Day 8 - a farewell poem (untitled) - Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki (1904-1971) was a Buddhist monk and dogen Zen master, one of the first to come to America and teach this form of Zen Buddhism. He founded the first Buddhist temple outside of Asia.  He was a small man, short of five feet tall, but this just proves that you don't have to be big to have big ideas or big accomplishments.  I like this because I'm small too. He wrote "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", a small but worldly influential spiritual guide.

Before he died of cancer, Shunryu imparted this wisdom to his students:

"if when I die, the moment I'm dying, if I suffer that is alright, you know; that is suffering Buddha...We should be very grateful to have a limited body..." [1].  

This philosophy of surrendering to death, surrendering to suffering, is I think at the core of all Buddhist teaching.  It is very profound to me. Shunryu taught that all things have Buddha nature, when we bow we do so with reverence to the Buddha-nature in everything - in you, in dogs and cats, in teachers and in students, in the beggar on the street and the rich man in the office buildings.  We bow to every thing, we bow to ourselves.

"Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink."

How true is that!  We are all destined for death.  I hope I can go half as gracefully as Shunryu Suzuki.

This poem, written in 1971, was imparted to his successor.

Here is my spoken version of this poem.
https://soundcloud.com/raindrop-11/untitled-shunryu-suzuki

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Untitled - Shunryu Suzuki

This piece of incense
Which I have had for a long long time
I offer with no-hand.

To my Master, to my friend, Suzuki Shunryu Diaosho
The founder of these temples
There is no measure of what you have done.

Walking with you in Buddha's gentle rain
Our robes are soaked through
But on the lotus leaves
Not a drop remains

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