Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki (18 May 1904 – 4 December 1971) was a Japanese Zen master of the Soto school, who played a major role in establishing Buddhism in America.

Sourced

• Communication is — start by understanding — your own understanding about people. Even though you want them to understand you, you know, it is — unless you understand people, it is almost impossible. Don't you think so? Only when you understand people, they may understand you. So even though you do not say anything, if you understand people there is some communication.
  • Lecture at the Zen Mountain Center (17 August 1971)

• When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
  • Quoted in 'Enter the Heart of the Fire : A collection of Mystical Poems (1981) by Mary E. Giles and Kathryn Hohlwein

• You may say you attained some stage in your practice. But that is just a trivial event in your long life. It is like saying the ocean is round, or like a jewel, or palace. For a hungry ghost the ocean is a pool of blood; for a dragon the ocean is a palace; for a fish it is his house; for a human being it is water. There must be various understandings. When the ocean is a palace, it is a palace. You cannot say it is not a palace. For a dragon it is actually a palace. If you laugh at a fish who says it is a palace, Buddha will laugh at you who say it is two o'clock, three o'clock. It is the same thing.
  • "Three Lecture Excerpts from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi" in Berkeley Zen Center Newsletter (May 2000)

• There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.
  • Quoted in Zen Millionaire : The Investor's Guide to the "Other Side" (2007) by Paul B. Farrell
  • Variant: Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

• In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few.
  • Prologue

• The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind.
  • Prologue

• You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.
  • Pt. 1 : Right Practice "Mind Weeds", p. 26

• 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.
  • Pt. 1 : Right Practice "The Marrow of Zen" , p. 29

• After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. 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. So there is no need to worry about progress.
  • Pt. 1 : Right Practice, "Bowing"

• Practice does not mean that whatever you do, even lying down, is zazen. When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice….

When you sit, you will sit. When you eat, you will eat…. If you say,”It doesn’t matter,” it means that you are making some excuse to do something in your own way with your small mind. It means that you are to some particular thing or way. That is not what we mean when we say, “Just to sit is enough,” or “Whatever you do is zazen.” Of course, everything you do is zazen, but if so, there is no need to say it. p. 41

• If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.
  • Pt. 3 : Right Understanding, "Naturalness"