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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].

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
Need
Needs
Would
World
Disappear
Laughing
Dies
Born

More quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

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To express yourself as you are, without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, is the most important thing.
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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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There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment
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We ourselves cannot put any magic spells on this world. The world is its own magic.
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If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one.
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Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
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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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When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
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Because all existence is founded upon the ever-present state of union, everything already exists in a state of tranquility. However, this state of tranquility is masked from us by our assumption that there is a separation, that there is a problem.
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Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way.
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True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.
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There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment.
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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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The goal of our life’s effort is to reach the other shore, Nirvana. Prajna paramita, the true wisdom of life, is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached.
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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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If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
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When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity.
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Time goes from present to past.
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Christopher McCandless:I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.
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