Difficulties do not inherently strengthen a person.The idea that difficulties strengthen one is not precisely correct. One can indeed use difficulties for self-strengthening, if one has the disposition to do so. If one lacks such a disposition, then the difficulties merely irritate one and make one unhappy.
It is not the difficulties that strengthen one but the disposition of the spiritual warrior that enables one to make constructive use of the difficulties. They only become sources of growth when met with the right inner disposition, a stable, cultivated orientation of mind that allows adversity to be used constructively rather than reacted to emotionally.
"Buddhist practice is difficult in daily life because suffering alone does not transform us; only a cultivated disposition can turn ordinary difficulties into genuine inner growth."
In everyday life, most people lack this disposition. As a result, difficulties tend to irritate, exhaust, or discourage rather than transform. This explains why Buddhist values are difficult to practice in daily life: daily situations trigger deeply conditioned habits, desire, aversion, fear, and ego-defense, faster than untrained awareness can intervene.
Buddhism does not claim that suffering itself leads to wisdom. Instead, it teaches that wise engagement with suffering, developed through intentional practice, leads to transformation. This corresponds directly to the passage’s assertion that there is no passive evolution. Inner growth requires aspiration, cultivation, and sustained effort.
Disposition is not fixed. It can be intentionally developed through aspiration (the desire to embody higher qualities), repeated practice, and conscious reflection. Over time, this work produces real changes in how a person responds—so that patience, compassion, and clarity become increasingly available without deliberate effort. At that stage, Buddhist values begin to express themselves naturally in daily life.
Human evolution, in this sense, is not automatic. It occurs only when experience is met with a trained disposition capable of converting difficulty into insight and resilience. Without such inner work, life continues, experiences accumulate, but no deep transformation takes place.
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