Quote

It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, it is hard to have calmness in activity, but calmness in activity is true calmness.

Shunryu Suzuki

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Shunryu Suzuki
Age: 67 †
Born: 1904
Born: May 18
Died: 1971
Died: December 4
Bhikkhu
Leader
Missionary
Philosopher
Writer
Atlanta
Georgia
Inactivity
Calmness
Activity
Easy
True
Hard

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

Image
In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities. In the mind of the expert there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
Someone was sitting in front of a sunflower, watching the sunflower, a cup of sun, and so I tried it too. It was wonderful I felt the whole universe in the sunflower. That was my experience. Sunflower meditation. A wonderful confidence appeared. You can see the whole universe in a flower.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
From True Emptiness The Wondrous Being Appears
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
When you say, Wait a moment, you are bound by your karma when you say Yes I will, you are free.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
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.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
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.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
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
Image
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.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
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].
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
We must exist right here, right now!
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
Enlightenment is not a complete remedy.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after you attain it, it is nothing special.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.
Shunryu Suzuki
Image
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