Significance of Adversity and Suffering

Every suffering is a buddha-seed, because suffering impels mortals to seek wisdom. But you can only say that suffering gives rise to buddhahood. You can't say that suffering is buddhahood. Your body and mind are the field. Suffering is the seed, wisdom the sprout, and buddhahood the grain. ("The Wake-up Sermon" in Red Pine, tr. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, p.63.)