In Shodo Harada Roshi’s teaching, suffering is not treated as an error in life to be eliminated, but as the very catalyst that can awaken a deep spiritual search. He presents suffering as the point at which practice truly begins: when one can no longer avoid dissatisfaction, insecurity, and pain, a genuine questioning of life arises. This questioning, sometimes described as a kind of “great doubt,” becomes the energy that drives a person to commit to zazen and rigorous training. In this way, suffering is not an obstacle on the path; it is the doorway that leads one to step onto the path at all.

Harada Roshi consistently emphasizes that suffering must be faced directly rather than avoided, suppressed, or covered over with comforting stories. Through zazen and mindful awareness, practitioners are encouraged to sit right in the middle of fear, loss, confusion, and physical or emotional pain, using posture, breath, and sometimes koan practice as an anchor. By neither indulging in suffering nor pushing it away, the mind’s usual escape routes are gradually exposed and relinquished. This direct encounter allows a clear, simple, and concentrated mind to emerge, capable of seeing how suffering actually functions.

A central point in his teaching is that suffering exposes ego-clinging. What is ordinarily called “suffering” is traced to self-centered views: grasping at “me” and “mine,” resisting change, and demanding that reality conform to personal preferences. When these patterns are observed in meditation, they become visible as the very mechanisms that generate distress. Suffering then serves as a mirror, revealing the illusions and attachments that bind the mind. In this sense, hardship is not valued for its own sake, but as a means to see through the illusion of a separate, solid self that stands opposed to the flow of life.

Harada Roshi’s demanding style of training, with its long hours of sitting and strict forms, uses difficulty as fuel for wholehearted effort. Through such practice, practitioners may experience breakthrough moments in which they directly realize a nature that is originally whole and not fundamentally damaged by changing conditions. This realization does not erase pain, aging, or loss, but transforms the relationship to them: suffering is seen as part of the play of causes and conditions rather than a fixed personal fate. From this transformed perspective, the deep recognition of one’s own suffering naturally opens into compassion for others, and the very experiences that once felt like burdens become the ground for wisdom, responsibility, and compassionate activity.