Before you have a kind of struggle, you may wonder why we say you have to sit without any gaining idea. After you try various ways to be free from selfish ideas, then I think you will find yourself in the position where you can sit—just sit.
Drawing by Robert "Skip" Melcher
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Because selflessness is difficult, you want some guidance or a teacher. Maybe when you are practicing with a good teacher, you will naturally not be so selfish. Why our teacher is so hard on us is because of our selfish attitude. Whenever he sees our selfish attitude, he may point it out--or he may be angry with it.
Gyokujun So-on Suzuki
--cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Our practice should be based on the idea of selflessness. This selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea [laughs]. We don’t know what to do, how to cope with this. Perhaps you have tried various ways, but selflessness is not something which you can try. It should be there when you do not try anything. Selflessness is not something which you can be aware of. But for us, it is necessary to know how difficult it is.
Photo by Judith Keenan
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Student: But if, for instance, there’s a feeling of a strong weight on the head, then that’s unpleasant. And one doesn't know what to do. |
 From a drawing by Stan White |
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—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version. |
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Student: In zazen, if the cushion before your eyes begins to glow, or you see the bodhisattvas blinking their eyes...
SR: What is happening? Maybe that is a good experience. But sometimes it is because of bad breathing exercise. If it is a healthy good experience for you, of course that is very good. But sometimes it is just some created idea because of your unhealthy practice. I mean it is not always good, you know.
From Columbia U oral history Be-In page
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
It is necessary to understand that much [not to get stuck or caught by some particular idea]. Without understanding it, if you push one side always, that will be awful. So, at least we should know both sides. Then the rules we have will help us. But if we don’t know the other side, rules will make us worse.
From Buddhadharma Fall 2013, Illustration by Stacy Innerst
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Frazer Bradshaw was a student at Tassajara in the summers for years, starting off when he was still a student at the SF Art Institute. At Tassajara he made his first documentary, Tassajara: a Meditative Portrait. Check out his many other films at frazerbradshaw.com, peculiarpelicula.com, or on IMDB. Hear what Frazer has to say about Zen practice, film, Tassajara and more in our podcast - https://cuke.com/f.
If you don’t know the nature of suffering, you will suffer more. But if you know why you suffer, then you think, “I expect too much. There is no ice cream here,” [laughs] so I shouldn’t think about ice cream. Thinking that there is no ice cream is already not so good. But if you want [laughs, laughter] to have it, you make yourself worse. So, by knowing, you will be relieved from a lot of suffering.
Drawing by Stan White
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
When you expect something, you already have suffering because actually things don’t go as you expect. So, there is suffering already. Even when you are ill, for instance, if you do not try too much to get well, it is pretty good. It is not so bad. But if you try to get well too much, that is suffering. So, when you are ill, you should accept it. “Oh, I am not so well [laughs]. Maybe someday I shall be all right.” Then you don’t have much suffering.
Shunryu Suzuki at last public event. L to R: Ed Brown, Shunryu Suzuki, Hoitsu Suzuki.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.
Sometimes it may be better to sit even though you are ill. But sometimes you cannot. Sometimes it may be better not to take a formal posture. But you can practice our way whatever the situation is. Even though you are lying in bed, you can practice zazen—not zazen—but we can practice our way.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-15 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.