Study and practice with others

I was sent this Dogen quote, from Tanahashi & Levitt's The Essential Dogen:

Enlightenment and clarity of the mind occur only in response to the sustained effort of study and practice. Endeavoring in the way ripens the conditions of your practice. It is not that the sound of the bamboo is sharp or the color of the blossoms is vivid. Although the sound of the bamboo is wondrous, it is heard at the moment when it’s hit by a pebble. Although the color of the blossoms is beautiful, they do not open by themselves but unfold in the light of springtime. Studying the way is like this. You attain the way when conditions come together. Although you have your own capacity, you practice the way with the combined strength of the community. So you should practice and search with one mind with others.

The "strength of the community" is something I've always reached out to and relied upon for my practice - perhaps more than entirely necessary at times. Three bows to all those who have sat with me since the first time I entered my late teacher's zendo in Johannesburg all those years ago.