Sublime

The calligraphy on the front of the binding reads nyorai in Japanese or tathagata in Sanskrit. This is a name for Buddha which means “he who has followed the path, who has returned from suchness, or is suchness, thus-ness, is-ness, emptiness, the fully completed one.”

Just as birds enjoy soaring in the sky, and deer enjoy roaming in the woods, so do the wise ones enjoy dwelling in nirvana. We don’t have to look very far to find nirvana, because it is our true nature in this very moment. You cannot remove the ultimate from yourself.

To realize one’s true nature as no-self—a Buddha—is the fruit of zazen and the path of practice.