Shunryu Suzuki Quotes

The best way to control cow and sheep is to give them a big grazing field.

In the beginner's mind there is no thought, "I have attained something." All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless. Dogen-zenji, the founder of our school, always emphasized how important it is to resume our boundless original mind. Then we are always true to ourselves, in sympathy with all beings, and can actually practice.

So the most difficult thing is always to keep your beginner's mind. There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say, "I know what Zen is," or "I have attained enlightenment." This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner. Be very very careful about this point. If you start to practice zazen, you will begin to appreciate your beginner's mind. It is the secret of Zen practice.

When my master and I were walking in the rain, he would say, 'Do not walk so fast, the rain is everywhere.'

We should not be just a fan of dragons; we should always be the dragon himself. Then we will not be afraid of any dragon.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.

Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.

As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now.

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, it is hard to have calmness in activity, but calmness in activity is true calmness.

Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it. That is practice.

When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.

Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Concentration comes not from trying hard to focus on something, but from keeping your mind open and directing it at nothing.

Those who sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen.

How much 'ego' do you need? Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.... In the beginner's mind there is no thought, 'I have attained something.' All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. We can really learn something.

We die, and we do not die.

There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love...Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self-love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love.

If you understand real practice, then archery or other activities can be zen. If you don't understand how to practice archery in its true sense, then even though you practice very hard, what you acquire is just technique. It won't help you through and through. Perhaps you can hit the mark without trying, but without a bow and arrow you cannot do anything. If you understand the point of practice, then even without a bow and arrow the archery will help you. How you get that kind of power or ability is only through right practice.

People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as an enlightened person. There is only enlightened activity.

The secret of Soto Zen is just two words: not always so.... In Japanese, it's two words, three words in English. That is the secret of our practice.

Because all existence is founded upon the ever-present state of union, everything already exists in a state of tranquility. However, this state of tranquility is masked from us by our assumption that there is a separation, that there is a problem.

When something dies is the greatest teaching.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves. That is why we have teaching. But the teaching is not ourselves. It is some explanation of ourselves. To study the teaching is to know yourselves. That is why we do not ever attach to the teaching, or to the teacher. The moment you meet a teacher you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. You want a teacher so that you can be independent. So you study yourselves. You have the teacher for yourselves, not for the teacher.

In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities. In the mind of the expert there are few.

To find perfect composure in the midst of change is to find nirvana.

Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.

After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little.

If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.

You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.

Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.

While you are continuing this practice, week after week, year after year, your experience will become deeper and deeper, and your experience will cover everything you do in your everyday life. The most important thing is to forget all gain ing ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.

When you accept everything, everything is beyond dimensions. The earth is not great nor a grain of sand small. In the realm of Great Activity picking up a grain of sand is the same as taking up the whole universe. To save one sentient being is to save all sentient beings. Your efforts of this moment to save one person is the same as the eternal merit of Buddha.

The more you practice zazen, the more you will be able to accept something as your own, whatever it is.

To be different is to have value. In this sense all things have equal, absolute value. Each thing has absolute value and thus is equal to everything else.

It must be obvious...that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity.

No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.

The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless.

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

If you can just appreciate each thing, one by one, then you will have pure gratitude. Even though you observe just one flower, that one flower includes everything

Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life.

When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it....In this way our life should be understood. Then there is no problem.

In your everyday life you always have opportunities for enlightenment. If you go to the rest room, there is a chance to attain enlightenment. When you cook, there is a chance to attain enlightenment. When you clean the floor, there is a chance to attain enlightenment.

To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything.