Shunryu Suzuki Quotes
And we should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true non-attachment. And we should do something new. To do something new, of course we must know our past, and this is alright. But we should not keep holding onto anything we have done; we should only reflect on it. And we must have some idea of what we should do in the future. But the future is the future, the past is the past; now we should work on something new.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Weatherhill, 1970.
The presidents had announced that they would resume diplomatic relations and allow trade, tourism, and other exchange after 40 years of U. S. policy boycotting Cuba to produce more democratic reform and regime change. Fidel Castro, however, became the longest serving ruler or leader of any country in the world, and despite (some argue because of) the boycott was also one of the most popular leaders. The boycott was based on faulty intelligence and after 40 years of no results, President Obama's administration reversed the historical policy that had not been working though there were some American Castro haters who objected to the change arguing that with more time and the death of Fidel Castro who was ill at the time, the boycott would be effective and then we could negotiate for something in exchange for lifting the boycott.
Shunryu Suzuki (May 18, 1904 – December 4, 1971) was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and is renowned for founding the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside Asia (Tassajara Zen Mountain Center). Suzuki founded San Francisco Zen Center which, along with its affiliate temples, comprises one of the most influential Zen organizations in the United States. A book of his teachings, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West.
