Shohaku Okumura

“Zen practitioners in modern America cannot do exactly the same things Japanese monks did eight hundred years ago at a monastery in the deep mountains; even if we did, our cultural background would make them different. But I think that in this country we can still practice with the same spirit as Dōgen did, even though the forms may be different. If we can find a way to live with such a spirit in modern society, then American Zen might help Japanese Zen too.” (Mountains and Waters Sutra)