Life & Mortality Quote by Bodhidharma

A Zen founder compresses the whole problem of being human into two blunt nouns, then refuses to let you romanticize either of them. “Life and death are important” lands like a gavel: no metaphysical detours, no pious denial. In Buddhist practice, the point isn’t to argue your way out of mortality; it’s to see clearly that existence is shot through with impermanence, and that this fact should reorganize your priorities.

The second sentence is the blade. “Don’t suffer them in vain” doesn’t promise escape from pain; it attacks wasted pain. Bodhidharma’s subtext is disciplinary: you’re going to be pressed by hunger, boredom, fear, grief, aging. You can meet those forces with unconscious flailing, or you can turn them into fuel for awakening. The word “vain” is doing heavy moral work, implying that suffering becomes pathetic when it’s merely repetitive - when it hardens into self-pity, distraction, or spiritual procrastination.

As a leader speaking to monks (and, by extension, any serious practitioner), Bodhidharma’s intent is to cut through complacency. Zen tradition is famous for its anti-sentimental ruthlessness: stop bargaining with reality. This line belongs to the same culture as long sits, simple meals, and the insistence on direct experience over comforting stories. Life and death matter not because they’re sacred abstractions, but because they are the only classroom you actually get.