Behave

Originally we have Buddha Nature. If so we have to behave like Buddha and this is why we practice zazen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-01-05. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com Wha at's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.]

Snake Fruit Seed Necklace

Kelly collected the salak seeds while in Bali and made this.

Kelly Chadwick cuke page

Posture

In our practice the important thing is the physical posture we take, and breathing, the way of breathing. Those are very important because we are not so much concerned about our deep understanding of Buddhism. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-01-05. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New (now at blogger) to see more daily posts.]

Voting for Survival

I'm used to voting for whom I see as the best leader over our expansive empire even though I am appealed at much of what we do. I'm sure I'll vote for her but I worry about Hillary's hawk. Read this in Common Ground about the grimness reaped.

Seems to me that being on as friendly terms with Russia as possible is of great importance as is reducing our nuclear weapons to below higher species including us-terminating levels. We're always on the verge of a catastrophic nuclear war and we including our leaders don't seem to be able to keep that in mind. So to me we're insane and getting to a place of nuclear sanity is the most important goal.

Rare

People say nowadays we are busy, but to have a chance to sit here in this way is very valuable. This is a very rare opportunity. We should not waste this rare opportunity to practice zazen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on and from Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com Wha at's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.]

George Lakoff

Understanding Trump

Insightful and useful.

No Name

So we say “compassion” or “Buddhism,” but actually for true Buddhism there is no name -- no name of Buddha or no name of compassion or mercy. By those names we just limit the true meaning of compassion or Buddha. If so, the only way to grasp the true meaning of the word is just practice it without any gaining idea before we know what it is, just as a bird or animal raise their babies up. This is how to study Buddhism in its true, strict sense. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on and from Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Rick Fields

Created a Rick Fields cuke page to gather links and added some stuff on this great dear old friend gone beyond. - dc

Compassion

Observe how even insects and animals nurse their young and bear hardship to bring them up. When the young reach maturity, the parents seek no profit. This is our way. Compassion for the young is strong even among tiny living creatures. Likewise, the various Buddhas have a natural compassion for living beings. The teaching of the Buddhas are not limited to compassion. They are expressed universally in many facets. This is the basic spirit of Buddhism.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on and from Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Don't worry. Nothing can go wrong.

H Bombs in Turkey - Eric Schlosser in the New Yorker - thanks Michael Katz

cuke page for Species Threat #1 - Nuclear War 

Sake

In Buddhism, in our practice, there is no idea-- no dualistic idea to practice for ourselves or for others. Just we do it -- practice it for sake of Buddhism.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Big Demonstraition near our place

Here's a piece Katrinka wrote on the demonstration at the beach we mainly go to.

Tolak Reklamasi  Benoa

Sanur Bali Demonstration

Sunday 17 July 2016

Will and Way

Just remember that if the training will and Buddhist way do not combine, our body and mind are not calm. If not calm, our body and mind are not comfortable. What should we do to couple the training will with the Buddhist way? Our mind neither clings nor forsakes. The mind is free from fame and profit.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Vanja Palmers on Gong

When Vanja took Zentatsu and me to Felsenthor, we visited his nearby farmhouse where he played his gong for us. Made a video and put it on Youtube - pardon the background sounds made by me holding the iPhone. I'm not used to using it that way. - dc

See

To see you yourself as you are -- that is perfect combination of body and mind. This is the perfect calmness of your mind.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Felsenthor

Zentatsu Richard Baker and I went with Vanja Palmers yesterday to Felsenthor, the retreat he founded above Lake Luzern in the Swiss Alps. That's Zentatsu facing, Vanja from behind, and Joen (Rose) who is charge these days.  It's my third time there, staying two nights, and it's going well, a community practice, refreshments for hikers, a Rinzai sesshin going on in the traditional Japanese zendo built by Paul Discoe's gang. Check out Felsenthor's website with photos better than I could take.

Period

Everyone has buddha-nature we say. But you cannot say, "Because everyone has buddha-nature, therefore..." [laughs] If you limit the meaning of the statement, putting “therefore” or “because” [laughs], that is not the ultimate truth. If you say “Everyone has buddha-nature, therefore [laughs] there will not be any difference whether we practice zazen or not" you limit the meaning, the original meaning of the statement by putting “therefore.” You use the statement for your own excuse [laughs]. Everyone has buddha-nature. Period. That is how to listen to the ultimate truth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Calligraphy by Shunryu Suzuki

Here's a photo of the original calligraphy Nyorai - Thus come, Tathagata - brushed by Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara and used for the cover of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Photo taken by David Schneider at Richard Baker's Johanneshof in the Black Forest of Germany where it hangs on a wall.

