D.T. Suzuki Quotes

Patience is the absence of expectation.

Personal experience, therefore, is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

You will always exist in the universe in one form or another.

Rapid population growth and technological innovation, combined with our lack of understanding about how the natural systems of which we are a part work, have created a mess.

I can't imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive.

The ego-shell in which we live is the hardest thing to outgrow.

A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha.

The person who can freely acknowledge that life is full of difficulties can be free, because they are acknowledging the nature of life - that it can't be much else.

The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you where drinking water when you are thirsty.

Discipline is creating the situation.

It is in our power to educate all the children of the world to become a little better as people, a little happier.

Each of us now has 2.27 kg (5 lbs) of plastic embedded in our bodies.

Life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.

When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.

It is necessary to be concerned about the importance of educating a really beautiful human spirit

The waters are in motion, but the moon retains its serenity.

Everything you do is right, nothing you do is wrong, yet you must still make ceaseless effort.

Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner - not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.

As professionals we have a responsibility of providing a good show for the fans. Getting hits and home runs is what they want to see.

We must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we can choose from real options.

Any politician or scientist who tells you these [GMO] products are safe is either very stupid or lying.

Zen Makes use, to a great extent, of poetical expressions; Zen is wedded to poetry.

Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die.

I've made far too many mistakes. That's the way I feel.

Treaties, agreements and organizations to help settle disputes may be necessary, but they often favor the interests of business over citizens.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

What is man's ultimate direction in life? It is to look for love, truth, virtue, and beauty.

Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way.

We try, and we try, and we fail; and then we go deeper.

This aged economic system is out of date!

When you are just you, without thinking or trying to say something special, just saying what is on your mind and how you feel, then there is naturally self-respect.

All those hours exploring the great outdoors made me more resilient and confident.

Some people enjoy taking a light stroll in the morning and that gives them relief and that sort of feeling. That is what I gain by practicing, by swinging the bat.

Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself.

I played on the 2001 team, the team that won the most games in the history of Major League Baseball and also I played on one of the worst teams of Major League Baseball.

The intuitive recognition of the instant, thus reality is the highest act of wisdom.

Until we recognize the SELF that exists apart from who we think we are - we cannot know the Ch'an ( ZEN ) MIND

Unless we die to ourselves, we can never be alive again.

You are perfect as you are and there is always room for improvement.

Knowledge is not skill. Knowledge plus ten thousand times is skill.

There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment

After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little.

If Canada, one of the richest nations in the world, can't meet Kyoto targets, why should China or India give any considerations for meeting the targets?

Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.

Any child can be developed, it depends on how you do it

For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.

I have come to the definite conclusion that musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed.