D. T. Suzuki: What is Zen 1/4 [Audio Renaissance Tapes]

I have uploaded a new version - with improved audio, illustrations and Portuguese subtitles here:
• D. T. Suzuki: O que é ...
Read by Christopher Reed
archive.org/de...
If you are enjoying this series, you might enjoy my books on Zen Buddhism. You can buy them here:
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Don’t have any spare money? Don’t worry, friend. You can also download them for free here, in different e-book file types:
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[@AlanPhan128]

TLDR: Zen Buddhism emphasizes practical mindedness, discipline, and the cultivation of a spontaneous and fluid mentality in order to achieve enlightenment through direct experience and everyday living. 1. 00:00 🧘 Zen Buddhism, influenced by Chinese and Indian thought, emphasizes practicality and democracy, with monks engaging in cryptic sermons and direct actions. 1.1 D.T. Suzuki, a leading authority on Zen Buddhism, discusses the influence of Zen on Japanese culture and explains that Zen is a product of Chinese and Indian thought. 1.2 Buddhist teachings in China were not fully appreciated due to the Chinese people's practical and worldly mindset, but it still influenced their way of thinking without losing touch with the practical side of daily life. 1.3 Zen Buddhism in China established a unique form of monasticism that emphasized democracy, manual labor, and practical ways of life, distinguishing it from earlier Indian Buddhism and Taoist teachings. 1.4 Zen monks did not engage in traditional religious practices, but instead listened to short, cryptic sermons from the master and asked questions, receiving bizarre answers often accompanied by direct actions. 1.5 Zen monk, when asked about the depth of the river of Zen, replied "find out for yourself" and almost threw the questioner off a bridge. 2. 05:57 🧘 Zen emphasizes practical mindedness and discipline in enlightenment for freedom, rejecting conceptualization and embracing both verbal and actionable expression. 2.1 Zen is against conceptualization and emphasizes practical mindedness and discipline in enlightenment for emancipation and freedom. 2.2 Real freedom comes from enlightenment, which is the central teaching in all schools of Buddhism, including Zen. 2.3 Zen encompasses both verbal and actionable ways of expression, with verbalism being a characteristic but unique form of communication that violates linguistic rules. 3. 09:21 🧘 Zen is about reaching the unnamable and ungraspable mind, examining living words to stir up being from within. 3.1 A master challenges his congregation's perception of a staff, leading to illogical and irrational responses from other masters. 3.2 Zen philosophy is not about verbal riddles, but about reaching the mind itself, which is unnamable and ungraspable. 3.3 The essence of Zen is to examine living words and not dead ones, as they are detached from the experience and no longer stir up being from within. 4. 12:10 🧘 Zen teaches through practical experience and self-reliance, with examples of satori, living in the present moment, and learning the art of burglary and escape. 4.1 A teacher demonstrates the concept of satori by slapping a questioner and another teacher teaches a lesson about living in the present moment by twisting a monk's nose. 4.2 Rinzai's true man is the third presence walking beside you, teaching by action and awakening consciousness to the pulsation of reality. 4.3 Zen emphasizes the importance of learning through practical experience and self-reliance, as illustrated by the story of a son learning the art of burglary from his father. 4.4 A son learns the art of escape from a locked chest and evades capture by tricking his pursuers. 5. 16:47 🧘 Zen enlightenment cannot be achieved through verbal instruction, it is found in everyday experiences and is similar to the elusive nature of the dao. 5.1 The experience of enlightenment cannot be achieved through verbal instruction or conceptual presentation, but must be the result of one's inner life and everyday experiences. 5.2 The dao is our everyday life itself, deeply embedded in all beings, and defies intellectual pursuit due to its elusiveness and familiarity. 5.3 Zen is like the dao, vague and undefinable yet containing genuine substance and sincerity. 5.4 Japanese poetry translations do not replicate the original rhythm, and the name of a substance is inseparable from the substance itself in Zen philosophy. 6. 21:06 🧘 Zen training teaches us to realize that zen is our daily experience, as illustrated by the story of Dogo and his disciple Soshin. 6.1 Zen training aims to make us realize that zen is our daily experience, illustrated by the story of Dogo and his disciple Soshin. 6.2 The master teaches the disciple the art of swordplay through menial tasks, leading the disciple to realize the importance of being present in the moment. 7. 23:40 🧘 Zen is about cultivating a spontaneous and fluid mentality, understanding cannot be achieved through conceptualization but through direct experience, revealing hidden meaning in everyday experiences. 7.1 A pupil learns the secrets of Zen after attempting to strike his master with a stick and realizing the unparalleled kindness of the master. 7.2 The key to perfect swordsmanship lies in cultivating a mentality that can instantly respond to external stimuli, with technical training being important but ultimately lacking spontaneity unless the mind is attuned to fluidity, as taught by the zen master Dogo. 7.3 Zen cannot be understood through conceptualization, and enlightenment is attained through direct experience rather than intellectualization, revealing hidden meaning in everyday experiences. 8. 27:26 🧘 Zen teaches that the essence of life is found in the state of "kono mama" or "sono mama", satori is the emancipation of the mind from attachments, and zen and art coincide in their creation. 8.1 Zen teaches that the essence of life is found in the state of "kono mama" or "sono mama", which corresponds to the Sanskrit "tathata" and the Chinese "chimo", and is seen as the true meaning of existence. 8.2 Zen does not indulge in abstraction or conceptualization, and satori is the emancipation of the mind from intellectual and moral attachments, allowing for the discovery of hidden values and the creation of art through intuition. 8.3 Zen and art coincide in their creation, with zen practitioners embodying the art of transformation within themselves.

