Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Interested In

Student: I've heard people say that Zen is more interested in the individual alone, and not so much in the society as a whole.

SR: All over the world including stones, and trees, and everything; that is our way. Not only human beings. So, we are not interested in so-called individual practice. We do not acknowledge any self, you know.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for links to the full Shunryu Suzuki lecture and the source of the photo (at Tassajara by Gene DeSmidt).



Now Read This

 


Finding the Zone by Lawrence Shainberg - written in 1989 for the NY Times Magazine. 

Lawrence Shainberg cuke page

Shainberg is known in the Zen world for his book, Ambivalent Zen, but he's written a good deal more.

This is the first of a few articles of Shainberg's that will be featured here.

Monday, February 27, 2023

Practice and Ask


Dogen Zenji said, “Two important things are to practice zazen, and to ask advice from your teacher.”
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for links to the full Shunryu Suzuki lecture and the source of the photo.

Drawing by Beth Larraux.

A Year of Silence

 


A Year of Silence by Kiranada Sterling Benjamin

A woman's year alone, on solitary retreat on a remote precipice in New Zealand. Isolation, cold, hunger, elemental winds from Antarctic, screams in the night; she survived with deep reflections, observations and insights.

This is a soft-cover 384 page book with glossary/ references, 14 black and white photographs and map. Inner reflections on loneliness, isolation, fear, patience, confidence, joy, and positivity fill the pages of the daily journal Kiranada kept. She dealt with limited food, cold, elemental storms bubbling up from Antarctica,  visits by local possums and screams in the night, all while in deep  silence. Following the Tibetan retreat dictum “If you’re sick, you’re sick. If you die, you die” Kiranada promised herself to not come out, and, in the end, discovered a blossoming of deep open-heartedness, compassion and wisdom .

Amazon link

***

Kiranada came over for some tea earlier this week. My friend Frank Simmons who runs a meditation hall in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico sent her our way. She got to know early Shunryu Suzuki student Mary Quagliata there too. She spent 17 years in Japan, mainly in Kyoto, teaching at a prestigious university there. While there she studied Zen there with Daitsu Tom Wright, dharma heir of Uchiyama of Antaiji. So we found we had some mutual friends there as well as Mexico. She is a really serious practitioner who's life is now centered around solitary retreats. Just did a three year one at a Catholic nunnery in Missouri in the US. She was ordained in the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2009 and Renunciation vows in 2016. She's been the coordinator of Contemplative Arts at Aryaloka Buddhist Center, Newmarket NH. When in Kingston NH, she teaches meditation at the village library. She has done twelve solitary retreats  ( Java, Bali, Thailand, Mexico, Wales, New Zealand and USA.).

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Who are those people in the photo?

 I just got an email asking who are all the people in the photo from the prior post with all the Japanese priests in robes in the front row and the big buddha drum behind them. Here's my answer: 

I get questions on these images frequently. There is a way to see what info we have on the image. It's just not obvious. First hit the cuke.com/ig link below the photo - that takes you to the cuke.com page for the post with the image. Below the image or photo on that page is a link that will take you to the source page for the image, in this case on shunryusuzuki.com with the names below. Here's that link: http://shunryusuzuki2.com/photo17.asp?SR=SR0079.

I hope that helps. - dc


No Definite Concrete Way of Practice

After you know pretty well about your practice, you can do it alone, maybe. You can do it alone, but always you should have cross-contact with more mature practice. Because there is no definite, concrete way of practice. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Friday, February 24, 2023

Fooled

Maybe we want to be fooled by something, you know, to escape actual suffering. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Cuke Podcast News

Check out last weekend's podcast with Jerry Bolick, poet and practitioner of Jodo Shinshu. I met him when he was running the Buddhist bookstore around the corner from the original SF Zen Center site at the old Sokoji. The store was in the Jodo Shinshu BCA (Buddhist Churches of America) headquarters. Jerry talks about his life, Jodo Shinshu, Ananda Claude Dalenberg, and reads some of his poetry. His poetry is at Meditations from the Slow Lane at http://jerrybolick.blogspot.com/.


Thursday, February 23, 2023

Many Ways of Escaping

We have many ways of escaping—we can now escape from this earth to the moon, even! [Laughs.] We have many ways of escaping trouble. And we have not much courage to face or to be satisfied with a cup of water. We are trying to put sugar in it, and to sell something. And it is not just exactly what I want. Maybe I want a cup of plain water more. But we have to drink it because we try to escape from something. We want to make ourselves happy, without, you know, making ourselves really happy. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Wednesday, February 22, 2023

We Will Not Lose in Suffering

Once more, I hope people will become more honest and direct. That is the root of the problem. Why it is so hard is because we are trying to escape from it. Yeah. We should suffer more, maybe. We will not lose in suffering, but if we try to escape from it, we will be caught by it. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-00-00-B - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



An Obscure Booklet on the Tassajara early day


Tassajara by "Tassy" Oksen
- 1985 - from a woman who remembered Tassajara from over 100 years ago. 

