Quote

If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.

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
Discouraged
Thick
Pride
Wall
Effort
Practice
Confine
Become
Idealistic
Take
Attainment

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It is a big mistake to think that the best way to express yourself is to do whatever you want, acting as you please. This is not expressing yourself. If you know what to do exactly, and you do it, then you can express yourself fully.
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We ourselves cannot put any magic spells on this world. The world is its own magic.
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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.
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To express yourself as you are, without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, is the most important thing.
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If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
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Moment after moment everything comes out of nothingness. This is the true joy of life.
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When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.
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To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.
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A flower falls, even though we love it and a weed grows, even though we do not love it....In this way our life should be understood. Then there is no problem.
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Although we have no actual written communications from the world of emptiness, we have some hints or suggestions about what is going on in that world, and that is, you might say, enlightenment. When you see plum blossoms or hear the sound of a small stone hitting bamboo, that is a letter from the world of emptiness.
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If you were not born in this world, there would be no need to die. To be born in this world is to die, to disappear [laughing].
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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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Concentration comes not from trying hard to focus on something, but from keeping your mind open and directing it at nothing.
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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.
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Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.
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Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
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