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To Shine One Corner of the World:
Moments with Shunryu Suzuki
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"We say, to shine one corner of the world—that is enough. Not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are."
Shunryu Suzuki’s extraordinary gift for bringing to life traditional Zen teaching in ordinary language is known to countless readers of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. But what was it like to practice Zen with Suzuki Roshi? How did he actually teach? To Shine One Corner of the World illuminates these questions by presenting quintessential stories and moments with this profound teacher. Here are encounters, told in the words of his students, which have remained vivid after thirty years. In reading these simple, eloquent accounts, you can join Suzuki Roshi on the path, in the meditation hall, in lectures, and in private interviews and meet his fresh, piercing, often humorous mind. These often paradoxical moments do not translate into easy prescriptions for happiness or spiritual advancement, and yet they changed lives. Considered carefully, they point to the light that shines from each of us.
Shunryu Suzuki arrived in San Francisco in 1959 and founded the San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Buddhist monastery in and for the Western world. By the time of his death, twelve years later, he had deeply influenced thousands of people and made an indelible impression on the spiritual landscape of the West.
David Chadwick selected and edited the accounts that make up To Shine One Corner of the World, drawing on hundreds of interviews and notes amassed in the creation of his acclaimed biography of Suzuki, Crooked Cucumber, and from his ongoing oral history of Shunryu Suzuki. Chadwick himself began study with Suzuki Roshi in 1966 and was ordained by him in 1971. He is also the author of Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan.
BACK COVER:
One morning when we were all sitting zazen, Suzuki Roshi gave an impromptu talk in which he said, "Each of you is perfect the way you are . . . and you can use a little improvement."