Approval, affirmation, someone saying you’re right, you’re on the right track, you’re doing the right thing is how we learn. The hard point is that none of us will ever really be satisfied with somebody else’s standard of practice. We don’t have their imperative, their death, their life, but we do have our own. When we trust that, we can’t go wrong. Dogen reminds us not to be swayed by criticism either: We know that there are dogs that bark at good people. Don’t worry about those barking dogs, and don’t resent them either. It is better to say to them, “You beasts, awaken your Buddha-seeking mind!