Just Sit

So, when you practice, the way of true practice is not to attain enlightenment. Anyway, you should sit through and through without having any idea. Don’t be concerned about enlightenment [laughs]. You should just sit.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

Also, this sutra says, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Form is emptiness. Emptiness is to point at the form itself. When we say, “Form is emptiness” it means form is form, through and through. “Emptiness is form,” it means emptiness, through and through. So, form is nothing but emptiness. Emptiness is nothing but form.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Right Understanding of Practice

It is not after you practice zazen, that you attain enlightenment. So, enlightenment includes practice, and practice includes enlightenment. This is the right understanding of our practice. And right understanding of reality.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Featured Cuke Archives page

https://cuke.com/f

At the Same Time

You do not attain enlightenment after Buddha, or before Buddha. When you attain enlightenment, Buddha attains enlightenment, and the rest of the patriarchs attain enlightenment at the same time. This is the right understanding of enlightenment.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

When Each Experience Includes Everything

Everything which will happen in your mind is not a part of your experience. Each of your images or functions is mind which includes everything. And so, each experience is independent from other experiences. And when each experience includes everything, every experience, that is Zen practice. That means you have independent practice, one whole practice which includes everything.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Mind

When we say, “mind,” mind includes everything. That is a true understanding of your mind. Mind includes everything. So, in your practice, if you have a mind that is related to something else, that is not a true understanding of your mind. When you say, “mind,” mind should include everything.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Everything

When we say, “nose,” nose covers everything. When we say, “eyes,” eyes covers everything. That is the way to understand things in its true sense. When you understand something as a part of something, you lose the reality. You lose the relationship between things, and you just get a dead idea of something. So, our understanding of everything is not everything as a part of something. Everything includes the rest of the things. That is true understanding.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Each Activity Includes Everything

When you drink tea, you should not listen to a lecture [laughs]. I’m sorry, but it is true. When you listen to a lecture, you just listen. That is our way. We cannot do two things at one time because each activity includes everything. When you take tea, it means that taking tea, is all of your activity, and it covers everything. This is our practice.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Liberation

It is a kind of rhetoric, but in those sutras, “no” means liberation. Sometimes it is literally negative, but most of the time, it means a strong affirmation. This understanding is rooted in our practice.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Featured Cuke Archives page

https://cuke.com/f

Negative Form

Sometimes when you see a saying written on a scroll, you may wonder what it means. For instance, “A cloud hangs on the mountain, and it is not calm.” “Not calm” means very calm. When the cloud is at the foot of the mountain, it expresses the same calm feeling, but in the poem it says, “not calm.” “Not calm” is a kind of rhetorical negation. Sometimes when we want to say something in a strong way, we put it in a negative form. “Isn’t it?” means “it is.” Instead of saying, “It is,” you say, “Isn’t it?” That is a stronger expression than “it is.”

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Beginner's Mind for Piano

From Walter:

I'd like to let you know that the Vinyl of my composition BEGINNER‘S MIND for Shunryu Suzuki is available at the San Francisco Zen bookstore. But moderecords also distributes it on bandcamp.

https://www.cuke.com/zmbm/bm-song.htm

https://moderecords.com/catalog/346zimmermann/

Sweet

So, in Buddhism, “no” means reality, and sometimes when we put emphasis on something, we say, “no.” When we want to say, “This cake is sweet,” you know, sometimes we say, “This cake is not sweet.” “Not sweet” means “very sweet” in Chinese [laughter]. Also, in Buddhism too.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

No Nose / Nose

Sometimes “no” means to put emphasis on something. “No nose” means “that is nose.” The same thing. When I say, “no nose,” this is a stronger expression of your nose. If I say, “You have a nose,” you will think, “Of course I have a nose!” [Laughter.] If I say, “You have no nose,” you will be surprised. “Oh, is it really so? I have a nose.” Then you will realize what your nose is in its true sense. So, “no nose” means “you have a nose.”

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Pointing at Reality

“No nose” points at actual understanding or reality—the reality of nose. So, it is the same thing to say, “no nose,” or “no ears,” or “no eyes.” When we say, “no eyes,” it points at reality. When we say, “no nose,” we point at reality. When we say, “no mouth,” we point at reality.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

No Nose

If you say, “This is nose,” you lose your reality of the nose. So, when we want to express what is actually nose, the best way is, “That is not your nose.” [Laughs.] That is maybe the best way. When you think, “Oh, this is not just a nose, something more than that,” then you realize the reality of the nose. So, we say, “no nose.” No, that is not nose or no nose. When we say, “no nose” we realize what nose actually is.

