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Zen Is Right Now: More Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginners Mind
Spirituality & Practice “Best Books of 2021” Award Winner
In this new collection of quotes from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and stories from his students, the presence, wisdom, and humor of a great Zen teacher come alive once more.
The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now , devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students.
Complementary to another collection about Suzuki, Zen Is Right Here , this book offers a joyful bounty of anecdotes and insights, revealing a playful and deeply wise teacher who delighted in paradox and laughed often. Each of the stories and quotes presented here is an example of the versatile and timeless quality evident in Suzuki’s teaching, showing that the potential for attaining enlightenment exists right now, in this very moment.
In this new collection of quotes from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and stories from his students, the presence, wisdom, and humor of a great Zen teacher come alive once more.
The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now , devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students.
Complementary to another collection about Suzuki, Zen Is Right Here , this book offers a joyful bounty of anecdotes and insights, revealing a playful and deeply wise teacher who delighted in paradox and laughed often. Each of the stories and quotes presented here is an example of the versatile and timeless quality evident in Suzuki’s teaching, showing that the potential for attaining enlightenment exists right now, in this very moment.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published July 13, 2021
52 people are currently reading
1120 people want to read
About the author
Shunryu Suzuki
44 books689 followersSuzuki Roshi was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and is renowned for founding the first Buddhist monastery outside Asia (Tassajara Zen Mountain Center). Suzuki founded San Francisco Zen Center, which along with its affiliate temples, comprises one of the most influential Zen organizations in the United States. A book of his teachings, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 11, 2021
This book is a short series of quotes from and vignettes of Shunryu Suzuki, the Soto Zen monk who brought Zen Buddhism to the United States in the 1970's, and who wrote "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind."
"Zen is Right Now" makes for a quick lighthearted read, or can be taken and digested slowly, looking for more profound meaning. The entries paint a picture of a wry, playful, eccentric, and sometimes forgetful old man. Even someone who is entirely unfamiliar with Buddhism will enjoy Suzuki's wit.
My favorite quote comes early in the book. When asked how much ego we should retain, Suzuki answers: "Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus."
"Zen is Right Now" makes for a quick lighthearted read, or can be taken and digested slowly, looking for more profound meaning. The entries paint a picture of a wry, playful, eccentric, and sometimes forgetful old man. Even someone who is entirely unfamiliar with Buddhism will enjoy Suzuki's wit.
My favorite quote comes early in the book. When asked how much ego we should retain, Suzuki answers: "Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus."
May 7, 2023
I gave the volume that preceded this one ("Zen is Right Here") five stars for so many of the revelatory anecdotes and quotes about and from Suzuki Roshi. This follow-up has fewer of those epiphanal moments, as if scraping together more in-person accounts from former students maybe became more difficult or the stories were not quite as awe-inspiring.
Still, from my vantage point, it's a solid 3.5 - 4 star book and worth reading if you appreciate his teachings and insights. Of course, for the supreme source material, nothing can touch his landmark "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", which I am going back to reread thanks to these two pithy collections.
Still, from my vantage point, it's a solid 3.5 - 4 star book and worth reading if you appreciate his teachings and insights. Of course, for the supreme source material, nothing can touch his landmark "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", which I am going back to reread thanks to these two pithy collections.
May 27, 2023
One of my favorites (again). A zen master wheeling out his best succinct, aphoristic bullying against a bunch of California hippies. The sound of one hand repeatedly clapping, sending patchy beards and white-kid dreadlocks swinging in all directions.
February 24, 2022
“Life is like stepping onto a boat that is about to set sail to sea— and sink.”
“Sometimes I’m the teacher and you’re the student, and sometimes you’re the teacher and I’m the student.”
“Sometimes I’m the teacher and you’re the student, and sometimes you’re the teacher and I’m the student.”
April 4, 2022
"Zen is not something to talk about. It is also something to talk about."
Read at the same time with several books about wisdom traditions, which felt like an extending mind exercise, weaving all these disparate threads or songs together into a symphony. Like the opening quote, it epitomizes the paradox of living. My brain does not mind paradox, in fact, revels in them; the joy and sorrow, the bliss and pain, the grief and celebration. The poet Mark Doty wrote, 'if poetry teaches us anything, it is that we can believe two completely contradictory things at once. And so I can believe that death is utter, unbearable rupture, just as I know that death is kind.'
Suzuki encouraged his students above all to be themselves and not to use him or Buddhist teaching as a crutch. He said in a lecture, “Your conduct should not be based on just verbal teaching. Your inmost nature will tell you. That is true teaching. What I say is not true teaching. I just give you the hint.” He’d say he had no particular teaching. To me, he was just always trying to help us wake up.
In a shosan ceremony, I walked up toward Suzuki and said, “What now?” He said, “Don’t ask me. Now is now. You have your now. I have my now. That is why now is so important. It is beyond question and answer.”
“Eternal meaning is in your everyday life. So there is no need to figure out what is the meaning of life.”
Suzuki said he was most happy when his students shared in the joy of practice. He said that’s what Buddhism is—not enlightenment or understanding.
He said that within limitations, true joy can be found, “and that is the only way to know the whole universe.”
