An Indian lady invited me to dinner and said
Dr. Suzuki would be there. He was.
Before dinner I mentioned Gertrude Stein.
Suzuki had never heard of her.
I described aspects of her work, which he
said sounded very interesting.
Stimulated, I mentioned James Joyce, whose name
was also new to him. At dinner he was
unable to eat the curries that were offered,
so a few uncooked vegetables and fruits
were brought, which he enjoyed.
After dinner the talk turned to metaphysical
problems, and there were many questions,
for the hostess was a follower of a
certain Indian yogi and her guests were more
or less equally divided between allegiance to
Indian thought and to Japanese thought.
About eleven o’clock we were out on the
street walking along, and an American
lady said, “How is it, Dr. Suzuki?
We spend the evening asking you
questions and nothing is decided.” Dr.
Suzuki smiled and said, “That’s why
I love philosophy: no one wins.”
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