Mu

So those masters who understand Soto way, instead of “just to sit,” they may give you koan mu. What is mu? “Just to sit is mu” [laughs]. There is no difference. And this just to sit will be various kinds of koan, actually. So there may be thousands of koans for us, but if you can sit shikantaza, shikantaza includes various powers of practice. And this is the direct way to the enlightenment, or renunciation, or nirvana-- whatever you say. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

More on Robert Lytle

Here's a page for our dear dharma brother Robert Lytle who passed on to the next bardo earlier this month. If you want to add anything, just send it on. - DC

Robert and wife Brenda Grosz back in their Zen Center days. Maybe C. 1990?

Be Myself

This is not something you understand because I say so, you know. This is not teaching you believe in because Buddha says so. This is actual ultimate truth. The only way to attain renunciation without causing any problem for anyone is just to be myself. No problem whatsoever. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Just to Sit again

“Just to sit” is the most direct teaching. You cannot [laughs] say no or yes even, you cannot say anything about it - “just to sit” [laughs]. So we say “just to sit.” There is no more teaching.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Just to Sit

We say “just to sit,” but this word "just" is A should be A, directly points to liberation from A. Because you try to be something else, you lose your reality. So I should be just me. Then, at the same time, I have liberation. I have enlightenment. I am not a ghost [laughs]. I exist here. I am Buddha himself. I am not a ghost. This is just to sit.    -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Vanish

So to be just A like A-- only when we satisfy ourselves as A, you know-- as me, there is a chance to have realization or there is chance to vanish [laughs]. It is necessary to vanish [laughs]. If you don't, you are ghost [laughs] in your delusion. Something that exists should vanish. Is there something which doesn't vanish forever?   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Buddha

So there is no need to have bridge to the other shore. Other shore is other-shore buddha, this shore is this-shore buddha [laughs]. Just name is different but actually everything is Buddha. Bridge is ornamental Buddha, and this shore is also ornamental Buddha. The other shore is also ornamental Buddha.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

The SFZC's Engage Wisdom Audio Archive

The SFZC's Engage Wisdom Audio Archive is formidble and well-presented. They're presenting dharma talks at that site from all the teachers who speak there. As part of this great project, and of particular interest to us, is the Suzuki Roshi Audio Archive. Peter Ford, my associate at Cuke, has transcribed a couple of entries from there that weren't in the archive (- from a set of tapes recently found at the City Center) and entered the new transcripts on the EW site and shunryusuzuki.com. The EW link is being placed now with each entry in the shunryusuzuki to join the link to the SFZC other Suzuki lecture site - https://suzukiroshi.sfzc.org/. We're in touch with Charlie Wilson, a Zen student and owner of Sonic Zen Records in Berkeley who's doing the audio work, We've worked with him before. More on him later. Good going ZC!  

Practice

What is practice? When we were young, we used to discuss about what is bodhisattva's way to save others before we saved [laughs] ourselves. What does it mean? Is it possible to save others before we save ourselves? That kind of thing. And what is the goal of practice, and what is idea and what is the reality, reality in its ordinary sense? And reality cannot be, you know, the ideas. The practice will be the bridge from the reality to idea. This kind of discussion we had. But according to Dogen Zenji, practice is practice-- practice buddha, reality is the reality buddha, idea is idea buddha [laughs]. There is no problem [laughs, laughter]. When you practice, there is no Buddha or no human being. That which exists is just practice. When you say: “I am a human being,” it means human-being-buddha, another name of buddha. We understand in that way.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Fighting

When you have no mind and body, you have no problem [laughs, laughter]. Because you say, “This is mind and this is body and body should not be the burden of the spirit,” or something like that. “Our mind should work hard to control our body” something like this. In this case, mind is not mind. Mind is delusion, and body is also delusion. And delusion and delusion is fighting.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Lose

When you just sit and when you appreciate your being fully in your sitting, that is to lose your mind and body - before you lose it.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Sunseed with Zen in America re-released

Sunseed: The Journey

@SunseedMovie  · Movie 
A 2020 re-release of the 1973 film with a section called Zen in America that has footage from Tassajara filmed in 1970 with Shunryu Suzuki speaking and playing.
Official Trailer

The ABCs of it

Renunciation could be attained when A is just A and B is just B. Because A tried to be a C or a D [laughs], there is, you know, a problem. Because A is just A and A is bound to be disappear, that is renunciation. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

RIP Robert Lytle

Just received this message from Meg Alexander.

