RIP Peter Schneider

from Beginner's Mind Zen Center
in Northridge, CA 

Peter Peter Schneider, Yozen Taishin (Embracing Zen, Surrender to the Truth), ordained by Shunryu Suzuki and a dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, was born December 24, 1937.

He passed away Saturday January 4, 2025, around 8 pm. He had been alternating between hospital and a convalescent recovery facility since breaking his femur in a fall a couple months ago. His situation was complicated by a bacterial infection. Even though he was eventually declared free of the infection and taken off antibiotics, it wasn't enough. One of our sangha members said the nurse they spoke with said it was quite unexpected, as she had checked in on him an hour before he passed. It is unclear what the ultimate cause of death was.

He is survived by his wife and co-abbot Jane, and all of us. May we celebrate his life and remember his teaching.

Deep bows,

-Chris B (Myokan Daisho)

***

I've been in touch with Peter and Jane recently and Peter very recently while he was in a convalescent center. We talked a couple of times since he was there. His mind was find. Heartfelt condolences to Jane. They were a very tight couple. From the time they got together at Tassajara they've been inseparable. They'd get sick together. He said she wasn't well either. We tended to talk the three of us together. I told them to me they were a unit. Farewell dear friend and dharma bro - dc

Peter and Jane Schneider cuke page

Like The Sun

The sun is not shining only on the earth, you know. If the earth happens to be here, the sun will shine on our earth [laughs]. Think unthinkable means your mind must be like the sun. It is shining, but it is not shining on some particular thing.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-04-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Think The Unthinkable

Think the unthinkable. You must think the unthinkable means think not about something. Usually when you think, you think about something. But if your thinking mind is directed the opposite way, that is to think the unthinkable. Your mind is still clear, but there is no object.

One-stroke brushplay by Kazuaki Tanahashi

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-04-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

To Work Inward

The power which you will obtain by true practice is the mind of hara we need. Here again, it is necessary to switch over your usual way of understanding to an opposite way of understanding. Without working toward the outside, to work inward without trying to achieve anything—to forget—to stop our mind which is working always outward. This is the most important point in Zen.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-04-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Beyond Dualistic Mind

There have been many misunderstandings about the power of hara. The power of hara is not to be some supernatural power. The power of hara is not something of which you can be proud or which you can obtain by hard practice or through dualistic effort. This mind is beyond our dualistic mind, so you cannot explain what it is by words. It is the mind which would be understood before you explain about it. This kind of mind is true mind.

Richard Baker and Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara - 1967

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-04-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Zen Mind

So, the mind we will obtain by our practice is something which is very subtle and at the same time it is very great. This kind of mind is Zen mind.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-04-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.