Quote

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.

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
Thinking
Ears
Hear
Stop
Practice
Without
Trying
Mind
Think

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

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No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.
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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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Take care of things, and they will take care of you.
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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.
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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.
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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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To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.
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If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
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Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.
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To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat.
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Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.
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Zen is everywhere.... But for you, Zen is right here.
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When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon 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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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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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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In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.
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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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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.
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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.
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