September14th, 1969
Sunday, September 14th, 1969Shunryū Suzuki-rōshi
SHARP IRON, PURE SILK
Sunday, September 14, 1969
Tassajara
Listen to this talk: Suzuki-roshi 69-09-14
Sunday school—a Sunday-school girl saw me in sitting, and she said: “I can do it.” And she crossed her legs like this [gesturing], and then said, “And what? [Laughing, laughter.] And what?” She sit like this and said, “And what?” I was very much interested in her question because many of you have same question [laughs, laughter]. You come every day to Zen Center and practice Zen. And you ask me, “And what? [Laughs.] And what?”
I want to explain this point a little bit. I cannot—I don’t think I can explain it fully because it is not something to be—to ask or to be—to answer. You should know by yourself. We—why we sit in some formal position is through your body you should experience something, you know, by doing—by formal sitting—something you yourself experience not by mind—by teaching, but by physical practice.
But to be able to sit in some form and to attain some state of mind is not perfect study. After you have full experience of mind and body, you should be able to express it in some other way, too. That happens quite naturally. You don’t stick to some formal position anymore, but you can express same feeling—same state of mind, or you can convey your mind to others by some way. And even though you do not sit in some certain form—for an instance, in chair, or in standing position, or in working, or in speaking, you can—you will have same state of mind—state of mind [in] which you do not stick to anything. This is what you will study through our practice. That is the—what you will, you know—that is the purpose of practice.