Daily life is complex and difficult. It was so in ancient times and it is true today. Most moments don’t actually feel perfect because we’re unconsciously pursuing our ideas of perfection, comparing the present moment to an image of what we want this moment to be. Our image may include comfort, love, safety, wealth, or status, the things human beings yearn for. But when we strive, we overlook our inherent perfection. We feel that something is missing, and the moment is not perfect, but it is. Each moment is perfect despite whatever we feel is missing.

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Excerpted from I Had a Good Teacher: Practicing Suzuki Roshi’s Way of Zen by Les Kaye (Monkfish Book Publishing, 2025). Used by permission.

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