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To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki
“We say, to shine one corner of the world–that is enough. Not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.”
Shunryu Suzuki’s extraordinary gift for bringing to life traditional Zen teaching in ordinary language is known to countless readers of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind . But what was it like to practice Zen with Suzuki Roshi? How did he actually teach? To Shine One Corner of the World illuminates these questions by presenting quintessential stories and moments with this profound teacher. Here are encounters, told in the words of his students, which have remained vivid after thirty years. In reading these simple, eloquent accounts, you can join Suzuki Roshi on the path, in the meditation hall, in lectures, and in private interviews and meet his fresh, piercing, often humorous mind. These often paradoxical moments do not translate into easy prescriptions for happiness or spiritual advancement, and yet they changed lives. Considered carefully, they point to the light that shines from each of us.
Shunryu Suzuki’s extraordinary gift for bringing to life traditional Zen teaching in ordinary language is known to countless readers of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind . But what was it like to practice Zen with Suzuki Roshi? How did he actually teach? To Shine One Corner of the World illuminates these questions by presenting quintessential stories and moments with this profound teacher. Here are encounters, told in the words of his students, which have remained vivid after thirty years. In reading these simple, eloquent accounts, you can join Suzuki Roshi on the path, in the meditation hall, in lectures, and in private interviews and meet his fresh, piercing, often humorous mind. These often paradoxical moments do not translate into easy prescriptions for happiness or spiritual advancement, and yet they changed lives. Considered carefully, they point to the light that shines from each of us.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2001
67 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 1, 2016
I've read this little book more than once, and every time I pick it up I intend to read slowly, to savor each page, to absorb the lessons, to think about what it must have been like to be a student of Shunryu Suzuki, the man who brought Soto Zen to America in 1959.
And then I get absorbed and fly through the pages. I still think about it all, but at a faster pace than I mean to. This reading was no different. David Chadwick collected memories from Suzuki's students (he was one himself) and presents them here in such a way that the reader truly does get an idea if what life was like around Suzuki.
Sometimes it was encouraging:
During a break on the fourth day of a sesshin at Tassajara, I stood on the bridge overlooking the creek. It was a beautiful fall day. The leaves on the trees were all vibrating and alive, and I could see energy coursing through everything.
Suzuki Roshi came by, looked in my eyes, and said, "Stay exactly like that."
Sometimes it was humbling:
Once while driving Suzuki Roshi back to San Francisco from Los Altos, I asked him if there was much hope for that handful of middle-aged, suburban housewives to accomplish anything as Zen students. After all, I thought, they only sat together once a week, unlike we students, who sat daily at Zen Center.
He told me their understanding was "actually pretty good." and he noted, "They don't seem to suffer from arrogance."
Sometimes it was unexpected:
A young woman went to Suzuki Roshi and showed him a twenty-dollar bill she'd just found on the sidewalk in Japantown. She told him she couldn't decide what to do with it. "Should I give it to charity, put up a note on a telephone pole and wait, or just keep it?" she asked him.
"Here", he said, "I'll take it," and he put it in the sleeve of his robe.
Sometimes it was humorous:
During a discussion, someone asked Suzuki Roshi if he ate meat.
"Yes, I do," he replied.
"Buddha didn't eat any meat."
"Yes, Buddha was a very pious man."
Chadwick writes an interesting introduction, a short history of Suzuki and his Zen Center, concluding with this statement:
I hope you enjoy the wisdom of Suzuki Roshi; he had great confidence in yours.
I will be reading this again.....and again.
And then I get absorbed and fly through the pages. I still think about it all, but at a faster pace than I mean to. This reading was no different. David Chadwick collected memories from Suzuki's students (he was one himself) and presents them here in such a way that the reader truly does get an idea if what life was like around Suzuki.
Sometimes it was encouraging:
During a break on the fourth day of a sesshin at Tassajara, I stood on the bridge overlooking the creek. It was a beautiful fall day. The leaves on the trees were all vibrating and alive, and I could see energy coursing through everything.
Suzuki Roshi came by, looked in my eyes, and said, "Stay exactly like that."
Sometimes it was humbling:
Once while driving Suzuki Roshi back to San Francisco from Los Altos, I asked him if there was much hope for that handful of middle-aged, suburban housewives to accomplish anything as Zen students. After all, I thought, they only sat together once a week, unlike we students, who sat daily at Zen Center.
He told me their understanding was "actually pretty good." and he noted, "They don't seem to suffer from arrogance."
Sometimes it was unexpected:
A young woman went to Suzuki Roshi and showed him a twenty-dollar bill she'd just found on the sidewalk in Japantown. She told him she couldn't decide what to do with it. "Should I give it to charity, put up a note on a telephone pole and wait, or just keep it?" she asked him.
"Here", he said, "I'll take it," and he put it in the sleeve of his robe.
Sometimes it was humorous:
During a discussion, someone asked Suzuki Roshi if he ate meat.
"Yes, I do," he replied.
"Buddha didn't eat any meat."
"Yes, Buddha was a very pious man."
Chadwick writes an interesting introduction, a short history of Suzuki and his Zen Center, concluding with this statement:
I hope you enjoy the wisdom of Suzuki Roshi; he had great confidence in yours.
I will be reading this again.....and again.
