Quote

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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Shunryu Suzuki
Age: 67 †
Born: 1904
Born: May 18
Died: 1971
Died: December 4
Bhikkhu
Leader
Missionary
Philosopher
Writer
Atlanta
Georgia
Felt
Confidence
Someone
Front
Sunflower
Whole
Flower
Appeared
Meditation
Cups
Sitting
Watching
Wonderful
Fronts
Universe
Sun
Experience
Tried

More quotes by 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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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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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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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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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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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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If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.
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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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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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It is a big mistake to think that the best way to express yourself is to do whatever you want, acting as you please. This is not expressing yourself. If you know what to do exactly, and you do it, then you can express yourself fully.
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Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.
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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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The world is its own magic.
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