When you become just you yourself, without comparing yourself to others: “I am I. I am here. When you have difficulty, I am with you, and I can manage myself pretty well. If you like, I can help you,” that is Buddha. This kind of Buddha is the Buddha before we attain enlightenment. Without this confidence, you cannot even practice zazen. How can you practice zazen when you doubt, or when you are observing yourself objectively without having any subjectivity? Only when you accept yourself, and when you really know you exist here. You cannot escape from yourself. This is the ultimate fact, that “I am here.”
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 68-10-21 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.