Intimate Enlightenment

Dogen Zenji says “intimate enlightenment.” The most intimate one to you is enlightenment. Enlightenment is something within you, but you cannot say “within you.” If I say, “within you,” it is not intimate enough. It is [laughs] hiding within yourself. If so, it is not intimate. Of course, if it is something beyond you, that is not intimate. And if it is something to attain, it is not intimate. He says, “intimate enlightenment.” This intimacy to enlightenment is our practice.

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

All The Buddhas

All the buddhas are in your life in its true sense—should be within your life. If so, within your life there should be precepts. And that is, at the same time, the practice of zazen.

Image from: tricycle.org from the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

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

Upaya Zen Center - Rebecca Solnit

Will you be joining us at Upaya and online this Sunday? Rebecca Solnit will present her session of The Measure of Our Humanity on Possibility. We look forward to gathering with you!

Sunday, August 30, 11am - 12:30pm MDT

In person: ow.ly/6pgU50ZG68M
Online: ow.ly/SNts50ZG68L

To Study Yourself

Dogen Zenji says: “To study Buddhism is to study yourself.” From beginning to end, it is the study of our life. No one will help you. If you expect someone’s help, it means you lost your step, and you lost your true mind.

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

Within Yourself

Buddhism is not some knowledge or some philosophy—something to talk about. Buddhism is for yourself. And to study Buddhism is to help you yourself in its true sense. So, all the teaching is just within yourselves, not without. The spirit that started Buddhism is the spirit to solve everything as your own problem. That is how to study Buddhism.

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

Sincere Effort

We should be very grateful for the precepts. If you think the precepts will be a bandage for your life, or precepts are the rules for your life, that is a big misunderstanding. It means you are not sincere enough. You don’t know yourself, and you do not make enough effort to be a Buddhist. When you become a Buddhist, you will find the true meaning of those precepts.

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

Timber Fire at Tassajara

Timber Fire Update 8/24/2026
On Sunday, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department ordered an evacuation of Tassajara. The Timber Fire is about five miles away and growing in our direction....
https://blogs.sfzc.org/blog/2026/08/24/timber-fire-2026/

Photo by Shundo David Haye

Easy Way

When I was young, I wanted to remain in celibacy. I didn’t want to get married because I knew what would happen to me if I got married. So, I thought I’m not so good. I thought it may be easier to remain alone—to be a Buddhist. That was the easy way. But some people may think to remain Buddhist getting married may be easier because his wife will help him [laughs]. So, it may be easier. Yes, in some ways it is easier, but it makes it more difficult to be a good priest.

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

https://cuke.com/f for 2 versions of the file

Easy?

Precepts observation is difficult, but actually it is easy, you know. The difficult way is to behave like a Buddhist without precepts, without any rules. This is very difficult. But if we have some precepts, it is easy for us to observe our way. What do you think [laughs]? Do you think this is just a good explanation of precepts? It is not so.

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