The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.
BODHIDHARMABut 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.
More Bodhidharma Quotes
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According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
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People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something – always, in a word, seeking.
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Buddhas don’t practice nonsense.
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The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting. The Way has no form or sound. It’s subtle and hard to perceive. It’s like when you drink water: you know how hot or cold it is, but you can’t tell others.
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Not thinking about anything is zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the buddha…. Using the mind to reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
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But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.
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Unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause & effect is nonsense. Buddhas don’t practice nonsense.
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Without the mind there is no Buddha. Without the Buddha there’s no mind.
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People who don’t see their own nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are liars and fools.
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The Buddha is your real body, your original mind.
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Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom.
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To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma, because seeing is neither seeing nor not seeing, and because understanding is neither understanding nor not understanding.
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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.
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When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape.
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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






