The foundation of our culture is based on individualism. And individualism is based on, you know, idea of self, you know. And from the time of Renaissance, we awoke in our human nature, and we started to put emphasis on our human nature rather than, you know, something which is called “divine nature” or “holy nature.” We put more emphasis on how-- what we are and what is human nature. And we wanted to express our human nature as much as possible. And holy nature or buddha-nature were replaced by human nature. And that human nature is not what we mean by buddha-nature. This is, you know, the starting point of mistake. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 69-04-08-bn - 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: I think when he says "our culture" he's speaking of the dominant modern world culture though he might just mean Western culture but it has been so influential in Asia for a couple of hundred years that I see it as extending globally.