Some Neat art work

 Kelsang Tsogtor (Van Vorheis) had these pictures done in Oaxaca.

Mitsu Suzuki, Shunryu Suzuki, Jerome Peterson

Evil Desiree

So nature or outlook of things is two names of one thing, one reality. Sometime we say buddha-nature. Sometime we say enlightenment or bodhi or buddha or attainment. But those are just the two side of one reality. So not only we call it from those two side, but also we call it, sometime, “evil desire.”                   --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-20 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Lucy (Bennett) Calhoun

 2020 Letter to the SFZC Leadership to set the record straight.

Cuke interview with Lucy

Buddha Nature

What does it mean when we say everybody has buddha nature? When we say buddha-nature,  you may think buddha-nature is some innate nature because we say nature. In Japanese we use same words--nature-- buddha-nature. But actually it is not nature like nature of human being, or nature of plant, or nature of cats or dogs. It is not that kind of nature. In this case nature means something which is there whatever you do. Whatever you do, there is nature. Nature is not something which is there before you do something. When you do something, at the same time, nature appears. That is what we mean by nature when we say buddha nature.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-20 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Eyes Open or Closed

Harry Garcia, of recent post (Friday, Aug. 27) fame, wrote about doing meditation with eyes opened or closed. He's mainly studied Tibetan Buddhism but in Japan where he lives now did a Vipassana retreat.

Referring to Yesterday's Story

That is, I think, a good example. I'm not, you know, trying to convince you to give up smoking, or something like that. But we must have that kind of way-seeking mind. Then, you know, your practice will be pretty good.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Two Anecdotes

Just got a neat email from Harry Garcia

Hi. I met you in Dec 1972 in Albuquerque. You were passing through with Dianne [Daya Goldschlag]. You wore a purple down jacket. I was a student of Trungpa but I'd just spent the Fall Practice Period at Tassajara where Dianne had also been practicing. Hence the visit. We smoked pot.

I have a few anecdotes I thought you might like. When I went to Karma Dzong in 73 I met Annapurna. She told me she'd been in India and that because she had severe asthma she had the habit of asking gurus what to do if one were dying. She ran into Trungpa there and asked him. His advise was, "Be open and have a sense of humor." 

And a Mel Weitsman anecdote! When I was at Tassajara I overheard a conversation on Alice Haspray's with Mel. She explained to Mel that Trungpa hadn't been able to play when he was a child. Mel responded, "Now he's playing." 

A Smoking Story

Kitano Zenji-- when I was at Eiheiji Monastery, head of the monastery was Kitano Zenji. He told-- he told us why he-- how he gave up smoking. He was inveterate smoker when he was a monk, and he told us about it. “I was,” you know, “very bad smoker.” But when he was traveling, he came across the pass-- Hakone Pass. It was misty weather. So, sitting on the rock on the top of the pass [path?], take out a pipe and started to smoke in misty weather. It is very good, as you know, to smoke in some damp, misty weather. It was so nice that he was struck by the, you know, by the taste of it, and he determined to give up [laughs, laughter] smoking. That was the last smoke, you know [laughs]. You know, wherever he is, you know, even he is resting on the top of the mountain after climbing up maybe eight miles, he was actually-- he didn't lose the conviction [laughs] of practicing zazen. “Oh!” [Laughs, laughter.] “I must give it up!”                   --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

A Pencil Drawing from a Photo

Kelsang Tsogtor (formerly Van Vorhees) had this drawing done in Thailand. He later gave the photo it was based on to Zen Center. I sent this drawing to Rinsoin and the Suzuki's said they hadn't seen it and were surprised when I said it was drawn from a photo. I think there's a slight chance it's not Shunryu Suzuki but it sure looks like him when he was younger. Maybe it's from when he first arrived in the US in 1959. He was 55 years old then. You can download it from this page on shunryusuzuki.com.

