From the beloved author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind comes a new book of teachings on the essence of Zen practice
“Our way of sitting is for you to become yourself.”
In this long-awaited book from one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the last century, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi shares simple, warmhearted teachings on a practice that is fundamentally about becoming yourself. In his inimitable style, filled with humor and insight, Becoming Yourself speaks directly to the newest beginners while also serving as a touchstone and a continual source of inspiration for even the most experienced practitioners and Zen teachers.
Becoming Yourself unearths new jewels from the late Suzuki’s lectures and brings to light many of his unpublished teachings.
Becoming yourself is not meant to be understood as an idea; it is meant to be tried out as a way of being. It is “Just to sit,” a practice of wholeheartedly being as you are, moment after moment, no matter what is happening. It is a practice of deeply connecting with how it feels to be alive in your surroundings, whether on a meditation cushion or not, and stepping forward from that connection. It is opening to your life, wherever you are, and finding right there a deep well of innate wisdom, compassion and care.
“There could not possibly be a better book for our moment in history. In the midst of national and international turmoil, it is still possible, if not utterly necessary, to learn the simplest things.”
—Naomi Shihab Nye
“Through simple yet profound wisdom, Suzuki Roshi encourages a life of mindfulness, compassion, and non-attachment.”
—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
About SUZUKI ROSHI
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (1904–1971) was a lifelong Soto Zen Buddhist priest and one of the most prominent and beloved spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. His life’s work was to transmit authentic Zen practice from Japan to the United States, preserving the heart of the teaching and traditional forms while allowing them space to adapt to take root in Western soil. He founded the San Francisco Zen Center, among the oldest and largest Buddhist training places in the West, which now comprises Beginner’s Mind Temple in San Francisco, Green Dragon Temple at Green Gulch Farm, and the monastery Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Suzuki Roshi’s teachings were first edited and collected in the influential classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and also appear in the books Not Always So and Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
SOJUN MEL WEITSMAN
Sojun Mel Weisman Roshi (1929–2021) was the founder and abbot of Berkeley Zen Center and an abbot of San Francisco Zen Center. He began practicing with Suzuki Roshi in San Francisco in 1964, was ordained as a priest by Suzuki Roshi in 1969, and received Dharma Transmission from Suzuki Roshi’s son, Hoitsu Suzuki Roshi, in 1984. He was a major progenitor of Suzuki Roshi’s Soto Zen lineage in the West and was a teacher to many Zen teachers, giving Dharma Transmission to thirty priests and Lay Entrustment to seven lay teachers over the course of his life. As one of the senior disciples of Suzuki Roshi, and among those most intimate with his teachings, he was instrumental in the editing of many of Suzuki Roshi’s published talks and was the co-editor of the book Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness.
JIRYU RUTSCHMAN-BYLER
Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is an abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, serving as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. He began practicing at San Francisco Zen Center in 1996, was ordained as a priest by Seido Lee deBarros in 2002, and received Dharma Transmission in 2014 from Sojun Roshi.