January 2, 2026
My first and still favorite zen book is Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice. He’s just so perfectly easy to read while still being incredibly challenging.
This was a lovely and inspiring way to start the year. Each page is just a few lines of his recalled by different students. Some of my favorites:
“A student asked in dokusan [formal private interview with a teacher], ‘If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?’ Suzuki Roshi answered, ‘it doesn’t matter.’”
“'Suzuki Roshi, I’ve been listening to your lectures for years,’ a student said during the question-and-answer time following a lecture, ‘but I just don’t understand. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?’ Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed. ‘Everything changes,’ he said. Then he asked for another question.”
“Now and then Suzuki Roshi would make this point: ‘In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner--not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.’”
“A student asked Suzuki Roshi why the Japanese make their teacups so thin and delicate that they break easily. ‘It’s not that they’re too delicate,’ he answered, ‘but that you don’t know how to handle them. You must adjust yourself to the environment, and not vice versa.’”
“As I was telling Suzuki Roshi what a disaster my life had become, he began to chuckle. I found myself laughing along with him. There was a pause. I asked him what I should do. ‘Sit zazen,’ he replied. ‘Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it doesn’t tell time.’”
“A clinical psychiatrist questioned Suzuki Roshi about consciousness. ‘I don’t know anything about consciousness,’ Suzuki said. ‘I just try to teach my students how to hear the birds sing.’”
This was a lovely and inspiring way to start the year. Each page is just a few lines of his recalled by different students. Some of my favorites:
“A student asked in dokusan [formal private interview with a teacher], ‘If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?’ Suzuki Roshi answered, ‘it doesn’t matter.’”
“'Suzuki Roshi, I’ve been listening to your lectures for years,’ a student said during the question-and-answer time following a lecture, ‘but I just don’t understand. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?’ Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed. ‘Everything changes,’ he said. Then he asked for another question.”
“Now and then Suzuki Roshi would make this point: ‘In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner--not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.’”
“A student asked Suzuki Roshi why the Japanese make their teacups so thin and delicate that they break easily. ‘It’s not that they’re too delicate,’ he answered, ‘but that you don’t know how to handle them. You must adjust yourself to the environment, and not vice versa.’”
“As I was telling Suzuki Roshi what a disaster my life had become, he began to chuckle. I found myself laughing along with him. There was a pause. I asked him what I should do. ‘Sit zazen,’ he replied. ‘Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it doesn’t tell time.’”
“A clinical psychiatrist questioned Suzuki Roshi about consciousness. ‘I don’t know anything about consciousness,’ Suzuki said. ‘I just try to teach my students how to hear the birds sing.’”
September 21, 2019
A small book of memories of the people that knew and loved Shunryu Suzuki. Suzuki is especially beloved in the Bay Area. He arrived in San Francisco in 1959 and founded the San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Buddhist monastery in and for the Western World. Many of us grew up visiting Green Gulch, Tassajara, and reading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
Many of the moments - one per page - are easily 5 stars - will hit you gently but squarely in the face - and your little monkey mind. You are stuck wanting to savor and smile for awhile and impatient to read another. In any case, the book is worth buying because it's the kind of book you can open and reread if you have a spare minute. And you will.
Many of the moments - one per page - are easily 5 stars - will hit you gently but squarely in the face - and your little monkey mind. You are stuck wanting to savor and smile for awhile and impatient to read another. In any case, the book is worth buying because it's the kind of book you can open and reread if you have a spare minute. And you will.
February 4, 2019
I liked this very much better than The Zen Book, which I read right before this. This is somehow more authentic, being aphoristic stories told about Suzuki Roshi by his followers. They give a glimpse into life at his Zen centers in San Francisco and at Tassajara. A thought-provoking book about not thinking.
June 16, 2019
This slender book with snippets and quotes may not be for everyone. But for fans of Shunryu Suzuki, each page is a tiny slice into his life and mind. I loved it.
August 13, 2019
Delightful
October 22, 2017
LOVED this. It helps to approach zen without undue seriousness and without the notion that "enlightenment" is some end-all-be-all goal. This collection will leave you with something to smile about again and again.
March 15, 2016
Shunryu Suzuki was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States and was the founder of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Buddhist monastery outside Asia. Suzuki’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West. To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki edited by David Chadwick is a collection of stories and remembrances of Suzuki as told by his students. Their testaments are simple anecdotes, full of paradoxical surprises and ironic spins that are at the same time both eloquent and humorous. I read the book straight through but believe it could serve as a sort of Daily Missal if one read it a page a day to serve as a daily inspitation. “He emphasized that the ungraspable spirit of Buddhism is what continues, while the expression of that spirit always changes.”
July 30, 2013
How can I not give 5 stars to a book that offers me a lifetime of wisdom in an afternoon?
"Suzuki Roshi, I've been listening to your lectures for years," a student said during the question-and-answer time following a lecture. "But I just don't understand. Could you please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?"
Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed.
"Everything changes," he said. Then he asked for another question.
"Suzuki Roshi, I've been listening to your lectures for years," a student said during the question-and-answer time following a lecture. "But I just don't understand. Could you please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?"
Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed.
"Everything changes," he said. Then he asked for another question.
October 26, 2016
One morning when we were all sitting zazen, Suzuki Roshi gave a brief impromptu talk in which he said, "Each of you is perfect the way you are … and you can use a little improvement
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews