For updates on the Willow Fire near Tassajara, go to
Today's San Jose Mercury News (that's the horse bridge at Arroyo Seco River in the photo up top).
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd926572.pdf
thanks Steve Tipton for the above links
https://www.sfzc.org/fire-updates
Usually you stick to who is not you, which is not you, and you ignore, you know [laughs], the reality. And you feel uneasy with the reality, and you feel something, some satisfaction, you know, which is not real. As Dogen Zenji said, we human beings attach to something which is not real and forget all about which is real [laughs]. That is actually what we are doing. If you realize this point, you will have perfect composure in yourself, and you can trust yourself. Whatever happens to you, it doesn't matter. You can trust yourself. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Our activity is cosmic activity and personal activity. So there is no need to explain what we are doing. When you want to explain it, that is all right, but if we cannot understand it, because it is impossible to understand we should not feel uneasy. You know, actually you are here, right here. So before you don't [thumps stick] understand yourself, you are you, you know. After you understand it, you are not you anymore [laughs]. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Tom Cleary was a great translator of Buddhist and other Asian texts. He taught at Zen Center some but didn't like class situations. He translated an enormous amount. I attended one of those classes. He was quite a character.
Dan Kaplan wrote on Facebook: R.I.P Thomas Cleary 1949- June 20, 2021. Prolific translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Sanskrit and other texts into English, who made it possible for so many people to have access in English to the great works of the Eastern Spiritual traditions, not the least of which was and is The Blue Cliff Record.
Shambhala Publications post on Cleary - thanks Dan Kaplan
Climate Change and Society by Jeff Broadbent.
June 25 Cuke Podcast with Jeff reading this piece sandwiched in between us making pithy comments.
But you cannot say this is just Buddha's activity, because you are [thumps stick] doing it actually [laughs]. You may say then, I don't know who is doing what. But why do you say, “Who is doing what?” You wanted to limit your activity, you want to intellectualize your activity, that's all, you know. So before you say something, the actual [thumps stick] activity is here. That is, you know, actually who we are. We are Buddha, and we are each one of us [laughs]. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Lew wrote: I am now a weekly columnist on a major website, The Good Men Project, which began as a forum for men to learn to be better men, but has expanded to encompass many related areas in wellness, gender and sexuality, politics, and more. I will be writing on a variety of topics related to my five published books and other observations of current trends. My latest column reflects on the radical transformation of the historical Buddha from a prince of privilege and hereditary warrior to a peaceful monk. See it here.
So there is no explanation [laughs], actually, you know. So just [thumps stick] moment after moment [thumps stick], we should continue this kind of activity, which is Buddha's activity. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
‘Fire Monks’ Defend Tassajara Zen Monastery From Wildfire
***
[All still seems okay. For updates on the Willow Fire near Tassajara, go to https://www.sfzc.org/fire-updates and the US Forest Service's: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/]
David Silva reports - The most current map of the Willow fire I can find. shows fire not moving towards Tassajara at this time. I would guess that this is due to air takers painting the ridgeline between willow Creek and Tassajara Creek pretty heavily with fire retardant. But that is just a guess. The red line around area WF-6 is current fire perimeter. https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/.../response/2021-wildfires
***
Eight monks protecting the Buddhist center near Big Sur, Calif., are relying not only on training from professional firefighters but also on their Zen practice.
Smoke rising from the Willow fire, which has burned about 2,800 acres in Los Padres National Forest since it began on June 17.Credit...California Interagency Willow Fire Incident, via Associated Press
By Michael Levenson
June 23, 2021
Eight Buddhist monks working to defend the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center near Big Sur, Calif., from a nearby wildfire have relied not only on the training they have received from professional firefighters but also on their Zen practice.
If we do something we cannot say, “I am doing something,” you know, because there is no one independent from, separated from, the others. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Was thinking about what phrase did Shunryu Suzuki use the most. We had a lot of emphasis on "most important a decade ago or so--most important point or most important thing. He said that a lot. There's a collection of statements he made with most important in them. We've added some lectures to the archive since then so it could be brought up to date. There's a page for it. And from that page:
The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures.