This used to be in the Tassajara office for a while. Taiyo Lipscomb had some copies made to give to friends. I didn't know about it till recently Ted Howell got hold of me. He'd found it hidden away on some shelf at Tassajara and made a copy. He made this PDF and sent it off. Peter Ford reduced the size for the web. At cuke.com it's linked to on the pre-ZC Tassajara History page

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

We Almost Find Out

So, at Tassajara, there is Tassajara’s way; here in Los Altos there is your own way; as a gift. And the only way to practice is just to receive it when it is given to you. This is a very important point. And we are now in a state to find out the real meaning of our practice. After making a big effort to find out what zazen is, we almost find out what is true zazen. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Monday, February 20, 2023

Birds or Badgers Know What Zazen Is

At Tassajara we have a very difficult time to practice our way. For almost one year we have been trying very seriously to practice our way, and the more we make individual efforts to practice our way, we are involved in big problems. There are more than forty people, and they each have their own understanding of Zen, more or less. “This is Zen.” “That is Zen.” That is the trouble. Because you practice zazen you cannot practice. So, I think the best way is not to practice zazen (laughter) —just to live in Tassajara, like a bird. Then you can practice zazen. Birds or badgers know what zazen is better than students at Tassajara. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Jed Linde's new book


Jed Linde has a new Ebook - pub date: Feb 7, 2023

--URANIUM MINE And Other Stories.

From birth to old age, these seven stories tell us about "Charles."  They chronicle his challenging childhood in a dysfunctional household; overcoming painful adolescent missteps; surviving an "outward bound" saga in Mexico City; learning from the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki; and benefiting from mystical experiences, contact with Mother Nature, and a host of life-changing situations. It is available now at Books2Read and Amazon.

Jed previously published Three Charles Stories - more on that book at the

Jed Linde cuke page






Saturday, February 18, 2023

Like a Mountain

A gift which is given to us is not only something which we see. It looks like a mountain, or water, or cake, or something else. It looks like so. But we don’t know exactly what it is. So, before we understand what it is, the only way is to accept it and to practice it. That is actually true practice. Or else you cannot practice our way even if you have a complete zendo. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Friday, February 17, 2023

Many Kinds of Gifts

There may be many kinds of gifts from Buddha according to the nature of people. When you understand our way in this way there is no problem, and this is the way to practice our way. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



RIP Suzanne Osborn (Martha Stone)



I knew Suzanne Osborn as Martha Stone. Some remember her as Mardy. She was married to Barton Stone. They met in Texas where she joined the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace in 1960–1961. They were students of Shunryu Suzuki and had two kids - Allen and a girl, Ananda. They separated at some point and I was in touch with Martha some now and then, especially around the time of Allen's death, but mainly with Barton. She was a solid good woman and I regret I didn't keep up with her more. Farewell Suzanne Martha.

From Ananda:

On Valentine's Day, on her 37th wedding Anniversary we lost my mom to cancer. She came to live with us on Maui to be closer to family and then for care giving. She fought for her life and should have lived to be 100, but at least made it to 83 years old. I'm still processing all that has happened over these 3 1/2 months, some very special very tender moments and many that were heartbreaking. Anyone that knew her knew how beautiful, generous, and kind she was. She was always happy and was still smiling this morning. She will forever be loved, always be remembered and cherished. I am so thankful for her and will miss her terribly.

She was a Peace activist, midwife, gardener, and an amazing cook! She loved singing in the choir and handmade lovely cards and quilts. She died at age 83. She was admired and revered by her friends and family. She was our rock and our glue.

******

Martha's front right and Barton to her left. Her name is Mardy Rich below.

Thursday, February 16, 2023

A Gift

Even though there are various treasures, if they are not given to you, you cannot accept them. And the way to accept is to accept it when it is given to you. You cannot say, “I will accept it tomorrow.” You cannot say, “I can accept it yesterday.” The only way is to accept it right now, when it is given to you. Then tomorrow something new will be given to you. So, day by day, we practice our way, as a gift. And we accept it when it is given to us. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Given

If zazen is not zazen, what is it that we are practicing every day? Here Dogen Zenji says, “This is Buddha’s activity, some activity which was given to us.” Our practice is not something which you can understand because it is something which is given to you. You didn’t make it; you didn’t invent it; you didn’t practice zazen through and through. The reason why you can practice is just because it was something that was given to you. So, there is no reason why we do not know what it is, but because it was given to us, we have to receive it, we have to accept it. That is just why we practice zazen. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Shunryu Suzuki on Breathing

More on what Suzuki said on breathing from Mark Foote in his Zazen Notes.

