The Last Age: Dogen’s Practice

In Dōgen’s thought there is no goal as distinct from the practice to attain it:

The view that practice and enlightenment are not one is heretical. In the Buddha-Dharma they are one. Inasmuch as practice is based on enlightenment, the practice of a beginner is all of original enlightenment. Therefore, in giving instruction for practice, a Zen master advises his disciples not to seek enlightenment beyond practice, for practice itself is original enlightenment.

Thus Dogen’s teaching, even more than that of the Pure Land teachers, brings the goal of practice within certain reach.

Stone: Seeking Enlightenment in the Last Age, p43 of Part 2