Zen master Dogen says, “You should obtain enlightenment before you attain enlightenment.” Which is important: to attain enlightenment, or to obtain enlightenment before you attain enlightenment? Which is important: to make an effort to save a million dollars, or to enjoy your life in your efforts, little by little, even if it is impossible for you to save a million dollars [laughs] but can you enjoy your everyday life? Which is important for us: to be successful, or to find some meaning in our effort to be successful? If you do not realize this point, you cannot even practice zazen. But if you have this point, you will have the true pleasure of life.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-08-26 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.
