Shunryu Suzuki

Zen master and author of Zen Mind.

A Japanese Zen master who was instrumental in bringing Zen Buddhism to the United States. His teachings, encapsulated in his book "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," emphasize the importance of maintaining a beginner's mind and the practice of zazen (sitting meditation). His approach to Zen practice stresses simplicity, mindfulness, and the direct experience of reality, making Zen teachings accessible and relevant to modern practitioners.

Shunryu Suzuki Quotes about Meditation

In Zazen, in the practice of meditation, we do not try to escape from the world. We face it directly. By facing it directly, we can become completely immersed in it.
Shunryu Suzuki
17
Someone was sitting in front of a sunflower, watching the sunflower, a cup of sun, and so I tried it too. It was wonderful; I felt the whole universe in the sunflower. That was my experience. Sunflower meditation. A wonderful confidence appeared. You can see the whole universe in a flower.
Shunryu Suzuki
15
Meditation opens the mind to the greatest mystery that takes place daily and hourly; it widens the heart so that it may feel the eternity of time and infinity of space in every throb; it gives us a life within the world as if we were moving about in paradise.
Shunryu Suzuki
8
The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you were drinking water when you are thirsty.
Shunryu Suzuki
8