To meet the Real Dragon face to face.

"There was once a man who was fascinated by dragons. The walls of his house were covered with paintings of dragons and every shelf was lined with dragon statues and figurines. In fact, his whole house was filled with images of dragons. One day a real dragon happened to look in his window. When it saw all the images of dragons, it was overjoyed, for here, clearly, was a man who loved dragons. Surely he would be pleased to have a real dragon visit his house. But when the man looked out the window and saw the dragon, he was so frightened he fainted straight away.

So Master Dogen's advice is very clear. We should not chase after images of the Truth. We should not become attached to theories or intellectual explanations. Rather, we should meet the Truth directly. To practice zazen is to meet the Truth of the Buddhas. To practice zazen is to meet the Real Dragon - face to face."

Gudo Nishijima Roshi (b. 1919) in his book "To Meet the Real Dragon" (p. 191, 4th edition).