D. T. Suzuki Quotes
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author, scholar, and translator who did more than any other figure to introduce Mahayana Buddhism, especially Zen, to the English-speaking world. After early years of practice and study at Engaku-ji in Kamakura, he spent more than a decade in the United States as a translator and editor, then taught at Otani University in Kyoto and at Columbia. The quotes below are attributed to D. T. Suzuki, organized by topic.
Browse D. T. Suzuki by topic
D. T. Suzuki on God
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“We may sometimes ignore the claims of reason and rest satisfied, though usually unconsciously, with assertions which are conflicting when critically examined, but we cannot disregard by any means those of the religious sentiment which finds satisfaction only in the very fact of things. If it ever harbored some flagrant contradiction in the name of faith, it was because its ever-pressing demands had to be met with even at the expense of reason.”
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro (1907). "The Dharmakâya" . Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism . pp. 217–218. -
“The Mahayana Buddhists offer a doctrine complementary to that of karma, in order to give a more satisfying and more human solution to our inmost religious needs. The Mahayana doctrine of Parinamana , therefore, must go side by side with that of karma; for through this harmonious co-working of the two, the true spirit of Buddhism will be more effectively realized. In this phase of development, Mahayana Buddhism must be said to be profoundly religious.”
p 9
D. T. Suzuki on Justice
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“Karma cannot be denied, it is the law; but the human heart is tender and loving, it cannot remain calm and unconcerned at the sight of suffering, in whatever way this might have been brought about. It knows that all things ultimately come from the one source; when others suffer I suffer too; why then should not self-renunciation somehow moderate the austerity of karma? This is the position taken by Mahayana Buddhists in regard to the doctrine of karma.”
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D. T. Suzuki on Knowledge
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“If you have a glass full of liquid, you can discourse forever on its qualities, but until you drink it, you cannot know its taste.”
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“Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro (1907). "The Dharmakâya" . Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism . pp. 217–218.”
We may sometimes ignore the claims of reason and rest satisfied, though usually unconsciously, with assertions which are conflicting when critically examined, but we cannot disregard by any means those of the religious sentiment which finds satisfaction only in the very fact of things. If it ever harbored some flagrant contradiction in the name of faith, it was because its ever-pressing demands ha
D. T. Suzuki on Mind
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“Zen, in its essence, is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being.”
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“We are too self-conscious, too logical, and we lose touch with the underlying reality of our own being.”
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“What we have to do is to keep on questioning what we are doing.”
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“Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.”
As quoted in Root (2001) [ specific citation needed ] -
“Deliverance or enlightenment, therefore, consists of making every sentient being open his mental eye to this fact. It is not his ego-soul that makes him think, feel, desire, or aspire, but the Dharmakaya itself in the form of Bodhicitta or “wisdom-heart” which constitutes his ethical and religious being. Abandon the thought of egoism, and return to the universal source of love and wisdom, and we are released from the bond of evil karma, we are enlightened as to the reason of existence, we are Buddhas.”
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“The ranges of the Himalayas may stir in us the feeling of sublime awe; the waves of the Pacific may suggest something of infinity. But when one’s mind is poetically or mystically or religiously opened, one feels as Basho did that even in every blade of wild grass there is something really transcending all venal, base human feelings, which lifts one to a realm equal in its splendor to that of the Pure Land.”
Wikiquote -
“The head is conscious while the abdomen is unconscious. When the master tells his disciples to "think" with the lower part of the body, he means that the koan is to be taken down to the unconscious and not to the conscious field of consciousness.”
Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis(1960)
D. T. Suzuki on Nature
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“The moon stays bright when it does not avoid the clouds.”
D. T. Suzuki on Time
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“This subtle spiritual system, of which all sentient beings are its parts or units, is like a vast ocean in which the eternal moonlight of Dharmakaya is reflected. Even a faint wavelet which is noticed in one part of the water is sure to spread, sooner or later, according to the resistance of the molecules, over its entire surface, and thus finally disturb the serenity of the lunar image in it.”
Wikiquote
D. T. Suzuki on Truth
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Attributed to D. T. Suzuki:
“The truth of Zen is not in any of its statements, however profound; it is in life itself.”
D. T. Suzuki on Virtue
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“Likewise, at every deed, good or evil, committed by any of the sentient units of this spiritual organization, the Dharmakaya rejoices or is grieved. When it is grieved, it wills to counteract the evil with goodness; when it rejoices, it knows that so far the cause of goodness has been advanced.”
p 10