So, when you decide on a rule, you have to be very careful. If it is too strict, you will pay. And if it is too loose, it will not work. Our tradition was built up in this way. And this understanding should be followed. But I don’t mean mental understanding or logical understanding. There must be some good feeling in observing it. Not feeling, but the understanding should be pure understanding. That is why our monastic life is difficult to establish. It is not a matter of the building. It is a matter of spirit, and a matter of people who can be responsible for that.
Photo by Barbara Lubanski-Wenger - SFZC-1980
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-07-28-AN as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.
