Student: Docho Roshi, what is the fundamental cause of the universe?
SR: Universe. Ah, we do not discuss about it because there is no beginning and no end for the universe.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on
shunryusuzuki.com
edited by PF. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives
for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Student: Docho Roshi, after four months' training and a seven-day sesshin, what am I doing here?
SR: You are doing nothing.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on
shunryusuzuki.com
edited by PF. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives
for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Student: Docho Roshi, in our practice should we try to overcome our weakness, or should we try to work through it?
SR: Why should you overcome? You should try to overcome when there is no big mind and no small mind.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on
shunryusuzuki.com
edited by PF. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives
for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Student E: Docho Roshi, I have two questions. Where is home? What is true strength?
SR: When you start wandering about, there is no home, there is no strength. But if you find your home in this moment at this place, you have enough strength to practice our way. And home is right here. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Jiryu's Roshibot - Roshibot knows all, sees all, ask Roshibot your deepest heartfelt query.
Student D: Docho Roshi, the fish is in the water. The water is in the fish. It is soundless, and you cannot hear it. It is clear, and you cannot see it. It has no smell. How can there possibly be a mistake?
SR: There is no mistake whatsoever.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on
shunryusuzuki.com
edited by PF. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives
for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Student C: Docho Roshi, outside I see the trees, and the things that grow, and the rocks seem to do perfect zazen. And I see my own potentiality for this, yet still I feel great fear. Please tell me what is the true nature of fear?
SR: Fear has no reason why it arises. So, when the rocks and running water become a part of you, when you become truly their friend, there will be no fear. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Student A: My heart is full of joy. This zendo at Tassajara is like my own home. Sitting in zazen, eating with my fellow monks, trying to follow the way of my Roshi. Word by word, moment by moment, feeling by feeling, my delusion and my feeling is expressed in this moment.
SR: Yes. “In this moment” is right. Don't live in the future or past. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Without experiencing our way, to discuss our rules is not right because we put emphasis on our experience, not intellectual discussion, whether this is the Japanese way or American way. We have not much idea of the Japanese or American way. Whatever way may be good [laughs]. We should try to improve our way, and we should develop our way. This is a bodhisattva's mind or spirit. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Ken came to ZC in 65. Has some good stories about shurnryu suzuki
Here at Tassajara, I think you will have a difficult time in observing our way, which is not familiar to you. But I want you to practice it first of all, and then you can discuss about our way. I think [laughs] your discussion will not result in the same ideas we have had. So, if you practice, and if you find some problems, I want you to discuss them. This kind of discussion is very important, I think. Especially because this kind of idea is quite new to me. By discussion you will have a chance to explain why you observe our way. So, others will be interested in our way. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
In our practice we do not like to be caught by rules. Nevertheless, we make our best effort to observe our way. When we make our best effort, there are no more rules. The rules are part of us. Whether the rules are part of you or not will be checked by your teacher [laughter]. Even if you are observing our way, if the rules are not a part of you, he will see it. The point is your sincerity, not form. We rather put emphasis on each one's own way. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
We find our teaching pretty difficult, especially when studied intellectually. The best way is just to practice until you understand it. This is a completely different method than to force some way on us. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
So universal value is something very vague and not distinctive, and not interesting at all. Only when you appreciate many kinds of different things, will you have a happy life. You will enjoy our life. This kind of thing is quite obvious. There is no need for any interpretation or philosophical discussion about it. It is actual truth. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
If you see many mountains in one view, you will enjoy seeing them, but the value of each mountain will be ignored. If I call you by the name human being, “Hi, human being!” [laughter], your character will be ignored. Everyone is a human being. We don't know whether you are a man or woman or young lady or old lady: any human being. It doesn't make any sense. If you are called by your name, you know, you will be happy. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
We emphasize validity more than universality. We appreciate differentiation rather than universality. Validity will be acknowledged when the absolute value reveals itself in some special thing which is different from others. When you emphasize universality, everything loses its own value. When you mix male and female and divide in two [laughs], you will lose your life. Man should be a man, and woman should be a woman because men and women are different. There is value in each being. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
so gen itteki sui
One drop of water from the fount of Ts'ao Ch'i.
**********
Shodo Harada, abbot of Sogenji in Okayama, Japan, gave this shikishi to my sister Susan when she visited us with my mother in 1991. Susan gave it to my niece Camille who inquired about it and took this photo of it and her finger.
Thanks to Chisan Storandt of Sogenji for confirming that the calligraphy is Shodo Haradas and Shohaku Okamura of the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana for translating it.
This saying appear in Blue Cliff Record case 7
***
When the Sixth Patriarch died, his disciples did not cremate
his body but buried it in the valley of Ts'ao-ch'i. In that place is
the main temple of the Sixth Patriarch, where he lived for quite a long time.
from: http://www.firstzen.org/ZenNotes/2001/2001-02_Vol_48_No_02_Spring_2001.pdf
Everything has absolute value because it is different from other things. If all things were the same, they would lose their value. They should be different. Because they are different, they have value. So, to mix up everything is to kill buddha-nature. So, when one is a teacher, he should be a teacher. When one is a student, he should be a student. But it does not mean a student cannot be a teacher. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
My Father and Me by Rick Wicks
Are the sins of the parents visited upon the children unto the seventh generation? (Or are the sins of the children visited upon the parents?)
