So when we come to the understanding of, “Form
is form and emptiness is emptiness,” there is no problem. This stage, or this
understanding, is what Dogen Zenji means by, “When the moon is in the water,
the water will not be broken, nor will the moon be wet.” Moon is moon, and
water is water. This is “form is form, emptiness is emptiness.” But here there
is the possibility of the misunderstanding that there is no need to practice
Zen. “Form is form, and emptiness is emptiness. If this is true, why do we
practice zazen?” You will have this kind of misunderstanding. But each of the
four statements also includes the other three, so there are four ways of
understanding each statement. If it is not so, it is not true understanding. So
all four statements are actually the same. Whether you say form is form or
emptiness is emptiness, or form is emptiness, or emptiness is form, one
statement is enough for you. This is true understanding of Prajnaparamita. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-08-20- 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
