People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross-legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense. —Shunryu Suzuki

People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross-legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense. —Shunryu Suzuki

 How can we see the world as it comes to be in each moment rather than as what we think, hope, or fear it is?


In saying “purify your own minds,” the Buddha was pointing to something very different. That “something very different” is the subject of this book: waking up.