My housemate wanted a Japanese translation of the above title, written in Japanese calligraphy.
It’s one of his favourite quotes, and we originally thought it was an ancient Buddhist phrase.
However… after a lot digging on the Internet to find a Japanese translation…. it seems that the original phrase is actually Japanese!
It comes from a work by the famous contemporary Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami. He has a deep interest in Buddhism, and draws inspiration from Buddhist philosophy to improve his life and work. As well as his award-winning novels, he has written some non-fiction books, including one on Buddhism in which this phrase appears. It is based on the Buddha’s teaching that “life is suffering”.
Originally we thought the phrase was: “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional“, however, the actual phrase is:
「痛みは避けられないでも苦しみは自分次第だ！」
The last part of the phrase 「自分次第だ！」 has a much stronger nuance. Those of you studying Japanese will recognise 「次第」 as meaning “depends on” or “is up to”. So it’s more like “it depends on you!“
Calligraphy by Vicky 