There are 224 instances found in the 2010 collection of his lectures, 85 of "most important point" and 87 of "most important thing." [As of November 2020 there are 266 instance of "most important" in the Suzuki lecture archive default (closest to verbatim) selection.]
Tomorrow - a phrase he used more than that.
All seems okay. Don't fret. Here are the links again for updates.
For updates on the Willow Fire near Tassajara, go to https://www.sfzc.org/fire-updates
and the US Forest Service's: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/
Ordinary mind is tao, you know. Even though we are doing quite usual things, whenever we do something, that is actually Buddha's activity-- Buddha's activity, but our activity [laughs]. Ordinary mind is tao. Buddha's mind, Buddha's activity, and our activity are not different. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
It is rather difficult to explain how to be concentrated on this point. There are many koans and sayings on this point. And those sayings look like they are very different, but [laughs] actually they are all the same. Ordinary mind is tao, you know. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
and the US Forest Service's: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/
Huff Post report - national news
Even though we can explain what is Buddhism, if you do not have the actual feeling with it, we, you know, cannot call ourselves real Buddhist. Only when our personality is characterized by this kind of feeling we call ourselves a Buddhist. It is necessary for us to be always concentrated on this point. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Check it out. - that's the welcome page. Here's the SFZC online store link
You may say it is not possible to be an ordinary and holy [laughs] person. When you think so, your understanding is, we say, heretic understanding or one-sided understanding. We should understand everything, not just from one standpoint. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
In the recent piece he did on Taihaku Priest (RIP) and her teacher, Tanaka Shinkai, Taigen Dan Leighton wrote:
I did a handful of sesshins with Tanaka Shinkai Roshi, Taihaku’s teacher later at Hokyoji, the training temple founded by Dogen’s Chinese disciple Jakuen near Eiheiji. Earlier as a young priest, Shinkai Roshi had been invited by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi to come to SFZC to help, as he invited Katagiri Roshi and Kobun Chino Roshi. At that time Shinkai Roshi had to decline the invitation as he was leading the Tokyo branch of Eiheiji.
That was news to me. I put it in a notes section for the up and coming greatly expanded Notes on Crooked Cucumber to add to the list of those he was considering that we knew about - Kosho Uchiyama, Kojun Hakusan Noiri, Rempo Niwa, Yuho Yokoi. I don't know if he actually asked any of them as Taigen reports he did with Shinkai. Those were all heavy hitters. Maybe Shinkai would have worked out but not the others I don't think. They were too established and had their own way. I think who did fine with who we got - Kobun Chino, Ryogen Yoshimura, Sotan Tatsugami, and at the very end, Ryuho Yamada. Dainin Katagiri was already one of us.
When you sit you are not the same being you were before you sat. Do [laughs] you understand? Because, when you sit, you are an ordinary person and buddha. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
In the People dropdown menu on cuke.com, the top choice is Names. It opens up a page called People in cuke.com. If someone has gone on to the next bardo, an RIP is placed after their name. Elizabeth Sawyer was on that page recently, noticed a name not RIPed, then another and ended up sending me a list of about 20 we'd neglected. There are over 500 names there, most of which have a link to a page or a mention of them. Maybe you know of someone who's passed on that we've neglected to honor the the three initials. If so, please let us know at dchad @ cuke dot com. There's an old memorial page that hasn't been updated in a while. Think it should be retired. The names page RIPs serve that purpose sufficiently. I see it sometimes as a game of musical chairs. One day when the music stops our chair isn't there. And some day that page will be only names with RIP. It's our honor. - dc
When you sit, you are an ordinary person and you are buddha. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
From the 1977 Marble Cone Fire. Recognize anyone? Is that Pam Chernoff at the bottom middle?
