Psychology Quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like the flowers of spring.

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Zen practice is to open up our small mind.”

— Shunryu Suzuki

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.

— Shunryu Suzuki

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few.”

— Shunryu Suzuki

To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body.

— Shunryu Suzuki

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the experts, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to…

— Shunryu Suzuki

Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for.

— Shunryu Suzuki

The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless.

— Shunryu Suzuki

Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it…

— Shunryu Suzuki

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few

— Shunryu Suzuki

Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it.…

— Shunryu Suzuki

In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities. In the mind of the expert there are few.

— Shunryu Suzuki

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few… In the beginner's mind there is no…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“If you want to discover the true meaning of Zen in your everyday life, you have to understand the meaning of keeping…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“In other restless positions you have no power to accept your difficulties, but in the zazen posture which you have acquired by…

— Shunryu Suzuki

In your big mind, everything has the same value...In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing…

— Shunryu Suzuki

When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“In zazen practice we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“When you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do.…

— Shunryu Suzuki

Meditation opens the mind to the greatest mystery that takes place daily and hourly; it widens the heart so that it may…

— Shunryu Suzuki

When you sit in the full lotus position, your left foot is on your right thigh and your right foot is on…

— Shunryu Suzuki

In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you…

— Shunryu Suzuki

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

When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your…

— Shunryu Suzuki

In Japan we have the phrase, "Shoshin," which means "beginner's mind." Our "original mind" includes everything within itself. It is always rich…

— Shunryu Suzuki

So the most difficult thing is always to keep your beginner's mind. There is no need to have a deep understanding of…

— Shunryu Suzuki

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

“In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable. In…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say, “I know…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Even in zazen you will lose yourself. When you become sleepy, or when your mind starts to wander about, you lose yourself.…

— Shunryu Suzuki

If your mind is empty, it is ready for anything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind…

— Shunryu Suzuki

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

— Shunryu Suzuki

Concentration comes not from trying hard to focus on something, but from keeping your mind open and directing it at nothing.

— Shunryu Suzuki

In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.

— Shunryu Suzuki

When you are just you, without thinking or trying to say something special, just saying what is on your mind and how…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Actually the best way to relieve your mental suffering is to sit in zazen, even in such a confused state of mind…

— Shunryu Suzuki

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything…

— Shunryu Suzuki

If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong; if you think that they are one, that is also…

— Shunryu Suzuki

“When we have our body and mind in order, everything else will exist in the right place, in the right way.”

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Be humble: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”

— Shunryu Suzuki