Recently I was talking about denial of desires. This may be confusing. Our way is not asceticism, but actually, if you read our precepts literally, there is no difference [laughs]. But what it means is completely different.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-08 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Ryuten Paul Rosenblum was a student of Shunryu Suzuki and is the vice abbot of Johanneshof, Richard Baker's retreat in the Black Forest. He lives half time in Germany and half time in Northern California. His website is ryutenpaulrosenblum.com. Listen to our podcast and read more about him - https://cuke.com/f.
I was in bed for a long time, and I was thinking about these things, you know. I was just practicing zazen in bed [laughter]. I should enjoy my bed. Sometimes it was difficult, but I laughed at myself. “Why is it so difficult? Why don’t you enjoy your difficulty?” [Laughs.] That is, I think, our practice.
Del Carlson - 2017
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
See this photo with almost all names when you hover the cursor over faces.
It is all right to enjoy your life moment after moment because you are not enjoying it as something concrete and eternal. Our life is momentary, and, at the same time, each moment includes its own past and future. The next moment will include its own past and future. In this way, our momentary and eternal life will continue. This is how we lead our everyday life, how we enjoy our everyday life, and how we get freedom from various difficulties. How we do not suffer from difficulties, and how we enjoy our life moment after moment is our practice based on true understanding.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
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When you are able to sit without being attached to any image or any sound, with an open mind, that is true practice. And that you can do that means you already have absolute freedom from everything. |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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As Dogen Zenji said, we human beings attach to something which is not real and forget all about what is real [laughs]. That is actually what we are doing. If you realize this point, you will have perfect composure, and you can trust yourself. Whatever happens to you, it doesn’t matter. You can trust yourself. |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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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 because it is impossible to understand you should not feel uneasy. You know, actually you are here, right here. Before you don’t [thumps stick] understand yourself, you are you. After you understand, you are not you anymore [laughs].
Shadow screen of Shunryu Suzuki created by Al Wong
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You cannot say this is just Buddha’s activity because you are [thumps stick] active actually. You may say then, I don’t know who is doing what. But why say that. You want to intellectualize your activity, that’s all. So, before you say something, the actual [thumps stick] activity is here. That is actually who we are. We are Buddha, and we are each one of us [laughs].
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Tatsudo Nicole Baden has been practicing Zen since 2001 and received Dharma Transmission in 2017. Richard Baker will be stepping down and Nicole Baden will be stepping up to be the abbot of Dharma Sangha in Germany and the US. Listen to an encore presentation of a podcast talk with Nicole that was posted on March 20, 2021. - https://cuke.com/f.
If we do something we cannot say, “I am doing something,” because there is no one independent separate from others.… When I say something, you are hearing it. So, I cannot do anything just for myself…. When someone does something, everyone is cooperating, and everyone will be doing something.
L to R: Phillip Wilson, Shunryu, Mitsu Suzuki, ?, David Chadwick, Richard Baker - Tassajara 1967
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Some may say our activity originated or is based on Buddha’s mind. And “such and such” is Buddha’s mind, and “so and so” is ordinary mind. You may say various explanations [laughs], but there is no need to explain in that way.
Buddha’s Birthday, Sokoji - 1966
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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.
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Whatever you hear, whatever you see, that is okay. Before you have this kind of actual feeling, of course it is necessary to be accustomed to our practice. Although intellectually we understand ourselves, but if we haven’t actual feeling with it, then it is not so powerful. So, that is why you must keep on practicing. If you keep practicing our way, naturally you will have this understanding and this actual feeling, too.
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When you experience enlightenment, or when you are enlightened, you will understand things more freely. You don’t mind what people call you. “Ordinary man.” “Okay, I am an ordinary man.” “You are buddha?” “Yes, I am buddha.” “How can you be a buddha and an ordinary man?” “Oh, I don’t know why, but actually I am buddha and an ordinary man.” It doesn’t matter. Whatever they say [laughs], that is all right.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
We call someone who understands things from just one side, tamban-kan. In Japanese it means a man who carries a board on his shoulder. Because he carries a big board on his shoulder this way, he cannot see the other side [laughs]. He is always carrying a big board on his shoulder. Almost all people are carrying a big board, so they cannot see the other side. He thinks he is just an ordinary man, but if he takes off the board, he will understand, “Oh, I am buddha, too [laughs]. It is amazing,” he may say. That is enlightenment.
