When I was in Japan, I also had some Zen students. Some of them were very rich, and were very influential people. And some were just students or carpenters or workers. In Japan we still have some–not class–but still we treat mayors or teachers in a different way. We have a special way of addressing them and talking with them. As you say, “Yes, sir.” [Laughs.] That is a kind of thing you have. But nowadays I don’t think you have this kind of difference in your way of communication. But I always told them, “If you are Zen students, you should forget all about your position, or work, or title, and you should be just Zen students, or else we cannot practice zazen in its true sense.”
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
