Quotes from Shunryu Suzuki

In zazen practice we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your breathing is to forget all about yourself and just to sit and feel your breathing.

Do not be too interested in Zen.

It will take quite a long time before you find your calm, serene mind in your practice.

Instead of only criticizing your culture, you should devote your mind and body to practicing this simple way. Then society and culture will grow out of you.

When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world" but actually, There is just one whole world.

It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it. So you should be grateful that you have a sign or warning signal to show you the weak point in your practice.

We sit to express our true nature

So even though you have some difficulty in your practice, even though you have some waves while you are sitting, those waves themselves will help you. So you should not be bothered by your mind. You should rather be grateful for the weeds, because eventually they will enrich your practice.

Even when you practice zazen alone, without a teacher, I think you will find some way to tell whether your practice is adequate or not.

So if you do something, you should be observant, and careful, and alert.

A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are. That

No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.

There is no gap between the ignorant and the wise. A foolish person is a wise person; a wise person is a foolish person.

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 of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything.

Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.

More important than any stage which you will attain is your sincerity, your right effort.

It is quite usual for us to gather pieces of information from various sources, thinking in this way to increase our knowledge. Actually, following this way we end up not knowing anything at all... Instead of gathering knowledge, you should clear your mind. If your mind is clear, true knowledge is already yours.

True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another. Zen masters are very straightforward.

keep finding yourself, moment after moment. This is the only thing for you to do.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The

Reality cannot be caught by thinking or feeling mind.

Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere... We should forget all about some particular teaching; we should not ask which is good or bad. There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment, in every existence. That is the true teaching.

When you do something, just to do it should be your purpose.

Usually when you listen to some statement, you hear it as a kind of echo of yourself. You are actually listening to your own opinion. If it agrees with your opinion you may accept it, but if it does not, you will reject it or you may not even really hear it.