Ornament again

Suzuki is talking about a guest at Tassajara. (continued from Saturday.

She said, “I am a ornament of it. I am not I. I am it,” [laughs], she said. “I am it.” Not “me,” “it.” And she started to talk about the relationship between “I” and “it,” And "I am an ornament of it, a tools of it."   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

My Sectarianism

Whatever the religion is, that is very helpful. This is my non-sectarianism. So my sectarianism is sectarianism and non-sectarianism [laughs]. Both. Do you understand? You cannot say it is non-sectarianism, because I am very proud sectarian [laughs].

Ornament

I was talking with a guest about and she had very good understanding. I was amazed [laughs, laughter]. We talked about maybe thirty-forty minutes, standing under the -- what do you call it?

Student: Trellis.
SR: Hmm? Trellis. Yeah. She said we are ornament of it, instead of saying buddha-nature. First of all, she was thinking about the word for buddha-nature, and she said we are tools of it. And I said, “Yeah, maybe tools of it.” And actually we say, “We are the ornament of it,” you know [laughs].  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

China

Student B: You were talking about non-sectarianism in Sung China. What does it mean in America?

SR: In America, first of all, you have no tradition of Buddhism. And we are start to establish some  Buddhist activity here. And intellectually you study many things and you have various understanding. I think some of you already studied under many teachers. So the situation is quite different. In Japan,  mostly Soto students study Soto only. Between Rinzai and Soto, some Rinzai students study Dogen Zenji, and we study Rinzai practice too. But mostly Rinzai student is Rinzai and Soto students from beginning to end are Soto students.
But here the way you study is not same as we do in Japan. And this is, I think, something like the situation in Buddhism or Zen Buddhism started in China after the Sixth Patriarch. They recommended their students to some other teachers. Actually there was not much sectarianism, but there were various kinds of practice or way of giving instruction. And I think we are in America, under the same situation as they had in China.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Water

Our practice is like a water. Water is necessary for everyone. Even though wine or lemon juice tastes good, or ice cream is good [laughs], if you always take ice cream or lemon juice, you cannot survive.So you should not forget water. Our practice is like a water.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Merry Christmas

Blessings to you and yours on this day and those to come. 

Ram Dass page

A cuke page for Ram Dass who died three days ago. The pages on Tassajara from Be Here Now are excerpted therein - and more. Anything anyone has to add, please send in. - dc 

No Steps

In Soto Zen, in shikantaza, there are no steps - because we are expressing our true nature through practice. We already have innate nature and what we should do is to express it. So there are no steps. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

RIP Ram Dass

Good friend to all on a spiritual journey, Richard Alpert Ram Dass - what a trip here on earth - bon voyage oh mariner! - dc

thanks Steve Tipton

Koans

At the time of Sixth Patriarch, there were no koans. Only Sung Dynasty, then koan study started. If koan study is only way to study Buddhism, the Sixth Patriarch or Bodhidharma are not Zen masters [laughs, laughter].  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC