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.

Taste with Your Tongue: Cooking Through the Six Flavors with Ed Brown

Online Course

Five Saturdays, 10:30 am–12:00 pm PT 

Sep 12, 2026 - Oct 10, 2026
https://www.sfzc.org/calendar/events/online/taste-your-tongue-cooking-through-six-flavors-ed-brown-online-912-1010

Edward Espe Brown began cooking and practicing Zen in 1965 and was ordained as a Zen priest by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1971, who gave him the name Jusan Kainei, “Longevity Mountain Peaceful Sea.” He received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman in 1996.

Limit Activity

When you limit your life to a certain extent, it is easier to find out the truth. If you do too many things [laughs], you will be lost in your activity. But if you limit your activity, you can see. That is why we observe precepts. Precepts observation is very important.

—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.

Austerity

I cannot talk [said as he was covering his mouth with his hand] [laughter]. You cannot listen [laughter]. You cannot smell, even. That is how you study Buddhism. That is observation of precepts. So, whatever the religion is, the most important thing is a kind of austerity.

—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.

Endurance

Photo by Judith Keenan

When you study Buddhism, patience and endurance are absolutely necessary because we do not talk too much about the advantages of Buddhism. Until we find out [laughs], we will wait. If so, both for the teacher and student, the most important thing is endurance—to wait for the chance which will come for us. If you give up, you will have no chance to understand Buddhism in its true sense because it is not some knowledge or intellectual understanding.

—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.

Without Listening to Anything

We repeat lecture after lecture, talking about some advantage of zazen practice. So naturally it means I am selling some drugs [laughing] or sake to you, and you are buying it, and you are taking it [laughter]. This is not so good. So, actually it is better to do it, without listening to anything—just by the suggestion of the teacher.

—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

No Trace

Dogen Zenji said, “Fish swim like a fish. Birds fly like a bird” [laughs]. That is Buddhist life. Fish swim, but there is no trace. Birds fly, but there is no trace of a bird. There is no setup or trace for birds.

Photo: Zephyris, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

—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.

Act the Same

We should not make a shadow of the rules or trace of rules. If you do it, that’s all. That is the real Buddha. We should not be caught by what we did, even though it is right. We shouldn’t say, “What I did was right” [laughs]. We should act the same way, not leaving a trace of the teaching or trace of the 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.

Shadow of Rules

To have a shadow of rules means, “I must do this.” That is a shadow. Sometimes you are scared of the shadow of yourself [laughs]. We should not have a shadow of the rules. Until you do it, it is not a rule. When you do it, that is a rule.

—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.