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We try, and we try, and we fail and then we go deeper.

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
Fail
Deeper
Failing
Trying

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Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours.
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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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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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When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice.
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It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.
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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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A flower falls, even though we love it and a weed grows, even though we do not love it....In this way our life should be understood. Then there is no problem.
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Although we have no actual written communications from the world of emptiness, we have some hints or suggestions about what is going on in that world, and that is, you might say, enlightenment. When you see plum blossoms or hear the sound of a small stone hitting bamboo, that is a letter from the world of emptiness.
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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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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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Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.
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There will always be war, but we must always work to oppose it.
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Meditation opens the mind to the greatest mystery that takes place daily and hourly it widens the heart so that it may feel the eternity of time and infinity of space in every throb it gives us a life within the world as if we were moving about in paradise.
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Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it dosen't tell time.
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All descriptions of reality are limited expressions of the world of emptiness. Yet we attach to the descriptions and think they are reality. That is a mistake.
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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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If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
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So when you try hard to make your own way, you will help others...before you make your own way you cannot help anyone, and no one can help you.
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Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
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