☻
A student said,
"I compare myself to other students
and feel inadequate.
"I haven't read anything about Buddhism."
"Oh! That's the best way to come to practice."
Suzuki Roshi answered.
"I compare myself to other students
and feel inadequate.
"I haven't read anything about Buddhism."
"Oh! That's the best way to come to practice."
Suzuki Roshi answered.
It was my first sesshin and,
before the first day was over, I was convinced
I couldn't make it.
My husband's turn for dokusan came that afternoon.
He asked Suzuki Roshi to see me instead.
"This is all a mistake," I told Roshi.
"I can't do this; I just came to be with my husband."
"There is no mistake," he insisted.
"You may leave, of course, but there's no place to go."
Suzuki Roshi said during a talk
that some of us wanted to be Zen masters,
and that this was very foolish.
He said that he wished he was like us, just starting out.
"Maybe you think you are green apples
hanging on a tree,
waiting to ripen so that you cab be Buddhas," he said,
"but I think you are already ripe,
perfect Buddhas now, ready to be picked."
—from To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki
before the first day was over, I was convinced
I couldn't make it.
My husband's turn for dokusan came that afternoon.
He asked Suzuki Roshi to see me instead.
"This is all a mistake," I told Roshi.
"I can't do this; I just came to be with my husband."
"There is no mistake," he insisted.
"You may leave, of course, but there's no place to go."
Suzuki Roshi said during a talk
that some of us wanted to be Zen masters,
and that this was very foolish.
He said that he wished he was like us, just starting out.
"Maybe you think you are green apples
hanging on a tree,
waiting to ripen so that you cab be Buddhas," he said,
"but I think you are already ripe,
perfect Buddhas now, ready to be picked."
—from To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki
