‘So to– the practice is– the purpose of practice is to accept myself. Knowing that, all our effort is to accept ourselves. Whether we become a great man or not is not the point. When we realize– when we can accept myself– ourselves, we are already one with all the existence. When spring come, we can enjoy spring flowers. When the summer come, we can enjoy the cool moonlight. When autumn come, we will appreciate– we can appreciate the beauty of the foliage. In winter we will appreciate snow. Because when we can accept ourselves, we can accept anything else. There is no– no self in our mind. What we have is big mind, big self. We can treat my body as we treat others’. We– we will treat my own things as we treat others’ property– others. This is how– this is the way of Buddhist life.’ (from the Suzuki Roshi archives)
We are coming to the time of appreciating the beauty of the foliage, although deciduous trees do not predominate in the city. I also suspect that Suzuki Roshi was paraphrasing Mumon here. As I continue to work through the archive, I never fail to find gems in all corners.
Shundo David Haye 