Best 189 quotes of Shunryu Suzuki on MyQuotes

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.

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.

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.

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.

And we should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true non-attachment. And we should do something new. To do something new, of course we must know our past, and this is alright. But we should not keep holding onto anything we have done; we should only reflect on it. And we must have some idea of what we should do in the future. But the future is the future, the past is the past; now we should work on something new.

An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth.

As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now.

A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?" Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason.

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.

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.

Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to.

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.

Concentration comes not from trying hard to focus on something, but from keeping your mind open and directing it at nothing.

Discipline is creating the situation.

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.

Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.

Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.

Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself.

Enlightenment is not a complete remedy.

Even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way.

Even though you have pain in your legs, you can do it. Even though your practice is not good enough, you can do it.

Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.

Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, 'Oh, this pace is terrible!' But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself.

Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Everything you do is right, nothing you do is wrong, yet you must still make ceaseless effort.

Faith is a state of openness or trust...In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to the truth, whatever it might turn out to be.

For Zen students, a weed is a treasure.

For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.

From True Emptiness The Wondrous Being Appears

Happiness is sorrow; sorrow is happiness. There is happiness in difficulty; difficulty in happiness. Even though the ways we feel are different, they are not really different, in essence they are the same. This is the true understanding transmitted from Buddha to us.

Hell is not punishment, it's training.

How much 'ego' do you need? Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.

If enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing in nothing, believing in something which has no form or no color, which is ready to take form or color. This enlightenment is the immutable truth. It is on this orginal truth that our activity, our thinking, and our practice should be based.

If you can just appreciate each thing, one by one, then you will have pure gratitude. Even though you observe just one flower, that one flower includes everything

If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.

If your practice is good, you may become proud of it. What you do is good, but something more is added to it. Pride is extra. Right effort is to get rid of something extra.

If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.

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.

If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts.

If you understand real practice, then archery or other activities can be zen. If you don't understand how to practice archery in its true sense, then even though you practice very hard, what you acquire is just technique. It won't help you through and through. Perhaps you can hit the mark without trying, but without a bow and arrow you cannot do anything. If you understand the point of practice, then even without a bow and arrow the archery will help you. How you get that kind of power or ability is only through right practice.

If you want to enjoy the movie, you should know that it is the combination of film and light and white screen, and that the most important thing is to have a plain, white screen.

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].

In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it.

In reflecting on our problems, we should include ourselves.

Instead of criticizing, find out how to help.

Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.... In the beginner's mind there is no thought, 'I have attained something.' All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. We can really learn something.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.