I am an artist at living - my work of art is my life.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that life itself is a creative endeavor, akin to an artwork crafted by an artist.
D.T. Suzuki's quote reflects the idea that living is an art form, where each person's life is a unique creation shaped by experiences, choices, and personal growth. It suggests that just as artists express themselves and create beauty through their work, individuals can approach their lives with the same creativity and intentionality, making every moment a canvas for self-expression and meaning.
In practice
In a graduation speech about pursuing one's passions.
Zen, in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. By making us drink right from the fountain of life it liberates us from all the yokes under which we finite beings are usually suffering in this world.
The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded. Therefore, anything that has the semblance of an external authority is rejected by Zen. Absolute faith is placed in a man's own inner being. For whatever authority there is in Zen, all comes from within.
Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?
The rocks are where they are- and this is their will. The rivers flow- and this is their will. The birds fly- this is their will. Human beings talk- this is their will. The seasons change, heaven sends down rain or snow, the earth occasionally shakes, the waves roll, the stars shine- each of them follows its own will. To be is to will and so is to become.
Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.
We teach ourselves; Zen merely points the way.
I doubt that I could create a character I loathed simply because when a character takes life, it is impossible not to be a little amazed by the phenomenon, and to find that the amazement has something of the quality of delight.
Music is the brandy of the damned.
Poetry is prose bewitched, a music made of visual thoughts, the sound of an idea.
We read five words on the first page of a really good novel and we begin to forget that we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images.
Directing has completely changed the way I write and watch films.
What makes art in general, and literature in particular, remarkable, what distinguishes them from life, is precisely that they abhor repetition. In everyday life, you can tell the same joke thrice and, thrice getting a laugh, become the life of the party. In art, though, this sort of conduct is called 'cliche.'
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