Try to figure this one out left as he said it

Enlightenment will happen to you, you know, when you are very, very, very truthful to the fact or truthful to, not to, if truthful to, although you are not truthful toward reality or fact from both sides, but even, you know, if you are very truthful to one sided view of life, you know, then you have chance to attain enlightenment, you know. And whether you attain enlightenment or not, you know, this is true. [much laughter] -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Change

If we accept the two side of the one reality then there is no problem when we say everything is changing. It's ok. [laughter]When someone says everything does not change then that is true. When you could accept in this way, even for a moment [Laughs] that is enlightenment. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Suffering

The teaching of suffering comes from this point, [from the teaching that everything is suffering]. Although everything, including self, changes always we expect everything not to change. [Laughs] This is a marvelous fact of our nature. In one hand everything changes and on the other hand we try not think everything changes. And so there we have suffering, you know. When we expect things not to change, but actually [laughs] everything is everything , everything betrays our hope. That is how, you know, we suffer. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Self

So, if everything is changing, how about yourself? You know, self is also changing. If so, even though Buddha says self, there's no such substantial being as self. As we learned last night, typically we call our function of mind and body self. But there is no such thing as self. So we emphasize as long as everything changes, self cannot be exception. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Changes

According to Buddhism, the basic teaching is everything changes. Because of this teaching his descendants or his disciples treated Buddha as a teacher of heaven and earth. He is not only a teacher of this world, he is a teacher of heaven. Because even though you go to heaven, this teaching, that everything change, we must be different, you know, is also true in heaven. So he is called a teacher of heaven and earth because of this teaching that everything changes. And this is the basic foundation of Buddhism, Buddhist teaching. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

A Haiku for the Archives

Here's a poem by Christopher Herold which dips into a 1968 practice period at Tassajara and a gift of an acorn to Shunryu Suzuki.

Time and Self

So discontinuity of time and continuity of time. In this way, reality is double. Only by double structure of our reasoning we can figure out what is reality. And selflessness and self is same thing, you know, not different. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Time

I want to explain this kind of double structure of our teaching. To me everything real should be understood in this way. For instance, idea of time has, you know, double structure. One is idea of continuity. If the continuity of time is the idea of time there is no need to have watch. When I say it is half past ten, it means that, at that time my idea of time is discontinuity. It is not actually half past ten, you know, maybe more, or while I'm watching it, it goes more, continuously it's going. But I have to say as long as I have watch, if someone asks me what time is it, I have to say is half past ten. So that is the idea of discontinuity of time. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Actually

Actually nothing happens [laughs] even though you study Buddhism. And nothing happens even you practice zazen. When you feel in that way, in your practice, that is enlightenment, you know. It is difficult for us to wipe up everything, you know, from our mind. And actually there is no need to do so and it is foolish to try to eliminate all, everything what you have done or result of your previous activity. That is not possible. And it is foolish to try to do that. But there is way to develop our everyday life without being bothered by our previous activity or result of that previous activity. This is how I can explain what I have in my mind about teaching of Zen. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Detachment

Detachment means to erase something but actually we cannot erase what we did [laughs]. If you feel as if you've wiped up everything you delude yourself. But when you are completely absorbed in your activity or in your everyday life, you experience this kind of development of your life, in your life force. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-06-28 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC