black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

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

All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
BODHIDHARMA

Condition Depend Experience Joy Suffer
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
Regardless of what we do, our karma has no hold on us.
BODHIDHARMA

Hold Karma Regard Us
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
Mortals liberate Buddhas and Buddhas liberate mortals.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Liberate Mortal
People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something – always, in a word, seeking.
BODHIDHARMA

Longing People World
And the Buddha is the person who’s free: free of plans, free of cares.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Care Free Person Plan
Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.
BODHIDHARMA

Death Important Life Suffer Vain
Once you stop clinging and let things be, you’ll be free, even of birth and death. You’ll transform everything.
BODHIDHARMA

Cling Free Let Once Stop Thing Transformation
Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom.
BODHIDHARMA

Engage Ignorance Wisdom
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
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
To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.
BODHIDHARMA

Bliss Nothing See Suffer
An Awakened person is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.
BODHIDHARMA

Awake Bad Find Fortune Freedom Person Someone
When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
BODHIDHARMA

Depend Reality Understand You

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Bodhidharma Quotes