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Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.

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
Everywhere
Teaching
Particular
Religion

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

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The secret of Soto Zen is just two words: not always so.... In Japanese, it's two words, three words in English. That is the secret of our practice.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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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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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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
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In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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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There will always be war, but we must always work to oppose it.
Shunryu Suzuki
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The highest truth is daiji, translated as dai jiki in Chinese scriptures. This is the subject of the question the emperor asked Bodhidharma: What is the First Principle? Bodhidharma said, I don't know. I don't know is the First Principle.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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
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Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours.
Shunryu Suzuki
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Zen is everywhere.... But for you, Zen is right here.
Shunryu Suzuki
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Our practice should be based on the ideal of selflessness. Selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea. Selflessness will be there when you do not try anything.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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.
Shunryu Suzuki
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When you say, Wait a moment, you are bound by your karma when you say Yes I will, you are free.
Shunryu Suzuki
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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.
Shunryu Suzuki
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Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them.
Shunryu Suzuki
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When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice.
Shunryu Suzuki
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Discipline is creating the situation.
Shunryu Suzuki
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Moment after moment everything comes out of nothingness. This is the true joy of life.
Shunryu Suzuki
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If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.
Shunryu Suzuki