Beyond Worldly Value

Zazen practice is not the kind of practice you can compare with your everyday activity. This is quite a different practice from your everyday activity. We say, “no value in our practice.” No material value or physical value or mental value. It is beyond any worldly value. And it is the source of all our activity, the source of all our culture.

Image generated by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Sit on Your Cushion

We say, just sit on your cushion. It may be pretty difficult to find the meaning of “just sit on your cushion.” It may be pretty difficult if you do not know how important it is. But the more you study your life and the more you have problems in your everyday life, you will find out how important it is to practice Zen.

Image generated by Google Gemini

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Do Something Gratefully

This kind of self is what we mean by self, and this kind of life is called a religious life in our sense. So, the best way to repay the mercy of the great boss is to do something. There is no other way. And to be grateful to him is the only way.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

This Boss

The difference between an ordinary boss and this boss is, he does not say anything. He just watches what you are doing. He is always encouraging you, that’s all. He will not give you any suggestions, but because he is your boss and you are his small boss, you will know intuitively what you should do. This is our practice.

Drawing by Stan White

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Good Morning, Boss

One Zen master always called up the boss, and he used to say, “Ohayo gozaimasu, boss” [laughs] “good morning, boss,” “good evening, boss,” “how are you, boss?” The neighbors wondered, he might be crazy. He was always going around saying “good morning” and “good night.” He had no boss, so he must have been crazy. But he was always calling up the big boss who’s always doing something. Even when sleeping, he is doing something [laughs]. If you forget all about the boss, you may eat too much. When you know you are under the control of the big boss, you will not eat too much. You will not do anything wrong. Whatever you do will be right.

Image generated by Leonardo.Ai

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Featured Cuke Archives pages

Peter Ford started helping with Cuke Archives in 2012, maybe earlier. Not sure. Since the day he started he's been pretty much full time. For a number of years he's been the Managing Director of Cuke Archives. Thanks to Peter I can concentrate on special projects. In the podcast we talk about the work he's done and his way-seeking mind story. Nine bows to Peter for all he's done and continues doing - dc. We also talked about the San Francisco Zen Center's review of David's forthcoming book: Tassajara Stories.

What is pure practice?

Now, what I want to ask is, what is our practice? What is pure practice? As I said just now, all practices will be dualistic. When it is dualistic, it looks like rigid rules, but it is not so for a man who realizes true self. Because it is impossible to figure out what it is, we ignore true self. It is not interesting—or you cannot have any interest in studying true self because it is empty. It is empty, but it is there! [Laughs.] But if you ignore this boss, you will suffer a lot.

Drawing by Stan White

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

The Existence of Mind

I don’t know existentialism, so I cannot compare, but there must be some difference. We have no existentialism, but in our Buddhist philosophy we have this kind of interpretation of our mental functions. We Buddhists suffered a lot [laughs] about our mind, so Buddhism studies our mind. Our mind is very troublesome [laughs]. We don’t know what to do with it. So, at last we found that it is impossible to study our mind, but you cannot deny the existence of mind.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Mental Activity Itself

Before philosopher Northrop, they classified our mental functions in three ways: pursuing truth, pursuing goodness, and pursuing beauty. But actually, those functions are not independent. When we do something, it is willpower, and it involves emotions. And it also involves good and bad ethics. So, if one of them is lacking, you cannot do anything. So, it is better to study it as mental activity itself, without classifying in three ways. This way is nearer to Buddhism—phenomenology or existentialism is close to Buddhism. But [laughs] not exactly so.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.

Religion Covers Everything

Before Buddhism was known to the West, by religion you meant Christianity. So, it’s no wonder that the Western idea of religion is quite different from our idea of religion. Our idea of religion covers everything, all of human culture. So, it is impossible to study by a scientific way, because science takes some viewpoint. But religion can take viewpoints of science, or natural science, or cultural science, or ethics, or philosophy, or logic, so studying from a fixed standpoint cannot understand what religion is because it covers everything.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-27-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.