Whatever

As you understand, whatever you do that is zazen. So whatever others do, that is also zazen. This is our understanding of zazen.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

David Schneider at Johanneshof

David Schneider came to Johanneshof for a two day seminar on lay and monk practice he and Richard Baker did. It was hosted by the DBU (German Buddhist Union). More on that later. For now - here are two pics of them two and yours truly in the one after the bump taken by us after an enchanting weekend together, - dc

David Schneider cuke page

Richard Baker cuke page

You Know

Our practice is not just to sit. Whatever you do, that is zazen. Why? Because you know what the true meaning of Zen is. So for you, whatever you do, that is zazen [laughs].   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Akazienzendo

Akazienzendo in Berlin, teacher - Bernd Bender who translated Crooked Cucumber into German. Bernd studied at the SFZC so his center is in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage just like Richard Baker's Dharma Sangha with its Johanneshof where I am for a month. I won't get up to Berlin this time, maybe next. Here's a SFZC Sangha News piece on Akazienzendo.

Zenkei Blanche Hartman funeral

Report and photos at SFZC dot org

---thanks Tony Patchell

Blanche Hartman cuke page

Cut Root

 Our goal is not somewhere within reach or beyond our reach. Or our goal does not exist in our practice. You sit because you will have some joy in your practice. That is why you sit, you may say. And actually, because you have some joy, you sit [laughs]. But even though you do not feel any joy, you have to sit [laughs]. So there is no problem [laughs, laughter]. This is how to cut off the root of the problem.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

RIP Sterling Bunnell

Just learned that old friend and SFZC science and nature advisor and sometimes psychoanylyst has died. Farewell Sterling. Read about him here on Sterling's cuke page. - DC

Photo a long time ago.

Goal

Even though you do not enjoy the experience of Zen, Zen is Zen. To practice zazen is also the goal of practice, whether it is joyous or not joyous. It is the goal of practice. There is no other goal.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Rootin for the Home Boys

The Homeless World Cup is happening in Glasgow now and my bud Danu, best man at my wedding a year ago, is on the Indonesian team. Posted about Danu here on June 28. Going to the page for the Indonesian team, there's Danu's whole name: W Danu Hendro Prasetyoko. I see the team name is Rumah Cemara which means Pine House though I don't know if there's some other meaning or implication. I see on their page they've won more games than lost - beat Scottland and beat Costa Rica yesterday. Katrinka watched it online. I'll ask her when the next game is and maybe I can catch some of it. - dc

Eat your cake

If tea comes, you should drink tea. If you have cake, you should eat cake. [Laughs.] That's all. That is exactly how we exist in this world. This is the way how everything exists here. This is zazen.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Tap = fill in the blank

We do not wonder about the result of the practice. Whether we have a result or not is out of question. But the most obvious thing-- the ultimate point is that you are here as a follower of Buddhism. So as a follower of Buddhism, you should practice [taps twice]-- that's all. There is no reason.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Giant Kite

July and August are great months in Bali with a lot of kites. Sorry I missed this one not far from where we live. 

Shunryu in 1935 film (new version)

Shunryu Suzuki's English teacher, Nona Ransom's brief 1935 film of this and that in Japan includes some Shunryu. See the whole 11:38 film or just the 2:56 with Shunryu and friend. These were already on shunryusuzuki.com and Youtube but now have subtitles based on some comments from Shunryu's son Hoitsu and his voice acting out what Shunryu and friend would be saying when they meet for tea. Here's the Youtube Ransom playlist link (best) and here's the Video page on shunryusuzuki.com where these videos also reside,

Surrender

Our way is to practice zazen as transmitted from Buddha. Here we want absolute surrender. Before this surrender-- absolute surrender come to you, it is not possible to practice zazen in its true sense.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Johanneshof 20th

