In Dogen's time, almost everyone believed in the
Three Periods of Buddhism. They said that in the last period the people will
not believe in him and Buddhism will fade away into some other religion. But
Dogen did not believe in it. So there is no difference in our practice, whether
Buddha is here or not. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-06-11 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay, not just the super cool ones,.