Buddhism is Buddhism even when you are just starting out, it is Buddhism when you attain enlightenment, and it is Buddhism both in the beginning and after middle school. For example, even though we travel 1,000 miles, each step is equal to a thousand miles, each thousand steps is equal to a thousand miles, and even though the first step and a thousand steps are not the same, it is still the same as a thousand miles.
Dogen Zenji, Japan (The eye and treasury of the true Dharma, Senshin theory)