Organize More

People say Soto Zen is “sleepy zazen” [laughs]. Even though their posture is good, Soto priests are sleepy. That is true [laughs, laughter]. We become easily sleepy, especially when we are completely involved in physically heavy work or when we are in want of sleep. And if you count your breathing, you will easily notice that you are not taking care of your everyday life. So, if you find out some physical reason, or some reason why you cannot do that, you will notice the reason why, and you can organize your everyday life more.

Brush and ink drawing by Stanley White

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Just Follow Our Breathing

In its strict sense, koan Zen or shikantaza is for very advanced students, not for us. Before we can practice koan Zen or shikantaza, we should be able to practice counting breathing practice or following breathing practice which is very close to shikantaza. Just follow our breathing. And then, maybe we can say our practice is shikantaza.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Enter Sincerely

For every one of us, the most important point should be our practice. As long as we enter the zendo, we should practice our zazen sincerely. And we should devote ourselves to beginner’s practice like counting breathing.

Summer 1970 - Alan Marlowe, Mel Weitsman, Shunryu Suzuki

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Should Be Able To Do It

Many people have asked me, “I tried counting breathing practice for one year. So, how about just following my breathing, without counting?” I always said okay, but I think I was not so kind to you. Even though he tried for one year, he may not be able to do it. It may be because he forgets to count, or he may go to ten, eleven, twelve [laughs, laughter], thirteen, fourteen, and forget. I said it would be all right. But recently I don’t think so [laughs]. We should be able to do it. After you are able to do it, you should start another practice, one by one. In that way we should practice.

1970 - Mel Weitsman’s shuso (head monk) ceremony at Tassajara

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

More on Dennis Marshall

Dennis is 3rd from left at Tassajara long ago.

From the Crestone Mt. ZC news. 

We would like to let you know of the passing of long-time practitioner and Sangha member Dennis Marshall. Dennis died on November 26th, just two days before what would have been his 93rd birthday. His time in the Sangha dates back to the early days of the San Francisco Zen Center. He moved to Crestone in the early 90's, and since then had a continuous presence at CMZC. He was a resident here for some time, and then steadily continued to attend Sesshin and other events after leaving. He was well known in the small Crestone community.

On the morning of November 30th, Baker Roshi led the Cremation Funeral Service for him here in Crestone. Members of the Crestone community, some of whom had known Dennis for years, and some who were new friends, joined with the resident CMZC Sangha to remember him. We bow to Rei Un Mitsu Zen.

Dennis Marshall's cuke page

Dennis Marshall January 2022 podcast encore presentation

RIP Dennis Marshall podcast 

Featured Cuke Archives page

RIP Dennis Marshall | Podcast - Dennis Marshall first showed up at the SF Zen Center in 1970. He died in November two days short of 93. In this brief podcast I read the Crestone Mt. Zen Center news obituary for him and then emails between us that became his Cuke Interview. His January 2022 Cuke Podcast will be presented next, hopefully tomorrow. - dc

Something to look forward to

Monkfish Publishing Company's lead book for the fall season will be

Tassajara Stories: A Sort of Memoir/Oral History of the First Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West—The First Year, 1967

by David Chadwick

Pub date: September 23, 2025

Hardcover: 978-1-958972-89-2

eBook: 978-1-958972-90-8

The audiobook is almost ready.
This image will be used in the cover. 

Counting Exhaling

Since old times, many people tried counting practice. Just counting inhaling only, or exhaling only, or both inhaling and exhaling. So, there are three ways. You can try any of those three ways. I am practicing on counting exhaling only. And I want you to try this practice more.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Counting Breathing Practice

We have many students now. That is, I think, very good. But it is difficult for me to take care of you because you are so many [laughs]. I am always thinking about what to do with so many students. While I was in bed, I thought it may be better for us to be concentrated on a more simple practice. I think the most simple practice is counting breathing practice: susoku. This is a very old style of practice that was for Theravada Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists and for Bodhidharma’s zazen and for various teachers’ practice. It is very simple but is pretty difficult: just to count from one to ten, over and over. [Laughs.] That is the practice.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

RIP Dennis Marshall

 More on Dennis tomorrow. Just learning as I go to sleep.  Gya te gya te. Farewell dharma bro. - dc

Equal

Joshu said, “If someone is good, I will study under him. If I am better, I shall be a teacher wherever I go. Whether he is old or young is not the point.” So, we should always be equal. If you know better than I, you should teach me. If I know something which you don’t know, I should teach you. This is how we should practice our way.

Shunryu Suzuki with Bishop Togen Sumi and Kobun Chino

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

New York Times obituary for Sim Van der Rynn

Sim Van der Ryn, Early Practitioner of Green Architecture, Dies at 89

Credited with designing the first eco-friendly office building, he never forgot the lessons he learned observing communes in the 1960s.

This obituary for dear old bud and friend of SFZC was reprinted in the Press Democrat so both links are included. He died on October 19 of this year.

New York Times obit also posted at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

San Francisco Chronicle obit - these obits may have a paywall

Cuke What's New post about Sim's passing from October 21st

Sim's Wikipedia page

A Priest

The image of a priest we have may be something different. For us, Fuyo Dokai or Joshu is the best example. With great spirit and with humble life, they strived for the truth.