Image modified by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Whole One Existence

So “no nose” means a nose is not just a nose. Nose is something more than your nose. If you have a kind of misunderstanding of nose, it means that you understand many things as parts of a whole one existence. But when you say, “a part of it,” a part is not a part anymore. It actually includes everything. A part cannot be separated from the rest of the part.

Image modified by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Featured Cuke Archives page

Featured Cuke Archives page

Face

When you do something, it doesn’t mean you have no nose or no eyes. You have eyes; you have a nose. But when we say, “no nose,” it means don’t think your face consists of only your nose, eyes, mouth, hair and ears. That kind of understanding will lose the reality of your face. Your face is not just an accumulation of nose and eyes and ears and mouth.

Image generated by ChatGPT

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Liberation

In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, which we recite every morning and evening, it says, “No mind.” It says, “No form, no sensation, no thought, no active substance, no consciousness, no eyes, no ear, no nose, no tongue.” And so on. No. This negative “no” means liberation.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-BN 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.

Taste with Your Tongue: Cooking Through the Six Flavors with Ed Brown

Online Course

Five Saturdays, 10:30 am–12:00 pm PT 

Sep 12, 2026 - Oct 10, 2026
https://www.sfzc.org/calendar/events/online/taste-your-tongue-cooking-through-six-flavors-ed-brown-online-912-1010

Edward Espe Brown began cooking and practicing Zen in 1965 and was ordained as a Zen priest by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1971, who gave him the name Jusan Kainei, “Longevity Mountain Peaceful Sea.” He received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman in 1996.

Limit Activity

When you limit your life to a certain extent, it is easier to find out the truth. If you do too many things [laughs], you will be lost in your activity. But if you limit your activity, you can see. That is why we observe precepts. Precepts observation is very important.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Austerity

I cannot talk [said as he was covering his mouth with his hand] [laughter]. You cannot listen [laughter]. You cannot smell, even. That is how you study Buddhism. That is observation of precepts. So, whatever the religion is, the most important thing is a kind of austerity.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Endurance

Photo by Judith Keenan

When you study Buddhism, patience and endurance are absolutely necessary because we do not talk too much about the advantages of Buddhism. Until we find out [laughs], we will wait. If so, both for the teacher and student, the most important thing is endurance—to wait for the chance which will come for us. If you give up, you will have no chance to understand Buddhism in its true sense because it is not some knowledge or intellectual understanding.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Without Listening to Anything

We repeat lecture after lecture, talking about some advantage of zazen practice. So naturally it means I am selling some drugs [laughing] or sake to you, and you are buying it, and you are taking it [laughter]. This is not so good. So, actually it is better to do it, without listening to anything—just by the suggestion of the teacher.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Featured Cuke Archives page

https://cuke.com/f

No Trace

Dogen Zenji said, “Fish swim like a fish. Birds fly like a bird” [laughs]. That is Buddhist life. Fish swim, but there is no trace. Birds fly, but there is no trace of a bird. There is no setup or trace for birds.

Photo: Zephyris, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Act the Same

We should not make a shadow of the rules or trace of rules. If you do it, that’s all. That is the real Buddha. We should not be caught by what we did, even though it is right. We shouldn’t say, “What I did was right” [laughs]. We should act the same way, not leaving a trace of the teaching or trace of the precepts.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Shadow of Rules

To have a shadow of rules means, “I must do this.” That is a shadow. Sometimes you are scared of the shadow of yourself [laughs]. We should not have a shadow of the rules. Until you do it, it is not a rule. When you do it, that is a rule.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Rules Are the Expression of the Relationship

Within our relationships between man and man, or man and woman, or man and nature, there are rules based on the intimate relationships. However, in observing rules, there is no trace of a rule. Even though there are rules, there is no need to be caught by them because they are the expression of the intimate relationship. It is not necessary to set up something because of some unharmonious relationship. Rules are the expression of the relationship.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.

Some Rules

Even though husband and wife are intimate, there must be some rules between them. That is our way. You may say if it is an intimate relationship, there is no need to have any rules [laughs]. That is wrong understanding. Because the relationship between them is so intimate, it is necessary to set up some rules. So, our rules are based on intimate relationships, not to make harmony between us, but to make our lives more meaningful, we set up some rules.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-01-21-A 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.