singularity

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind - Shunryū Suzuki (Highlight: 211; Note: 0)

“Daisetz Suzuki brought Zen to the West single-handed” (Chapter:PREFACE)

“Satori was focal for Daisetz, and it was in large part the fascination of this extraordinary state that made his writings so compelling” - (Chapter:PREFACE)

"In Shunryu Suzuki's book the words satori and kensho, its near-equivalent, never appear" (Chapter:PREFACE)

“There is no easy way to be a teacher or a disciple, although it must be the greatest joy in this life” (Chapter:PREFACE)

“The deeper you go in your practice, the deeper you find your teacher’s mind is, until you finally see that your mind and his mind are Buddha’s mind” (Chapter:PREFACE)

“But in the end it is not the extraordinariness of the teacher which perplexes, intrigues, and deepens the student, it is the teacher’s utter ordinariness” (Chapter:PREFACE)

“It is wisdom which is seeking for wisdom” (Chapter:PREFACE)

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, hut in the expert’s there are few” (Chapter:PROLOGUE)

“resume our boundless original mind” (Chapter:PROLOGUE)

“This is the most important teaching: not two, and not one” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Our body and mind are not two and not one” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“If you want true understanding of Buddhism, you should practice this way” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“To take this posture itself is the purpose of our practice” (Chapter:PART ONE)

” The most important point is to own your own physical body. If you slump, you will lose yourself. Your mind will be wandering about somewhere else; you will not be in your body. This is not the way. We must exist right here, right now! This is the key point. You must have your own body and mind. Everything should exist in the right place, in the right way.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

” But usually, without being aware of it, we try to change something other than ourselves, we try to order things outside us.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“If you cannot be satisfied with the state of mind you have in zazen, it means your mind is still wandering about” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“You already have it. This is the conclusion of Buddhism. “ (Chapter:PART ONE)

"”You” means to be aware of the universe in the form of you, and “I” means to be aware of it in the form of I. You and I are just swinging doors” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“when we become tired of our life we may say, “I shouldn’t have come to this place. It may have been much better to have gone to some other place for lunch” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“When you separate the idea of time and space, you feel as if you have some choice, but actually, you have to do something, or you have to do not-doing. Not-to-do something is doing something. “ (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Instead of saying bad, you should say, “not-to-do “! If you think, “This is bad,” it will create some confusion for you. “ (Chapter:PART ONE)

“We are in the center of the world always, moment after moment. So we are completely dependent and independent” (Chapter:PART ONE)

” To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance, but its background is always in perfect harmony” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“This is how everything exists in the realm of Buddha nature, losing its balance against a background of perfect balance” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“if you understand the background of existence, you realize that suffering itself is how we live” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“If you want to obtain perfect calmness in your zazen, you should not be bothered by the various images you find in your mind. Let them come, and let them go” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“elp you is to count your breathing, or to concentrate on your inhaling and exhaling” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Zen practice is to open up our small mind. So concentrating is just an aid to help you realize “big mind,” or the mind that is everything” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Time goes from present to past” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“But this does not mean always to be under control. As long as you have rules, you have a chance for freedom. To try to obtain freedom without being aware of the rules means nothing.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Pulling out the weeds we give nourishment to the plant” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“We pull the weeds and bury them near the plant to give it nourishment” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“even though you have some waves while you are sitting, those waves themselves will help you” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“be grateful for the weeds, because eventually they will enrich your practice.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“If you have some experience of how the weeds in your mind change into mental nourishment, your practice will make remarkable progress. You will feel the progress. You will feel how they change into self-nourishment.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“We must have the actual experience of how our weeds change into nourishment” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“At first the effort you make is quite rough and impure, but by the power of practice the effort will become purer and purer.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“it is said that there are four kinds of horses: excellent ones, good ones, poor ones, and bad ones.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“In your very imperfections you will find the basis for your firm, way-seeking mind” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“ Even though you are the worst horse you will get to the marrow of Zen” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“now because of your mental agony you cannot rest” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“the best way to relieve your mental suffering is to sit in zazen, even in such a confused state of mind and bad posture” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“No other activity will appease your suffering” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“In other restless positions you have no power to accept your difficulties, but in the zazen posture which you have acquired by long, hard practice, your mind and body have great power to accept things as they are” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“It says, “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” But if you attach to that statement, you are liable to be involved in dualistic ideas: here is you, form, and here is emptiness, which you are trying to realize through your form.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Form is form and emptiness is emptiness” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“form is form and emptiness is emptiness” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“Our purpose is just to keep this practice forever. This practice started from beginningless time, and it will continue into an endless future.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“whatever we do is the expression of our true nature, but without this practice it is difficult to realize” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“When you give up, when you no longer want something, or when you do not try to do anything special, then you do something.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“When you give up, when you no longer want something, or when you do not try to do anything special, then you do something.” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice. “ (Chapter:PART ONE)