Dear Friends,
I got word from Sara that Robert died around 3:30 am this morning. Marc and I were there yesterday for several hours, sitting with Brenda and Sara. He was peaceful slipping away.

Robert was devoted to Amida Buddha, and Sara was able to arrange a reassuring phone call with his Tibetan teacher Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche about a week ago.

Robert and Sara were particularly close, and she was by his side these last weeks. Brenda has cared for him these last difficult years with enormous patience and skill and deep practice.

With tears and with gratitude for buddha dharma and sangha, Meg

Diane DiPrima

Dominique DiPrima posted the folowing on Twitter

Visiting my mom (Diane DiPrima) was a huge inspiration to start off 2020! She’s very sick and in a nursing home but she is busy writing and editing books plus reading and studying...No excuses! It’s go time!!

Diane Di Prima cuke page

Have and Lose

Only when you do not seek for anything, you have it. So when you do not try to attain enlightenment, you have it, you know. Because you try to attain something you lose it. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Seek

As long as you seek for something, you will get just a shadow of the reality, not actual one. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Something

Something which exists is bound to vanish. So something which you attained cannot be perpetual attainment. Something which you cannot figure out what it is will exist forever. Something which exists before everything appears will exist forever. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Vanish

That you are here means, you know, that you will vanish [laughs]. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Substitute

After practicing one or two months, if you don't think you have made some progress, you will give up in seeking for something good. But true religion cannot be obtained in that way. This kind of a way is the way to attain something in more materialistic sense. But true spiritual way cannot be like this. The way to work on spiritual things is quite different from the way to work on something which is more materialistic. Even though you talk about spiritual things, that is not actually spiritual. That is a kind of substitute for the [laughs] spiritual things.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

No Need

Whether you can realize it or attain enlightenment or not is minor problem. If you realize it or if you attain enlightenment, that's all the better. But even though you don't, there is no need to seek for some special teaching because the teaching is always here. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Volunteer(s) Sought

Would like to have some transcripts off tape reviewed for accuracy.

Got a few new Suzuki Roshi lectures or lecture parts just transcribed from a batch of tapes found at the SFZC City Center - old reel to reel archival tapes transfered by Michael Katz when he first came from Lindesfarne Asso. on the East Coast. He was their AV guy. He ended up spending some years at ZC and becoming ZC's literary agent - and mine and has been all along Cuke Archives Advising Overlord. My associate here at Cuke Archives, Peter Ford, has transcribed them and wants someone to go over his work for accuracy.

Please just send an email to dchad @ cuke dot com or a message to David Reich Chadwick at Facebook. Thanks. - DC

That image is the famous "His Master's Voice"

No Time

Because you are seeking for something which can be attained, you will be discouraged. And you will give up the practice and you will try to find out some other teaching which is worthwhile to strive for. And in this way you will change your way from one to the other. And you will have no time to realize our true nature which is universal to everyone. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Already

Before you attain enlightenment, enlightenment is there [laughs]. That is true. It is not after you attain enlightenment, you know, it is not because you attained enlightenment that enlightenment appears. Because enlightenment is always there, so if you realize it that is enlightenment. If you think enlightenment is something, some particular thing which you can reach for or which you can attain, sometime you will be discouraged because you are seeking for it, and you think that is something which can be attained. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

How to find things on Cuke dot com

I frequently get emails from people asking a question and wondering if it's on cuke.com but they are intimidated by the site which is so sprawling and don't know how to find it. Here's an answer I sent today from someone who wanted to read about Mel Weitsman. I wrote:

No Results

Because you sit, or because you try to do something, there is trouble. If you do not understand what it is, you think nothing results. Or if you feel you can rely on something, the teaching means nothing. But before you try to rely on it, teaching exists, you have it. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Just to Sit

