Explaining "fox zazen"

in Japan, fox is something [laughing] to disguise or to change into or to fool people in disguise. He thinks this is zazen, but the way he appears is not zazen anymore. A fox try too much. Fox change into something else.If you try to understand what is zazen too much, your zazen will change into something else. So, you know, when you just practice it, that is true zazen.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

A Brief History of Tassajara

Is in line now to be printed. Should be available at Tassajara, the City Center, and Green Gulch in a couple of weeks.

Another book by Bhikkhu Moneyya

Teaching and Training 
at Pa-Auk Forest Monastery

Fox

But for many hundreds of years before Dogen Zenji, this point was not so clear. [see prior days' posts] In Zen, there were many schools-- five or seven. And each school, including Soto, was supposed to be the best, you know, school of all the schools of Zen. They say, you know, “Best school.” But to say “best school” is to put limitation [laughs] to their own way [laughs]. If it is really best school, there is no need to say so. So in this sense, each school will be the best one for him. So it is silly to say, “This is best school,” or “This tradition or lineage is the right one.” This kind of silly understanding sneaked into our zazen practice. And when we realize what is zazen, what we have been practicing was not right--was not zazen anymore. We call it “fox zazen.” ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.x

RIP Charles Page

Charles Page died on June 7th in Monterey at the age of 89. He had been coming to Tassajara before the SFZC bought it and he and his wife Caroline were regular guests through the years. Charles was a prominent attorney in the area and was quite helpful with matters in the Monterey County area in the time I was there. I'd pay him for legal advice with Tassajara bread. He'd buy eight loaves when he was a guest and freeze the ones that didn't get eaten right away when they got back home. Condolences to the four sons who Charlie was most proud of and always mentioned. - DC

Charles Page page on cuke - with an obituary from the Monterey Peninsula Herald.

Same

So to participate with practice, or with the great activity is the only way to be familiar with it. So in this sense, whatever you do, if you do not have mixed up understanding in this area, that is true understanding. So in this sense-- before, I say zazen is quite different practice from other activities. But now I can say zazen is not different from the other activities we have. Only because your understanding is mixed up, I say zazen is quite different practice from other practice.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.x

Direct

To have direct experience of it is the only way to know what is zazen.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Enjoy

Usually when-- when you say, “I enjoyed very much,” you say after you enjoyed it [laughs]. So it is too late to say that [laughs]. When you are actually, you know, enjoying it, you have no words. You have no feeling whatsoever. You don't know what you are [laughs] doing.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Gratitude

When we are satisfied with our practice, with our everyday life, if we have always gratitude of carrying on our life, that is true practice. To have gratitude or to enjoy our life does not mean to have some special feeling in our life, or special enjoyment, or special gratitude. By gratitude or enjoyment we mean something deeper than that: gratitude before we have gratitude, enjoyment before we enjoy it.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

No Difference

There is no difference between our everyday life and our true practice.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Gain

We do not practice our way to attain something, but we practice zazen to be free from a dualistic gaining idea.   ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Pleasure

Whatever you do, that is actually our true practice. But you are pleased with the limited pleasure of the practice, and you do not know the boundless meaning of our everyday life.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Air

We are in the air, but we do not aware of where we are because we do not feel anything in the air. So you do not feel anything. But without air, we cannot live.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Fish

Zazen practice is fundamental practice which you should not always lose. We say, “Because of our practice the mountain is high. Because of our practice, the sea is deep. Because of practice, bird flies. Because of practice, fish swims.” It is actually so, but fish do not know where he is. We do not know where we are. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Usual

iI you think zazen practice will be the same as our usual practice, there there is big misunderstanding. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Jordan Thorn's last dharma talk

Oak Street Zendo half day sitting on June 30 invite with a link to an inspiring talk by Jordan - thanks Peter van der Sterre who wrote the following:

Earlier this week I was sent a link to Jordan's last Dharma talk at ZC in March. I was so pleased and impressed by his words.

Jordan Thorn page

Aim

Because we do something with some aim and we want to do something in a more perfect way, sometimes you are not satisfied with what you do, and sometimes you will be pleased with what you did. When this kind of discrimination happens, that activity is not anymore true activity-- at least your understanding of the activity you have done is not true activity itself. It is already a dead idea within your mind. And actual limitless activity is no more. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01=B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Dark

If the earth says, “I don't want the sun,” [laughs] what will happen to it? There is no other way to vanish from the cosmic world. Because of this unthinkable thinking, we exist. We can think. We can live. Without this unthinkable, we cannot think. It change into delusion. If you insist on it, you-- it means you are involved in dark, big, delusion. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Jordan's Cremation is Today

People sat with Jordan's body until around 11:00am on Monday. They lined the staircase and sidewalk and rose petals were tossed as he was brought down to be taken to the crematorium. Today, Thursday, is the cremation.

That's Jordan with the rabbit ears at an office party, the treasure's office I suppose, as he was the Chief Financial Officer. Photo by Clare Hollander.

Jordan Thorn page

Vanish

We sit in this way. This is how different it is-- our practice. That is why we should practice zazen, and you should not neglect our zazen because you think something else is more important. Why something is important for you is because of this practice. So if you forget all about the practice, you lose your life. Whatever you do, it doesn't work. If you insist it works, you lose yourself. You are no more. You vanish [laughs] from this world.  ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Unthinking

(quoting Dogen again from the Fukanzazengi) "How do you think the unthinkable? Think beyond thinking and unthinking." Think beyond thinking and unthinking. Your thinking should be beyond “I think” or “I don't think.” It must be right there always. This is the important phase of cross-leg sitting. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Jordan Thorn

Cuke page for dear departed Jordan.

I'm sorry he's gone. I bet he's not sorry or sad or mourning. -dc


That's from a 1996 Wind Bell

Unthinkable

(Reading from Dogen's Fukanzazengi) “How do you think the unthinkable?”

This is not just, you know, question. It is [laughs] a strong statement. How do you think the unthinkable? This is not an interrogative. It is strong affirmative sentence. How do you think the unthinkable? Unthinkable thinking is how. ---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

RIP Jordan Thorn

Dear friend, none closer at the Zen Center, Jordan died yesterday, Sunday morning. He'd been told not that long ago his cancer was gone but then it came back and it didn't take long. Sadness. - dc

Reason

-The reason why we wanted to practice zazen, putting strength in our tanden, is to realize what is true practice and what is not.---------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Rocks

If you want to go back to the nature, you should go back to the rocks on the top of the mountain [laughs]. That is much better than to be a bird, or cat, or even a lion. Be a rock. And sit forever, without being moved by rain, or snow, or storm. But weathered by rain and snow, rocks will tell us many stories. You may say that is just a rock. But buddha-nature, in its truest sense, reveals itself on weathered ancient rocks on the top of the mountain. ----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Round and round

If you practice our way, your mind will become calm, and you will become healthy. So for that reason, many people are practicing zazen. But that is not [laughs], you know, true zazen. The form they take is zazen, but the way they practice or reason why they practice is not right. But if you know this point, you can practice our way with various idea too. But this point should not be forgotten, Because it means you started wandering about, you know-- going round and round [laughs], seeking for something. Because you do not know the meaning of everyday activity, you start seeking for something better. And you are going round and round, same place, seeking for something special.----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Blasphemous

As we do something, we do it just for sake of the activity, without any gaining idea, or without limiting the meaning of the activity. This is why we practice zazen. To think about what is zazen is already blasphemous. The only way is just to sit. So if it is so, there is no other way to understand what is zazen than just to sit. ----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Dragon

We say we practice our way not for ourselves or not for others. We practice our way for sake of the way. There is no other reason why we practice our way. We just want to go back to our home like a dragon will resume its activity in water, like a tiger who came back to lie down in his own den.----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Unperterubable

 Because you do not possess this kind of big mind, whatever you do does not make any sense. If you want to do something-- something pure and great, you should fix your mind-- unperturbable mind which does not move back and forth, or right or left, or successful or unsuccessful. Only with this conviction you can do something in its true sense.----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Nothing

Even if you are a great hero, after you pass away, nothing will happen. You may think, “After my death, what will happen to this world?” [Laughing.] But nothing will happen to this world. The sun rise from the east and set in the west. Nothing will happen. Even though, you know, our earth is gone by atomic bomb, nothing will happen [laughs]. Nothing whatsoever happen to this cosmic scale.----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Death

Why you become afraid of death is because you do not possess the big mind. Even though you become afraid of it, nothing will happen to you [laughing]. You know, everything will laugh at you. “Why you are afraid of it? Why you think you have gone? You are there, right here.” Everyone may say, you know-- for a time [laughs]-- they will say, “Oh, I am sorry. [Laughs.]” But that's all ----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Death

 Originally, even if we die in our practice [laughs], we are going to our original home [laughs]. After death, where you will go? You will return to your home from where you came [laughing]. That's all. Nothing will happen to you. That's all right. Quite all right. ----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Calm

Some people who sit for the first time in the calm place, I think will be afraid of the calmness of the sitting [laughs]. Your mind is so calm and surrounding is so calm. The experience you have is quite unusual, so someone will become afraid of it. But nothing will happen.  ----------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-01-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.