“as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice. “ (Chapter:PART ONE)

“The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything” (Chapter:PART ONE)

“The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“We should appreciate what we are doing. There is no preparation for something else. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Wherever you go, the railway track is always the same. That is the Bodhisattva’s way” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Sincerity itself is the railway track. The sights we see from the train will change, but we are always running on the same track. And there is no beginning or end to the track: beginningless and endless track. There is no starting point nor goal, nothing to attain. Just to run on the track is our way. This is the nature of our Zen practice. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” But when you become curious about the railway track, danger is there” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Just appreciate the sights you see from the train. That is our way. There is no need for the passengers to be curious about the track” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“There is no need to remember what I say; there is no need to understand what I say. You understand; you have full understanding within yourself. There is no problem.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Buddha found when he practiced asceticism that there was no limit to the attempt to purge ourselves physically, and that it made religious practice very idealistic. This kind of war with our body can only end when we die.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“But practicing in this way will not result in any progress. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Our way is to put the dough in the oven and watch it carefully” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“So the kind of practice we stress thus cannot become too idealistic.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“There is no secret in our way. Just to practice zazen and put ourselves into the oven is our way” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“These difficulties gave me some experience, but it meant nothing compared with the true, calm, serene way of life” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“if we become interested in some excitement, or in our own change, we will become completely involved in our busy life, and we will be lost.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“if your mind is calm and constant, you can keep yourself away from the noisy world even though you are in the midst of it.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“In the midst of noise and change, your mind will be quiet and stable. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” Zen is not something to get excited about” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“I think that if you try to do zazen once a week, that will make you busy enough. Do not be too interested in Zen” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Building character is like making bread-you have to mix it little by little, step by step, and moderate temperature is needed” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“if you get too excited, you will forget how much temperature is good for you, and you will lose your own way. This is very dangerous” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“It is just very plain” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“when your practice is calm and ordinary, everyday life itself is enlightenment” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Our effort in our practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“If you do something in the spirit of non-achievement, there is a good quality in it” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“If your practice is good, without being aware of it you will become proud of your practice” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“That pride is extra. What you do is good, but something more is added to it. So you should get rid of that something which is extra.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“what kind of effort is necessary for that kind of practice. The answer is: effort to get rid of something extra from our practice” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“The world is its own magic” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“try not to achieve anything special” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“You already have everything in your own pure quality. If you understand this ultimate fact, there is no fear” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“There is nothing to lose. There is only the constant pure quality of right practice. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“This is because before we act we think, and this thinking leaves some trace” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“when we do something with a complicated mind, in relation to other things or people, or society, our activity becomes very complex.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Because they want to catch too many birds they find it difficult to be concentrated on one activity, and they may end up not catching any birds at all!” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Thinking which leaves traces comes out of your relative confused mind” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“this small mind which creates gaining ideas and leaves traces of itself” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“if you attach to the idea of what you have done, you are involved in selfish ideas” (Chapter:PART TWO)

