Interview with Ron Browning

Just uploaded this interview with Ron on cuke. It's from six or so years ago. He and his wife were ordained as priests by Shunryu Suzuki in 1968. More at that link. - dc

Subtle

To know things as it is is to let everything act as they want. Let it be free - because you want to bind it, you have difficulties. It means to have a subtle understanding of our life. And our practice should be based on a subtle understanding of our human life, and a subtle understanding of all the rest of existence.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Annapurna has not disappeared

They've stayed open. Ben is in the US, but Krisna is putting time into it and others and they've changed the menu and are gonna see what happens. It's such a cool place that appeals to a lot of different people, not just the hip young ones. But there are just too many restaurants and too much everything in South Bali and it's hard for most places to stay open for long. Here's their Facebook page.

There it goes

Difficulty goes past -- like a bird, flying in the sky. Your mind, the sky knows what it is - oh, a bird is flying.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Little Lizard

This little lizard sat still on the floor by our dinning table while we ate there a month ago and I took this photo. Think it was stunned cause Sarah accidentally started to step on it. After dinner it disappeared. Then it showed up in my store-room on the floor the other day and just sat there again. I left it alone. We're used to gekkos and the tiny cecek, not slow moving lizards. I wonder if it's okay. It went back undercover somewhere. It's got subtle blue-greyish markings. About eight inches long. - dc

More Photos of the old fogies

Just added a bunch of stills, photos from the outtakes of a segment of a film on Tassajara filmed in 1970. 

No Way

Realistically, there is no way to attain oneness, one absolute existence. We cannot overcome suffering. Because suffering and  …uh... freedom  are a pair of opposites, a complete pair of opposites. But it is possible to attain an absolute, incomparable way of life.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Andrew in Kyoto

Andrew Atkeison sent this email with photos about his few days in Kyoto. He's having a great time. - dc

Check out Martha Sherrill

Trying to write something about science and religion remembered a man named Peter Sherrill and then found his daughter (1st try on a list of Facebook same names) who's most interesting. She's a Washington Post journalist who wrote The Buddha of Brooklyn and lots more. Go to her website - Martha Sherrill dot com. - I'll elaborate on all this later. - dc

Pernikahan

Congratulations Krisna Patra and Alanna Day who were married today in Sanur. Looking forward to the reception at 3pm. - dc

Contradictory Existence

Well, actually, the unity of opposites, the pairs of opposites exist. Good and bad exist. But there is no good without bad. There is no bad without good. We always exist as a pair of contradictory - we are a pair of contradictory existence. Perfect contradictory existence! [laughs] We are like this. We are not perfect, but contradictory existence!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 
Didn't edit this much because i think it's interesting the way he said it.

Unity at last

So, we are engaging with each other and because we are negating on one level, it is possible to attain oneness..... do you understand? Here is man and woman, one of them are here. But actually what does exist is the unity of man and woman. The unity of man and woman exists, but if you separate man from woman, there is no more woman or man. Because there is man there is woman.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

[and in that last sentence he doesn't mean in that order. - dc]

Carl Sagan and the Dalai Lama

Just watched the 12 parts of Carl Sagan's original Cosmos. Truly great with an eloquent finale about choosing life. His frequent dissing of mysticism and lumping it in with religion, myth, astrology, superstition all together made me speak to him sharply sometimes (because he's behind that screen there isn't he?) but I know what he meant by that was not the same as what I have in mind when I use that word. Here's a brief report on a day spent with the Dalai Lama by his talented wife and partner in making Cosmos, Ann Druyan.

Finally a use for Crooked Cucumber

Here's a Ted Talk by a woman in Kromkommer - Crooked Cucumber in Dutch I think on this video but German too. It's a group that's part of the growing movement to use and eat and not throw away produce that is discarded because of appearance.

Okusan, Suzuki Sensei, Mitsu

Photo of Mitsu Suzuki, 101, sent by Shunko Jamvold. -------A haiku from Mitsu Suzuki

Forgiving each other 
clear eye contact 
wisteria rain

Mitsu Suzuki cuke page

Shunryu's widow living in Shizuoka, Japan with her daughter.

Crooked Cucumber pirates!

Found a Youtube promo for Crooked Cucumber (thanks Peter Ford) with a supposed link to a PDF of it below in the text - and then found another from another person that had the same link and then saw that after that video promo it rolled over to a promo for a Byron Katie book. I was going to post the links and say that cuke policy is to encourage piracy, but Peter pointed out he suspected malware. Sort of weird.

But don't fret - there are other pirates out there and you can also read it for free on cuke.com by going here. Yes - it's self-pirated.

Steal this book: Crooked Cucumber: the Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki

And then, if you're of a kindly and generous temperament, click on "donate" in the top right of the banner.

Comparing Critters

Really got the catching cockroaches act down. Been getting one every few days. They seem pretty smart to me, I can sort of sense them thinking and being scared. They hide well - well, maybe like a five year old kid. See me and scamper for cover. They're still pretty easy to get. It's good we don't want to catch the tiny cicak (pronounced chichak) lizards that I used to think were small gecko.

Hillary gets through the hearing using ancient techniques

She mentions meditation, yoga, and flexing muscles as aides in maintaining her stamina and calm at the 11 hour Benghazi hearing. - thanks Peter Ford

Saying and Knowing

Past and future just exist in our minds. You say “past”, and you say “future” without knowing exactly what it is. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Another example of out of control

BBC on Indonesian haze - it's not here in Bali, at least not that I know of. Authorities say it's harder to fight than terrorism. Got to get a handle on this folks. I think it needs to be seen as a global problem in order to soften people's ears to listen and better get through to people and governments to take this more seriously, to do their part, set an example, that if they let commercial interests rule, they're gonna gag. - dc

Through and through

You are ignorance, through and through!

Enlightenment – through and through!

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Katrinka update

Katrinka's been in the US since October 6th. She's about halfway through her trip there. For the last few days she's been with her son Seth and his mate Dakota and her daughter Story who are in this selfie or is that selvesies. They just left the Bay area and are driving North with two vehicles, one  a 16 ft bed rental truck with what's left of our stuff from storage.

Andrew Atkeison at Rinsoin

Got a nice email from Andrew Atkeison who's in Japan for the first time and he went to Rinsoin for a brief visit. Check it out - brief, discriptive, newsy - plus his great photos big size. - dc

Following yesterday's comment

Why we have happiness is because we have difficulty at the same time.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Branches of the Sandokai video

Shunryu Suzuki's voice from his lecture on June 3rd, 1970 synched with footage from the Sandokai film. Produced by Timothy O'Conner Fraser, Michael Wenger - (c) 2005 - SFZC.  A 14 minute film (14:14:44) available now in one piece here on shunryusuzuki.com and better viewed here on the Youtube Cuke Video Sandokai playlist.

Why

Why do we have suffering? Because we have happiness or joy on the other hand.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Keep in mind SR has given other answers to this question such as "No reason."

Physics brain bath

PBS Digital Studios Space Time dept. The presentation is frenetic MTV fast unlike the pleasant, fascinating Sagan and Tyson Cosmos styles - but these PBS shorts wash my mind of beliefs and assumptions more effectively and doesn't contain the opinions about matters they, to my mind,don't understand.

Like Marx

You cannot find, reality, truth in a mechanical way of understanding your life or by static logic. The Buddha is more dialectical than that.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Ian's Birthday party

The birthday tea was fun. Had it at a table outside the rooms up at the homestay. Ians 75th. We're pretty even at tennis but he places the ball better - gets me running. Landlord David was there a little at first and Widya dropped by but mainly it was Ian, Cynthia, Julian - the Brit or Aussie with the baritone voice who lives there, and John, Aussie who is there bi monthly. He's tall, bald, nice, funny. Julian talks a lot and is humorous as heck.

An Unusual Definition

 Buddha is someone who strives for eternity. But he does not strive for difficulty or strive to suffer from difficulty.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Pembantu - helpers

K who I think but don't know for sure took the money is doing room cleaning now. I'm on the porch. Not looking for signs of guilt. He's my favorite. His partner W dominates him but they are harmonious. They talk softly constantly when they work together. K's more humble, genuine, a little sad. W is more up, playing a role, singsongy greetings. I like him too. Both are low key, small, from little villages.

Errata

The last four excerpts indicated they were from Suzuki lecture 66-08-16 but they were really from 66-08-17. - thanks Michael Katz for the keen eye

Breakthrough

We say there is no natural Buddha. Buddha is someone who attained enlightenment, but who is human, who has a break-through, and who found eternal joy in human life, in modern life. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

A Confusing Moment

Decided to get another rattan piece of furniture, this one with only a top shelf so my legs can go under it and my laptop on the only shelf. That will be the sixth piece we’ve bought from the little old lady who makes them in her hovelesque shop off the busy bypass. We love them because they are light and inexpensive. Nyoman Dogen and I figured out the exact measurements.

Daya's Team wins Silver!

St. George, Utah at the Huntsman Senior World softball games. Playing 2nd base for the Seattle Wet Socks 65+ team. Daya Goldschlag writes: My team, the Seattle Wet Socks 65+, took the silver in their bracket!

Three Mistaken Views

So we should be free of these three mistakes: to have an idea of perfection as a human being, or that we're bound by causality, or to try to ignore the theory of cause and effect. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Megafires are here to stay

At least for a while. Read bout it in the Rolling Stone.

That's the heart pool at Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown, CA - minus the structures that used to be there and around. Burned down with 70,000 acres not long ago.

heart-liver

There's the heart-mind we're used to in Japanese Zen - from China. And here there's the heart-liver. Wrote to MK: You're going to be sailing today. Hati hati (be careful in Indonesian. That's heart heart, the emotional heart. It actually means liver-liver.

Interminable

And it is an endless succession of effort. There is no end or no beginning. There is no beginning and no end – that is the Buddhist understanding of life.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.