Write dchad @ cuke dot com
When you sit, you know, you are independent from various being, and you are related to various being. And when you have perfect composure in your practice, it means that you include everything. You are not just you. You are whole world or whole cosmos, and you are a buddha. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
I am one tree, and each one of you are a tree of itself. And by itself, you should, you know, stand up. And when one tree stand up by itself, we call that tree a buddha In other words, when you practice zazen in its true sense, you are really buddha. So buddha and tree is one, in that sense. It may be sometime we call it a tree; sometime we call it a buddha. Buddha or tree or you are many names of one buddha. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
Stumbled on Tai Sheridan's Tassajara Journal and saw his list of students at the winter-spring practice period at Tassajara in 1971. Then checked the Tassajara 25 Year Book and saw it wasn't there. Now that list is there (take a look) in the text version of that book that Neil Rubenking did. Thanks Tai (Larry back then) and Neil, and Peter Ford for getting it in there. - dc
This was in a message I received recently.
My talk is just to give you some help in your practice. So it is just help, you know. So, as I always say, there is no need for you to remember what I said as something definite, --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-30 - 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.
As I post Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts here six days a week on Cuke New blog, Instagram Cuke Archives has an excerpt six days a week with photos. It's presented so well. I may have mentioned here before that this was my wife Katrinka's idea. And she kept bugging me about it till I shared the idea with my associate Peter Ford who looked into it, figured out how to do it, and started doing it a little over a month ago. He's coming from the other end, using Suzuki lecture excerpts from when I started doing this regularly - five years ago. I heartily suggest you check it out. - dc
We are practicing our way with so many people and we are busy organizing our practice. But we should not forget our personal practice. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
Whatever it is which is true with us is true with our ancestors and for our descendant, too --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
Barbara Wenger's Community Garden and Koshland Park History in the SFZC City Center neighborhood.
When you can accept completely the things which people may accept, the truth which is truth for us was the truth for even Shakyamuni Buddha. There is no difference. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
85 new minimum edits of Shunryu Suzuki lectures have now been completed. They are lightly edited for readability, keeping as close as possible to what he actually said, but a lot smoother because Suzuki spent a lot of time in some lectures starting a sentence several times, correcting himself, mixing up pronouns and word agreement and singular and plural, saying "you know" a lot, and so forth. Not all the grammar is fixed, just that which gets in the way of reading flow and comprehension. Nine bows to Wendy Pirsig and Peter Ford for a years' careful work and for re-checking the verbatim versions against the audio and thus we have a slew of new corrections to the verbatim set as well. This is a another milestone in the ongoing work with Suzuki's lectures to make them more accessible and digestible and presentable. Here's a page for the New Minimum Edits (2020-2021).
Religion is, after all, for ourselves-- each one of ourselves. If so, it is necessary to observe our way as a personal practice and independent effort. And when you get through the superficial activity, you will find out some universal things within yourselves. That is a kind of mystery. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
If you've got anything to share about Pam, please send it to dchad @ cuke dot com.
When you know that whatever we do in terms of good or bad, right or wrong, is not perfect, then tentatively you can choose some way. That is, in other words, selflessness. You do not [taps stick twice] force anything. Tentatively: “Let's do this way.” That's all, you know. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
Blogger lost the link again from yesterday's post. I swear it wasn't me but I didn't check it and that can be fatal. So here it is - and it's there too. Apologies. - dc
Read about Gary Gach and then check out his site - if you wish.
Discussion is necessary if you understand the fundamental attitude or fundamental practice of selflessness, discussion is very useful. But usually-- when you-- because you [are] caught by some idea, some way to solve the problem, you cannot solve the problem. Because no way can be perfect. It will create some other problem, whatever you do. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
I don't like to discuss something too much [laughs]. You will be lost in your discussion. It will take, you know, night after night, day by day, and you will not have any conclusion. The last thing you will do is to decide by vote. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-03-16 - 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.