This is the main building of Johanneshof, Dharma Sangha's German retreat. Here's the page it came from with more (the zendo photo is the prior location). Just celebrated 20th anniversary. Couple hundred people came for the weekend. Shunryu's son Hoitsu Suzuki and his wife Chitose came for a week and joined Richard Baker in officiating the excellent brief preliminary ceremony installing the new zendo which is quite usable but not yet with raised tans being boated over from Len Bracket's shop. Lots of festivities, feasting, dancing, engaging. Good vibes. - dc

Key

In Buddhist training we always received the true key handed down by our patriarchs. How can we use our selfish mind for this? We cannot gain Buddhism with mind or without mind. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Downloading the Archive

Now there's a plan. It's fine to download the whole shunryusuzuki.com, but almost anyone would greatly prefer the Simplified Selection put on a thumb or flash drive for our friends here at the 20th anniversary of Richard Baker's Johanneshof in the Black Forrest of Germany. It has one choice for each transcript and audio rather than the multiple choices of the site, the same video and photos, and opens up like a web site within one's computer with index and links, It also includes all the transcripts in one file as posted on Friday, July 8th. There's a guide included and this guide is posted at http://www.cuke.com/flash/. We could make this available as a download. Probably reduce the file sizes for the download. Let us confer on this and will get back to you. - dc

After All

So the most important thing is to practice zazen in its true sense, in the transmitted way from Buddha to us. In Buddhism or in Zen, we have had various problems to discuss. But after all, we came to the conclusion that this practice is the most fundamental practice for understanding the profound meaning of Buddhism. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Root

Why Zen helps us in its true sense is because it will cut off the root of the problems we have. If you know how to practice zazen, you will know how to cut off your root of suffering, root of trouble. That is why our practice is valuable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.

Stealing Cuke dot com

This is part three in the Cuke Archives crowd archiving posts. I've talked to people who've copied all of cuke.com, a couple succesfully, one who said it made the program crash. I'd not suggest it at this point, want to get a bunch of stuff off it and moved to cuke-annex.com with other nonZense. Cuke dot com is the oral history and more, a key part of the archive. - dc

Eternal

Gaining idea usually limits the meaning of practice. Our practice has limitless meaning in it. So that is why Zen has eternal life in it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts..

Preserve the Transcripts

The transcripts of Shunryu Suzuki lectures and some other sources like the Wind Bell, transcript of the films, have continued to expand and be improved, corrected, and so forth. If you go to Shunryu Suzuki dot com to the Shunryu Suzuki Lecture Search Form and enter no criteria for your search, click Submit, links for the first hundred or so will come up. Then click on Save All Transcripts and the lectures will download into your computer as one file. Go to the bottom of the page of search results and click on Next. Go back up and click Save All Transcripts. Do that two more times and you will have all the lectures in four files. I put them together into one file that's 2778 pages in my computer as a MS Word file.  Now print it up on acid free paper and keep it in a - we'll have to look into the next step. That all-in-one file is great for searching and so are both the search forms on shunryusuzuki.com. Go back and redownload the transcripts from time to time because we keep adding to and correcting and so forth. This is part of an attempt at crowd archiving started with yesterday's post to copy the whole shunryusuzuki.com website. Thanks and take care. - dc

Sake

Maybe you will attain some result. But we do not practice for sake of the wonderful result we will have. But it does not mean that zazen practice has no advantage. It has some -- it will result in something good for you, actually [laughs]. But we do not practice it for sake of the result we will have. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts..

Steal that Site

Everything's going to disintegrate sooner or later but until this inevitability affects cuke archives, we plod on as if there were a tomorrow. The archive on shunryusuzuki.com, transcript, audio, video, photo is continually upgraded and expanded, but it's getting close enough to that unreachable completeness that I want to start encouraging people to download the entire site, get it on a hard drive, preserve it as if only your copy is to survive a little longer. There are free website copiers online. Here's one:

HTTrack Website Copier - Free Software Offline Browser (GNU GPL)

www.shunryusuzuki.com is 13 GB with 3,727 files in 276 folders.

Thank you for your service - to future generations in case there happen to be any. - dc

Magic

To practice zazen because of interest in practicing zazen is also, strictly speaking, a gaining idea. Of course, to expect something after your practice, this is of course gaining idea. “If you practice zazen you will be healthy,” or “You will have some mystic power like some magic.” This is, of course, is not Zen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-12-17b speaking on Dogen's Gakudo-yojin-shu as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts..