In the ocean
of the holy dharma there is neither
movement nor stillness. The essence of the wave
is like a mirror; when something comes, the reflection
appears. When there is nothing in the mind,
wind and waves are both
forgotten.
In the ocean
of the holy dharma there is neither
movement nor stillness. The essence of the wave
is like a mirror; when something comes, the reflection
appears. When there is nothing in the mind,
wind and waves are both
forgotten.
Simplicity is something
that our fundamental nature inherently
possesses. If we prepare in advance and nurture it
within ourselves, then wherever we happen to be, whether in
wealth and high rank, or poverty and low status, in foreign lands,
or in difficult circumstances, we deal with whatever situation we
are in by retaining our simplicity there. It is not increased
when we do great deeds or reduced when we are
dwelling in obscurity. Wherever we go,
we are at peace, because we have
found simplicity.
Keep practicing even when
there seems no hope
of success.
“What would be really interesting for people to see is how beautiful things grow out of shit, because nobody ever believes that, you know. Everybody thinks that Beethoven had his string quartets completely in his head, they somehow appeared there and formed in his head, and all he had to do was write them down and they would be kind of manifest to the world.
“But what I think what’s so interesting, and what should be a lesson everybody should learn, is that things come out of nothing. Things evolve out of nothing. You know, the tiniest seed in the right situation turns into the most beautiful forest. And then the most promising seed, in the wrong situation, turns into nothing.
“And I think that this would be important for people to understand because it gives people confidence in their own lives to know that that’s how things work. If you walk around with the idea that there are some people who are so gifted, they have these wonderful things in their head, but you’re not one of them, you’re just sort of a normal person, you could never do anything like that, then you live a different kind of life, you know.
“You could have another kind of life where you can say, where you say, ‘Well, I know that things comes from nothing very much and start from unpromising beginnings, and I’m an unpromising beginning, and I could start something.'”
The sage has no set mind.
She adopts the concerns
of others as her own.
She is good to the good.
She is also good to the bad.
This is real goodness.
She trusts the trustworthy.
She also trusts the untrustworthy.
This is real trust.
The sage takes the minds
of the worldly and spins them around.
People drop their ideas and agendas,
and she guides them like
beloved children.
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