Quote

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.

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
Strictly
True
Mindfulness
Nature
Excellence
Human
Speaking
Humans
Direct
Way
Expression
Life
Growth
Practice

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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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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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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.
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When you sit, everything sits with you.
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There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment
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All descriptions of reality are limited expressions of the world of emptiness. Yet we attach to the descriptions and think they are reality. That is a mistake.
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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.
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To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.
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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
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Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours.
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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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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.
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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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Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
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Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.
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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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You see something or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is. [...] Whatever you do, it should be an expression of the same deep activity. We should appreciate what we are doing. There is no preparation for something else.
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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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