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.