Ornament again

Suzuki is talking about a guest at Tassajara. (continued from Saturday.

She said, “I am a ornament of it. I am not I. I am it,” [laughs], she said. “I am it.” Not “me,” “it.” And she started to talk about the relationship between “I” and “it,” And "I am an ornament of it, a tools of it."   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

My Sectarianism

Whatever the religion is, that is very helpful. This is my non-sectarianism. So my sectarianism is sectarianism and non-sectarianism [laughs]. Both. Do you understand? You cannot say it is non-sectarianism, because I am very proud sectarian [laughs].

Ornament

I was talking with a guest about and she had very good understanding. I was amazed [laughs, laughter]. We talked about maybe thirty-forty minutes, standing under the -- what do you call it?

Student: Trellis.
SR: Hmm? Trellis. Yeah. She said we are ornament of it, instead of saying buddha-nature. First of all, she was thinking about the word for buddha-nature, and she said we are tools of it. And I said, “Yeah, maybe tools of it.” And actually we say, “We are the ornament of it,” you know [laughs].  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

China

Student B: You were talking about non-sectarianism in Sung China. What does it mean in America?

SR: In America, first of all, you have no tradition of Buddhism. And we are start to establish some  Buddhist activity here. And intellectually you study many things and you have various understanding. I think some of you already studied under many teachers. So the situation is quite different. In Japan,  mostly Soto students study Soto only. Between Rinzai and Soto, some Rinzai students study Dogen Zenji, and we study Rinzai practice too. But mostly Rinzai student is Rinzai and Soto students from beginning to end are Soto students.
But here the way you study is not same as we do in Japan. And this is, I think, something like the situation in Buddhism or Zen Buddhism started in China after the Sixth Patriarch. They recommended their students to some other teachers. Actually there was not much sectarianism, but there were various kinds of practice or way of giving instruction. And I think we are in America, under the same situation as they had in China.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Water

Our practice is like a water. Water is necessary for everyone. Even though wine or lemon juice tastes good, or ice cream is good [laughs], if you always take ice cream or lemon juice, you cannot survive.So you should not forget water. Our practice is like a water.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Merry Christmas

Blessings to you and yours on this day and those to come. 

Ram Dass page

A cuke page for Ram Dass who died three days ago. The pages on Tassajara from Be Here Now are excerpted therein - and more. Anything anyone has to add, please send in. - dc 

No Steps

In Soto Zen, in shikantaza, there are no steps - because we are expressing our true nature through practice. We already have innate nature and what we should do is to express it. So there are no steps. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

RIP Ram Dass

Good friend to all on a spiritual journey, Richard Alpert Ram Dass - what a trip here on earth - bon voyage oh mariner! - dc

thanks Steve Tipton

Koans

At the time of Sixth Patriarch, there were no koans. Only Sung Dynasty, then koan study started. If koan study is only way to study Buddhism, the Sixth Patriarch or Bodhidharma are not Zen masters [laughs, laughter].  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Date for Bill Sterling Memorial

The memorial service for Bill Sterling will be held at 2 pm on Sunday, January 19 at The Grange in the Anderson Valley, 9800 CA-128, Boonville

Lots of new photos of Bill and Yvonne Rand on his cuke page - at the bottom

Everyone

If the only means to attain enlightenment is cross-legged sitting, onlye a few people will be saved by Zen. But according to Dogen Zenji, Zen is not such thing. Zen is for everyone whether you can cross your legs or not.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

For Everyone

It is easy to repeat Amida Buddha's name. Pure Land school, everyone can practice it. It is quite different from zazen. And religion should be for everyone, not just for men or for someone who can cross their legs in lotus posture. What will they do if they cannot cross their legs [laughs, laughter]? Many people say Zen is not for everyone [laughter], and Zen is just for [laughs] men and not for ladies. Maybe Pure Land school is better [laughs], because a religion should be for everyone.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Amida

Before Shinran, to repeat Amida Buddha's name was a kind of practice to be saved by Amida Buddha. So if you wanted to be saved by him sooner you should repeat it many, many times. That was the idea of repeating Amida Buddha's name. But according to Shinran, because we are originally saved by Amida Buddha, even if you say it just once that is enough [laughs]. If you are aware of your true nature, that is enough.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Sectarianism

