--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But nothing awakens religious…" description: "\"“But nothing awakens religious consciousness like suffering.”\" — D.T. Suzuki" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/d-t-suzuki-8748_religion_but-nothing-awakens-religious-consciousn_2650212.jpg" --- # But nothing awakens religious consciousness like suffering. ![“But nothing awakens religious consciousness like suffering.” quote by D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/d-t-suzuki-8748_religion_but-nothing-awakens-religious-consciousn_2650212.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/d-t-suzuki-8748_religion_but-nothing-awakens-religious-consciousn_2650212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/d-t-suzuki-8748_religion_but-nothing-awakens-religious-consciousn_2650212.jpg) > ““But nothing awakens religious consciousness like suffering.”” [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering can trigger deep spiritual awareness, prompting people to confront existential questions. **In simple terms:** Pain can awaken spiritual insight. Key Takeaway Reflect on how hardship reshapes your beliefs. Themes spirituality ufferinguffering awakening Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - grief - health challenges - war trauma Key Concepts Zen Buddhism existential crisis Questions to Reflect On - How has personal pain altered your worldview? - Can suffering be a catalyst for growth? A Different Perspective Suffering alone does not guarantee insight; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakens Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakens-religious-2343516/) [Like Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-suffering-262585/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion-and-philoshophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-and-philoshophy/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-consciousness-975871/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [My hope is that a religious consciousness will begin to rise, one based on enhancing humanity, grasping life in all of its complex wonder,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/my-hope-is-that-a-religious-consciousness-will-begin-to-rise-one/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [“Religion has no physical conception of the world; it has no interest in a physical explanation, which can never be given but with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/religion-has-no-physical-conception-of-the-world-it-has-no-interest/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [It was then that my religious consciousness emerged to flower years afterward into definite forms of religious dancing in which there is no sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-st-denis/it-was-then-that-my-religious-consciousness-emerged-to-flower-years/) [Ruth St. Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-st-denis/) > [“Israel is the historical definition of the specific nature of the religious consciousness, save only that here this consciousness was circumscribed by the limits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/israel-is-the-historical-definition-of-the-specific-nature-of-the/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [“Once you let them establish their ideology in you, they will drive you crazy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-let-them-establish-their-ideology-in-you-they-will-drive-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. 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Pain has the remarkable capacity to reveal the weakness of the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/there-s-nothing-like-suffering-to-reveal-how-small-and-needy-you-are/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [“My hopes were all dead --- struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the first-born in the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-hopes-were-all-dead-struck-with-a-subtle-doom-such-as-in-one-night/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“It is essential that you follow your own idea of passion, even if to others it looks like suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/it-is-essential-that-you-follow-your-own-idea-of-passion-even-if-to/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“Maybe love, like suffering, is relative. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/maybe-love-like-suffering-is-relative/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More by D.T. Suzuki > [The worst passion we mortals cherish is the desire to possess. Even when we know that our final destination is a hole not more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-worst-passion-we-mortals-cherish-is-the-desire-to-possess-even/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Copying is slavery. The letter must never be followed, only the spirit is to be grasped. Higher affirmations live in the spirit. And where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/copying-is-slavery-the-letter-must-never-be-followed-only-the-spirit/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Zen, in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/zen-in-its-essence-is-the-art-of-seeing-into-the-nature-of-one-s-own/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [The mistake consists in our splitting into two what is really and absolutely one. Is not life one as we live it, which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-mistake-consists-in-our-splitting-into-two-what-is-really-and/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Until we recognize the SELF that exists apart from who we think we are - we cannot know the Ch'an ( ZEN ) MIND](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/until-we-recognize-the-self-that-exists-apart-from-who-we-think-we/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Facts of experience are valued in Zen more than representations, symbols, and concepts-that is to say, substance is everything in Zen and form nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/facts-of-experience-are-valued-in-zen-more-than-representations/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [The claim of the Zen followers that they are transmitting the essence of Buddhism is based on their belief that Zen takes hold of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-claim-of-the-zen-followers-that-they-are-transmitting-the-essence/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [When we start to feel anxious or depressed, instead of asking, "What do I need to get to be happy?" The question becomes, "What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/when-we-start-to-feel-anxious-or-depressed-instead-of-asking-what-do/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Zen abhors repetition or imitation of any kind, for it kills. For the same reason Zen never explains, but only affirms. Life is fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/zen-abhors-repetition-or-imitation-of-any-kind-for-it-kills-for-the/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [To point at the moon a finger is needed, but woe to those who take the finger for the moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/to-point-at-the-moon-a-finger-is-needed-but-woe-to-those-who-take-the/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [One has not understood until one has forgotten it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/one-has-not-understood-until-one-has-forgotten-it/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [That's why I love philosophy: no one wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/that-s-why-i-love-philosophy-no-one-wins/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Zen opens a man's eyes to the greatest mystery as it is daily and hourly performed; it enlarges the heart to embrace eternity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/zen-opens-a-man-s-eyes-to-the-greatest-mystery-as-it-is-daily-and/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [“Modern life seems to recede further and further away from nature, and closely connected with this fact we seem to be losing the feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/modern-life-seems-to-recede-further-and-further-away-from-nature-and/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Zen Makes use, to a great extent, of poetical expressions; Zen is wedded to poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/zen-makes-use-to-a-great-extent-of-poetical-expressions-zen-is-wedded/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) [Explore all 78 D.T. Suzuki quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) ## More Religion quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The love religion is all that is written here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-love-religion-is-all-that-is-written-here/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Personal Style comes from within. It's when the woman, her individuality and spirit come through. She uses clothes to express who she is and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-karan/personal-style-comes-from-within-it-s-when-the-woman-her/) [Donna Karan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-karan/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-religion-has-mandated-killing-others-as-a-requirement-for-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-goal-of-spiritual-practice-is-full-recovery-and-the-only-thing/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Deepen your existing spiritual commitment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-buettner/deepen-your-existing-spiritual-commitment/) [Dan Buettner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-buettner/) > [The United States cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of religion. 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