Sosan’s statement that “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences” points directly to the heart of Zen: the problem is not the Way itself, but the mind’s constant movement of choosing and rejecting. The “Great Way” here refers to awakening, to Buddha-nature, to reality as it is. This Way is described as “not difficult” because it is not something distant to be acquired; it is already present and unobstructed. What makes it seem arduous is the restless habit of liking and disliking, grasping and avoiding, dividing experience into good and bad, right and wrong.

These preferences are not merely casual tastes; they are the very activity of the discriminating mind that splits the world into dualities such as self and other, pure and impure. When the mind is occupied with clinging to pleasant experiences and pushing away unpleasant ones, it cannot meet reality directly. This dualistic movement generates inner friction and confusion, obscuring the inherent clarity and freedom of awareness. In this sense, the difficulty lies not in the nature of the Way, but in the mind’s attachment to its own judgments and biases.

To “have no preferences” does not mean becoming numb, passive, or indifferent. Rather, it points to a mode of awareness that does not cling to outcomes or solidify experiences as inherently good or bad. In such non-preferential awareness, responses can be spontaneous and appropriate, unburdened by ego-driven desire or aversion. When this clinging falls away, even momentarily, the mind becomes simple, open, and undivided, and the Way reveals itself as something natural and straightforward.

Thus, Sosan’s words invite a radical shift from managing and improving experience to releasing the compulsive need to sort it. As the discriminating mind relaxes, the sense of struggle against “what is” diminishes, and life can be lived in harmony with the unfolding of conditions. The Great Way then ceases to appear as a distant goal and is recognized as the very ground of ordinary experience, once the veil of preference is set aside.