Hope

There must be some hope to live, some hope to be saved. Even though one admits to being sinful, they still have hope of being saved or else they cannot exist. At the same time, if one says, “For me, there is no sinful life. I am quite safe. Whatever I do, it’s all right.” That is also crazy. If you think after you’re enlightened you can do whatever you like, that is a big mistake [laughter].

Photo by Rowena Pattee (Kryder)

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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 page

Helena Bee has been in charge of online programs for the San Francisco Zen Center for four years. Her practice has been centered at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center since she first went with friends as a guest. This podcast is a conversation rather than an interview.

Sin and Enlightenment

Sin and enlightenment are the two sides of one coin. When you say you are sinful, you have enlightenment. Enlightened mind says you are sinful. The Pure Land sect emphasizes this. And they try to turn this side into the other side. That is possible because it is two sides of one coin. It is the same thing, actually the same thing.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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.

Something Wrong

[Responding to a question about vegetarianism.] You know, not only animals [laughter], but the vegetables you eat are also living beings. This kind of discussion is not purely a religious discussion. But it is religious because if we do something wrong, that action will create another bad action or habit. This is a very important point. If you do something wrong, that experience will create some other bad conduct.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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.

Anger

When you become angry, you should just be angry. That’s all [laughter]. Don’t criticize yourself, and you cannot be always angry, you know. When you notice it, that’s too late. So, it may be better to be angry. And after you realize that was a mistake [laughs], you have to try not to be angry again. If you think you should not be angry, it means you are caught by precepts. “You should not be angry,” is not a precept, actually. When you keep it, it is a precept, but when you violate it, that is not a precept anymore. That is just a mistake. So, we do not talk about anger which came up already. That anger is psychological anger, not religious anger. Religious anger is about before we become angry. So, if you are really religious, you have no anger and you keep the precepts.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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.

From Ignorance

Anger is one of the strongest evil desires—greediness and anger. But all those things come from ignorance. When we are ignorant of our true nature, we become angry. It is a want of subtle understanding. That is anger.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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.

Not to Kill

This is maybe a pretty difficult question to answer, not to kill. Fundamentally, “not to kill” means not to be dualistic [laughs]. If I say so it may not be the right answer to your question. When we become dualistic, we have the precept not to kill. It means don’t kill. But actually, there is nothing to kill [laughs]. If everyone has buddha-nature, it is impossible to kill. You can kill someone’s body, but its true nature cannot be killed. So not to kill is not a matter of kill or not to kill. Even if you try to kill someone, it is impossible. If we know that it is impossible, no one will try to kill some other person. Because you think it is possible, you kill someone.

Image from Wikipedia

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-C 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.

Go Up, Go Down

It is to go up and to go down. That is a cosmic symbol [laughs]. Here we have a cosmic symbol. There is no Buddhism in this realm. So, we say, “Just sit. There is no Buddha and no good or bad.”

Image from: Google Gemini

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-B 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.

Tim Burkett and DC

Tim Burkett, very early Shunryu Suzuki student, and DC will be talking about early Tassajara Stories at the Minnesota Zen Center's upcoming Tuesday note talk for an hour. To join with Zoom go to https://www.mnzencenter.org/sundaytuesday-talks.html.

Tim Burkett cuke page

Talking

If someone is talking about Buddhism all night, drinking beer [laughs], smoking cigarettes, and says, “Oh, this is Buddhism. There is actually no such tradition of Buddhism.” That’s not Buddhism. Those who participate in cosmic self, self-use of cosmic existence, can deny Buddhism. For us there is no Buddhism, no particular Buddhism.

Image from: ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-29-B 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.