ZEN MIND BEGINNER'S MIND | SHUNRYU SUZUKI

|| PART 2 | RIGHT ATTITUDE ||

|| CHAPTER 6 | GOD GIVING | < : THE " BIG I " : > | SEL0001 ||

" ' To give is nonattachment ' , that is ;
just not to attach to anything is to give " . . .

This " I " which is creating and always giving out something is not the " small I " ; it is the " BIG I " .

Even though you do not realize the oneness of this " BIG I " with everything , when you give something you feel good , because at that time you feel at one with what you are giving .

ZEN MIND BEGINNER'S MIND | SHUNRYU SUZUKI

|| PART 2 | RIGHT ATTITUDE ||

|| CHAPTER 6 | GOD GIVING | < : THE " BIG I " : > | SEL0002 ||

According to Christianity , every existence in nature is something which was created for or given to us by GOD .

That is the perfect idea of giving .

But if you think that GOD created humans , and that you are somehow separate from GOD , you are liable to think you have the ability to create something separate , something not given by GOD .

For instance , we create airplanes and highways .

And when we repeat ,

" I create , I create , I create " ,

soon we forget who is actually the " I " which creates the various things ; we soon forget about GOD .

This is the danger of human culture .

Actually , to create with the " BIG I " is to give ; we cannot create and own what we create for ourselves since everything was created by GOD .

This point should not be forgotten .

But because we do forget who is doing the creating and the reason for the creation , we become attached to the material or exchange value .

This has no value in comparison to the ABSOLUTE value of something as GOD's creation .

Even though something has no material or relative value to any " small I " , it has ABSOLUTE value in itself .

Not to be attached to something is to be aware of its ABSOLUTE value .

Everything you do should be based on such an awareness , and not on material or self-centered ideas of value .

Then whatever you do is true giving

ZEN MIND BEGINNER'S MIND | SHUNRYU SUZUKI

|| PART 2 | RIGHT ATTITUDE ||

|| CHAPTER 6 | GOD GIVING | < : THE " BIG I " : > | SEL0003 ||

If we are aware that what we do or what we create is really the gift of the " BIG I " , then we will not be attached to it , and we will not create problems for ourselves or for others .