Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

There is no distinction between heaven and earth, man and woman, teacher and disciple.

Sometimes a man bows to a woman.

Sometimes a woman bows to a man.

Sometimes the disciple bows to the master.

Sometimes the master bows to the disciple.

In your big mind, everything has the same value.

You see something or hear a sound and there you have everything just as it is.

Then Buddha bows to Buddha, and you bow to yourself.

If you do not have this firm conviction of big mind in your practice, your bow will be dualistic.

When you are just yourself, you bow to yourself in its true sense, and you are one with everything.

Only when you are you yourself can you bow to everything in its true sense.

Bowing is a very serious practice.

You should be prepared to bow even in your last moment.

Bow with this spirit and all the precepts, all the teachings are yours and you will possess everything within your big mind.

This is not so easy.

It is difficult to get rid of these ideas and bowing is a very valuable practice.

Our purpose is just to keep this practice forever.

This practice started from beginningless time and it will continue into an endless future.

Strictly speaking, for a human being there is no other practice than this practice.

There is no other way of life than this way of life.