Those who talk about shikantaza mostly understand that is the Soto way, and koan practice is Rinzai’s way. This is like Seiko loving dragons. Those are carved dragons, not real ones. Each one of us practices zazen in his own way, with his own understanding. That is right. And he continues that kind of practice, thinking that, “This is right practice.” So, even though he is sitting in a zendo, he is involved in his own practice. In other words, he is carefully carving his own dragon [laughs], which is not real. That is what most people are doing.
Drawing by Stan White
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 68-10-12-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.