[@austinnewby9666]

Been looking for something on Zen more scholarly so I was very happy to see this . I immediately subscribed simply to listen. So thank you kind person. Thank you

[@dapc777]

~I sit and look~deeper I look the more it disappears~the moment there cannot be no looking it sees~the transition is so simple that it is not there but turned itself around to be here~I have finally seen what I was looking at for it was that to which one sees will always be and no longer it is to be searched as well~

[@john_air]

Thanks for uploading this Now i may proceed to listen what it has to offer haha

[@DmytroZinkiv]

どうもありがとう、親愛なる先生

[@johnallan5006]

Zen is simple and explained by modern science quite well. Flow state shuts 80%of the prefrontal cortex functions

[@kellenfreeman15]

Thank you for putting these on KZbin. I’ve been looking for them for a while.

[@pianowoman2529]

Despite never meeting this man Suzuki, I feel like I know him. Read his book.

[@blackfox2056]

Thank you for this upload

[@jpmarques7]

This is gold

[@pcb1623]

Wow! Western culture really builds castles in the sky. Tower of Babel, I believe I've been wholly complicit? 💥

[@spookybuk]

I don't think so. If you really were wholly complicit, how could you ever realize you were being complicit?

[@pcb1623]

@@spookybuk 🤯 that reply truly brought about a spontaneous laugh! Truly a blessing 🙏😂

[@luxinvictus9018]

well, think of it like this: western culture has at least, in part, helped create this internet and this platform where this knowledge is being taught. Now..that striving is slowly moving eastward to India and China, which are becoming more materialistic and advancing technology while it is the Westerners becoming more spiritual. It's just a cycle. Mankind needs both Spirit and Matter. Someone's gotta do one while someone takes care of the other. In the last century, it was the reverse of what it's becoming now, and someday it will reverse again no?

[@MV-gt1qu]

@@luxinvictus9018 this is profound.

[@omerlandau]

Starts at 01:48

[@a1societypropertyservices73]

Zen do all All do zen

[@munihmuni8814]

I wonder, was he aware of the Ainu of Japan? He must have known about the ancient samurai class and that they were Indo-European, which is the politically correct term for Aryan.

