July 15 1965

　　Originally offered: July 15th, 1965 | Modified October 27th, 2009 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

　　July 15, 1965

　　Rev. S. Suzuki”s talk on Great Prajna Paramita Sutra

　　This morning I want to explain the attainment…the attainment here…it

　　means to resume to our true nature is actually attainments. To attain nirvana means to resume to our true nature. Our true nature is beyond our reasoning, beyond our sensory world. If…when we…when we are beyond our reasoning, or sensory world there is no problem, there is no fear. There is just our true nature itself. When we resume to our true nature we say we attained enlightenment. So actually there is nothing to attain; to resume to our true nature is our attainment. But from the viewpoint of intiate…initial awareness of the true nature it is attainment, because we will attain…we will resume to our true nature by going beyond our sensual world or sensory world, so step by step, one by one, to get rid of all the emotional functions and thinking…stop thinking we will attain enlightenment. So in this sense it is attainment. But, what we attain is not something quite different from our empirical world, so in this sense it is not attainment. So in this sutra it says “no attainment (or no dharma), no five senses or sense organs, or no world of five or six senses; no problem of birth and death, and old age and illness. Of course no self at all.

　　If there is no small self there is no problem. When we have no self there is nirvana. The realm where there is no problem is called nirvana. Nirvana…so…from the viewpoint of initial awareness, it is a state of no frame of mind; calmness of our mind is nirvana. This nirvana…from initial awareness…viewpoint of initial awareness of state…it is from negative viewpoint it is the calmness, but from positive viewpoint it is the origin of all our activities. All our activities is supported by this state of mind even though you are taking activity…strong activity…there must be calmness of your mind, or you will be lost in your activity.

　　If you have…if you obtain calmness even though you are in strong fierce activity, you will be lost if you have no calmness of your mind. So calmness should be found rather in zazen, rather in activity. You should find out the calmness in your activity rather than in your sitting posture.

　　And why we sit is because there is no other way to appease your innate nature. You think…perhaps you think when you are…it may be better to take some medicine, rather than to sit, but even though you take medicine, even though you obtain the calmness of your mind when you take some medicine, you will not be satisfied with it. You have deep, deep request. To appease that deep request the medicine is not strong enough or good enough. Even though you take medicine you want something more, you know.

　　Now my mind is very calm, but I want something more. Because you have inner, strong…some desire, you don”t know how to appease it. It is just as you take food when you are hungry. Even though you take food, that is not enough. In America you have… in California you have various fruits which is very delicious and beautiful. So we Japanese think, “If I go to California I will take as much fruits as I can, best fruits” but we find out that even though we eat the best fruits in California, that is not enough and we are rather disappointed with myself or with fruits. I don”t know which. The fruit is not good enough to appease my hunger… not hunger maybe… I don”t know what it is but we have some inmost request. So actually something which appease your inmost request is not something which you eat, which you see, which you feel; or is not something which is called your desire or instinct. We don”t know what it is, but we have…

《Rev· S· Suzukis talk on Great Prajna Paramita Sutra - July 15 1965》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…