You can't make a date with enlightenment. Shunryu Suzuki More Quotes by Shunryu Suzuki More Quotes From Shunryu Suzuki Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for. Shunryu Suzuki bigsfiguresmind I think you're all enlightened, until you open your mouths. Shunryu Suzuki enlightenedmouthsthinking It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom. Shunryu Suzuki seeking 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. Shunryu Suzuki practicemindthinking The purpose of our practice is just to be yourself. Shunryu Suzuki being-yourselfpurposepractice 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. Shunryu Suzuki compassionselfschool We have to study with our warm heart, not just with our brain. Shunryu Suzuki studybrainheart Don't move. Just die over and over. Don't anticipate. Nothing can save you now because you have only this moment. Not even enlightenment will help you now because there are no other moments. With no future, be true to yourself and express yourself fully. Don't move. Shunryu Suzuki enlightenmentspiritualmoving In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it. Shunryu Suzuki fireordermean When you live completely in each moment, without expecting anything, you have no idea of time. Shunryu Suzuki momentstimeideas An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth. Shunryu Suzuki enlightenmenttruthdoe The more you practice zazen, the more you will be able to accept something as your own, whatever it is. Shunryu Suzuki ableacceptingpractice A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?" Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason. Shunryu Suzuki emotionstudentssuffering You see something or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is. Shunryu Suzuki appreciatepreparationexpression Christopher McCandless:"I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things. Shunryu Suzuki joypeoplethinking 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. Shunryu Suzuki dimensionseffortearth When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world" but actually, There is just one whole world. Shunryu Suzuki aircloudswind 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. Shunryu Suzuki seriouslongideas Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way. Shunryu Suzuki teachingrealityart If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts. Shunryu Suzuki observationifstrying
