Shunryu Suzuki Quotes

The person who can freely acknowledge that life is full of difficulties can be free, because they are acknowledging the nature of life - that it can't be much else.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after you attain it, it is nothing special.

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

Wherever you go you will find your teacher, as long as you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

The world is its own magic.

Tai Shimano visited Shunryu Suzuki. "How are you feeling these days?" Suzuki replied, "They have a new name for me: Cancer!"

When you sit, everything sits with you.

The way that helps will not be the same; it changes according to the situation.

Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

In your big mind, everything has the same value...In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there is Buddhahood

All descriptions of reality are limited expressions of the world of emptiness. Yet we attach to the descriptions and think they are reality. That is a mistake.

It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.

And we should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true non-attachment. And we should do something new. To do something new, of course we must know our past, and this is alright. But we should not keep holding onto anything we have done; we should only reflect on it. And we must have some idea of what we should do in the future. But the future is the future, the past is the past; now we should work on something new.

Our practice should be based on the ideal of selflessness. Selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea. Selflessness will be there when you do not try anything.

Meditation opens the mind to the greatest mystery that takes place daily and hourly; it widens the heart so that it may feel the eternity of time and infinity of space in every throb; it gives us a life within the world as if we were moving about in paradise.

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

You will always exist in the universe in one form or another.

In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner - not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.

Life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.

Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. The innocence of the first inquiry—what am I?—is needed throughout Zen practice. The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything.

When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore.

Time goes from present to past.

When you say, "Wait a moment," you are bound by your karma; when you say "Yes I will," you are free.

You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away?

So it is not a matter of whether it is possible to attain Buddhahood, or if it is possible to make a tile a jewel. But just to work, just to live in this world with this understanding is the most important point, and that is our practice. That is true zazen.

The goal of our life’s effort is to reach the other shore, Nirvana. Prajna paramita, the true wisdom of life, is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached.

The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking; we stop emotional activity; we just sit. Whatever happens to us, we are not bothered. We just sit. It is like something happening in the great sky. Whatever kind of bird flies through it, the sky doesn't care. That is the mind transmitted from Buddha to us.

It is not after we understand the truth that we attain enlightenment. To realize the truth is to live - to exist here and now.

If you want to study Zen, you should forget all your previous ideas and just practice zazen and see what kind of experience you have in your practice. That is naturalness.

Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for.

Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.

Happiness is sorrow; sorrow is happiness. There is happiness in difficulty; difficulty in happiness. Even though the ways we feel are different, they are not really different, in essence they are the same. This is the true understanding transmitted from Buddha to us.

So when you try hard to make your own way, you will help others...before you make your own way you cannot help anyone, and no one can help you.

If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.

For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.

A garden is never finished.

Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.

For Zen students, a weed is a treasure.

I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color--something which exists before all forms and colors appear... No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.

Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.

To cook is not just to prepare food for someone or to cook for yourself; it is to express your sincerity. So when you cook you should express yourself in your activity in the kitchen. You should allow yourself plenty of time.

A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha.