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Saturday, May 30, 2020

Dragon

Dogen Zenji says, “Don't practice your way as if you were a blind men trying to figure out what is ab elephant.” The real elephant is not a rope or fan or wall. But a blind man may think an elephant is like a wall or rope or fan. But the real elephant is none of those.

And he says, “Don'tbe curious about the true dragon, like Seiko.” In China there was a man named Seiko. He loved dragons. All his scrolls were dragons. And he designed his house like a dragon-house. And he had many figures of dragons. So a real dragon thought, “If I appear in his house, he will be very pleased.” So one day, the real dragon appeared in his room, and he was very much scared of it and almost [laughs] drew his sword. So the real dragon said, “Oh, my!” [Laughs.] And he escaped from his room. “Don't be like that,” Dogen Zenji says.
Most of us are practicing our way like a blind man or Seiko. That is why we have to start our practice over and over. ----------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-10-12-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. - DC