There was a famous Zen master who had very sincere disciples. They were very poor, but the disciples wanted to buy a bell for chanting, and asked him to buy a bell for the temple. He was very angry [laughs] when his students asked him for a bell, “Why? What is the intention of reciting sutras? It looks like you recite sutras because people in the town may appreciate our practice. If so, that is not my way. We have to practice for our sake, not for others. If you can only chant sutras that is enough. There is no need to buy a bell so some others can hear it. That is not necessary,” he said. But we have some rules for chanting. Actually, without a bell it is not a perfect ceremony. But if our intention in chanting is not right, even though the form is perfect, it is not our way. There are rules, but actually there are no rules [laughs].
—Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-29 - as found on
shunryusuzuki.com
edited by PF. Go to
instagram.com/cuke_archives or cuke.com/ig
for links to the full Shunryu Suzuki lecture and the source of the photo.
Susan O'Connell at the bell with Blanche Hartman, Helen Tworkov and other Change Your Mind Day speakers, 1999.