Citing Dogen on self-discovery as the Buddha's way
Dogen Zenji mentioned that to study the whole way of Buddha is nothing but to discover your true self--your own, not some other. This your-own-self, each of your-own-selves, is the key to the Buddha's way.
The paradox of self-study leading to self-forgetting
Furthermore, Dogen says, to study and get to know yourself, or to truly become yourself, is to forget yourself. This process of religious dynamics almost reverses the search for Buddha, to come back to your daily self.
On devotion as a path to truth
Some people devote their life to a teacher, and find that, without any struggle, when they do so, the teaching reveals their own truth. Devotion, an expression of utter trust, with no doubt, is very hard.
Buddha's teaching on self-reliance
"Take absolute refuge in your own self. Depend on your own self." That is the only reliable island in the stormy ocean. Existence is like a little island in the stormy ocean. You, yourself, are an island.
Self-acceptance as the ground of practice
Everybody knows that seeking your own peaceful spirit is up to your own practice, and it's a way to learn how to live, which means you accept yourself totally as you are.
Archery metaphor for the quality of stillness
Sitting still is like a person who just shot an arrow and senses the arrow is moving alright. It's left from your realm, but you sense it's running well. Stillness is like that.
Zazen as mirror of one's true state
Sitting does nothing to you, but it reflects everything you have, not just a shadow of you but what you are. So when you fall into anxiety or self hatred, you become extremely clear about it.
Compassion and wisdom as original, not manufactured
For a long time I thought that sitting still for many, many years of practice causes compassion or wisdom to be created. But it isn't so. Compassion and wisdom is what we are originally, and specks of misunderstanding, illusory knowledge about yourself, cause you to forget.
How sitting opens space for total self-acceptance
Yet enormous effort goes into the sitting, which shows you are giving up self-centered choice of your activities. In doing so, you find you are accepting yourself as you truly are. You are giving room for "evil," so to speak, to exist around you.
The vastness contained in each person's existence
We are tremendous manifestations, in this space, of many lives, constantly changing, no matter whether we know it or not. These lives are part of your urge to live, why you want to continue living.
Simple instruction against self-judgment in zazen
A judgment of oneself upon each sitting is absolutely not necessary.