Shunryu Suzuki 1905-1971

This was a great reading and had some awesome sayings. One thing that really stuck out to me was when it said, " When we lose our balance we die, but at the same time we also develop ourselves, we grow. Whatever we see is changing, losing its balance. The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance". I thought this was so true that most almost everything in nature is extremely beautiful because it has contrast and things are always changing. The leaves on trees, shapes and sizes of things in nature, everything has its own individual beauty. On the other hand most things that are man made and that come from factories are not very beautiful, not full of life. For example tools, cars, books, buildings, are not very beautiful as they are not of nature and rarely change. It then continues to say, "This is how everything exists in the realm of Buddha nature". Too many people get caught up in material goods and not the things that really matter. These manmade things will get broken, lost, stolen, but the things of nature will constantly bring beauty and happiness. I also really liked how it said, " We must have a beginners mind, free from possessing anything, a mind that knows everything is in flowing change". When it said to have a beginners mind it made me think of a child's mind. How they are just born, starting fresh, they are so innocent and pure, so beautiful. If we can put on a child's mind then things will flow so much better, rather than if we get caught up in the worldly possessions and things that dont really matter. This was an awesome reading, and sparked new ideas.