Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

by Shunryu Suzuki

Suzuki-roshi is very fond of the frog, which sits so still it might be asleep, but is alert enough to notice every insect that comes by.

“A roshi is a person who has actualized that perfect freedom which is the potentiality for all human beings. He exists freely in the fullness of his whole being. The flow of his consciousness is not the fixed repetitive patterns of our usual self-centered consciousness,

but rather arises spontaneously and naturally from the actual circumstances of the present. The results of this in terms of the quality of his life are extraordinary—buoyancy, vigor, straightforwardness, simplicity, humility, serenity, joyousness, uncanny perspicacity, and unfathomable compassion.

always be a beginner.

When the boss is sleeping, everyone is sleeping. When the boss does something right, everyone will do everything right, and at the right time. That is the secret of Buddhism.

So if you see things without realizing the background of Buddha nature, everything appears to be in the form of suffering.

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. Then they will be under control.

If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long.

When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything.

It appe...

if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer. In five or at most ten...

Nothing outside

yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind.

“You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.”

One who thinks he is a good father is not a good father; one who thinks he is a good husband is not a good husband.

who thinks he is one of the worst husbands may be a good one if he is always trying to be a good husband with a single-hearted effort.

When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.

“Although sentient beings are innumerable, we vow to save them. Although our evil desires are limitless, we vow to be rid of them. Although the teaching

is limitless, we vow to learn it all. Although Buddhism is unattainable, we vow to attain it.”

If it is our inmost desire to get rid of our self-centered ideas, we have to do it. When we make this effort, our inmost desire is appeased and Nirvana is there.

There is no Nirvana outside our practice.

You become discouraged with your practice when your

practice has been idealistic.

But if you limit your activity to what you can do just now, in this moment, then you can express fully your true nature, which is the universal Buddha nature. This is our way.

When you start to wander about in some delusion which is something apart from you yourself, then your surroundings are not real anymore, and your mind is not real anymore.

Once you are in the midst of delusion, there is no end to delusion.

As long as you can eat when you are eating, you are all right.

The sky is always the sky.

Even though clouds and lightning come, the sky is not disturbed.

You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created.

because we are so much attached to our own feeling, to our individual existence.

For instance, when you listen to a lecture, you should not have any idea of yourself. You should not have your own idea when you listen to someone. Forget what you have in your mind and just

listen to what he says. To have nothing in your mind is naturalness. Then you will understand what he says. But if you have some idea to compare with what he says, you will not hear everything; your understanding will be one-sided; that is not naturalness.

You may say, “I can do it tomorrow, or next year,” believing that something that exists today will exist tomorrow.

One after another you will have various thoughts in your mind, but if you want to stop your thinking you can. So when you are able to stop the sound of the murmuring brook, you will appreciate the feeling of your work. But as long as you have some fixed idea or

are caught by some habitual way of doing things, you cannot appreciate things in their true sense.

When we first hear that everything is a tentative existence, most of us are disappointed; but this disappointment comes from a wrong view of man and nature.

emptiness means everything is always here.

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.

If you have a stomachache, your stomach is healthy enough to have pain. But if your stomach becomes accustomed to its poor condition, you will have no pain.

“Now it is raining, but we

don’t know what will happen in the next moment. By the time we go out it may be a beautiful day, or a stormy day. Since we don’t know, let’s appreciate the sound of the rain now.”

If you understand yourself as a temporal embodiment of the t...

no difficulty wha...

But usually we think, “Now zazen is over, and we will go about our everyday activity.” But this is not the right understanding. They are the same thing.

To keep your body straight means not to rely on anything.

Those who are attached only to the result of their effort will not have any chance to appreciate it, because the result will never come.

Then things will not stay in your mind so long. Things will come as they come and go as they go. Then eventually your clear, empty mind will last fairly long.

Even in one moment you can do it! It is possible this moment! It is this moment! That you can do it in this moment means you can always do it.