turning bitter into sweet.
• No longer flee; take suffering as teacher.
• Suffering is not the problem; lacking wisdom is the problem.