” Often we think what we have done is good, but it may not actually be so” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Moreover, if he is proud of what he did, that pride will create some problem for him. Repeating his recollections in this way, his personality will be twisted more and more, until he becomes quite a disagreeable, stubborn fellow” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“It is necessary to remember what we have done, but we should not become attached to what we have done in some special sense” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Ashes do not come back to firewood” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“When this kind of activity takes place, one activity covers everything. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“If you practice zazen with your whole body and mind, even for a moment, that is zazen” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“moment after moment you should devote yourself to your practice. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” You should not have any remains after you do something.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“When you bow, there is no Buddha and no you” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“It may be all right for the people who are too attached to their culture to be critical” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“But this “l” which is creating and always giving out something is not the “small I “; it is the “big I” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Dana” means to give, “ prajna “ is wisdom, and “ paramita “ means to cross over, or to reach the other shore” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Actually these six “ prajna paramita “ are one, but as we can observe life from various sides, we count six. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” Dogen-zenji said, “To give is non-attachment,” That is, just not to attach to anything is to give. It does not matter what is given. To give a penny or a piece of leaf is “ dana prajna paramita “; to give one line, or even one word of teaching is “ dana prajna paramita.”” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Not to be attached to something is to be aware of its absolute value” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“When we emerge from nothing, when everything emerges from nothing, we see it all as a fresh new creation. This is non-attachment” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“The second kind of creation is when you act, or produce or prepare something like food or tea” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“The third kind is to create something within yourself, such as education, or culture, or art, or some system for our society” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“But we should not keep holding onto anything we have done; we should only reflect on it” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“When you are idealistic, you have some gaining idea within yourself; by the time you attain your ideal or goal, your gaining idea will create another ideal” (Chapter:PART TWO)

” Our Soto way puts an emphasis on shikan taza, or “just sitting” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“warning signal. You become discouraged with your practice when your practice has been idealistic” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“said, “Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.” Whether or not you are aware of it, you have your own true enlightenment within your practice” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“practice is involved in a feeling of joy, it is not in very good shape either” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“There is no particular way in true practice. You should find your own way, and you should know what kind of practice you have right now. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Eventually you will discover the worst side of the practice, and become discouraged when it is too late. This is silly. We should be grateful that the ancient teachers point out this mistake” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Instead of having some particular object in mind, you should limit your activity.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“if you limit your activity to what you can do just now, in this moment, then you can express fully your true nature” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“No matter what the situation, you cannot neglect Buddha, because you yourself are Buddha” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“So if you are attached to the teaching, or to the teacher, that is a big mistake” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“Sometimes he talked about the disciple himself; sometimes he talked about the teaching itself; sometimes he gave an interpretation of the disciple or the teaching; and finally, sometimes he did not give any instruction at all to his disciples.” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“the student himself is Buddha, even though he may not be aware of it” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“but when he becomes aware of it he thinks that what he is aware of is himself, which is a big mistake. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

“When we forget ourselves, we actually are the true activity of the big existence, or reality itself” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“I think a frog is always addressing himself” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“sion, involved in their problem, trying to solve their problem. But just to live is actually to live in problems. And to solve the problem is to be a part of it, to be one with it. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” I have always said that you must be very patient if you want to understand Buddhism, but I have been seeking for a better word than patience. The usual translation of the Japanese word nin is “patience,” but perhaps “constancy” is a better word” (Chapter:PART TWO)

“It is necessary for us to have enlightenments one after another, if possible, moment after moment. This is what is called enlightenment before you attain it and after you attain it. “ (Chapter:PART TWO)

” The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Zen is not concerned about philosophical understanding. We emphasize practice” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“cut off the karmic spinning mind” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“practice based on any gaining idea is just a repetition of your karma. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

“If this is your attitude, it would be much better to take some drugs instead of sitting in the cross-legged position” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“the most important thing is this moment, not some day in the future” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“it was a mistake to create some lofty or deep idea and then try to attain it by the practice of zazen. If that is our zazen, it is nothing different from our usual activity, or monkey mind” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Not by reading or contemplation of philosophy, but only through practice, actual practice, can we understand what Buddhism is” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Dogen-zenji said, “Teaching which does not sound as if it is forcing something on you is not true teaching.”” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“on nothingness. Something which comes out of nothingness is naturalness, like a seed or plant coming out of the ground. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

” The true practice of zazen is to sit as if drinking water when you are thirsty. There you have naturalness” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“If you want to study Zen, you should forget all your previous ideas and just practice zazen and see what kind of experience you have in your practice” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“nyu nan shin, “soft or flexible mind.” Nyu is “soft feeling’’; nan is something which is not hard”; shin is “mind. “” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Some people think this skeptical attitude is awful, but actually it is better than the old attitude. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

“When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“So when you try hard to make your own way, you will help others, and you will be helped by others” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“You must take everything out of your room and clean it thoroughly. If it is necessary, you may bring everything back in again. You may want many things, so one by one you can bring them back. But if they are not necessary, there is no need to keep them. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

“The sound is continuous, but you must be able to stop it if you want to stop it. This is freedom; this is renunciation. One after another y” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“To go one mile to the west means to go back one mile to the east” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“As long as you are caught by duality you cannot attain absolute freedom, and you cannot concentrate. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

