Quote

To express yourself as you are, without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, is the most important thing.

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
Fancy
Express
Without
Important
Thing
Way
Intentional
Adjusting

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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 are fooled by something else, the damage will not be so big. But when you are fooled by yourself, it is fatal. No more medicine.
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People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross- legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense.
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In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner - not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.
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Time goes from present to past.
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Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
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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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There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment.
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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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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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It is only by practicing through a continual succession of agreeable and disagreeable situations that we acquire true strengths. To accept that pain is inherent and to live our lives from this understanding is to create the causes and conditions for happiness.
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There will always be war, but we must always work to oppose it.
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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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A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha.
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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 your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything it is open to everything.
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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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Take care of things, and they will take care of you.
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The purpose of our practice is just to be yourself.
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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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