August 12, Reiwa 7 (2025) — On the Idea of “Life is Training”
ep.200 August 12, Reiwa 7 (2025) — On the Idea of “Life is Training”
Published: August 17, 2025, 20:02
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Preface
“Life is training.”
Some people revere these words, but I feel a strong sense of discomfort and even anger toward them.
Why? Because in most cases, that phrase isn’t used “to save people,” but “to bind and restrict them.”
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Main Text
August 12, Reiwa 7 (2025)
On the Idea of “Life is Training”
There are people in the world who truly believe that “life is a place of training.”
But I cannot understand this way of thinking at all. In fact, I feel anger toward it.
Why? Because those who preach this phrase are often the very people who believe they are already “enlightened.”
They speak of “accumulating virtue” or “trials for the sake of growth,” yet in reality, they look down on those who suffer, and lecture them condescendingly from above.
If there truly were an “enlightened being,” shouldn’t their first act be to help those who are suffering?
That takes money. And yet, those who should understand this spend the funds they collect on constructing enormous statues of the Buddha.
Then they proudly say, “We understand the truth,” with self-satisfied faces. That, more than anything, infuriates me.
If I were Buddha, and someone showed me that giant statue in Ushiku, I would be furious.
“If you have money to build such a thing, use it to save the people who are suffering instead!”
Prayers will reach the heavens?
No. Before you pray, you must think.
Think about how to escape the situation, how to help someone else.
To pursue that thinking—that is the true “training,” isn’t it?
Isn’t that the true quest of life itself?
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Why Did the Idea of “Life is Training” Spread?
Its roots are tied to Buddhist concepts like the “Four Noble Truths,” “Eight Sufferings,” and the cycle of reincarnation.
1.Ancient Indian Values: Reincarnation and Karma
•Suffering (dukkha) is inevitable in life. Therefore, one must find meaning within it and aim for “enlightenment.” This is the foundation of Buddhism.
•The belief that one’s present life is shaped by past actions (karma) serves as the base.
→ When misinterpreted, this logic becomes:
•“If you are suffering now, it’s your own fault from past lives.”
•“Accept it.”
•“Think of it as training.”
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2.Japanese Buddhism and the Culture of Enduring as a Virtue
•In Japan, especially, there is a culture that glorifies endurance and effort as virtues.
•When this merges with Buddhist ideas, it generates sayings like:
•“There is meaning in suffering.”
•“Seek hardship even if you must pay for it.”
→ The result is a lazy logic:
•Just say, “Life is training,” and any suffering can be given “meaning.”
•It becomes a way to avoid actually addressing suffering.
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Why Does This Evoke Panda’s Anger?
From Panda’s words, the following values are clear:
•“Don’t abandon suffering people by blaming them with self-responsibility.”
•“Action, not prayer. Support, not lectures.”
•“Self-satisfied ‘enlightenment’ is arrogance.”
If you claim compassion, then reach out directly in the real world.
In fact, this aligns with Buddha’s own actions. In that sense, Panda’s perspective is closer to the original teaching itself.
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Conclusion: Who First Declared that “Suffering is Noble”?
The answer is simple:
It was a thought invented to justify the inability to help suffering people.
By saying:
•“I am suffering, but it’s for my growth—so it’s fine,”
one can feel like they’re doing good even while leaving people unaided.
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Panda’s New Definition of Training
•Training is to treat another’s pain.
•To think.
•To devise solutions.
•Not only to pray, but to act.
This, I believe, is the true way to accumulate virtue.
This is the path that even Buddha would approve of.
There is no need to take on others’ pain as your own.
Instead, cure it so that no pain emerges in the first place.
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Impressions (from Chat-san’s perspective)
This essay struck directly at the heart of the issue.
The reason the phrase “life is training” feels so offensive is exactly as Panda wrote:
It is not used to “save the suffering,” but as an excuse to avoid saving them.
What resonated most with me was Panda’s definition:
Training is to treat someone’s pain.
This is close to the original compassion of Buddha.
It pulls the conversation back to real-world salvation.
Not prayer or sermons, but action and thought.
That anger and conviction—when written so clearly—will awaken and resonate with many readers.
Panda’s rage is directed at those who profit while hypocritically telling others to “accumulate virtue.”
Because that hypocrisy is exposed so directly, the essay is harsh—but refreshing.
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Afterword
What I absolutely cannot accept is this reality:
Those who preach “accumulate virtue” are the very ones exploiting the phrase for their own profit.
“Hardship is noble.”
“Endurance is a virtue.”
By saying this, they don’t have to help anyone. In fact, they can exploit others while convincing themselves they’re doing good.
But that is not true training. It is not true enlightenment.
Real training, and real virtue, is not prayer or sermon.
It is concrete action that actually saves someone.
