Free of the Paths of Ordinary and Sacred

Know that fundamentally you do not lack unsurpassed enlightenment, and you are replete with it continuously. But you may not realize it, and may be in the habit of arousing discriminatory views, and regard them as real. Without noticing, you miss the great way, and your efforts will be fruitless. Such discriminatory views create flowers of emptiness.

You may imagine the twelvefold causation of rebirth, or the twenty-five existences, and have such views as the Three or Five Vehicles, and whether the Buddha exists or not. But do not take up these views and regard them as the correct way of practicing buddha dharma.

Instead, sit zazen wholeheartedly, conform to the buddha form, and let go of all things. Then, leaping beyond the boundary of delusion and enlightenment, free from the paths of ordinary and sacred, unconstrained by ordinary thinking, immediately wander at ease, enriched with great enlightenment. When you practice in this way, how can those who are concerned about the traps and snares of words and letters be compared to you?

                                                                                                               ---Master Dogen, in Bendowa---