Actually this reminds me of when I received my BJJ black belt, which is considered quite a big thing in these circles. The tradition is that when one receives their black belt they give some kind of a speech, imparting wisdom on the students who one day wish to stand on that same pedestal.
So the other black belts at the ceremony gave all sorts of speeches, mostly centred around quite serious tenets, such as honour, loyalty, hard work etc.
When it was my turn all I could sincerely say was a very quick tip - “That the trick is to have fun”. And indeed this is what I did, those 10 years I spent training were not something like “sweat, blood and tears”. It was always great fun to engage with the challenge of mastering a craft.
I just could not agree that getting a BJJ black belt was a serious thing, or that any suffering was required.
So I wonder is this just another aspect of the “straight and narrow path”, a tenet which holds that suffering is required to succeed, that one’s success is predicated on how much pain they are willing to endure in the process etc. It certainly did not apply with regards to achieving the black belt, why should it be any different with actual freedom? Especially when the wide and wondrous path is one of enjoyment and appreciation.