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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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Shunryu Suzuki
Age: 67 †
Born: 1904
Born: May 18
Died: 1971
Died: December 4
Bhikkhu
Leader
Missionary
Philosopher
Writer
Atlanta
Georgia
Practice
Words
Three
Two
Always
Japanese
English
Secret

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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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The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.
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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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Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.
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How much 'ego' do you need? Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.
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You will always exist in the universe in one form or another.
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The way that helps will not be the same it changes according to the situation.
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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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The more you practice zazen, the more you will be able to accept something as your own, whatever it is.
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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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To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.
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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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Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them.
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To cook is not just to prepare food for someone or to cook for yourself it is to express your sincerity. So when you cook you should express yourself in your activity in the kitchen. You should allow yourself plenty of time.
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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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Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.
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Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice there is no other way of life than this way of life.
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There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment.
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