That’s All

When I was at Eiheiji, everyone was just doing what they should do. That’s all. It is the same thing as having breakfast in the morning [laughs]. That’s how we did everything in Eiheiji monastery. When we had to sit, we sat. That’s all. When we should bow to Buddha, we bowed to Buddha. That’s all. And when we were practicing there, we did not feel anything special. We did not even feel we were having monastic life.

Photo from Way of Eiheiji record set

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

Memorial Service

Ten Year Memorial for Former Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman

City Center
July 11, 2026, 7:10am - 7:45am

https://www.sfzc.org/calendar/events/city-center/ten-year-memorial-former-abbess-zenkei-blanche-hartman-cc-711

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Practice and Everyday Activity

The study you make here is a part of your everyday life, a part of your incessant activity. In this sense there is no difference between the practice here, and the everyday activity you have in everyday life. So, to find out the meaning of your life here is to find out the meaning of your everyday activity. To be aware of the meaning of your life, you practice zazen here.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

To Study

Sometimes without teaching, when you do not hear anything and just sit, you have everything. And teaching is not sufficient, and awareness of yourself is not sufficient. So, the purpose of practice in this place is to study ourselves. To be independent, we study. But you need a teacher because it is impossible to study you by yourself; by some means you have to study. But you should not make a mistake. You should not take what you have learned here for yourselves. It is a part of your activity, everyday activity.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

Four Ways

Image from Wikipedia

Rinzai analyzed how to teach his disciples in four ways. Sometimes he talks about disciples; sometimes he talks about teaching itself; sometimes he gives an interpretation of both teaching and himself; sometimes he does not give any instruction about the students or teaching because even though he does not speak about anything, a student is a student. Strictly speaking there is no need to teach because each is Buddha, whether or not they are aware of it. Even though one is aware of their true nature, if they attach to the awareness, that is already wrong. When one is not aware of it, they have everything, but when they become aware of it, they think what they are aware of is themself. So that’s a big mistake.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

Be Independent

The moment you meet a teacher, you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. So that you can be independent, you have a teacher to study yourself. You have teachers for yourselves, not for the teacher.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

Through Teaching

By teaching we will understand what we are ourselves. But teaching is not ourselves; it is some explanation of ourselves. So, if you attach to the teaching, or to the teacher, that is a big mistake. The purpose of studying teaching is to know yourselves; through teaching you should know yourselves. That is why we do not attach to even teaching or a teacher.

Image modified by Google Gemini

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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.

Some Teaching

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves. It is impossible to study ourselves without some teaching. Because it is impossible to know what water is, we want science, and scientists want a laboratory, so they may study water. It is possible to know what elements water has, and when wind comes what kind of form water takes, and how it always comes down, but it is impossible to know water itself. It is same thing with ourselves. It is impossible to know what “I” is. That is why we have teaching.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-09-09 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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