Butler-Bowdon.com - free self-development commentaries: "Suzuki cautions not to have a thought of gaining something through zazen practice, just to do it for the sake of it. Using an analogy, he says: "To cook is not just to prepare food for someone or for yourself; it is to express your sincerity." Meditation is the highest form of self-expression.
Yet zazen practice requires discipline. Repetition, constancy, sameness is the way of Zen. Not looking for excitement or great joys, which imply a loss of our true nature, but just seeing the 'is-ness' and beauty of each moment. Suzuki looks to the humble frog to demonstrate Zen practice. Frogs sit, without thinking they are anything special, yet their sitting does not take anything away from their identity. They are clearly still a frog. The author talks of the purity of practice. He does not mean wanting to make ourselves pure, turning something bad into good, but just to see things as they are - their 'quality'."
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