“Our way is not to sit to acquire something; it is to express our true nature. That is our practice.” — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“In zazen practice we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
We do not slight the idea of enlightenment, but the most important thing is this moment, not some day in the future.… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“But if you make your best effort just to continue your practice with your whole mind and body, without gaining ideas, then… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
If your practice is good, you may become proud of it. What you do is good, but something more is added to… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it.… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
So it is not a matter of whether it is possible to attain Buddhahood, or if it is possible to make a… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“In other restless positions you have no power to accept your difficulties, but in the zazen posture which you have acquired by… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you where drinking water when you are thirsty. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you where drinking water when you are thursty. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking;… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
If enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The more you practice zazen, the more you will be able to accept something as your own, whatever it is. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“But as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice.” — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
In the beginner's mind there is no thought, "I have attained something." All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“You should rather be grateful for the weeds, because eventually they will enrich your practice.” — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. The innocence of the first inquiry—what am I?—is needed throughout Zen practice. The mind… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
If you want to study Zen, you should forget all your previous ideas and just practice zazen and see what kind of… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“But the way of practice is just to be concentrated on your breathing with the right posture and with great, pure effort.” — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“Even when you practice zazen alone, without a teacher, I think you will find some way to tell whether your practice is… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away? — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself. — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the experts mind, there are few.” — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
The seed has no idea of being some particular plant, but it has its own form and is in perfect harmony with the ground,… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
Whereever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything.… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
“Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
So the secret is just to say 'Yes!' and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself, always… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want… — Shunryu Suzuki Copy Share Image
