Arranging

So we should not arrange teaching horizontal or vertical. We should realize the meaning of the teachings, one by one, without arranging. So this is not only the Zen way but also Tendai's way. So-called middle way in Tendai is a way to accept teaching one by one without arranging it. That is the middle way.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Willem Malten shares

Two Tassajara Stories

Willem Malten cuke page

Other Things

Although everything is changing, moment after moment it will change, but everything at that moment, the smallest particle of time, exists in that form or color with close, close relationship with other things. That is true.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Carl Bielefeldt on Mts & Rivers Sutra

which Carl calls the Mountains and Waters Sutra. Previously posted his 1999 talk at Tassajara on this fascicle of Dogen's Shobogenzo. Went over it to see what could be included in Tassajara Stories and came up with an abridged version and two entries in Brief Memories. Check it all out.


Got this image from a 2008 ad on a talk by Gary Snyder on his great poem, Mountains and Rivers without End, which also enters into Carl's talk.

Nothing exists

If everything is changing, nothing exists, nothing special exists. This is true, but in the smallest particle of time, everything exists. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

The Most Important Point: Zen Teachings of Edward Espe Brown

“‘The most important point is to find out what is the most important point.’ After a lifetime of practice inspired by his teacher, Suzuki Roshi, Ed Brown reveals that the most important point is love and acceptance. And in these pages we learn how to apply this lesson right into the middle of our lives. More than a book on Zen, this is a book on living and learning how to live amid life’s many challenges.”

Publisher’s Weekly review

Amazon link

Danny Parker spent five years putting this book together and is listed as a co-author and editor

available  April 2, 2019

Edward Brown cuke page

Deity

Belief in some permanent one deity is based on the idea of existence. Even though you say “spiritual life,” that is not spiritual life. It is another form of material life. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. 

Materialistic

Even people who are not satisfied with materialistic way of life, as long as their view of life is based on some substantial viewpoint of existence, they cannot get out of materialistic way of life. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Universality and Wisdom

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Samanta is “universal, universality.” And bhadra means “wisdom” or “validity”-- more solid and concrete idea. Anyway, his name is Samantabhadra, universality and sagacity. So this bodhisattva is bodhisattva of all the dharma, all the universal teaching. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Non Thinking

We say “think non-thinking.” So you may say that is to obtain something which you cannot obtain. Anyway, what you will have through zazen is more than what you think you have acquired. This kind of acquisition cannot be attained by experience or thinking. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Oops.

That link to my Instagram photos page was intended for the Cuke nonZense blog so I'm deleting it from Cuke New blog but leaving this as a plug for the companion blog. - dc

Photos from the Last 1.5 years

On my Instagram page

Merit

Even though you do not realize, you do not think, or you are not aware of the merit of your zazen, it does not mean you haven't acquired anything. Even though you think you have had some special experience, that does not mean you acquired the true power of meditation.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Universality and Validity

Received an email asking about a post from Tuesday, March 19th on Suzuki's use of  validity and universality and how validity can be acquired thru right meditation, do I have more to say on this, and  what did he mean by universality means in this arena, and what is meant by right meditation?

Respond

You know, you should be always ready to respond to the circumstances. Perfect ability to respond to the circumstances is what you will have through right meditation. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Flexibility

If zazen practice is just to acquire or to attain some special experience, that is not true zazen. True zazen that you have acquired or obtained through right practice is more than just experience. You may say what you acquire by right meditation is power of adjusting yourself according to the circumstances. Sometime we put emphasis on flexibility. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Universality

That which you will attain through experience will be some universality. But some accurate, substantial, solid, tangible feeling, or meaning cannot be attained by experience. So we put emphasis on validity rather than universality. This validity could be acquired through right meditation. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

RIP Lee de Barros

I just learned that Lee de Barros has died - on March 6th in hospice care. He was a good, gentle man Condolences to Martha de Barros and family. Here's a piece that his step-daughter Maria wrote on Facebook.

Seido Lee deBarros was a Dharma teacher in the Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen lineage. He served as a Buddhist chaplain at San Quentin prison and as a minister to the homeless and to hospice patients. - from SFZC.org

Experience

Even though you repeat same experience over and over, that result of experience is still experience, and that is not-- that cannot be the perfect truth.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Wind Bell Search

The Wind Bell (of the SFZC) search page now has categories. Thanks Peter Ford.

Highest Sutra revamp

For those who receive these posts by email, the Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpt published March 15th titled Highest Sutra was accidentally published before it was ready to go up. So here's how it should have read. Unfortunately, you don't get edits and corrections of posts once they go out to you. Thanks. - DC

Then how?