Erik Storlie and his brother
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Kelly Bernard Chadwick grew up in and around Tassajara, the SFZC City Center, and Green Gulch Farm. He is my older son. His mother is my first wife, Daya Goldschlag who now has a Zen group in Spokane, Washington, where Kelly is an arborist and has a business there called Spirit Pruners. Listen to our podcast and read more about him and his recent work at Tassajara - https://cuke.com/f.
You may say it is not possible to be ordinary and holy [laughs]. When you think so, your understanding is, we say, heretic understanding or one-sided understanding. We should understand everything, not just from one standpoint.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
When you sit, you are ordinary man, and you are buddha. So, you are not just ordinary man. Before you sit you stick to the idea of “you” or idea of self. That is ordinary man. But when you sit, you are both ordinary man and buddha. So, when you sit, you are not the same being as before you sit. Do [laughs] you understand? Because, when you sit, you are ordinary man and buddha.
At Los Altos Haiku Zendo, c. 1966
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When you sit, you are independent from various beings, and you are related to various beings. And when you have perfect composure in your practice, it means that you include everything. You are not just you. You are the whole world or the whole cosmos, and you are a buddha.
Bruce Fortin with Globe
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I am one tree, and each one of you is a tree of itself. And by itself, you should stand up. And when one tree stands 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 sometimes we call it a tree; sometimes we call it a buddha. “Buddha” or “tree” or “you” are many names of one buddha. |
Prajna Paramita root ball statue created |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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I’m just trying to help you with support of your practice. So, if you stick to the support, it means that you stick to the support, not the tree itself. You know, a tree, when it is strong enough, may want some support. But the most important one is the tree itself, not the support. |
Kelly Chadwick - pruning |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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The point of my talk is just to give you some help in your practice. So, it is just help, you know. As I always say, there is no need for you to remember what I said as something definite.
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Jane and Peter Schneider are the founding teachers of the Beginner's Mind Zen Center in Northridge, Los Angeles. They were students of Shunryu Suzuki. In our podcast we focus on Jane's way-seeking mind story and then branch out to other reminiscences. Listen to our podcast and read more about them - https://cuke.com/f.
If our understanding is deep enough there is not much time difference or space difference. Whatever it is which is true with us was true with our ancestors and maybe will be for our descendants, too.
Gyakushitsu Sojun gave transmission to Shunryu's father
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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.
Prajna Paramita root ball statue created by Elizabeth Sawyer and Barton Stone
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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 some universal things within yourselves. That is a kind of mystery.
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When you know that whatever we do in terms of good or bad, right or wrong, that it’s 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. |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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Discussion is necessary—if you understand the fundamental attitude or fundamental practice of selflessness, discussion is very useful. But usually because you are caught by some idea, some way to solve a problem, you cannot solve the problem. Because no way can be perfect. It will create some other problem, whatever you do.
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If you become too fussy about things, you will lose your practice. So, I don’t like to discuss something too much [laughs]. You will be lost in your discussion. It will take night after night, day by day, and you will not have any conclusion.
Bob Halpern talking to Chogyam Trungpa
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Stephan Bodian runs an annual school for awakening. In our podcast he talks about his spiritual path, his teachers including Shunryu Suzuki, Kobun Chino, Taizan Maezumi, Sogyal, and Jean Klein. Listen to our podcast and read more about him - https://cuke.com/f.
In our monastic life, you should be able to do whatever it is. Whoever it is, your teacher is your teacher. That is the only way to get rid of your selfish practice. You should forget all about why or how, even [laughs]. You should do it, whether it is creative activity or imitation. It doesn’t matter.
Mel Weitsman, Claude Dalenberg, Shunryu Suzuki, Kobun Chino, Dainin Katagiri - 1969
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In your zazen, every sound comes, but you do not think about it. You do not discriminate it. You just hear it.
Raven-Himself by Cathy Smith
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In short, the best way is to get up, when people get up; to eat whatever it is when your friends eat; to sleep where our friends sleep; to behave like other students behave, without any reason [laughs.] That is, in short, the best way. That is shikantaza in everyday life. If you are not able to do that, you don’t know what zazen is.
