I’m currently reading Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. In the first chapter, he talks about the importance of maintaining a good posture. The insight itself is simple, but the logic behind it is profound. He writes,
“The most important part is to own your own physical body. If you slump, you will lose your self. Your mind will be wandering about somewhere else; you will not be in your body. This is not the way. We must exist right here, right now…it is impossible to organize things if you yourself are not in order. When you do things in the right way, at the right time, everything else will be organized.” [1]
Suzuki emphasizes the importance of being totally present—in mind and body. He advises us to pay attention to our posture as a way to ground our minds back in our bodies.
When our minds are not grounded in our bodies, we fall into a divided state. Our body is here, but our mind is elsewhere. We create division around us when we ourselves are divided.
For example, you’re sitting at a cafe with your friend, rethinking about a conversation you had the previous night. Your friend is explaining a conflict they had at work to you, but you’re checked out. Physically you’re there, but mentally you’re reliving the last night. You don’t hear anything your friend is saying, and they sense it. They feel disconnected from you. So now your internal division has created external division.
Our minds ruminate when they’re stuck on a problem. They’re seeking the truth that they need to solve the problem. And they think they can find that truth within.
But if our minds had the truth within themselves, they would not be stuck. They would not be ruminating. The mind must look outside of itself for new truths. It must look to the present moment. The present moment contains the truth, because it’s formed by the laws that govern the world. That is why presence is important.
One of the easiest ways to become present, grounded, and unify your mind and body is to pay attention to your posture. I believe that is what Suzuki is trying to communicate.
“The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.”[2]
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Freedom in Thought
I’m currently reading Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. In the first chapter, he talks about the importance of maintaining a good posture. The insight itself is simple, but the logic behind it is profound. He writes,
“The most important part is to own your own physical body. If you slump, you will lose your self. Your mind will be wandering about somewhere else; you will not be in your body. This is not the way. We must exist right here, right now…it is impossible to organize things if you yourself are not in order. When you do things in the right way, at the right time, everything else will be organized.” [1]
Suzuki emphasizes the importance of being totally present—in mind and body. He advises us to pay attention to our posture as a way to ground our minds back in our bodies.
When our minds are not grounded in our bodies, we fall into a divided state. Our body is here, but our mind is elsewhere. We create division around us when we ourselves are divided.
For example, you’re sitting at a cafe with your friend, rethinking about a conversation you had the previous night. Your friend is explaining a conflict they had at work to you, but you’re checked out. Physically you’re there, but mentally you’re reliving the last night. You don’t hear anything your friend is saying, and they sense it. They feel disconnected from you. So now your internal division has created external division.
Our minds ruminate when they’re stuck on a problem. They’re seeking the truth that they need to solve the problem. And they think they can find that truth within.
But if our minds had the truth within themselves, they would not be stuck. They would not be ruminating. The mind must look outside of itself for new truths. It must look to the present moment. The present moment contains the truth, because it’s formed by the laws that govern the world. That is why presence is important.
One of the easiest ways to become present, grounded, and unify your mind and body is to pay attention to your posture. I believe that is what Suzuki is trying to communicate.
“The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.”[2]
This is from my daily newsletter. If you want to subscribe, link in the comments below.

[1] Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, ed. Trudy Dixon (Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2020), 10.
[2] Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, ed. Trudy Dixon (Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2020), 11.
6 months ago | [YT] | 329