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
Even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way.
You must be true to your own way until at last you actually come to the point where you see it is necessary to forget all about yourself.
Those who sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen.
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.
You may say that things happen just by chance, but I don't feel that way.
Each of us must make our own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.
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.
True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.
A tiger does not ignore or slight any small animal. The way he catches a mouse and catches and devours a cow are the same.
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 way that helps will not be the same; it changes according to the situation.
When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.
Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.
Usually when someone believes in a particular religion, his attitude becomes more and more a sharp angle pointing away from himself. In our way the point of the angle is always toward ourselves.