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When you have selfish practice, you stick to things which you can see, which you can understand. And when you stick to something which you can understand, you will forget all about what is supporting the understanding, the color or the beautiful shape it has. So instead of being one with a flower, your friend, or your teacher, you will be caught by your teacher, the flower you see, the friend you have, without having a direct intimate relationship. You will make a barrier between you, and what you will see is a dead flower or a wooden teacher. |
 Wood sculpture of Suzuki Roshi by Peter Schneider |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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Instead of being attached to some verbal thing or something which you can hear or see, you must feel impulses from inside which support everything, every phenomenal world. And to be grateful for the life energy from inside, which supports everything. That is buddha-nature. And maybe that is Amida Buddha’s mercy. |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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We say “conscience,” but that conscience is mostly based on selfish ideas. Real conscience is more than a verbal thing. More than you can think about, or you can feel. Only when you are very strict with yourself will real conscience appear. In other words, as long as you are seeking for something, for some truth, or some understanding from outside, you will not find out what it is. Only when you are strict with yourself will you find out what is needed for you.
Photo by Rowena Pattee (Kryder)
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Frank Kilmer first meditated with Chogyam Trungpa then Dainin Katagiri then Richard Baker and studied with many teachers. He lives in Santa Fe where he managed Upaya's plant for some years. He has a lot of juicy tidbits to share from all these years of Buddhist study and practice. Check him out in this podcast - https://cuke.com/f.
Before you have a kind of struggle, you may wonder why we say you have to sit without any gaining idea. After you try various ways to be free from selfish ideas, then I think you will find yourself in the position where you can sit—just sit.
Drawing by Robert "Skip" Melcher
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Because selflessness is difficult, you want some guidance or a teacher. Maybe when you are practicing with a good teacher, you will naturally not be so selfish. Why our teacher is so hard on us is because of our selfish attitude. Whenever he sees our selfish attitude, he may point it out--or he may be angry with it.
Gyokujun So-on Suzuki
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Our practice should be based on the idea of selflessness. This selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea [laughs]. We don’t know what to do, how to cope with this. Perhaps you have tried various ways, but selflessness is not something which you can try. It should be there when you do not try anything. Selflessness is not something which you can be aware of. But for us, it is necessary to know how difficult it is.
Photo by Judith Keenan
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Student: But if, for instance, there’s a feeling of a strong weight on the head, then that’s unpleasant. And one doesn't know what to do. |
 From a drawing by Stan White |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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Student: In zazen, if the cushion before your eyes begins to glow, or you see the bodhisattvas blinking their eyes...
SR: What is happening? Maybe that is a good experience. But sometimes it is because of bad breathing exercise. If it is a healthy good experience for you, of course that is very good. But sometimes it is just some created idea because of your unhealthy practice. I mean it is not always good, you know.
From Columbia U oral history Be-In page
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It is necessary to understand that much [not to get stuck or caught by some particular idea]. Without understanding it, if you push one side always, that will be awful. So, at least we should know both sides. Then the rules we have will help us. But if we don’t know the other side, rules will make us worse.
From Buddhadharma Fall 2013, Illustration by Stacy Innerst
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Frazer Bradshaw was a student at Tassajara in the summers for years, starting off when he was still a student at the SF Art Institute. At Tassajara he made his first documentary, Tassajara: a Meditative Portrait. Check out his many other films at frazerbradshaw.com, peculiarpelicula.com, or on IMDB. Hear what Frazer has to say about Zen practice, film, Tassajara and more in our podcast - https://cuke.com/f.
If you don’t know the nature of suffering, you will suffer more. But if you know why you suffer, then you think, “I expect too much. There is no ice cream here,” [laughs] so I shouldn’t think about ice cream. Thinking that there is no ice cream is already not so good. But if you want [laughs, laughter] to have it, you make yourself worse. So, by knowing, you will be relieved from a lot of suffering.
Drawing by Stan White
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When you expect something, you already have suffering because actually things don’t go as you expect. So, there is suffering already. Even when you are ill, for instance, if you do not try too much to get well, it is pretty good. It is not so bad. But if you try to get well too much, that is suffering. So, when you are ill, you should accept it. “Oh, I am not so well [laughs]. Maybe someday I shall be all right.” Then you don’t have much suffering.
Shunryu Suzuki at last public event. L to R: Ed Brown, Shunryu Suzuki, Hoitsu Suzuki.
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Sometimes it may be better to sit even though you are ill. But sometimes you cannot. Sometimes it may be better not to take a formal posture. But you can practice our way whatever the situation is. Even though you are lying in bed, you can practice zazen—not zazen—but we can practice our way.
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We are doing something always in relation to something else. But we should not be enslaved by it. There is a difference between being enslaved by it and having a good relationship. When you are enslaved by it, what you do is not pure enough, realistic enough. Something is in it between you: rules or idea or idea of self. “I am doing something” actually means, I am enslaved by “me,” idea of “me.” So, we should be more realistic.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.