” Concentration is not to try hard to watch something.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Concentration means freedom” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“You should be concentrated on nothing” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your breathing is to forget all about yourself and just to sit and feel your breathing” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“If you are concentrated on your breathing you will forget yourself, and if you forget yourself you will be concentrated on your breathing.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“the most important point, of course, is the idea of emptiness.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara observes that everything is emptiness, thus he forsakes all suffering” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“To realize the truth is to live-to exist here and now. So it is not a matter of understanding or of practice. It is an ultimate fact” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“usually we understand the practice of zazen and enlightenment as two different things: here is practice, like a pair of glasses, and when we use the practice, like putting the glasses on, we see enlightenment. This is the wrong understanding” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Wisdom is something which will come out of your mindfulness” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“You strive for a perfect faith in order to save yourself. But it will take time to attain such a perfect faith. You will be involved in an idealistic practice” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“In constantly seeking to actualize your ideal, you will have no time for composure” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“But if you are always prepared for accepting everything we see as something appearing from nothing, knowing that there is some reason why a phenomenal existence of such and such form and color appears, then at that moment you will have perfect composure.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

” Using the Buddhist terminology, we should begin with enlightenment and proceed to practice, and then to thinking” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“So in activity there should be calmness, and in calmness there should be activity. Calmness and activity are not different. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Sometimes people put stress on oneness, but this is not our understanding. We do not emphasize any point in particular, even oneness. Oneness is valuable, but variety is also wonderful” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“oneness and variety are the same thing” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Love and hate are one thing. We should not attach to love alone” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“To learn something is not to acquire something which you did not know before. You know something before you learn it.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“We should accept things just as they are. This is how we understand everything, and how we live in this world” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“You just sit” (Chapter:PART THREE)

” When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“We should attain enlightenment before we attain enlightenment.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“trying to do something in itself is enlightenment” (Chapter:PART THREE)

” Which is more important; to attain enlightenment, or to attain enlightenment before you attain enlightenment” (Chapter:PART THREE)

” Zazen practice is the practice in which we resume our pure way of life” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“There is no need to intellectualize about what our pure original nature is, because it is beyond our intellectual understanding.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“So just to sit, without any idea of gain, and with the purest intention, to remain as quiet as our original nature - this is our practice.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“People think they are doing various things, but actually Buddha is doing everything” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“those names are the many names of one Buddha” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“zazen is all the postures, and each posture is Buddha’s posture” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Today it is raining. This is Buddha’s teaching” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“In fact to harbor some ill will may even be better than to have some idea in your m.ind of what is good or of what you ought to do.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“To have some mischievous idea in your mind is sometimes very agreeable.” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“good and bad is not the point” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“The best way towards perfect composure is to forget everything” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“When you just observe the delusion, you have your true mind, your calm, peaceful mind. When you start to cope with it you will be involved in delusion. “ (Chapter:PART THREE)

“Buddhism is rather polemical,” (Chapter:PART THREE)

“the important attitude is to understand and have confidence in big mind” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

” The big mind in which we must have confidence is not something which you can experience objectively” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“If you reflect on yourself, that self is not your true self any more” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“Enlightenment experience is to figure out, to understand, to realize this mind which is always with us and which we cannot see” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“We practice zazen to express our true nature, not to attain enlightenment.” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“You think you want to limit your thinking, you think some of your thinking is unnecessary or painful or en tangling; but you do not think you want to limit your physical activity” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“If we become too serious we will lose our way. If we are playing games we will lose our way.” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“Everyone has Buddha nature” (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

“In the East I saw rhubarb already. In Japan in the spring we eat cucumbers. . “ (Chapter:EPILOGUE)

Suppose you are sitting under some extraordinary circumstances. If you try to calm your mind you will be unable to sit, and if you try not to be disturbed, your effort will not be the right effort. The only effort that will help you is to count your breathing, or to concentrate on your inhaling and exhaling.

3 creations

When we emerge from nothing, when everything emerges from nothing, we see it all as a fresh new creation. 

This is non-attachment: 

The second kind of creation is when you act, or produce or prepare something like food or tea. 

The third kind is to create something within yourself, such as education, or culture, or art, or some system for our society. 

But if you forget the first, the most important one, the other two will be like children who have lost their parents; their creation will mean nothing.

#zen