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Deepen your understanding through continued practice and reflection from "summary" of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
To seek the truth is not to seek some idea of the truth. To seek the truth means to practice with the mind which is pure enough to perceive what is there, rather than what we think is there. We should not forget the point of practice. The point of practice is to keep our constant way. As long as we have some gaining idea, it is not true practice. It is not so difficult to be always concentrated on our true nature, but it is difficult to keep our mind always on it. But there is nothing wonderful in it. Sometimes we have it and sometimes we do not have it; but that is not the point. We should not have a gaining idea. We should just practice our way without any idea of gaining anything. Just practice our way. It is the same for everyone, but sometimes it is difficult, sometimes it is easy. If you practice zazen, you will find out how true this is. There is no need to have a gaining idea in our practice. This is the most important point. When you practice zazen, just practice zazen. You should not be bothered by anything. You should be concentrated on what you are doing. You should go straight without any gaining idea. If your practice is good, without being aware of it, you will find you are gaining some understanding. When you reach this understanding, there is no gaining idea. In order to have a pure, constant practice, you must have a deep understanding of practice. Without practice and without understanding, it is difficult to keep your practice constant. It is necessary to have a good understanding of practice. If you continue to practice, eventually you will find out that there is no need to have gaining ideas. When you realize this fact, you will discover the joy of practice. When you have this joy, you will realize the true purpose of practice. This is the most important point of practice. Practice should go in the direction of joy, not in the direction of gaining ideas. This is the secret of practice. This is our way.
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