Through intellectual understanding, you may have the universal truth. You may understand what is universal truth by induction or by experience or by thinking. But the wisdom which we mean cannot be acquired through thinking or by experience.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Highest Sutra

...to the Mahayana Saddharmapundarika Sutra. This sutra is supposed to have highest teaching of Buddha as well as the Avatamsaka Sutra. 

[DC comment: Of course at other times other sutras are said to be the highest such as the Heart Sutra. Bodhidarma is said to have brought only the Lankavatara Sutra with him from India. But the Theravada people wouldn't agree as they don't recognize any Mahayana Sutras.] --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Sustainable Suzy post moved

Accidentally put the Sustainable Suzy post here on Cuke What's New which is for Zen/Shunryu Suzuki/Cuke Archives posts, mainly Suzuki lecture excerpts. Now it's where it was supposed to go - on Cuke nonZense.

Many Worlds

[We recited the sutra to] all buddhas past, present, and future all over the world.

Here “world,” this “world” is not just this human world. There are many worlds. So this “world” means worlds-- various worlds.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Vairocana

Nirmanakaya Buddha, Sambhogakaya Buddha, and Dharmakaya Buddha are actually one. In this way we understand Buddha. And here, instead of Buddha, the name Vairocana Buddha is here. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Realization

If we put emphasis on the truth itself, rather than its spiritual or physical being, that is Dharmakaya Buddha. Although he is the embodiment of the truth, without practice he cannot attain enlightenment or he cannot express the truth. Only when he actually practice the truth, the truth will be realized. Realization of the truth will take place in this sense. We called him then Sambhogakaya Buddha. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

The Triple Treasure

Buddha as the truth is Dharmakaya Buddha. Buddha as rewarded body is Sambhogakaya Buddha. And Buddha which takes various form to help people is Nirmanakaya Buddha.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Lecture on the Meal Chant

So we have here Buddha and sangha and dharma. So to recite those names actually-- if you recite those names with a deep understanding, you are practicing the Buddha's way.   --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture on the Meal Chant - 68-01-11B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Fancy Robes

The great teachers are doing, you know, just enough, and not too much! [Laughs]. Sometimes they wear gorgeous okesa, and beautiful hat, and long staff, beautiful sandal, and beautiful whisk.

You may think, "That is too much!" [Laughs].

Maybe too much, but why they do so is people like it, you know. [Laughter].  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Chronicles Project features A Brief History of Tassajara

The Chronicles Project of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche posted a nice piece on our dear little Tassajara history book. Check it out.

It's available now on Amazon new for $15.

Nyepi

It's Nyepi - can't do anything. Can't even post this but it's pre-posted so that's okay. Will return to posting tomorrow. Google it to understand.

Just Right

Our rules are just right. If you try to do more, you will be exhausted. You cannot keep up your practice for seven days and eventually you will give up. That is the result, you know?  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Too Hard

Student: You said that during practice, a student can do ... must be careful not to do too little or too much.

SR: [Laughs].

Student: As an example of too little, you said he might fall asleep. But what do you mean by too much? How is it possible to do too much or try too much?

SR: Too hard, you know, too hard.

Student: What would be an example...

SR: To get up, you know, too early, you know, before other students in bed, you know. To get up early and to sit – that is not good practice! --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC [DC note: This was a lesson Suzuki learned when he was a young monk as told in Crooked Cucumber.]

Business

So, if you know how to take care of your practice, you will know how to take care your business, you know, in its true sense. Sometime businessman doesn't take care of his own business [laughs]. He take care of something quite different! You know? Beautiful girls, or bank books [laughter]. That is a problem! You know? --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Take care.

Student: So no one should practice alone?
SR: Hmm? No. No individual, no... no... no practice just for yourself. No. To take care of zendo is practice. To take care of your own teaching is practice. We understand practice in that way. How you know how to take care of your kitchen is how you sit. Even though you sit, you have many problems, you know. Drowsiness, pain in your legs, and posture, and you have to take care of your breathing, and your posture should not be like this, you know (slumping), you should be always straight. There's many things to take care of, in your practice. We are not just sitting on cushion, you know, [laughs] sleeping. We are taking care of everything. Just you take care of your family, your wife or husband, your children. That is real practice, you know.  --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Surrounding

Yourself, you know, will be found in your surrounding. You will be always completely absorbed in what you see - if you are not fooling yourself. If you exist here, you know, that is very true. So, so we have no individual practice, in its usual sense. Our individual practice include everything. --------------------------------------------------  Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki question and answer- 68-00-00-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC