Shunryu Suzuki
Japanese Sōtō Zen monk who, more than any other figure, established Zen Buddhism on the West Coast of America and produced — through the transcripts of his San Francisco Zen Center talks — what remains the single most-read Zen book in English. Born in 1904 in Hiratsuka, Japan, the son of a Sōtō priest, he came to America in 1959 to serve a small Japanese-American congregation in San Francisco and quickly drew Western students who would form the founding generation of American Zen. From their dawn sittings he gave the talks collected in 1970 as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind — one of the most influential Buddhist texts of the twentieth century. He died of cancer in 1971, leaving the San Francisco Zen Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm as his living legacy.
quotes in library
Quotes by Shunryu Suzuki
109 quotes“To be open does not mean to push our buttons.”
“To be open means to be ready for whatever may come.”
“Many possibilities. Many possibilities.”
“In the realm of meditation, there is no expert.”
“What we call I is just a swinging door.”
“In your big mind, everything has the same value.”
“Sit on the cushion. The cushion knows the way.”
“Each posture is the perfect expression of zazen.”
“Be straight. The body is the teacher.”
“In the perfection of practice, there is no thought of perfection.”
“Zen mind is in the breath. Find it there.”
“Each breath is a complete teaching.”
“Don't push the river. Don't pull on the rein.”
“Just sit. Sit with great patience.”
“True meditation has no goal.”
“Goal-orientation is opposed to true practice.”
“Even when you have a difficult time, just sit.”
“In the silent moment after the bell, the practice begins again.”
“Stay with whatever arises. Do not push it away.”
Explore More Teachers
Discover wisdom from 500+ spiritual teachers across all traditions.
Browse All Teachers