Shunryu Suzuki Quotes

So if you do something, you should be observant, and careful, and alert.

...you will find the worst horse is the most valuable one. In your very imperfections you will find the basis for your firm, way-seeking mind... But those who find great difficulties in practicing Zen will find more meaning in it. So I think that sometimes the best horse may be the worst horse, and the worst horse can be the best one.

Those who are attached only to the result of their effort will not have any chance to appreciate it, because the result will never come.

Before we were born we had no feeling; we were one with the universe. This is called “mind-only,” or “essence of mind,” or “big mind.” After we are separated by birth from this oneness, as the water falling from the waterfall is separated by the wind and rocks, then we have feeling. You have difficulty because you have feeling. You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created. When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact we have no fear of death anymore, and we have no actual difficulty in our life.

The cause of conflict is some fixed idea or one-sided idea. When everyone knows the value of pure practice, we will have little conflict in our world.

I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color — something which exists before all forms and colors appear... 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.

There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

Another mistake will be to practice for the sake of the joy you find in it. Actually, when your practice is involved in a feeling of joy, it is not in very good shape either. Of course this is not poor practice, but compared to the true practice it is not so good.

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

Everything should exist in the right place, in the right way.

But as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice.

You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it.
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.

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

Before something happens in the realm of calmness, we do not feel the calmness; only when something happens within it do we find the calmness.

Instead of only criticizing your culture, you should devote your mind and body to practicing this simple way. Then society and culture will grow out of you.