We should understand ourselves in two ways, as a person, and as something which has no name, or body, or mind.
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi from Zen Mind, Beginners Mind
“To understand ourselves in this way is liberation from ourself and true understanding of ourselves. When we say ‘things as it is’, it means to understand ourselves from the standpoint of being and non-being. That’s how we understand ourselves. That is how we should exist as a human being in this world or we’ll be lost. Most people live as someone who is fully known to another, a fixed personality. When that’s the case, we lose the other side. That’s why this world is so busy and noisy. When we understand our world with calmness of mind, we’ll have a compassionate mind for people who are involved in a one-sided view. Our practice should be concentrated on this point by doing trivial near-at-hand practice.”
Peter Coyote, actor, Zen priest and author of
Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is
