--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No teaching could be more direct than…" description: "\"No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.\" — Shunryu Suzuki" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png" --- # No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down. ![“No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.” quote by Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png) > “No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.” [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Direct experience of meditation is best taught by simply sitting, not by elaborate instruction. **In simple terms:** Sit to learn. Key Takeaway Practice sitting to understand. Themes mindfulness practice simplicity Mood calm contemplative Type teaching spiritual When to use this quote - meditation retreats - mindfulness classes - personal reflection Key Concepts Zen direct experience Questions to Reflect On - How does sitting change your perception? - What prevents you from sitting regularly? A Different Perspective Sitting alone may not address deeper psychological blocks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Direct Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct-just-5229266/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Just Sit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-sit/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-direct-5772631/) ## Related quotes > [It was never a question of, 'Do I get to go and direct?' It just made sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pollyanna-mcintosh/it-was-never-a-question-of-do-i-get-to-go-and-direct-it-just-made/) [Pollyanna McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pollyanna-mcintosh/) > [I'm not so in a rush to direct just anything because I'm lucky that I can make a living so far as an actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-buscemi/i-m-not-so-in-a-rush-to-direct-just-anything-because-i-m-lucky-that-i/) [Steve Buscemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-buscemi/) > [When we have the Spirit to direct us, we are capable of teaching with great power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/when-we-have-the-spirit-to-direct-us-we-are-capable-of-teaching-with/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/religion-is-not-any-particular-teaching-religion-is-everywhere/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Life is to short to just sit on your but and not get up and live your life and not find that person to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow-timmi/life-is-to-short-to-just-sit-on-your-but-and-not-get-up-and-live-your/) [Unknow Timmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknow-timmi/) > [I couldn't just sit there and meditate all morning - that's not really my thing. It's not good for me to give my brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-bridge/i-couldn-t-just-sit-there-and-meditate-all-morning-that-s-not-really/) [Frankie Bridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-bridge/) > [“If I can't talk smart I'll just sit back and listen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-sanders/if-i-can-t-talk-smart-i-ll-just-sit-back-and-listen/) [Rae Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-sanders/) > [Sometimes you just have to sit down and wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bulumko-pantsi/sometimes-you-just-have-to-sit-down-and-wonder/) [Bulumko Pantsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bulumko-pantsi/) > [Even if you're on the track,you'll get run over if you just sit there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-if-you-re-on-the-track-you-ll-get-run-over-if-you-just-sit-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...She Let Him Just Sit There and Be Happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munro-leaf/she-let-him-just-sit-there-and-be-happy/) [Munro Leaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munro-leaf/) > [The tax code gives you an enormous advantage if you can find some things you can just sit with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-tax-code-gives-you-an-enormous-advantage-if-you-can-find-some/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I'm boring as hell. I just sit around and talk philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-trucks/i-m-boring-as-hell-i-just-sit-around-and-talk-philosophy/) [Butch Trucks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-trucks/) > [Give up, give in, or give it all you've got. Make a decision. But don't just sit there overthinking everything and doing absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-up-give-in-or-give-it-all-you-ve-got-make-a-decision-but-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [While all of you talk about me I just sit back and think damn I got myself a Fan Club](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-all-of-you-talk-about-me-i-just-sit-back-and-think-damn-i-got/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes I sit and think and other times I just sit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satchel-paige/sometimes-i-sit-and-think-and-other-times-i-just-sit/) [Satchel Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satchel-paige/) ## More by Shunryu Suzuki > [The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/the-point-we-emphasize-is-strong-confidence-in-our-original-nature/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/if-you-continue-this-simple-practice-every-day-you-will-obtain-some/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/you-want-to-eliminate-your-evil-desires-in-order-to-reveal-your/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/ego-is-a-social-institution-with-no-physical-reality-the-ego-is/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the experts mind, there are few.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/in-the-beginner-s-mind-there-are-many-possibilities-in-the-experts/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [The seed has no idea of being some particular plant, but it has its own form and is in perfect harmony with the ground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/the-seed-has-no-idea-of-being-some-particular-plant-but-it-has-its/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Whereever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/whereever-you-are-you-are-one-with-the-clouds-and-one-with-the-sun/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/when-we-become-truly-ourselves-we-just-become-a-swinging-door-and-we/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [“Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/zen-is-not-some-fancy-special-art-of-living-our-teaching-is-just-to/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [So the secret is just to say 'Yes!' and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself, always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/so-the-secret-is-just-to-say-yes-and-jump-off-from-here-then-there-is/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/our-tendency-is-to-be-interested-in-something-that-is-growing-in-the/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [The world is its own magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/the-world-is-its-own-magic/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/people-say-that-practicing-zen-is-difficult-but-there-is-a/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/each-one-of-us-must-make-his-own-true-way-and-when-we-do-that-way/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [The purpose of our practice is just to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/the-purpose-of-our-practice-is-just-to-be-yourself/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) [Explore all 262 Shunryu Suzuki quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) ## More Direct quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it's not an art. The main thing about directing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ford/anybody-can-direct-a-picture-once-they-know-the-fundamentals/) [John Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ford/) > [The method of magnitude estimation provided a direct measure of sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-smith-stevens/the-method-of-magnitude-estimation-provided-a-direct-measure-of/) [Stanley Smith Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-smith-stevens/) > [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/) [Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I'm currently trying to direct my own material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-skerritt/i-m-currently-trying-to-direct-my-own-material/) [Tom Skerritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-skerritt/) > [By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/by-the-time-you-get-into-other-kinds-of-music-r-b-country-or-whatever/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [I'm too direct and too unsparingly impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-m-too-direct-and-too-unsparingly-impatient/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Violence is what people do when they run out of good ideas. It's attractive because it's simple, it's direct, it's almost always available as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/violence-is-what-people-do-when-they-run-out-of-good-ideas-it-s/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) [Browse all 3,391 Direct quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shunryu Suzuki" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-just-to-sit-down/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Direct" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-just-to-sit-down/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/372/shunryu-suzuki-1280_direct_no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-ju_2359616.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.” — Shunryu Suzuki", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Shunryu Suzuki", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No teaching could be more direct...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-just-to-sit-down/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/no-teaching-could-be-more-direct-than-just-to-sit-down/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```