Whatever You Say

The sun-faced buddha is good; the moon-faced buddha is good. So, whatever it is, that is good—that all things are Buddha. And there is no Buddha, even. But usually when you say “no Buddha,” [laughs] it means that you stick to only one of the three understandings, that is, “no buddha,” the opposite of “buddha.” Buddha; no buddha; and buddha or no buddha. Whatever you say, it is all right. If you have complete understanding of it, whatever you say, it is all right.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Featured Cuke Archives page

Marc Lesser came to the SFZC in 1974. After ten years with the ZC and being the director of Tassajara, he got an MBA, continued his Zen practice while working with and founding some noble businesses. Listen to our podcast and read more about him - http://cuke.com/f.

The Great Activity

At first you should be able to accept things in two ways, but this is not enough. It is still dualistic. So, you should be able to understand in one of the two ways without thinking, “This is one of the two understandings.” So, here you come back to starting point, but actually it is not the starting point because you have freedom to go from one to the other. So, you will not be bothered. And whatever you do, that is the great activity of the practice.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Dualistic / Oneness

You should understand your own everyday activity in two ways. One is to understand our life in a dualistic way: good or bad, right or wrong. We should try hard to understand things in terms of good or bad. And sometimes you should be able to ignore the understanding from the viewpoint of good or bad. “Good” or “bad” is just superficial understanding. So, when you understand things, everything is one. Or all things are one. Then that is the other understanding: understanding of oneness.

Art by Paul Reps

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Achieve Nothing

Because we make our efforts to achieve something in a materialistic sense, or spiritual sense, we cannot achieve anything. We must achieve nothing [laughs], so that is the real meaning of nothingness.

Dainin Katagiri calligraphy, "Within nothingness there is a inexhaustible working."

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Samurai

In Japan samurai practiced zazen to master martial arts, which is not just a physical thing. It was a matter of whether he would lose or win. So, as long as they were afraid of losing their life, they could not act to their full ability. Only when he was free from “to kill or to be killed,” and only when he reacted to his enemy’s activity, that was the only way to win. If he tried to win, he might lose. So, how he could act without the kind of fear which would limit his activity was the most important thing. Because they had this kind of problem they practiced Zen very hard. It was a matter of survival on the battlefield. So, he fought his fight in the zendo, not in the battlefield [laughs].

Kobun Chino

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Physical Practice

Of course it is difficult to just accept “things as it is.” That difficulty is not like to carry some heavy things, or to work on mathematics. That difficulty wants some special effort. How you can do it is to be concentrated on your posture, or breathing, or perfect physical practice. That is the only way to have right reactions.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Just Accept

When you sit I say, “Don’t think,” you know. “Don’t think” means don’t treat things in terms of good or bad, heavy or light. And just accept things as it is. So, even though you do nothing, usually the moment you hear, your reaction is, “What could it be? Yeah, that is a motor car, or that’s very noisy. That may be a motorcycle.” But in zazen you should not react in that way. You should just hear the big noise or small noise, and you should not be bothered by it. It looks nearly impossible, especially for a beginner because the moment you hear, some reaction follows. But if you practice zazen—if you continuously try not to do so, just accept “things as it is,” you can do it eventually.

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.

Featured Cuke Archives page

Jon Bernie came to the SF Zen Center in 1973 and practiced there for years. In our podcast he talks about his relationships with Richard Baker, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Papaji (Punjaji), Adyashanti, Robert Adams, Mike Murphy of Esalen Institute, psychic Anne Armstrong, and others. Listen to our podcast and read more about him - http://cuke.com/f.

Just Be Zen Students

When I was in Japan, I also had some Zen students. Some of them were very rich, and were very influential people. And some were just students or carpenters or workers. In Japan we still have some–not class–but still we treat mayors or teachers in a different way. We have a special way of addressing them and talking with them. As you say, “Yes, sir.” [Laughs.] That is a kind of thing you have. But nowadays I don’t think you have this kind of difference in your way of communication. But I always told them, “If you are Zen students, you should forget all about your position, or work, or title, and you should be just Zen students, or else we cannot practice zazen in its true sense.”

—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-09 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.