Shunryu Suzuki Quotes

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.

The mind is like a parachute. In order to function, it first has to open.

We strive always to have a beginner's mind.

My goal is always to keep my ears as wide open as possible.

Have a mind that's open to everything, get attached to nothing.

I keep an open mind.

One thing I've learned is that you have to be open-minded.

Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible.

We cannot empty the mind by thinking. Only by observation.

Surprising and interesting things happen to those who keep their eyes and their minds open and alert!

Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.

Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.

An open mind but not an empty head.

Mind is the absence of meditation. The moment meditation arises in you, mind is found nowhere.

Empty your mind of all thoughts.

In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup.

When your mind opens, the whole world falls into place.

Meditation is totally different. When you concentrate you close your mind to everything else. Meditation means just an openness, a relaxed openness. It is not concentration. While listening to me you are listening to the birds singing in the trees too. The wind passing through the trees singing its song - you are open to it too. The aeroplane passing by, or the train - you are open to it too. This is meditation - you are simply open, available, conscious, available, all doors are open.

Only when the mind is still, tranquil, not expecting or grasping or resisting a single thing, is it possible to see what is true. It is the truth that liberates, not your effort to be free.

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

Remain open to as much input as possible.

When your mind doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding.

It takes intellectual stamina to stay open, as a leader and a mind, to absorb information and adversity.

There are so many surprises in my life; I don't take anything for granted. I enjoy every experience that comes; I don't think too far ahead.

Meditation is to be aware of every thought and of every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong, but just to watch it and move with it. In that watching, you begin to understand the whole movement of thought and feeling. And out of this awareness comes silence.