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Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.

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
Mind
Like
Traces
Flowers
Spring
Flower
Free
Past

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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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We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves.
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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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People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.
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Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.
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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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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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It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.
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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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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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If you want to study Zen, you should forget all your previous ideas and just practice zazen and see what kind of experience you have in your practice. That is naturalness.
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We ourselves cannot put any magic spells on this world. The world is its own magic.
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When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice.
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In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.
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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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For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.
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The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.
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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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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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Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
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