The prior post by Foote on Suzuki on breathing

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Water Is Not Water

Although they have water, the people in Hell cannot drink it because their water burns like a fire, or water which they want to drink looks like blood. While for celestial beings it is a jewel, for fish it is their home, and for human beings it is water. You may think that “water is water” is the right understanding, and that although water sometimes looks like a jewel, home, blood, or fire; that is not real water. As you may think that zazen practice is real fundamental practice, and the rest of everyday activities are the application of zazen. But Dogen Zenji, amazingly said, “Water is not water.” If you think water is water, your understanding is not much different from the understanding of a fish, a hungry ghost, or an angel’s understanding of water. There would not be much difference between our understanding and their understanding. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Monday, February 13, 2023

No Zen

It’s been a pretty long time since I saw you. I am still studying hard to find out what is our way. Recently I reached the conclusion that there is no Buddhism and there is no Zen. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-14 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Saturday, February 11, 2023

Concluding Statement for the Q & A Shosan Ceremony

Yakusan Zenji had not given lectures for a long time when monks asked him to give them a lecture. Yakusan Zenji mounted the altar, looked at every monk one by one, came down from the altar, and went back to his room. The monk who was responsible for the zendo asked him why he didn't give any lecture? Yakusan said, there are scripture masters and Buddhist philosophy masters, and I am a master of Zen. Don't wonder who I am.

Zen monks are Zen monks because they speak fluently without saying anything—just by everyday activity. That is how Zen students should be. And we should take care of our practice, not only zazen practice but whatever we do. I am very grateful that you observe our various ways without asking why we do this or why we should do that. Whatever you do, that is our practice. There you will find out yourself. Our practice is valuable because we can find ourselves by what we do in each moment.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Friday, February 10, 2023

Our Way

Student: Docho Roshi, who observes our way?

SR: You observe our way—when you observe our way everything observes our way. So, our way is the universal way, and at the same time your own way.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Thursday, February 9, 2023

Sangha

Student: Docho Roshi, who are the sangha?

SR: We are. Those who are in Tassajara are the sangha in a limited sense. But all of us—all sentient beings are sangha.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Wednesday, February 8, 2023

What Now

Student: Docho Roshi, what now?

SR: Now. Don't ask me. Now is now. You have now. I have my own now. That is why now is so important. It is beyond question and answer.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Thoughts

Too many thoughts is all right. That is not the point. I am not saying to stop your activity. I am not counting how many thoughts you have. All the thoughts you have are originally one thought. If it is one thought, that is no thought. So, don't be concerned about the thoughts you have. Don't be bothered by them. You should think. To think is all right, but to be bothered by them or to discriminate between good thoughts or bad thoughts is bad. —Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Monday, February 6, 2023

Your Boss

Student: Is the boss that is illumined by the mind's calmness only a small boss?

SR: There is actually no small or big boss. When you call any boss, that is your boss. Because you think this is big boss or great boss, your practice is not any more true practice. Don't be involved in good or bad, high or low. Just do what you should do at that moment.
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 67-12-07 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig for Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts - with a photo.



Saturday, February 4, 2023

Fear Comes From Your Ego

Student: Docho Roshi, how is it possible to lose the fear of no nose, no mouth, no eyes, no world of eyes?

SR: Fear comes from your ego. So the way is to open up your mind so that there is no more ego.
—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.



Friday, February 3, 2023

Devote Yourself to Your Work

The question should not be about whether it is right or wrong. Right now, the most important thing is to find what is the most important thing. You are asking yourself for others, which is not important. The most important thing is to be involved in what you are doing now, without thinking “good” or “bad.” Stop asking—stop thinking, and devote yourself to your work. Whatever people say, or whatever you yourself say, you should not be concerned about it. —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.



Thursday, February 2, 2023

Auction of Paintings by Arthur Okamura

Got the following email today. Am posting this right away.

*********

I am writing to let you both know that we are offering a distinguished collection of 33 works by Arthur Okamura in our online auction on February 7.

These are all coming from the estate of Gail Feingarten Oppenheimer who represented your father at the Feingarten Galleries in the late 1950s through early 1970s.

Please find a link to the lots here: Bonhams : Coast to Coast Live Online American Art, including The Collection of Gail Feingarten Oppenheimer

Kathy Wong
Director, Business Development, Fine Arts
Specialist, Impressionist & Modern Art
Bonhams

7601 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046
+1 415 370 0958 mobile

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Arthur Okamura cuke page