Eat

When you eat, you would rather eat something sweet and nice, but actually, whatever it is, we should be ready to accept and eat, without saying, “This is delicious,” or “This is not so good.” When you want to have something more, you should come back to our conviction.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Extend

So this conviction, this kind of practice, should be extended in your everyday life, but your way of everyday life should not be extended to our practice [laughs, laughter].                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Conviction

You should extend this conviction to practice our way to your everyday life. That is our everyday life. But we easily lose this kind of conviction. That is a very important point, and in your everyday life I want you to come back to this kind of conviction. Then, you know, your everyday life will be completely refreshed. And at the same time, I think it may be your great problem if you haven't this kind of conviction in your everyday life. This is very, you know, difficult thing                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Erik Storlie old photo

Asked Erik for a photo of him back in the day to go with the more recent photo that went with his podcast.

Erik wrote: Here's a picture of my brother and me as we rebuilt the floor of the cabin in about 1970, the summer before i came to live at page street--arriving horrified to hear that roshi was dying. I'm on the left.

Now Erik's looking for a photo of him with Shunryu Suzuki at the first Tassajara sesshin in 1967.

Erik's Cuke page - with a link to his podcast and the photo larger

Outtakes from Zen Is Right Now

Vignettes about Shunryu Suzuki that hit the cutting room floor - bookwise - but they are reborn here - and they're all elsewhere on cuke.com or shunryusuzuki.com too though some few came from my memory and another few from notes. This is just the first batch. There will be about 150 in all. The exciting process of how the selection was made is described on this page.

Happen

When I am talking to you, and when you are listening to me, I think you have the right kind of conviction, and I have too [laughs]. But when you go home [laughs], what will happen? And when I am not, you know, talking, or when I am not practicing zazen with you, what will happen? That is the point.                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Willem and his father

 

Willem wrote: His name was Klaus Malten, a dermatologist and professor. He taught me many many things, iron discipline in the first place. Not that I have much of that now, but he tried. And I did too. He visited Zen Center maybe twice or even 3 times. He was very skeptical at first, but started to like sitting after a few times, since it reminded him of being silent in the second ww, and hiding from the Germans (even though he himself was half German and  spoke German as fluently as a natural).

DC: I've hear people say that zazen reminded them of many things but this is the first time I've heard that it reminded them of sitting still to avoid be discovered by the enemy. Makes sense.

Stand UP

You may understand how important it is to have some strong conviction to practice zazen. When you sit, actually: “I shall never stand up from this seat unless someone tells me to stand up,” that is the way. Then, at that time, your practice is beyond space and time. “How long, it doesn't matter. Wherever I am, it doesn't matter. I shall never stand up unless someone tells me to stand up.” That is shikantaza.                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Yakusan

Once Yakusan, the famous Zen master in China, was asked to give a lecture. “It is so long since you gave a lecture, so please give some lecture after sesshin.” [Laughing.] He came up to the altar and came down, and went to his room without saying anything. So for him, one minute is enough. For me, it takes twenty minutes [laughter].

But his jisha asked him, after he went back to his room, “Why didn't you give a lecture, some words?” And he said, “I am a Zen master, so I will not say anything. If you want to study Zen, you should listen to some Buddhist philosopher, then he will explain it in detail [laughs, laughter]. I am a Zen master, so to practice with you is my motto. For me there is no need to speak, and for my students there is no need to receive any lecture.”                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Okesa

Willem Malten in Santa Fe has finished sewing his okesa. He wrote: "Started this with Kobun-- finally finished. Took 30 years or so to get this far, with long breaks in the middle (Kobun’s death). The stitching is with Japanese golden threat on green canvas cloth. and supposedly the pattern itself is a reflection on the irrigation channels through rice fields in Japan."

