this brightly conscious lifespan

we all have the clear bright field

 

A horse strays

into a cave of lions. You move

deeper into your desire for sex, for art

and wealth. There will come a time when your

life is a blank, but has there ever really been a time

when human beings were not cared for? For thousands

of years we had no identity, yet we managed to arrive

in this amazing moment, this brightly conscious

lifespan. Who gave us such restlessness

to know and be?

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

The Drowned Book

 

your mind contains the real buddha

innocence

 

Deluded a buddha is a being

Enlightened a being is a buddha

A foolish buddha is a being

A wise being is a buddha

A biased buddha is a being

An unbiased being is a buddha

As long as your mind is biased

The buddha dwells in a being

The moment you wake up unbiased

A being becomes a buddha

Your mind contains a buddha

Your buddha is the real one

If you didn’t have the buddha-mind

Where would you go to find a buddha?

 

Hui Neng

the platform sutra