One day a lay person asked: “I’m told that there are mistaken practitioners and true practitioners. How can we distinguish one from the other?”

The Master responded: “When the ‘I’ is eradicated, that is the true Dharma. 

"Practitioners of wisdom establish a ‘wise I.’ Practitioners of compassion establish a ‘compassionate I.’ Practitioners of meditation establish ‘zazen I.’ Practitioners of a particular viewpoint establish an ‘I’ with that viewpoint.

"Ordinary people tend to elevate themselves. One is always trying to elevate oneself above others. No matter how humble a person’s position, if he upholds the truth, I will step aside for him.”

Suzuki Shōsan (1579 CE-1655 CE), Suzuki Shōsan was a Japanese samurai who served under the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Shōsan was born in modern-day Aichi Prefecture of Japan. He participated in the Battle of Sekigahara and the Battle of Osaka before renouncing life as a warrior and becoming a Zen Buddhist monk in 1621.