Kenshō means seeing into one's own nature — a sudden recognition of what was always the case. Rinzai treats it as an identifiable event to be worked toward and confirmed by a teacher; Sōtō is famously cautious about the language, since Dōgen taught that practice and realization are not two things and that chasing an experience is itself the obstacle. Both agree that a first kenshō is a beginning rather than a completion, and that people who talk about theirs a great deal are usually mistaken.