It
is important to have a good memory and to be able to go into every detail of
activities so that effective decisions can be made. Yet one's mind cannot
respond to the coming of new objects into the consciousness if it is full of
the traces of former thinking. It is useless to remember everything. There is
no point in remembering things just so we can cry, be jealous, or be proud. The
mind should be spotless so that everything may be observed as it is. If the
mind is free from the traces of past thinking and is always clear, without
tainted ideas or desires, then mind will always be calm and natural like the
flowers that come out in Springtime or the red leaves that turn in the Autumn.
Your mind and your nature will have the same peace.
Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 63-11-00 as found on shunryusuzuki.com - from an edited lecture in an early Wind Bell -all Wind Bells and Suzuki lectures from Wind Bells.