“Refined action … from the start … lies in peace & harmony. … Wherever you may be, your life is sustained and supported by the whole universe. The main purpose of human life is to maintain this sanctuary [universe]. It is not to climb a ladder to develop your own personal life.
If you see refined action or nirvana or enlightenment, or even the aspiration for enlightenment, in terms of time or progress, your understanding is not correct. These four are without beginning or end. They are like a circle, where the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.
… refined action comes neither from your effort nor from someone else’s. If your effort were not supported by the universe as a whole, you could not make any real effort at all. Pure, refined action makes no distinction between self and others. Trees, birds, and all other beings are completely harmonized in this sanctuary of the whole. This is our life.”
Katagiri D. “You have to say something. Manifesting Zen insight.” Shambhala, Boston, 1998.