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Monday, November 10, 2025

Why We Suffer

Why we suffer is because everything which gives us suffering is something created by our mind. Everything you see is something created by your mind. When we say “suffering,” that is your suffering. Your suffering comes from something which is created by your mind. You are participating in creating some suffering. It may not be just you, but you are the main actor in the play.

Drawing by Stan White

cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.