the paws of the buddha smelled like popcorn
Even if
you know how to recite
the texts, you still have to discern reality
from artificiality. Why? Sound and form dim the mind,
falsehoods fool the ears; personality and ego become second
nature, the disease of self-affirmation is deep-seated.
When the mind is separated from the
Way, the principle is hard to
comprehend.
If you wish
to return to the supreme
Way, have deep faith and first accept
three precepts. If you practice in accord with
these three precepts consistently from
beginning to end, then you will
attain the true Way. The
three precepts
are:
simplifying involvements
not craving anything
quieting the mind
…A scripture says,
“If people can empty their minds
and not contrive anything, it is not that
they want the Way, but the Way
spontaneously reverts
to them.”
Treatise on Sitting Forgetting
