Every being has the potential to awaken, that is, possesses the character of the Buddha this being, Buddha-nature. This, however, doesn't mean one is already a Buddha—far from it. Potentiality is never actuality: acorns are never, at the same time, full grown oak trees. To believe this, in the way of practice like meditation (zazen) equals enlightenment is a mistake. Even an acorn, if it survives the squirrels, must have certain conditions so it will grow. Failing to meet the necessary conditions means the acorn will not become a full grown oak tree.
The five aggregates, and our attachment to them, interfere with our ability to awaken fully and become Buddhas. In other words, attachment to them and their world prevent the necessary conditions for becoming Buddhas. Until the aggregates are thoroughly transcended, in which they are seen to be empty like the 'city of gandharvas' or the 'emptiness of a dream', we have to accept the fact that we ain't Buddhas—not yet.
Of course it is easy to dumb down Buddhism in such a way as believe one is already a Buddha. It is only human nature to want to make things fit with our own beliefs. But at some level people suspect that the Buddhism being taught them in which practice equals enlightenment is not the Buddha's teaching. Commonsense and reading the life of Siddhartha and how he became a Buddha is proof enough that practice, like sitting in zazen is not Buddhahood.
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