By extending the second principle, you cannot reach the first principle. If you add one and one and one, however many ones you add, it will not equal infinity. So, infinity, or the first principle is something beyond the second principle. Or you may say the viewpoint is completely different. But if you divide the absolute in many ways, as much as possible, that is infinity. When we understand in this way, we can say we are a part of it. But we are not. Our understanding is not based on one or two. Our understanding is based on something absolute [laughs], which we don’t know. But we may be a part of it. When we understand in that way, we are a part of it. So, it is a kind of belief, you may say. But it is more than belief. It should be fully true, or else we cannot exist here. Big hypothesis [laughs]. Yet, there is no other way except in this way.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 68-07-23 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.