Skin

OK - listen through your skin, you know. This is enough. There is no need to listen through your ears. [Laughs.] So to listen to a lecture with empty mind is very important as you practice zazen.                      --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Coming in April

 

On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings Hardcover – April 26, 2022

by Robert M Psig  (Author), Wendy K. Pirsig (Author)

Amazon link

See a bit about Wendy Pirsig in Cuke's Who We Are

Nose

So whether you understand it intellectually or not is not point. We say if you attend a lecture, even though you are sleeping, it is all right. [Laughs, laughter.] It is all right because, you know, the teaching will come right into your home, through your, you know, through your nose or whatever you call it.                     --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Three Simple Lines

Natalie's latest book is Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku

 (love that title - let's open it up and see what it says)

Get closer to it at

Natalie Goldberg dot com

Listen

Zen is not something to study like you study science or philosophy. Zen is something to listen to. Listen to means, you know, with empty mind, to accept the truth without seeking for what your teacher says. Just, you know, listen to it with empty mind. Then his words will penetrate into your mind.                    --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Communicate

We communicate with each other without sticking to words. You should directly communicate with each other, not by words. This is very important.                   --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Referring to yesterday's excerpt

So this kind of paradoxical statement could be understand just by your tummy, you know, by your zazen, or else you don't understand.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Summer Reading

 The links are back on the summer reading post from yesterday. Twice they disappeared so  just letting you know. .That happens when it uploads so we must remember to check it after uploading. - dc

Both are true

If someone asks you, “What is Zen?” you may say, “Whatever you say, that is Zen.” [Laughs.] And you may say, at the same time, “Whatever you say, it is not Zen.” [Laughs.] Both is true for us.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Summer Reading

Three Charles Stories - Fiction, short stories, adventure, psychological, family issues, and relationship with Nature. 

Three short stories that describe a lifetime of challenges, danger, heartbreak, relationships, adventure, and getting in touch with our fundamental identity. 

The link disappeared on this post from a few days ago so here it is again. 

And here's a page for Jed on cuke with the bio from the back of the book.

I've reposted this again because the links have disappeared and those who get it in an email won't get the fixes. 

Talk

Actually, Zen is not something to talk [about], and also it is something to talk about. [Laughs.] If you understand Zen in that way, your understanding will be perfect.                    --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-19 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

A Poem by Beverly Armstrong (Horowitz)

 

Goodnight Mr. Emptiness 

Beverly sent the poem after receiving the recent (August 2021) Cuke Archives message offering downloads and prints of the Mike Dixon painting.

I actually started a drawing of this image many years ago. Will see if i can find it (lol).This image, Roshi's face, also resides at the center of my desktop (macbook), where i can practice with him at any time.

Point

So you should not interpret same words in always same way, you know. It is how we study Buddhism. If we can read same word same way every time that is another mistake. So constantly we must open our eyes, open our mind, and see the situation. That is the point.                    --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Buddha's Desire

More or less, our desire is selfish desire. So only one desire is complete and that is Buddha's desire [laughs]. We should know that. And Buddha's desire is not like the desire we have actually right now.                   --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

A Portrait of Shunryu Suzuki

We just sent out a message that you may have already received that featured this photo of Shunryu Suzuki by early Suzuki student and renowned artists Willard Mike Dixon. Click on this link to see that message which includes a link to download a high resolution scan of the portrait and an option to receive an archival giclee print of it signed by the artist as a gift to generous donors.

And there's other exciting Cuke Archives News on that page and subtle opportunities to help us keep the Cuke Archives ship afloat.

Check it out. - dc

Desire

Student E: Would you also say it's not good to restrict desire too much, so that one becomes unhappy and makes others unhappy too? [Laughter.]

SR: When I say you should restrict your desire, I mean you should not extend your desire in a limited sense. You know, for instance [picks up something], “This is my desire,” you know. You limit the nature of desire already. So “without limitation” means to have a wider understanding of the desire. Then you can extend it forever.                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

No Mistake

Student D: Where did that mistake come from? [Believe there's a self/

SR: That mistake? That is not actually mistake, you know [loud laughter]. That is all right. But you say “mistake,” you know. You may ask me why I say mistake. That is, you know, one-sided view [laughs]. You don't see things as it is because you stick to one-sided view [laughs]. Okay? [Laughing.]                  --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Mistake

 Student D: If things as they are, are selfless, where does the small self come from?