Woodcut image from Wikipedia

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

John Tarrant has a new book out

The Story of the Buddha

by John Tarrant

Check it out at Amazon link

and Shambhala Publications

Not what you expect. It's a trip.

It's got impressive full color art

and John narrated the audiobook.

Well done John! - dc

The True Spirit

The famous Zen master Joshu attained enlightenment when he was eighteen, and he was practicing hard until he was sixty. And after sixty he started a new practice, making trips to visit various famous Zen masters. And he never sat in a perfect chair like this. His chair was always broken, and he kept mending the chair with pieces of wood and rope. I think that is the true spirit of a Zen master or priest.

Sumi drawing by Stan White

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Sincere

I am already 65 years old. Today I became 65. I feel very good about becoming older. And on the other hand, I regret my past practice. I am not so regretful because now we have pretty sincere students here in America. That is a big encouragement for me. On the other hand, why I am regretful is because I am not so good a teacher for you because of my past practice. I try to be sincere, but I find now that I have not been sincere enough [laughs]. That is my feeling. So, I don’t know what to say [laughs].

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-05-18 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

The Way To Take Vows

How you take vows is to do it without being involved in any idea of vows. This is the way the Buddha’s direct disciples took vows. Later Buddhism became more and more idealistic or more rigid, and we lost this important point. Those things are not something which we should be told. Actually, we are leading our life in this way. When we understand our life in some sophisticated way [laughs], we get into trouble. So, if you want to study our way, we must remember this point. It is necessary to study, of course, but in your study if you lose this point, your knowledge or your study will not work. You cannot own your knowledge in its true sense.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Featured Cuke Archives page

Betty Warren started practicing with Shunryu Suzuki shortly after he arrived from Japan and continued her practice till she died at 89 in 2006. She was a science teacher, anti-war activist, and vision quester. In this podcast I read an interview I did with her thirty years ago - and more. - dc

Oh

In Japan, Buddhists receive precepts—we say jukai—and everyone says, “I will keep it.” [Laughs.] When I was young, I thought this was nonsense. [Laughs.] How could they keep precepts? When they went home, they would eat eggs, meat—even rice is a living being. They are killing everything as long as they live. How is it possible to say, “I will keep it. I will not kill”? But later, I was struck by them saying, “I will keep it.” I thought, “Oh, that is the way to keep precepts.”

Suzuki is between first and seconds rows from the front.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

To Do It

We are liable to be caught by something we see or something we experience, and we are liable to compare one experience to another and say which is difficult. So, you say climbing up to the top of the pole is easy in comparison with jumping off from the pole. But you shouldn’t say so [laughs]. Because you compare the experience of jumping off the pole to the experience of climbing up, you hesitate to do so. So, to keep precepts or how to take vows, is to do it without being involved in any idea of vows or practice or precepts.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

The Easy Way

Usually, we say to climb up to the top of a pole is easy, but it is difficult to jump off. I don’t think this is true [laughs]. To climb up a pole is difficult, but to jump off is not difficult. The way is just to say, “I will do it!” [Laughs.] Because you think climbing up is difficult, it is difficult. When you don’t think, when you trust Buddha, and when you say, “I will do it!” that is the easy way. —cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Jumping Into the Ocean

There is no arrogance when you vow, “I will keep it!” There is soft mind, which we Buddhists expect, when you say, “I will do it—at least I will try to do it.” And “try to do it” will not be so good. You should say, “I will DO it!” [laughs]. “I will try to do it” means you are hesitating. “I will do it” is like jumping into the ocean. “I will do it!” Then there is no trouble.

Image from The Rincon Notebooks

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

“Yes, I will do it.”

You may think you don’t know if you can keep a precept. Saying “I will keep it” is not so conscientious, you may say. When you take precepts in that way, you are not receiving precepts in their true sense as Buddha expected. Why don’t you say, “Yes, I will do it.” [Hits table several times.] That is what Buddha wanted you to say. That’s all. And whether you can keep them, in the next moment or next day, is not the point.

Photo by Donn DeAngelo

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Featured Cuke Archives page

Della Goertz began her practice with Shunryu Suzuki soon after he arrived in America in 1959. Herein we read from a notebook she kept with brief quotes and paraphrases from his talks and her encounters with him. Listen to the podcast and read more about her.

Encouraged

“Desires are inexhaustible. I vow to put an end to them.” If the purpose of keeping precepts is to annihilate our desires, then this vow is not possible, a contradiction. But if the purpose of the vow is to arise our buddha-mind, then it makes sense. The “inexhaustible” gives us some encouragement, and we can continue our practice forever. And we will have firm confidence in our practice, and we will be encouraged by this vow forever.

Art by Dan Welch

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Sentient Beings Are Numberless

So “Sentient beings are numberless.” Maybe it means that sentient beings are numberless, and I vow to save them moment after moment, continuously. But “moment after moment, continuously” is not necessary. “I vow to save them” is strong enough and good enough. “I vow to save them.” If the sentient beings are numberless, we will take this vow numberless times, that’s all [laughs]. In this way, we have a feeling of quite different quality. We feel the eternal practice of our Buddhist way. So “Sentient beings are numberless” means that our practice will continue forever.

Barack Obama speaking to a crowd in St. Louis on October 18, 2008

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-29 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.