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Quotes from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind — Shunryu Suzuki

1904–1971 Japan

← All quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

8 quotes

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.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

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

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

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

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

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

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

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.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

Doing something is expressing our own nature. We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves. This is the fundamental teaching expressed in the forms we observe.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

We must have beginner's mind, free from possessing anything, a mind that knows everything is in flowing change. Nothing exists but momentarily in its present form and color. One thing flows into another and cannot be grasped.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Shunryu Suzuki (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.