Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it dosen't tell time. Shunryu Suzuki More Quotes by Shunryu Suzuki More Quotes From Shunryu Suzuki What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. Shunryu Suzuki exhaling doors moving You are perfect as you are and there is always room for improvement. Shunryu Suzuki empowerment perfect rooms True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything. Shunryu Suzuki communication may way Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink. Shunryu Suzuki motivational inspirational life If you want to enjoy the movie, you should know that it is the combination of film and light and white screen, and that the most important thing is to have a plain, white screen. Shunryu Suzuki important light white The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves. Shunryu Suzuki buddhism study purpose 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. Shunryu Suzuki archery real practice 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. Shunryu Suzuki emotional practice thinking In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki imagination teaching inspirational To express yourself as you are, without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, is the most important thing. Shunryu Suzuki adjusting fancy important Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice. Shunryu Suzuki voice moments listening 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. Shunryu Suzuki kitchen sincerity cooking 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. Shunryu Suzuki spiritual rivers inspirational There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment Shunryu Suzuki connections moments yesterday 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. Shunryu Suzuki fluidity contradiction wisdom When you try to attain something, your mind starts to wander about somewhere else. When you do not try to attain anything, you have your own body and mind right here. Shunryu Suzuki buddhism views somewhere-else When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer. Shunryu Suzuki long mean thinking Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, 'Oh, this pace is terrible!' But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself. Shunryu Suzuki fog mind ideas If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere. Shunryu Suzuki walks ifs rain A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha. Shunryu Suzuki disciple bows masters
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