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The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

Bodhidharma

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
According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
BODHIDHARMA

Accordingly Bless Deed Evil Good Hardship Result Sutras
Buddhas move freely through birth and death, appearing and disappearing at will.
BODHIDHARMA

Appear Birth Budhha Death Disappear Freely Move Will
Whoever realizes that the six senses aren’t real, that the five aggregates are fictions, that no such things can be located anywhere in the body, understands the language of Buddhas.
BODHIDHARMA

Aggregate Anywhere Body Fiction Five Locate Realize Sense Such Thing
The essence of the Way is detachment.
BODHIDHARMA

Death Essence Way
You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
BODHIDHARMA

Deceive Hype Long Mena Real
Leaving behind the false, return to the true: make no discriminations between self and others. In contemplation, one’s mind should be stable and unmoving, like a wall.
BODHIDHARMA

Behind Discrimination False Leave Make Other Return Self True
People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something – always, in a word, seeking.
BODHIDHARMA

Longing People World
This one life has no form and is empty by nature. If you become attached by any form, you should reject it. If you see an ego, a soul, a birth, or a death, reject them all.
BODHIDHARMA

Attach Empty Form Life Nature One Reject
But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.
BODHIDHARMA

Condition Depend Eanes Failure Mind Neither Success Waxes
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
Don’t hate life and death or love life and death. Keep your every thought free of delusion, and in life you’ll witness the beginning of nirvana, and in death you’ll experience the assurance of no rebirth.
BODHIDHARMA

Death Decisions Every Free Hate Keep Life
Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
BODHIDHARMA

Free Liberation Oneself Word
When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
BODHIDHARMA

Depend Reality Understand You
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
If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past.
BODHIDHARMA

Bless Fame Fortune Fruit Great Plant Reward Seed Some

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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