For Zen students, a weed is a treasure.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Imperfections in life reveal the true nature of reality.
This quote by Shunryu Suzuki emphasizes that the flaws and imperfections we encounter in our experiences are not to be dismissed but rather embrace them, as they contribute to the authentic essence of reality. It suggests that perfection is an illusion, and the richness of life is found in its inherent imperfections.
Themes
ImperfectionRealityAuthenticityPhilosophyLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about embracing diversity, this quote can illustrate how differences make us whole.
More from Shunryu Suzuki
All quotes βIf you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
Similar quotes
I'm not sure if the passage of time affects our core identities so much as reveals them to us.
Jennifer EganRead
Anxiety is the beginning of conscience, which is the parent of the soul but is not compatible with innocence.
Angela CarterRead
According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
John Quincy AdamsRead
It's not crime that makes us more punitive in the United States. It's the way we respond to crime and how we view those people who have been labeled criminals.
Michelle AlexanderRead
It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off.
William ShakespeareRead
When a violent minority that crosses color lines comes to believe that killing those you know or do not know is a reasonable solution to problems, we are in need of another vision.
Stanley CrouchRead