A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?" Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason.

Shunryu Suzuki
A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored,
A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored,
A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored,
A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored,
About This Quote

Suzuki Roshi, the man who founded the San Francisco Zen Center, was an extremely kind and compassionate teacher. Apparently, one of his students was very upset by the suffering in the world. Apparently, this student had studied hard and learned about Buddhism. One day, Suzuki Roshi asked him why there was so much suffering in the world.

The student's response is not recorded in any of the published sources, but it is mentioned in a commentary to one of Suzuki Roshi's talks called "A Teaching on Tozan." What is clear from the story is that this student was both intelligent and deeply devoted to learning about Buddhism. He was not discussing some aspects of Buddhism that he needed to understand better. Rather, he was asking about suffering.

He wanted to know why there was so much suffering in the world. Why did people suffer?

Source: Zen Is Right Here: Teaching Stories And Anecdotes Of Shunryu Suzuki, Author Of Zen Mind, Beginners Mind

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