Foolish people think that if they help others first, their own benefit will be lost, but this is not so. Beneficial action is an act of oneness, benefiting self and others together.

Dogen Zenji

from the book The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master

translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi


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Further quotes from the book The Essential Dogen:

• Enlightenment poem
• What is sitting
• Undivided activity
• Since this word is already expounded
• Countless blossoms