Quote

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.

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
Description
Limited
Expression
Mistake
Reality
Descriptions
Think
Attach
Thinking
Expressions
World
Emptiness

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Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.
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The goal of our life’s effort is to reach the other shore, Nirvana. Prajna paramita, the true wisdom of life, is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached.
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True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.
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Because all existence is founded upon the ever-present state of union, everything already exists in a state of tranquility. However, this state of tranquility is masked from us by our assumption that there is a separation, that there is a problem.
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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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The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.
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People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.
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If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
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In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.
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Instead of criticizing, find out how to help.
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If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one.
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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.
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Meditation opens the mind to the greatest mystery that takes place daily and hourly it widens the heart so that it may feel the eternity of time and infinity of space in every throb it gives us a life within the world as if we were moving about in paradise.
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If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything it is open to everything.
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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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The way that helps will not be the same it changes according to the situation.
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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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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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The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you where drinking water when you are thirsty.
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