Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘The historical Buddha as well as the ancestors and great masters were initially all ordinary people who had lived their lives amid dualistic thinking. But at some point, through some circumstance, they came to seek the Way. They carried out a religious practice, and each finally awakened to their true self. You may think that “awakening” means that they changed in some special way, but this is not the case. Rather, awakening is a matter of an ordinary person truly becoming an ordinary person. When an ordinary person has truly become an ordinary person, we call that person a “buddha.” This is the case for you as well, for right now, you yourself are merely obscuring your own true nature.’ (Unfathomable Depths)