Quote

Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.

Shunryu Suzuki

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Shunryu Suzuki
Age: 67 †
Born: 1904
Born: May 18
Died: 1971
Died: December 4
Bhikkhu
Leader
Missionary
Philosopher
Writer
Atlanta
Georgia
Idea
Gaining
Ideas
Breath
Way
Breaths
Time
Spirituality
Step
Steps
Practice
Spiritual

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

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A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha.
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Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.
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The highest truth is daiji, translated as dai jiki in Chinese scriptures. This is the subject of the question the emperor asked Bodhidharma: What is the First Principle? Bodhidharma said, I don't know. I don't know is the First Principle.
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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.
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When you are fooled by something else, the damage will not be so big. But when you are fooled by yourself, it is fatal. No more medicine.
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In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities. In the mind of the expert there are few.
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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.
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When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
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Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it dosen't tell time.
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When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.
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Moment after moment everything comes out of nothingness. This is the true joy of life.
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The seed has no idea of being some particular plant, but it has its own form and is in perfect harmony with the ground, with its surroundings ... and there is no trouble. This is what we mean by naturalness.
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You can't make a date with enlightenment.
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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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.
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To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat.
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When he bowed to all those buddhas, the buddhas he bowed to were beyond his own understanding. Again and again he did it.
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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.
Shunryu Suzuki
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To be different is to have value. In this sense all things have equal, absolute value. Each thing has absolute value and thus is equal to everything else.
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If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.
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