Composure

Usually you stick to who is not you, which is not you, and you ignore, you know [laughs], the reality. And you feel uneasy with the reality, and you feel something, some satisfaction, you know, which is not real. As Dogen Zenji said, we human beings attach to something which is not real and forget all about which is real [laughs]. That is actually what we are doing. If you realize this point, you will have perfect composure in yourself, and you can trust yourself. Whatever happens to you, it doesn't matter. You can trust yourself.         --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-30 - 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. 

A Review of Zen Is Right Now

 Spirituality and Practice had a few good words for Zen Is Right Now: More Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki - to be released by Shambhala on July 13th.

Don't Feel Uneasy

Our activity is cosmic activity and personal activity. So there is no need to explain what we are doing. When you want to explain it, that is all right, but if we cannot understand it, because it is impossible to understand we should not feel uneasy. You know, actually you are here, right here. So before you don't [thumps stick] understand yourself, you are you, you know. After you understand it, you are not you anymore [laughs].        --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-30 - 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. 

RIP Thomas Cleary

Tom Cleary was a great translator of Buddhist and other Asian texts. He taught at Zen Center some but didn't like class situations. He translated an enormous amount. I attended one of those classes. He was quite a character. 

Dan Kaplan wrote on Facebook: R.I.P Thomas Cleary 1949- June 20, 2021. Prolific translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Sanskrit and other texts into English, who made it possible for so many people to have access in English to the great works of the Eastern Spiritual traditions, not the least of which was and is The Blue Cliff Record.

Shambhala Publications post on Cleary - thanks Dan Kaplan

Wikipedia page for Tom Cleary

Jeff Broadbent on Climate Change

Climate Change and Society by Jeff Broadbent. 

June 25 Cuke Podcast with Jeff reading this piece sandwiched in between us making pithy comments.

Jeff's cuke page

Thump

But you cannot say this is just Buddha's activity, because you are [thumps stick] doing it actually [laughs]. You may say then, I don't know who is doing what. But why do you say, “Who is doing what?”  You wanted to limit your activity, you want to intellectualize your activity, that's all, you know. So before you say something, the actual [thumps stick] activity is here. That is, you know, actually who we are. We are Buddha, and we are each one of us [laughs].       --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-30 - 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. 

Lewis Richmond writing for the Good Men Project

Lew wrote: I am now a weekly columnist on a major website, The Good Men Project, which began as a forum for men to learn to be better men, but has expanded to encompass many related areas in wellness, gender and sexuality, politics, and more. I will be writing on a variety of topics related to my five published books and other observations of current trends.  My latest column reflects on the radical transformation of the historical Buddha from a prince of privilege and hereditary warrior to a peaceful monk.  See it here. 

No Explanation

So there is no explanation [laughs], actually, you know. So just [thumps stick] moment after moment [thumps stick], we should continue this kind of activity, which is Buddha's activity.       --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-30 - 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. 

NY Times article on Willow Fire near Tassajara

‘Fire Monks’ Defend Tassajara Zen Monastery From Wildfire

***

[All still seems okay. For updates on the Willow Fire near Tassajara, go to https://www.sfzc.org/fire-updates and the US Forest Service's: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/]

David Silva reports - The most current map of the Willow fire I can find. shows fire not moving towards Tassajara at this time. I would guess that this is due to air takers painting the ridgeline between willow Creek and Tassajara Creek pretty heavily with fire retardant. But that is just a guess. The red line around area WF-6 is current fire perimeter. https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/.../response/2021-wildfires

***

Eight monks protecting the Buddhist center near Big Sur, Calif., are relying not only on training from professional firefighters but also on their Zen practice.

Smoke rising from the Willow fire, which has burned about 2,800 acres in Los Padres National Forest since it began on June 17.Credit...California Interagency Willow Fire Incident, via Associated Press

By Michael Levenson
June 23, 2021

Eight Buddhist monks working to defend the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center near Big Sur, Calif., from a nearby wildfire have relied not only on the training they have received from professional firefighters but also on their Zen practice.

Can't Say

If we do something we cannot say, “I am doing something,” you know, because there is no one independent from, separated from, the others.       --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.