Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Every moment is a new moment, and in every moment, we're always trying to wake up to the deep reality of our lives, to what's really present.

So I, I, as I say, I first found Zen in 1972 after reading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, which spoke to me, uh, like to many, many people, very directly addressing concerns that I didn't really know that I had, that were somehow articulated in that book.

Like I've heard many other people say, Suzuki Roshi seemed to be speaking directly to me.

Uh, he seemed certainly to be speaking to my particular brand of suffering.

We don't wanna scroll through and come to conclusions.

The thing we talk about a lot, I don't know how many of you have read, um, Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

It's a phenomenal book, right? But this idea that in the mind of the expert, there are a few possibilities.

In the mind of the beginner, there are many.

Take it with about a hundred grains of salt, or toss it out completely.

What is your own understanding? How would you say it? During our study, I have also been supported by Suzuki Roshi and many of his words in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

I have shared some passages with you because as I dw-- delve into Suzuki Roshi, I experience how his words are steeped through and through with Dogen.

To end my reflection, I want to share with you one final passage from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, from the chapter Single-Minded Way.

Here are Suzuki Roshi's words: "The Bodhisattva way is called the 'single-minded way' or 'one railway track thousands of miles long.' The railway track is always the same.

If it were to become wider or narrower, it would be disastrous.

Mm-hmm.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

Mm-hmm.

These people, like, made a big leap across, you know, the ocean to come over here, and then they also, in some cases, really dropped, uh, their attachment to their container.

And then I got this question, which I think is kind of related to it, and I'll read it to you.

I heard a comment on a question similar to the one I asked you last week, maybe he's the one who asked me about deep meditation, I don't know, in an audiobook by Shunryu Suzuki, that's the guy who founded the San Francisco Zen Center and wrote, what was it called, Zen Mind Beginner's Mind.

And the book is called, the audio book is called Becoming Yourself.

In the book, there is a chapter, Questions on Sitting, in which a student asks whether sitting for five or ten minutes is enough.

He was trying to rewrite the hundred fascicles that he had, and he died on the 12th fascicle, which was this exact one, the, um, uh, the eight qualities of a, uh, a day nin or adult.

Um, we're using this book, "The Root of Goodness." It has four authors in it.

It basically has Shakyamuni Buddha, the first Buddha techni- so what, some-somewhat, and, uh, Dogen and Uchiyama Roshi's commentary and, uh, Thomas Wright's commentary.

And, and the intro is quite good, so I encourage you to look that over.

It can, uh, it can be allowing life to come to you.

It can be someone making you a cup of coffee or an, a nice bowl of oatmeal.

Is it enough? Hozan, Hozan Roshi wrote the introduction to, uh, our, our, um, Sojin Roshi's book.

Um, and Mary Mohsin, I was talking to her about it, and I said, "What-- how do you know?" Or, "How do you perceive having enough or knowing, knowing you have enough?" Just the other day, we were having lunch, and, um, she wrote me and, and said, "This is a really good thing tor-- uh, to include." And, uh, Hozan wrote, "Trust, trusting the practice.

So I had heard about Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, which is just down the road from where I live now, south of San Francisco in the mountains, and Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is connected through San Francisco Zen Center, lineage of Suzuki Roshi.

And I think I think we actually read Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, Suzuki Hiroshi's book, in the Zen class with Haraj.

Oh, how could you not? It's the classic, yeah.

It's the classic.