Shunryu Suzuki - Sit Quotes

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People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross- legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense.

Shunryu Suzuki
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. Of course, everything you do is zazen, but if so, there is no need to say it.

Shunryu Suzuki
The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking; we stop emotional activity; we just sit. Whatever happens to us, we are not bothered. We just sit. It is like something happening in the great sky. Whatever kind of bird flies through it, the sky doesn't care. That is the mind transmitted from Buddha to us.

Shunryu Suzuki
True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.

Shunryu Suzuki