When you sit, you are ordinary man, and you are buddha. So, you are not just ordinary man. Before you sit you stick to the idea of “you” or idea of self. That is ordinary man. But when you sit, you are both ordinary man and buddha. So, when you sit, you are not the same being as before you sit. Do [laughs] you understand? Because, when you sit, you are ordinary man and buddha.
At Los Altos Haiku Zendo, c. 1966
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-03-30 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.