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The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.

Bodhidharma

When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
BODHIDHARMA

Depend Reality Understand You
But when you first embark on the Path, your awareness won’t be focused. You’re likely to see all sorts of strange, dreamlike scenes. But you shouldn’t doubt that all such scenes come from your own mind and nowhere else.
BODHIDHARMA

Awareness Embark First Focus Path
As long as you’re enthralled by a lifeless form, you’re not free.
BODHIDHARMA

Enthrailed Free Lifeless Long
Delusion means mortality. And awareness means Buddhahood.
BODHIDHARMA

Awareness Buddhahood Delusion Mean
Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path.
BODHIDHARMA

Away Externally Heart Internally Keep Painting Relationship Yourself
Someone who seeks the Way doesn’t look beyond himself.
BODHIDHARMA

Beyond Himself Lock Seek Someone
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either.
BODHIDHARMA

Arise Awareness Body Buddha Either Mena Mind Prevent
The awareness of mortals falls short. As long as they’re attached to appearances, they’re unaware that their minds are empty. And by mistakenly clinging to the appearance of things they lose the Way.
BODHIDHARMA

Appearance Attach Awareness Empty Fall Mind Mortal Short Unaware
If your mind is pure, all buddha-lands are pure.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Land Mind Pire
To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imagining or seeking anything. The sutras say, “To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.” When you seek nothing, you’re on the Path.
BODHIDHARMA

Anyone Body Peace Sexist Stop Suffer Themselves Understand
To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion.
BODHIDHARMA

Believe Enter Instruction Live Mean Reason
The Buddha is your real body, your original mind.
BODHIDHARMA

Body Budhha Mind Original Rel
All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
BODHIDHARMA

Condition Depend Experience Joy Suffer
But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Buddha, they attain the understanding of a Buddha without using the mind.
BODHIDHARMA

Deepest Distract Nothing People Understanding
If you see your nature, you don’t need to read sutras or invoke buddhas. Erudition and knowledge are not only useless but also cloud your awareness. Doctrines are only for pointing to the mind. Once you see your mind, why pay attention to doctrines?
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Nature Need See Sutras
The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.
BODHIDHARMA

Everything Grow Include Mind Root Thing Understand

The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.

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The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.

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