How does Avalokitesvara,
The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion,
Use her myriad hands and eyes?
The entire body-mind is hands and eyes.
Arousing the wind,
Enormous waves billow
In the Ocean of Being.
Picking up a speck of dust,
The vast world is revealed
In Indra's jeweled net.
(An image with this poem was originally posted on Instagram in July 2022. Finally able to read the text from another version.)
—From Dan Welch at
first version and second version. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives
for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
Dogen Zenji said in his Instructions for a Cook, “Something which should be put in a higher place, should be put in a higher place. Something which should be a lower place, should be a lower place.” Everything has its own function and virtue. So, we should treat them according to their virtue. Only when we treat them according to their virtue, everything will have the same value. Because water cannot be exchanged for fire, fire has its own virtue and water has its own virtue. So, water should be in the kettle, and fire should be under the kettle. If everything is in its own place, everything has the same value, he says. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
The reason why is everything has buddha-nature. That will be the final answer. The best way to understand what is buddha-nature is just to practice our way and treat things very carefully. Because even though everything has buddha-nature, it does not mean you can mix up everything. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
A teacher said, “You should cultivate your virtue. You should accumulate your merit. If you give others the good part of a pickle, then you will accumulate merit. That is why you should take the worst part of the pickle.” And I thought, then I would rather take the best part to let others [laughs, laughter] accumulate more merit. I didn't want to accumulate merit for myself. But I didn't try, but I thought so. Really, I thought so. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
I’m so grateful to my root teacher, Shunryu Suzuki-roshi. He saved me. Did everything he could to encourage me to believe in myself. And he loved camellias. Can’t help but think of him when I rejoice in these flowers blooming on the terrace
When I go to the grocery store, I usually buy the worst fruits and oldest vegetables. If I see something good, I take it off to find something bad. I buy the worst ones, because I feel very sorry [laughing, laughter throughout story] for the worst ones. This is habit, you know, and I pay the same amount of money. So, at the store they are interested in my way of buying. “Why don't you take this one? This one is better,” they say. “No, I want to buy this one.” And they say, “Why? Why?” I will say, “I don't know why.” And I amuse myself, with my habit. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
- thanks Michael Papas for sending these scans in 2022. Been wanting them for decades.
Posted on cuke.com on the Early Papers and Print page along with a couple of other brochures from 1967.
It is rather difficult for you to observe our way, I think. Nowadays young people come and practice Zen in a Zen temple in summer vacation. If I tell them to observe our way, they ask me why [laughs]—like you do. And it is rather difficult to explain why because we do not do it for a reason. This is just habit. Habit is very important. So, to observe our way until it becomes your habit is very important. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
We do these things not just to be economical. Now it is a kind of Japanese habit, but this kind of idea originated from Dogen Zenji's way. We do it without asking why. We just do it because we respect it. It is even more than respect. To respect things is somewhat dualistic. “To be one with it,” we say. When we become one with it, there is no idea of big or small. We do not even figure out why we do this. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
With Peter van der Sterre and Jennifer Block
Six Wednesdays, February 15 – March 22, 5:30pm – 7:00pm PT
Online
In Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind,
Suzuki Roshi presents the basics of Zen practice in a way that is
remarkably clear and resonates with the joy of being present in everyday
life. In this class, we'll discuss the many insights of his talks and
share our experiences of cultivating "beginner’s mind," sitting
practice, and living in the world.
Usually we treat things with both hands. Sometimes some beginners will carry their eating bowl in one hand like this. It looks very strange, like a pumpkin [laughter]. We always carry things, if possible, with both hands. And you carry many things at once. We do not carry so many. And we will carry one by one, going back and forth [laughs]. This is more-or-less the Japanese way. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
If you go to Eiheiji, there is Hanshakukyo (Half-Dipper) Bridge, so named because Dogen Zenji used to bring back the leftover water to the river here. After he used half of a dipper of water, he took it back to the river again. At Eiheiji we never wash our face with a bowl full of water. We fill it just seventy percent with water. And when we empty it, we do not empty water away from the body; we empty it toward the body. If you empty it this way, you must be very careful [laughs]. So, we have to empty it very carefully. We treat things very carefully. And we respect things very much. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
 |
| from: www.japancitytour.com |
When Chris Pirsig was murdered in the neighborhood of the City Center, his father and step-mother, Robert and Wendy Pirsig came from England and stayed in the ZC guest house. At the time she kept a journal with daily observations. After a good deal of editing and fact checking, she and Peter Ford with some input from me, have come up with this presentation of her journal for you.
So, Dogen Zenji says, you must treat everything, or he says you must treat a grain of rice as if it is your own eyes. Eyes are part of you, and so is the grain of rice. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.
According to Dogen Zenji, a part of it is not a perfect enough expression, because if we say “part of it,” the relationship between things is already ignored. If you say, “I am a member of our family,” the relationship between you and your brother is not expressed well. So Dogen said everyone is not a member of—everyone is family itself. Because if someone is missing, that is not a perfect family anymore. So, the relationship between our family members is more than a member. So, that is why I must say “everything has buddha-nature” is not a perfect expression of the teaching. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-06-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.