Big Mind Recites Sutras

That is why we say you should not recite sutras. Your true nature should recite sutras. Big mind recites, not small mind—small self should not recite sutras. The self which is universal to everyone should recite sutras with people. When I talk like this, there is already some duality. Small self or big self. But actually, small self does not exist. That which exists is big self only. We just create small self, and we say it is right [laughs]. But it is not right. So first of all, we should be emancipated from the idea of small self.

Photo montage by Donn Deangelo

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

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Taiyo Lipscomb | Podcast - Taiyo Lipscomb came to the Zen Center in the mid seventies and was there for 23 years, becoming one of the folks who run the place. His story is unique as is he. Listen to the podcast and you’ll see.

Not So Simple

Almost all people ignore our true existence and have some superficial understanding of what self is. What do they mean by self? They ignore true self. “I’m not doing Zen,” they say. “I’m not doing anything wrong. I am always doing something right.” [Laughs.] That is what they will say. But if you listen to your inmost voice or voice of conscience, it is not so simple.

Drawing by Stan White

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

RIP Margaret Crowley

 Margaret Ann Crowley, Anand Shakti 

Just learned that Margaret Crowley died last April 21st in Lafayette, Colorado. She was born in Maryland in 1946. 

Margaret came to Zen Center in 1968 as I recall. She practiced in the city and at Tassajara. She and my first wife Daya (back then Dianne) Goldshlag were best friends. 

I see she has a page at The Natural Funeral.

Will seek photos and more on Margaret.

Gya te gya te - dc

Unconditional Requests

[About inmost request.] Something—someone, I don’t know who it is, but someone tells us to do so. We hear that voice always, so I cannot help doing so because someone is telling me to do so or someone is telling me “please help me.” We cannot help doing so, not because “this is Buddhism” or “this is big patience,” not because of what Buddha said. It is an unconditional request for us. We have this kind of nature. If it is supreme teaching, absolute teaching, it is impossible to achieve. It is impossible to understand it. This is big patience, and this is not even a matter of big or small. It may be very small—sometimes it may be the smallest patience.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

Save Them All

Even though sentient beings are innumerable, we should save them all [laughs]. This is impossible, you know, because if the sentient beings are innumerable, it is impossible to save them all. Isn’t that so? Even though we know that it is impossible, we cannot help trying to save them all. That is the absolute of what I called inmost request.

Human Be-In, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Photo by Jim Marshall.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

Cannot Help Doing So

We say even though Buddhism is impossible to attain, we should attain it. This is big patience, knowing that it is impossible. But with big patience we cannot help doing so. That is not patience even. That is to do something because you cannot help doing so.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

Small Patience, Big Patience

Small patience is like even though you have physical suffering or mental suffering, to be patient is small patience. And big patience is something different from to be patient with your physical or mental distress or suffering. That is small patience, but big patience is to be patient about not knowing anything, or for not to achieve anything. This is big patience. Just to sit is big patience for not achieving anything [laughs]. Just to sit. And to repeat the same thing over and over again, day after day, just to repeat things over and over.

Image generated by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-D 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.

Shobogenzo

As we are human beings, it is impossible to keep Dogen’s pure teaching always fresh and in use, but everyone agreed that his cover was the best cover, anyway. No dust [laughs] can enter the pan; it is so perfect a cover. So, we have to have some Soto priests who can understand what Shobogenzo is. And there must be many Zen masters who are actually practicing zazen. But those who practice zazen will make some mistakes, you know. So, we should have a cover. By mistake I mean dust [laughter]. Soon we will be dusty. There may be many, many misunderstandings of Zen. When we enter some dead end, we should find out what we are doing. That is Shobogenzo.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-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.

Still Exists

As he was writing, Dogen thought it was not the time to make Japanese people understand what Buddhism was right then. It was not possible. So, he trained several disciples, and he prepared a perfect cover [laughs], so that someday people would be able to use the pan of the Soto school. Before they could use the Soto way, it was necessary for him to make a cover for it. That is Shobogenzo. That is why the Soto school still exists seven hundred years later. It still exists because of the cover he made.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-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.