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And as long as you’re subject to birth and death, you’ll never attain enlightenment.

Bodhidharma

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

Depend Reality Understand You
According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
BODHIDHARMA

Accordingly Bless Deed Evil Good Hardship Result Sutras
Still others commit all sorts of evil deeds, claiming karma doesn’t exist. They erroneously maintain that since everything is empty, committing evil isn’t wrong. Such persons fall into a hell of endless darkness with no hope of release. Those who are wise hold no such conception.
BODHIDHARMA

Claim Commit Deed Evil Exist Karma Other Sort
All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
BODHIDHARMA

Condition Depend Experience Joy Suffer
The true Way is sublime. It can’t be expressed in language. Of what use are scriptures? But someone who sees his own nature finds the Way, even if he can’t read a word.
BODHIDHARMA

Express Language Scripture Sublime True Use Way
In order to see a fish you must watch the water
BODHIDHARMA

Fish Nothing Order See Seek
If you use your mind to study reality, you won’t understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll understand both.
BODHIDHARMA

Mind Reality Study Understand
As long as you look for a Buddha somewhere else, you’ll never see that your own mind is the Buddha
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Long Mind never Somewhere
At every moment where language can’t go, that’s your mind.
BODHIDHARMA

Every Moment Language Mind
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
And the Buddha is the person who’s free: free of plans, free of cares.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Care Free Person Plan
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
To give up yourself without regret is the greatest charity.
BODHIDHARMA

Charity Give Greatest Regret Yourself
To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.
BODHIDHARMA

Bliss Nothing See Suffer
When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape.
BODHIDHARMA

Aware Delude Escape Nothing World

And as long as you’re subject to birth and death, you’ll never attain enlightenment.

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And as long as you’re subject to birth and death, you’ll never attain enlightenment.

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