Buddha Here And Now

Recently in a Japanese documentary on buddhist temples, I saw a really interesting quote made by one Shōichi Kokushi (聖一国師, 1202 – 1290¹) who was abbot of the venerable Tōfuku-ji temple (Rinzai Zen sect). You can see their official site here (Japanese only).

He said:

一時座禅すれば　一時の仏
ittoki zazen sureba, ittoki no hotoké

“If you do zen for one moment,
you are a buddha for one moment.”

一日座禅すれば　一日の仏
ichinichi zazen sureba, ichinichi no hotoké

“If you do zazen for a day,
you are a buddha for one day.”

一生座禅すれば　一生の仏
isshō zazen sureba, isshō no hotoké

“If you do zen for life,
you will be a buddha for life.”

Nothing to really add, please enjoy.

Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu