“What does that mean?” Alex wondered aloud.
“It means your suffering comes from what you believe, not from what is,” said a gentle voice.
Alex turned around and saw Zorro, the black cat with white paws, who always seemed to know more than anyone else. Lexie, the silver-gray kitten, followed playfully, chasing after butterflies.
“Zorro, how can suffering come from me? If I get hurt or lose something, it’s clearly from outside!”
Zorro adjusted his long fur and said,
“That’s true, Alex, there is pain in the world. If you hurt yourself, you feel physical pain. But suffering... well, suffering comes from how we think about pain or loss.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked, puzzled.
Zorro leaped onto the rock and explained:
“Imagine you lose a toy. The pain comes because you like that toy and don’t want to lose it. But if you understood that toys come and go, the suffering would be smaller.”
Lexie, who had stopped playing, chimed in:
“Suffering happens when we hold on too tightly to things or believe that everything should always go the way we want.”
Alex thought about something that had happened recently. He had lost his favorite ball and had been very upset. But a few days later, his grandmother told him it was good to learn to enjoy what he had without clinging too tightly to it.
“So, if I learn to accept what happens, the suffering can go away?”
“Exactly!” said Zorro. “It doesn’t always disappear immediately, but you can learn to see it differently. Suffering is tied to your perception and attachments. When you stop identifying with the ego that says, ‘This is mine’ or ‘It should be different,’ suffering becomes just a passing shadow.”
Alex smiled. He was beginning to understand that the world was full of lessons. He promised himself that the next time he felt suffering, he would stop and ask: “Where is this coming from? Is it real, or just the shadow of what I believe?”
Zorro looked at him wisely and said,
“You’ve taken a big step, Alex. Understanding suffering is the path to freedom.”
And so, Alex left the clearing, accompanied by Lexie and Zorro, feeling lighter and braver. He now knew that suffering wasn’t a barrier, but a guide to deeper understanding.