We practice with people, first of all. But the goal of practice is to practice with mountains and with rivers, with trees and with stones—with everything in the world, in the universe—and to find ourselves in this big cosmos. And in this big world we should intuitively know which way to go.”
If we resign from living for our own mundane happiness and “practice our way,” we can find lasting joy and composure even in adversity.
Read at the same time with several books about wisdom traditions, which felt like an extending mind exercise, weaving all these disparate threads or songs together into a symphony. Like the opening quote, it epitomizes the paradox of living. My brain does not mind paradox, in fact, revels in them; the joy and sorrow, the bliss and pain, the grief and celebration. The poet Mark Doty wrote, 'if poetry teaches us anything, it is that we can believe two completely contradictory things at once. And so I can believe that death is utter, unbearable rupture, just as I know that death is kind.'
Suzuki encouraged his students above all to be themselves and not to use him or Buddhist teaching as a crutch. He said in a lecture, “Your conduct should not be based on just verbal teaching. Your inmost nature will tell you. That is true teaching. What I say is not true teaching. I just give you the hint.” He’d say he had no particular teaching. To me, he was just always trying to help us wake up.
In a shosan ceremony, I walked up toward Suzuki and said, “What now?” He said, “Don’t ask me. Now is now. You have your now. I have my now. That is why now is so important. It is beyond question and answer.”
“Eternal meaning is in your everyday life. So there is no need to figure out what is the meaning of life.”
Suzuki said he was most happy when his students shared in the joy of practice. He said that’s what Buddhism is—not enlightenment or understanding.
He said that within limitations, true joy can be found, “and that is the only way to know the whole universe.”
We practice with people, first of all. But the goal of practice is to practice with mountains and with rivers, with trees and with stones—with everything in the world, in the universe—and to find ourselves in this big cosmos. And in this big world we should intuitively know which way to go.”
If we resign from living for our own mundane happiness and “practice our way,” we can find lasting joy and composure even in adversity.
February 9, 2026
Rather threadbare in terms of its content – not necessarily the quality of the content, but the actual amount of content in this already short collection of anecdotes and memories from students and friends of Shunryu Suzuki probably only amounts to about thirty pages when you consider how much empty space is used in the formatting. Weird nitpick maybe, but also maybe not that weird when you think more about it. And that’s what this book is inviting you to do – to think more about the nuggets of wisdom on offer here. Some of offerings indeed made for compelling koans to meditate on, though with many others I was left scratching my head, searching for something that maybe wasn’t there. They can’t all be winners. Even the ones that aren’t at least offer some interesting insight into who Suzuki Roshi was as a man, as a teacher, and as a walker of the path.
3 stars.
3 stars.
April 3, 2023
One of those little books you'd like to savor, but which is so good - wise and entertaining - that you devour it in a couple of sittings, no matter how hard you try to stop.
Shunryu Suzuki sounds like a teacher without pretensions, and with a wicket sense of humor. Most of the entries in this book are only a few sentences long, the longest only half a page, and are students' reminiscences.
As good as those old fashioned Malted Milk Balls.
Shunryu Suzuki sounds like a teacher without pretensions, and with a wicket sense of humor. Most of the entries in this book are only a few sentences long, the longest only half a page, and are students' reminiscences.
As good as those old fashioned Malted Milk Balls.
August 31, 2021
Goodreads giveaway. I don’t even understand the purpose of making this a book. Not worth the paper it was printed on. Sorry, not sorry.
October 30, 2021
Zen, you get it or you don’t
September 2, 2022
More of what the first book did. Excellent.
February 3, 2023
Delightful. But sized little anecdotes and dialogues. Some are deep, some are funny, some went right over my head. But that’s ok. We’re all doing our best.
March 25, 2023
After reading "Zen Is Right Here", you find yourself reaching for "Zen Is Right Now." You just can't get enough of Suzuki Roshi's wit and wisdom.
January 1, 2025
Peaceful book 📚📚
November 7, 2025
Spitsvondige bedenkingen van vraag en antwoord , wijsheden in een notendop ,
Er mag ,als het kan, gelachen worden tijdens het lijden dat leven is , met glimlach als training ,
Er mag ,als het kan, gelachen worden tijdens het lijden dat leven is , met glimlach als training ,
August 5, 2025
Fun book of collected sayings of Zen master Suzuki. It is a thin tome, but carries a punch.
February 15, 2022
This book is a great, quick read if you need a tune-up for your soul. I woke up feeling drained of all joy, read this, and then felt a bit better. Of course, no book will completely turn around a dark mood, but it's nice to read words of wisdom that can help steer one towards a better direction.
My favorite line in this book was "What is the most important thing for me to do?" and the response was "Get up!" This advice applies to so many things. If you are feeling sad, just remember to get back up...it will be okay! We are all just doing our best. You are good enough! You can do it!
My favorite line in this book was "What is the most important thing for me to do?" and the response was "Get up!" This advice applies to so many things. If you are feeling sad, just remember to get back up...it will be okay! We are all just doing our best. You are good enough! You can do it!
May 26, 2021
A short collection of vignettes offering memories from those who were able to spend it with Shunryu Suzuki.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews