Without the mind there is no Buddha. Without the Buddha there’s no mind.
BODHIDHARMAThe 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.
More Bodhidharma Quotes
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Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.
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Everything sacred, nothing sacred.
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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.
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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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If your mind is pure, all buddha-lands are pure.
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Buddhas don’t practice nonsense.
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The mind’s capacity is limitless, and its manifestations are inexhaustible. Seeing forms with your eyes, hearing sounds with your ears, smelling odors with your nose, tasting flavors with your tongue, every movement or state is all your mind.
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Mortals liberate Buddhas and Buddhas liberate mortals.
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You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
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Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space.
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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.
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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.
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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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Buddhas move freely through birth and death, appearing and disappearing at will.
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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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