In Japan in the Spring We Eat Cucumbers – Suzuki Roshi’s Seminal Teachings

At the very end of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind Suzuki Roshi said:

“I feel Americans, especially young Americans, have a great opportunity to find out the true way of life for human beings. You are quite free from material things and you begin Zen practice with a very pure mind, a beginner’s mind. You can understand Buddha’s teaching exactly as he meant it. But we must not be attached to America or Buddhism or even to our practice. We must have beginner’s mind, free from possessing anything, a mind that knows everything is in flowing change. Nothing exists but momentarily in its present form and color. One thing flows into another and cannot be grasped. Before the rain stops we hear a bird. Even under the heavy snow we see snowdrops and some new growth. In the East I saw rhubarb already. In Japan in the spring we eat cucumbers.”

In a few simple words Roshi has managed to convey the guts of Buddhism, the guts of our Zen practice, which is not about some weird way of thinking or esoteric practice, but rather about finding the true way of life, the true mind of life for human beings. People hear the word Zen and say, “Oh I’m not into that” implying that they’re just a regular person and not into anything so far out, but Zen is for everybody, every single creature. It is the most basic thing in the world. Oddly today, because we forget these basic things, we need to re-learn what they are. Fortunately, through Roshi’s kindness and compassion, we have been given everything we need for this task.