When you understand in this way, whatever you do is an expression of true nature. Scientific research, philosophical study, or artistic work—all our culture is an expression of our true nature. But if you understand our practice as a means of attaining enlightenment, you cannot apply our practice before you attain enlightenment [laughs]. But if you have right understanding of practice, whatever you do, that is an expression of buddha-nature.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-08-28-B 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.