Even though we say “just sit,” to understand what does it mean is rather difficult, maybe. So that is why Dogen Zenji left us so many teachings to explain what is just to sit. But it does not mean his teaching is so difficult. When you sit, you know, without thinking or without expecting anything, and when you accept yourself as a buddha or as a tools of buddha or ornament of buddha, or if you understand everything is the unfolding of the absolute teaching or truth, or if you understand everything is a part of the great being--one whole being, when you reach this understanding, whatever we say, whatever we think, or whatever we see, that is the actual teaching of Buddha. And whatever we do, that is actual practice of the Buddha himself. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Suzuki's on a roll here

You know, when your practice is not good, you are a poor buddha [laughs]. If your practice is good, you are good Buddha. And poor and good is also independent buddha. Poor is buddha, and you are buddha, and good is buddha, and you are buddha too. For every word, or whatever you think, whatever you say, every word becomes buddha. Then there is no trouble [laughs]. I am buddha. If I say “I am buddha,” “I” is buddha, “am” is buddha, “b” is buddha, and “buddha” is of course buddha. Buddha, buddha, buddha [laughs, laughter]. That is how you say buddha, buddha, buddha, buddha [laughs, laughter]. There is no need to translate it into English [laughs, laughter]. There is no need to be bothered by fancy explanation of Buddhism [laughs]. If you say “buddha, buddha, buddha, buddha” [laughs], that is the way. That is shikantaza, you know: everything is buddha. So sitting is buddha, lying down is buddha, and whatever you say, you know, each word is buddha. Dogen understood in this way, so he said, “When it is cold, you should be a cold buddha. When it is hot, you should be a hot buddha.” -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Continuing from yesterday

That is “just to sit.” When it is hot, you should be hot buddha. When it is cold, you should be a cold buddha. But, you know, this is very direct understanding of the story. Actually it says when it is hot, you should kill hot. When it is cold, you should kill cold by practice.
But according to Dogen Zenji, you know, when it is cold you should be a cold buddha, and when it is hot you should be a hot buddha. But if you say “kill,” you know, kill is extra [laughs]. If you say “kill,” or “to attain enlightenment,” it is extra. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Shikantaza

Tonight, you know, I want to explain shikantaza. We say “just to sit.” What does it mean by just to sit? Some monk asked a Zen master, “It is very hot [laughs]. How is it possible to sit somewhere where it's not hot or cold?”

The master's answer was, “When it is hot, you should be hot buddha [laughs, laughter]. When it is cold, you should be a cold buddha [laughs].”

That is “just to sit.” When it is hot, you should be hot buddha. When it is cold, you should be a cold buddha.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Prescription

Zen school established without depending on any teaching, any particular teaching. So Zen student use various scriptures. We do not say this is the most important scripture or this is not so important. Whatever the teaching may be, that teaching will help at least someone. It may not be for all of them, but it will help someone. So it is like a medicine or prescription. For some patient some particular prescription is necessary, but we cannot say this is better prescription or this is not so good. If you use it in appropriate way, that is the test of prescription. We understand in this way. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Continuing to talk with the guest

And we started to talk about cause and effect. And how it is karma, and it is also an eternal expression of each being or actual ornament of it. In this way we are free from karma. And yet we cannot get out of karma. [Laughs.] I was rather amazed we could communicate this kind of [laughs] things. She is from Redwood City and was sitting right there.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Crooked Cucumber is now in Japanese

Here's a cuke page for Magatta Kyuri

Continuing conversation with guest

And next question she asked was, what then is karma? And I said karma, yeah, karma is if you do something it will leave a result something, you know. And that result will cause some activity, you know.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Obituary for Bill Sterling

The obituary for Bill Sterling is pretty interesting and impressive.

Bill Sterling cuke page

A fairly recent photo of Bill with Yvonne

Happy New Year from DC and cuke.com!

This will be a cuke's 22nd year and a good year for graphics.

two-o-two-o --- II-0-II-O