Point

The point is whether you have the big mind or the small mind. In short, when we do everything without thinking this is good or bad, and when you do something with your mind and body -- whole mind and body, then that is our way.----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Form

Our practice sometimes looks like very formal, but our mind is not formal. Our mind is very informal, but we practice with people who have some clinging idea. So according to the situation we practice our practice in various forms and various ways. As long as we do something it should be some form. That form should not be always the same. But there’s no reason why it should be always different. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay. [I took the word "not" out of last sentence. Japanese use double negatives. He didn't mean "why it should not be" - dc]

A one week Tapa Brata retreat

At Bali Usada's Forest Island with Merta Ada

Rigid

Rigid formal practice with informal mind - this is our practice. Our practice sometimes looks like very formal, but our mind is not formal.----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Double

The Soto way is always double -- has double meaning, positive and negative. And our way is also Hinayanistic and Mahayanistic. I always say our practice is very Hinayanistic. Hinayana practice with Mahayana spirit is Soto way.----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Elizabeth Baker singing in Berkeley

I would like to invite you to a semi-staged performance of Handel’s Serse (Xerxes) in Berkeley on April 15th presented by the Handel Opera Project. I will sing Serse — the lovestruck and entitled King of Persia — along with an ensemble of fine singers and instrumentalists. As you may know, the opera features the aria 'Ombra mai fu,' one of Handel’s most beloved melodies.

Here are the details:

Handel’s Serse
Sunday, April 15, 7:00 p.m.
Christian Science Organization, 2601 Durant Ave., Berkeley
Chamber Ensemble conducted by William G. Ludtke
Seating is limited

To purchase tickets, go to: Brown Paper Tickets - Serse by George Frideric Handel

Read a rave review of a past performance of Elizabeth's

How we Listen

 Not to figure out some intellectual understanding, not to express some intellectual, one-sided idea, you listen to it without figuring out, without trying to understand it from one sided view. This is how we listen to a talk, and how we talk about our teaching.----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Way Talk

When we talk about our way we are apt to create some misunderstanding of our way. Because true way has at least two sides - negative side and positive side which is opposite. So when we talk about negative side, the positive side is missing and when we talk about the positive side the negative side is missing, and it is impossible to talk positive way and negative way at the same time. So we don’t know what to say. So not to say anything, and to do it, is the best way. Showing one finger or drawing a round circle may be the best way, or bow. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

An Overview of Cuke Archives

Written for the Winter 2018 SFZC Newsletter

Talk

The more you understand our thinking, the more you find it difficult to talk about it, because the purpose of talk is to give some idea of our way, but originally our way is not something to talk about, but something to practice. So best way is just to practice without saying anything. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-09-27 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.