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As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.

Bodhidharma

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
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
The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.
BODHIDHARMA

Appearance Detach Essence Freedom Goal Practice Way
Buddhas move freely through birth and death, appearing and disappearing at will.
BODHIDHARMA

Appear Birth Budhha Death Disappear Freely Move Will
To have a body is to suffer.
BODHIDHARMA

Body Suffer
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
Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
BODHIDHARMA

Free Liberation Oneself Word
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
The essence of the Way is detachment.
BODHIDHARMA

Death Essence Way
Worship means reverence and humility. It means revering your real self and humbling delusions. If you can wipe out evil desires and harbor good thoughts, even if nothing shows, it’s worship. Such form is its real form.
BODHIDHARMA

Delusion Humanity Humbling Mean Real Reverence Self Worship
When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
BODHIDHARMA

Depend Reality Understand You
All Buddhas preach emptiness. Why? Because they wish to crush the concrete ideas of the students. If a student even clings to an idea of emptiness, he betrays all Buddhas.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Cling Concrete Crush Emptiness Idea Preach Student
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either.
BODHIDHARMA

Arise Awareness Body Buddha Either Mena Mind Prevent
When your mind doesn’t stir inside, the world doesn’t arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding.
BODHIDHARMA

Arie Inside Mind Outside Stir World
Without the mind there is no Buddha. Without the Buddha there’s no mind.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Mind No Without
Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Enlightenment Find Grasp Space Try

As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.

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As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.

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