Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu Suzukiwas a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and is renowned for founding the first Buddhist monastery outside Asia. Suzuki founded San Francisco Zen Center, which along with its affiliate temples, comprises one of the most influential Zen organizations in the United States. A book of his teachings, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionLeader
Date of Birth18 May 1904
CountryJapan
To find perfect composure in the midst of change is to find nirvana.
Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
Everything you do is right, nothing you do is wrong, yet you must still make ceaseless effort.
Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.
If your mind is empty, it is ready for anything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.
Everything is perfect and there is always room for improvement.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.
Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to.
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.
To renounce things is not to give them up. It is to acknowledge that all things go away.
Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.
An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth.