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

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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
Inactivity
Calmness
Activity
Easy
True
Hard

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

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If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.
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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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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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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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You can't make a date with enlightenment.
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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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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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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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Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
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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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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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Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours.
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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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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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Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it. That is practice.
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Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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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When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
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There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment
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