The fragrance
of blossoms soon passes;
the ripeness of fruit is gone in a
twinkling. Our time in this world is so
short, better to avoid regret: miss
no opportunity to savor
the ineffable.
Like a golden
beacon signaling on a moonless
night, tao guides our passage through this
transitory realm. In moments of darkness and pain
remember all is cyclical. Sit quietly behind
your wooden door: spring will
come again.
Searching for words,
hunting for phrases, when will it end?
Esteeming knowledge and gathering information
only maddens the spirit. Just entrust yourself
to your own nature, empty and illuminating.
Beyond this, I have nothing
to teach.
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
Just let your
mind be free; don’t
do contemplative exercises,
and don’t think of sorrow or worry.
Clear and unobstructed, free as you will,
not contriving virtues, not perpetrating evils,
walking, standing still, sitting, lying down, whatever
meets the eye, in any circumstance, is all the subtle
function of Buddha. It is called Buddahood
because of happiness without
sorrow.
treasury of the eye of true teaching
A sage is subtle,
intuitive, penetrating, profound.
His depths are mysterious and
unfathomable.
The best one can do is
describe his appearance: the sage
is alert as a person crossing a winter stream; as
circumspect as a person with neighbors on all four sides;
as respectful as a thoughtful guest; as yielding as
melting ice; as simple as uncarved wood;
as open as a valley; as chaotic
as a muddy torrent.
Why “chaotic
as a muddy torrent”?
Because clarity is learned by
being patient in the
heart of chaos.
Tolerating
disarray, remaining at rest,
gradually one learns to allow muddy water to
settle and proper responses to reveal themselves.
Those who aspire to tao don’t long for fulfillment.
They selflessly allow tao to use and deplete
them; they calmly allow tao to renew
and complete them.
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