SR: Actually, there is no small self, you know [laughter], but you say there is small self [taps stick on table as he talks]. That is the mistake. We-- we usually have that kind of mistake.                --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Summer Reading for you

Three Charles Stories - Fiction, short stories, adventure, psychological, family issues, and relationship with Nature. 

by Jed Linde who was at Tassajara and in the city back in the Suzuki and early Baker days. He and his wife, Maria, and their daughter Monica also lived in and ran the Jamesburg house. At some point they moved to Salinas where he set up shop as a therapist. Jed and I were close back then. And now what a pleasure to be in touch with him again through these Three Charles Stories - intriguing name. - dc

Nose

A student asked Suzuki to explain the part of the Heart Sutra where it says, "no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. The answer goes on for a while. Here's the essence of Suzuki's answers:

There is nose, that is right, and there is no nose. That is also right. And “yes” and “no” [laughs]. You should understand in two ways: yes and no [laughs, laughter]. That is complete understanding.                --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Control

Student C: You said that we should control desire.

SR: Uh-huh.

Student C: And I still don't understand how to go about that.

Desire, in its usual sense, always based on selfish idea. Isn't that so? When you think, you know, “Nothing wrong to extend my desire” and then if someone says you shouldn't do that, then you will feel bad [laughs]-- you will feel some restriction. That is “control” in its ordinary sense. But when you reflect on your desire and understand your desire as pretty selfish, then naturally you will limit your desire to some extent. That is not control. That is the way desire should be. There is big difference. Do you understand?               --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

A Preceptual Offering

A dual interpretation of the Buddhist precepts was created by Kobun Chino, first teacher at Kannon Do and Les Kaye, its current abbot.  Kobun Chino contributed the traditional, prohibitory precepts in black, while Les Kaye provided the updated version in blue, representing how practice needs to be expressed in the modern world.   Feel free to download.   Printing on high quality photo paper provides the best results.   PDF link   ---  Cuke page for this

Humbleness

You have some question? Please ask me.

Student B: Is deep breathing the same as introspection?

SR: Introspection, yeah? First of all, we have to have wisdom to see things as it is. When we have no selfish idea, we can see things as it is. So we know what we are doing always, and we know that we are not perfect, and our idea is a one-sided idea. So we have, you know, always room to accept someone's idea, too, because we know that what I say or how I practice is not perfect. That is humbleness, you know. That is how to accommodate our opinion to other's opinions.              --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.

Correction

In the previous post about Gyobutsu-ji I mistakenly wrote "That's Shoryu with the shaved head and Ken here and there." But it's Tracy here and there, not Ken. There is no Ken there. I'd just sent an email to a Ken and that name came out when I reached for Tracy's name. How careless of me. Apologies. - dc

Gyo Butsu Ji

Tracy Cramer sent news from Gyo Butsu Ji - Gyo is practice. Practice Buddha Temple or Buddha Practice Temple. It's in Arkansas. Tracy wrote: I just got back from Gyo Butsu Ji, Arkansas where I stayed for a few days. Shoryu Bradley is a dharma heir of Shohaku san, and also a very sincere and nice guy. 

Uchiyama Roshi's picture sits on the altar. It is a little Antaiji in America. 

Here is the linage page for Gyobutsu-ji

Here are the photos he sent. That's Shoryu with the shaved head and Tracy here and there. 

Background

When our understanding is based on selfish idea, and when we try to force our opinion to others, then, without reflecting on our way, and attaching to our own idea, rejecting other's idea, then the effort will end in dead end [laughs], you know. After all, you will fight with others, that's all, and both will be hurt. You cannot survive any more because you lose your background--true background.                --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-04-08-bn - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. Got to https://www.instagram.com/cuke_archives/ for more daily Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.