Student A (Bill Shurtleff): It seems that on some evenings you emphasize the
idea of non-attainment and that there is nothing to do except simply to give up and to just
sit and to be whatever you are at each instant. And yet at other times, it seems that you speak of exerting your best
effort. And when I think of exerting my best effort, it's in order to attain something.
Why do you bother speaking about effort at all? Why not simply stay to
the teaching of not trying to do anything at all?
SR: [Laughs.] Yeah. That is very good question. Even though I say do whatever you like, you are doing [laughs] something with some effort [laughs, laughter]. Can you do anything without any effort? No, you cannot. Anyway you have some problem. So it is better to have some good problem rather than bad one [laughs, laughter]. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC
SR: [Laughs.] Yeah. That is very good question. Even though I say do whatever you like, you are doing [laughs] something with some effort [laughs, laughter]. Can you do anything without any effort? No, you cannot. Anyway you have some problem. So it is better to have some good problem rather than bad one [laughs, laughter]. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-07-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC