Negative Form

Sometimes when you see a saying written on a scroll, you may wonder what it means. For instance, “A cloud hangs on the mountain, and it is not calm.” “Not calm” means very calm. When the cloud is at the foot of the mountain, it expresses the same calm feeling, but in the poem it says, “not calm.” “Not calm” is a kind of rhetorical negation. Sometimes when we want to say something in a strong way, we put it in a negative form. “Isn’t it?” means “it is.” Instead of saying, “It is,” you say, “Isn’t it?” That is a stronger expression than “it is.”

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Beginner's Mind for Piano

From Walter:

I'd like to let you know that the Vinyl of my composition BEGINNER‘S MIND for Shunryu Suzuki is available at the San Francisco Zen bookstore. But moderecords also distributes it on bandcamp.

https://www.cuke.com/zmbm/bm-song.htm

https://moderecords.com/catalog/346zimmermann/

Sweet

So, in Buddhism, “no” means reality, and sometimes when we put emphasis on something, we say, “no.” When we want to say, “This cake is sweet,” you know, sometimes we say, “This cake is not sweet.” “Not sweet” means “very sweet” in Chinese [laughter]. Also, in Buddhism too.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

No Nose / Nose

Sometimes “no” means to put emphasis on something. “No nose” means “that is nose.” The same thing. When I say, “no nose,” this is a stronger expression of your nose. If I say, “You have a nose,” you will think, “Of course I have a nose!” [Laughter.] If I say, “You have no nose,” you will be surprised. “Oh, is it really so? I have a nose.” Then you will realize what your nose is in its true sense. So, “no nose” means “you have a nose.”

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Pointing at Reality

“No nose” points at actual understanding or reality—the reality of nose. So, it is the same thing to say, “no nose,” or “no ears,” or “no eyes.” When we say, “no eyes,” it points at reality. When we say, “no nose,” we point at reality. When we say, “no mouth,” we point at reality.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

No Nose

If you say, “This is nose,” you lose your reality of the nose. So, when we want to express what is actually nose, the best way is, “That is not your nose.” [Laughs.] That is maybe the best way. When you think, “Oh, this is not just a nose, something more than that,” then you realize the reality of the nose. So, we say, “no nose.” No, that is not nose or no nose. When we say, “no nose” we realize what nose actually is.

Image modified by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Whole One Existence

So “no nose” means a nose is not just a nose. Nose is something more than your nose. If you have a kind of misunderstanding of nose, it means that you understand many things as parts of a whole one existence. But when you say, “a part of it,” a part is not a part anymore. It actually includes everything. A part cannot be separated from the rest of the part.

Image modified by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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

Featured Cuke Archives page

Face

When you do something, it doesn’t mean you have no nose or no eyes. You have eyes; you have a nose. But when we say, “no nose,” it means don’t think your face consists of only your nose, eyes, mouth, hair and ears. That kind of understanding will lose the reality of your face. Your face is not just an accumulation of nose and eyes and ears and mouth.

Image generated by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Liberation

In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, which we recite every morning and evening, it says, “No mind.” It says, “No form, no sensation, no thought, no active substance, no consciousness, no eyes, no ear, no nose, no tongue.” And so on. No. This negative “no” means liberation.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.