Student F: How do you, in your daily life keep a healthy mind from not expecting when
some people, without knowing it, want you to get into expecting it with them?
SR: Yeah. If you don't know the nature of
suffering, you know, you will suffer more. But if you know why you suffer, then
you think, “I expect too much,” you know. “There is no ice cream here,”
[laughs] so I shouldn't think about ice cream. That there is no ice
cream is already not so good. But if you expect it, if you want [laughs,
laughter] to have it, you make yourself worse [laughs, laughter]. So by not expecting it when you can't have it, you will be relieved from a lot of suffering. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-15 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching.
