Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘When the power of your continuous practice is not sufficient and you have not received the bones and marrow of buddha ancestors, you are not valuing the body-mind of buddha ancestors, nor are you taking joy in the face of buddha ancestors. Although the face, bones, and marrow of buddha ancestors are beyond going and not going, beyond coming and not coming, they are always transmitted through one day’s continuous practice. Therefore, each day is valuable. A hundred years lived in vain is a regrettable passage of time, a remorseful life as a living corpse. But even if you run around as a servant of sound and form for a hundred years, if you attain one day of continuous practice, you not only attain the practice of one hundred years, but you awaken others for a hundred years. The living body of this one day is a living body to revere, a form to revere. If you live for one day merged with the activity of the buddhas, this one day is considered as excellent as many kalpas of lifetimes.’ (Shobogenzo Gyoji)