Before I, you know, talk about non-sectarianism, you know [laughs], I must take pride in my sectarianism first, and how my sectarianism is non-sectarianism [laughs, laughter]. It is the next thing I should try to explain. But right now, we should establish ourselves in a firm foundation. We are talking about the universal foundation to every school of Buddhism.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Do

[Speaking on 2nd of the four vows] Our evil desires are, you know, inexhaustible. But we vow to, you know, put an end to it [laughs]. This is something which you should do, which you buddha-nature asks us to do it. Not something which you should do which you should promise to do [laughs]. Something which you should do day by day, every day, you know.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Endless

For us there is no dead end. We say even though there are innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them [laughs]. That is our vow. This vow is not based on the possibilityof saving all of them, but to make our best effort to express our true nature, we vow to save them all. And if it is impossible, our effort will be endless. In this way, we understand our practice and our vow. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Express

To express our true nature, we practice zazen.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

No Need

There is no need for us to depend on Buddha's teaching, but directly we should practice as he did. That is starting point of Zen Buddhism. And that is Bodhidharma's Zen.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

No Dif

There is no difference between our buddha nature and Buddha's buddha nature.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Buddha Nature

Even if Buddha had not appeared in this world, we all have Buddha nature. And we would start our practice because of our true nature which Buddha found out.   -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Based

According to Bodhidharma, buddha-nature is not something to be attained by practice. For Bodhidharma, our practice is quite independent from various teaching. Our practice is independent from Buddha's teaching. Although we acknowledge, or we accept Buddha's teaching, our practice is not something based on some teaching. Our practice is based on our original nature, buddha-nature.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Evil Desire

According to Buddhism or Buddha's teaching, evil desires itself, if we understand it properly, is enlightenment itself, buddha-nature itself.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Both sides

As long as you experience it in terms of a good stage or a bad stage, a high or low stage, that is not perfect enlightenment. We do not expect anything perfect, but we do not reject it. We always have it, but ideal is ideal and reality is reality, and in our practice we have to have both sides. This is the original nature of Buddhism. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Not Possible

 In Soto practice, you know, we do not put too much emphasis on enlightenment. When we say enlightenment, we mean some perfect stage you will attain. But actually [laughs] that is not possible.
-------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC .u

On Bill Sterling.

A cuke page for William Wallace (Bill) Sterling who died on the morning of December 1st.

Bill with wife Yvonne Rand at Tassajara, 1986.
photo by Barbara Wenger

Please send anything you may wish to add to Bill's page to dchad at cuke dot com. 

No Need

We understand Buddha as the ideal, as a perfect, you know, one. At the same time we understand him as a human being. Although we have this ideal there is no need for us to be bound by the ideal. The same thing is true with rituals and precepts. There is no need to be bound by precepts and there is no need to be bound by, to observe, our rituals as some formality. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC .u

Bill Sterling update

As posted a few days ago, William Wallace Sterling, Yvonne Rand's husband died suddently, I believe on the morning of December 1st. Yvonne was with him and stayed at his side until his body was taken away. Her daughter Hillary has been with her taking care of things. Yvonne's son Chris has been there too.

There have been over 100 responses to my post on Facebook.

Would love to have a photo of Bill.

Accept

we should not treat ideal or reality something desirable or something not satisfactory. We should, you know, accept ideal as ideal and reality as reality. So even though our practice is not perfect, you know, we should accept it, without forgetting, without rejecting ideal. How to do that is to live on each moment. On each moment we include reality and ideal. So everything is included on each moment. So, there's no other way to be satisfied with what we have on each moment. That is only approach to the ideal. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC 

Ideal

In our way, there is no idea of complete success, complete enlightenment. And yet we are aiming at, we have some ideal. But we should note that, the ideal is something which we can’t reach. Ideal is ideal and reality is reality. Now, we should have both reality and ideal, or else we cannot do anything. So ideal and reality, both ideal and reality will help our practice. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC .u

RIP Bill Sterling

Just got word that dear old friend and husband to Yvonne Rand, Bill Sterling, has passed away. More on Bill as it's received. Gya te gya te.

Satisfaction

When we are satisfied with our attainment moment after moment, with some improvement, we have there composure of life. We have satisfaction.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC .u