Quotes from book
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Shunryu Suzuki

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a book of teachings by the late Shunryu Suzuki, a compilation of talks given to his satellite Zen center in Los Altos, California. Published in 1970 by Weatherhill, the book is not academic, but contains frank and direct transcriptions of Suzuki's talks recorded by his student Marian Derby. Trudy Dixon and Richard Baker edited the talks by choosing those most relevant, arranging them into chapters. According to some, it has become a spiritual classic, helping readers to steer clear from the trap of intellectualism. Bodhin Kjolhede, Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center, writes that, together with Philip Kapleau's The Three Pillars of Zen , it is one of the two most influential books on Zen in the west.

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency or change. That everything changes is the basic truth for each existence. No one can deny this truth and all teaching of Buddhism is condensed within it. This is the teaching for all of us. Wherever we go this teaching is true. This teaching is also understood as the teaching of selflessness. Because each existence is in constant change, there is no abiding self.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Part 4, No. 1. "Transiency"
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, "Oh, this pace is terrible!" But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself. So there is no need to worry about progress.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Pt. 1 : Right Practice, "Bowing"
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Pt. 3 : Right Understanding, "Naturalness"
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism but to study ourselves. You are not your body. You are the Big Activity. You are just expressing the smallest particle of the Big Activity. That is all. But when you become attached to a temporal expression of the Big Activity, it is time to talk about Buddhism.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Part 3, No. 3 "Study Yourself"
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“Practice does not mean that whatever you do, even lying down, is zazen. When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice….
When you sit, you will sit. When you eat, you will eat…. If you say,”It doesn’t matter,” it means that you are making some excuse to do something in your own way with your small mind. It means that you are to some particular thing or way. That is not what we mean when we say, “Just to sit is enough,” or “Whatever you do is zazen.””

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Of course, everything you do is zazen, but if so, there is no need to say it.
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973), p. 41

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Pt. 1 : Right Practice "The Marrow of Zen", p. 29
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

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

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Pt. 1 : Right Practice "Mind Weeds", p. 26
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind.”

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Prologue
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973)

Similar authors

Shunryu Suzuki photo
Shunryu Suzuki 39
Japanese Buddhist missionary 1904–1971
Daisaku Ikeda photo
Daisaku Ikeda 25
Japanese writer
Kenzaburō Ōe photo
Kenzaburō Ōe 43
Japanese author
Yukio Mishima photo
Yukio Mishima 60
Japanese author
Makoto Kobayashi (physicist) photo
Makoto Kobayashi (physicist) 3
Japanese physicist
Yasunari Kawabata photo
Yasunari Kawabata 44
Japanese author, Nobel Prize winner
Kanō Jigorō photo
Kanō Jigorō 19
Japanese educator and judoka
Haruki Murakami photo
Haruki Murakami 655
Japanese author, novelist
Kazuo Ishiguro photo
Kazuo Ishiguro 76
Japanese-born British author
Matka Tereza photo
Matka Tereza 52
Roman Catholic saint of Albanian origin