Do Not Carry Too Much

Maya continued. “Suzuki says ‘Zen is not something to get excited about.  Some people start to practice Zen just out of curiosity, and they only make themselves busier.  If your practice makes you worse, it is ridiculous.  I think that if you try to do zazen once a week, that will make you busy enough.  Do not be too interested in Zen.

“Just continue in your calm, ordinary practice, and your character will be built up.  If your mind is always busy, there will be no time to build, and you will not be successful, particularly if you work too hard on it.”  Maya looked around herself, and grabbed one of the little objects she had brought with her.  It was a little rubber bread roll-a dog toy--which she squeezed, and it squeaked.

“Building character,” Suzuki wrote,” is like making bread—you have to mix it little by little, step by step, and moderate temperature is needed.  You know yourself quite well, and you know how much temperature you need.  You know exactly what you need.  But if you get too excited, you will forget how much temperature is good for you, and you will lose your own way.  This is very dangerous.

“Buddha said the same thing about the good ox driver.  The driver knows how much load the ox can carry, and he keeps the ox from being overloaded.  You know your way and your state of mind. Do not carry too much.”

***

Quotations are from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki, c 1970, p.53

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