Once Ejo asked,

“As an activity of Zen practitioners, mending or patching old or tattered clothing instead of throwing it away, seems to be clinging to things. Yet abandoning old clothing and wearing new robes shows that we are seeking after new things. Both of these are wrong. Ultimately, what should we do?”

Dogen replied,

“If we are free from holding on to what we have yet do not seek after what we don’t have, either way is all right. Still, it would be better to mend torn clothing, in order to keep it for as long as possible and not pursue acquiring new clothing.”