Shundo David Haye

‘There is a stage in spiritual practice when you will be able to turn your attention fully to your heart when we are together, but when you go back home, you get caught up in life, conditioning takes over, and pretty soon everything is being run by egocentricity again. You may conclude from that that you need to go somewhere to be with the teacher again, because the teacher has the secret, the answer. No: all the teacher has is the ability to mirror back to you who you are. It is simply that the places where you see me – retreats, workshops, the monastery – are safe places for you to have that experience within yourself, to see what is being mirrored. The way it works is that being in proximity to the practice, as embodied in people who are pursuing it full time, helps you to recognize the practice in yourself and to deepen it in youself. It is not that when I go away from where you are, the practice goes away too. Your job is to become more and more yourself.’ (Sweet Zen)