Shundo David Haye

‘Zazen is not a matter of intellection; it must be rooted in the physical sense of inner liberation that is most easily accessed through sitting. This sense of liberation is not in itself enough, however. It is also necessary to attain an inner state open to the essential nature of things. If liberation was all that mattered, it would be enough to drug ourselves to sleep, but this would hardly resolve the problem of how to act in our everyday lives from a stable inner essence, regardless of how turbulent or dangerous the outer circumstances are. It is here that the importance of sitting emerges, for it is through sitting that we are most easily able to stabilize ourselves in this inner essence.’ (The Path to Bodhidharma)