Quotes from Philip Toshio Sudo

So many different formulas can work that there's no real formula. What's important is to learn from whomever or whatever you can, at your own rate, in your own way. How or when you learn doesn't matter, so long as the learning occurs.

When a leaf falls from a tree, when a river flows to the sea, when a bee flits from flower to flower, it happens without "action" or "doing." Nature is simply being. In the same way, human beings should simply be.

If I can get out of the way, if I can be pure enough, if I can be selfless enough, and if I can be generous and loving and caring enough to abandon what I have and my own preconceived, silly notions of what I think I am—and become truly who in fact I am, which is really just another child of God—then the music can really use me. And therein lies my fulfillment. That's when the music starts to happen. —John McLaughlin

At bottom, it is the sound of the divine spark within us all. Like the cry of a child or the howl of a wolf, it transcends language and culture.

Cleansed and newly born, we step from the shower and wrap ourselves in a towel. Mother Earth waits with open arms.

Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet...Every step makes a flower bloom.

Katsu is the roar of a person who knows what it means to be alive.

The guitar has shown us again and again: Three chords can rock the world.

When you awake in the morning, stretch your arms to the sky and breathe deeply. Fill your insides with the emptiness around you. Breathe easy. You're alive.

No need to concern yourself with building a habit over time. Just do it today.

Some people have a great sense of moral responsibility; unfortunately, it's backed up with a poor sense of musical taste. Other people have great musical ability, and very little sense of moral responsibility. It's very difficult to have a good balance. —Eric Clapton

When you open the blinds, open them like you're lifting the veil of enlightenment. Or just open the blinds. See?

People who argue do not understand; And people who understand do not argue.

Occasionally we go on vacation to a place where there are no newspapers and no television. And when we return we find the world hasn't ended. We realize that even though following the news may be essential to making a living, it has little to do with living a spiritual life.

Thus, when we look out at the world, we are nature gazing upon itself.

SEAVER: "What time is it?" BERRA: "You mean now?" No matter what time of day we check our watch, the only time is now. We may be running behind schedule, late for an appointment, or stuck in traffic, but we can't be anywhere other than where we are; our place in time cannot change. All we can do is make the best of each moment we're given. "This day will not come again," says the zen master Takuan. "Each minute is worth a priceless gem.

When mind and action are separate, zen is lost.

When we put our keys down, we should be conscious of putting them down. When we pick them up, we should be conscious of picking them up. That's all there is to zen. The best way to remember where we put things is to have a place for them. As the saying does, "All things in their place, and a place for all things.

We must continue up the steps because the path is right, and the process of climbing is all that matters.

If you pick up a guitar and it says, "Take me, I'm yours," then that's the one for you. —Frank Zappa

We needn't look any further ahead than today or commit to any more than taking one step. When we've taken one, we can commit to taking another. Pretty soon we've reached fifty. Pretty soon we've reached a hundred. Pretty soon we've reached zen.

No matter how routine the commute seems, no two trips are ever the same.

Each trip is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

No matter what our job title, no matter what our pay, we can choose to approach our work with dignity and care.