[@severinocicerchia7668]

Your statement is wrong on so many level. Please stop reading fascist occultist weird propaganda and start learning history

[@munihmuni8814]

@@severinocicerchia7668 lmao weird occultist fascist propaganda? Where did you get that from? That view certainly didn't come from my mind. Project, much?lol Forgive me but I am assuming that you are unaware of recent genetic research, no? Did you know the Samurai utilized the fylfot or swastika as it is commonly known? Do the words "aryan" and "swastika" make you feel uncomfortable or angry?lol Regardless of your politically correct indoctrination, this information is fact, not my pet theory and the word Aryan and the swastika symbol are written in stone, all over the ancient AND modern world (the swastika commonly seen right next to the "star of David"). Politically correct feelings and indoctrinated opinions be damned! Learn your history lol

[@severinocicerchia7668]

​@@munihmuni8814 First, I'm a graduate in asian langagues and cultures (japanese) and i've been accepted as an exchange program at Waseda University. What abou you? Second. Where did you read that Samurais were indo europeans? They are no ancient at all, since the samurai class emerged in the medieval period (around the 12th century A.D.). Plus, indo-european is not the ''politically correct term for aryan'', it is essentially a linguistic term while ''aryan'' was the term that XXth century racial theorizers used in order to describe a supposed race linked to the indoeuropean linguistic groups. How all of this relates to modern genetics is another topic. But still: how do indoeuropean speaking groups relate to Ainu? There is no evidence of Ainu language being related to the indoeuropean group. Genetically, they are close to Ryukyu people and some siberian peoples of the tungusi linguistic-ethnic group. So, this is your first mistake: not knowing anything about what indoeuropean speaking populations are, about the historical concept of ''aryan people'' (which nowdays no one take seriously), and not knowing anything about the Ainu people. Then: what kind of relation should exist between ainu and samurais? They were Yamato, not Ainu. Check the difference, since you don't know it. Again: what should the swastika prove? In japan, swastika (called manji) is related to Buddhism, and it is found through whole Asia, i.e. in the so called dharmic religions. This doesn't prove any ''racial'' affiliation, since it is a symbol found even in Africa or America. I'm not politically indoctrinated, I'm a scholar. I would be interested in reading your sources, even if after your reply I'm even more sure that they are just obscure occultist bullshit (probably Evola or Steiner, or smth related to those clowns).

[@munihmuni8814]

@@severinocicerchia7668 my my...someone's neurotic today, aren't we? This type of paradigm destroying truth has yet to make it to the academic level but it will. The thing is, if one sincerely investigates my statements, it will show that these statements arenot my own and cannot be sincerely declaimed or denied. Study for yourself these recent genetic findings that shatter the out-of-Africa theory, establish the Indo-European invasion and absolutely dismantle social and historical deceptive paradigms. Mark my words, these revolutionary truths will become impossible for established academia to ignore for much longer.

[@severinocicerchia7668]

@@munihmuni8814 Oh now I see, you're one of the ''self-taught'' master who holds a PhD at the ''University of life''. Having known that earlier I wouldn't have wasted my time with you. Keep on with the fantasy and sci-fi pseudoscientific theories, they will make your life better.

[@jackhargreaves1911]

A horrible, old fashioned, macho, male-dominated philosophy in which anyone asking a question risks being humiliated or assaulted. If you survive long enough to get an actual answer, said answer will most likely be a version of ‘nothing’ or ‘whatever you want it to be’.

[@jiminycricket9317]

Cope Seethe Dilate

[@elainefell7943]

I see what you mean - so many assaulted when they asked questions. Just like university!

[@d1427]

why ask questions and what kind of answer do you expect? Being assaulted or humiliated is part of the lesson to not ask the unnecessary and rather shut up and observe the one who is itching for asking unnecessary questions.

[@aesop1451]

Me when Zen is not a wholesome chungus philosophy

[@as_the_turntables]

Not entirely false.