Those who are attached only to the result of their effort will not have any chance to appreciate it, because the result will never come.

— Shunryu Suzuki

To die is more important than trying to be alive. When we try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can be calm and die or fade away into emptiness, then naturally we will be all right.

— Shunryu Suzuki

To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.

— Shunryu Suzuki

To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment.

— Shunryu Suzuki

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

— 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

We emphasize straightforwardness. You should be true to your feelings, and to your mind, expressing yourself without any reservations. This helps the listener to understand more easily.

— Shunryu Suzuki

When we say something, our subjective intention or situation is always involved. So there is no perfect word; some distortion is always present in a statement.

— Shunryu Suzuki

When you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. Furthermore, you should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do.

— Shunryu Suzuki

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is. We put very little emphasis on right and wrong or good and bad. We just see things as they are with him, and accept them. This is how we communicate with each other. Usually when you listen to some statement, you hear it as a kind of echo of yourself. You are actually listening to your own opinion. If it agrees with your opinion you may accept it, but if it does not, you will reject it, or you may not even really hear it.

— Shunryu Suzuki