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Quote by D.T. Suzuki

“When mind discriminates, there is manifoldness of things; when it does not it looks into the true state of things.”

Quote by D.T. Suzuki

Author

D.T. Suzuki
D.T. Suzuki

D.T. Suzuki, a renowned Japanese philosopher, Buddhist scholar, and translator, was born on October 18, 1870, and died on July 12, 1966. He is best known for his profound research into Zen Buddhism and his influential translations, which have greatly contributed to the Western understanding of Eastern philosophy and culture. more

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“No. Silence is something. This is nothing. Why couldn’t I hear it before? I think it has been there always. From the beginning of time.’ He put out his hand and stubbed it on my arm, stared at it. ‘At the end of the world, at the beginning of the world; under the sea and over the sky; at the root and crown of the universe: nothing. At all. That’s what I heard. What I hear.’ He leaned forward. ‘Do you understand?”

“The earth provides not just a little, but all. The very body and mind with which I tend the earth are themselves of the earth. I am but earth tending earth. Were the earth not to roll this garden toward the sun today, were the clouds not to gather above the sea, the waters not to flow, the soil not to brim with its billions of microorganisms, were all or any part of this to fail, I would fail as well, my body numbed to a fixed stillness, my slightest thought cancelled. This truth is so obvious that it is a wonder we can forget it so often and so easily. The fact of it defines who we are. To forget this is to forget who we are, a species suffering from amnesia that bewildered seeks its own name.”

“If we don’t insist on defining impermanence as unsatisfactory, then it’s natural to celebrate. Just a moments pause to consider the passing of the seasons is enough to convince anyone that not only is impermanence the source of all possible joy in this life but its the movement of life itself.”

“Whether you are CEO of a corporation or a garbage collector, whether you are an opera singer or a dishwasher, you are united because you can look inside and see yourself. You do not see people different from you, you start seeing that people are your true self appearing. If you cannot handle people right away, because many people are not living in that world, then try a poodle if you want to see what it looks like for the light to look back at you with open eyes.”