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The mind is always present. You just don’t see it.

Bodhidharma

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.
BODHIDHARMA

Anything Lying Once People Sitting Think
The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion.
BODHIDHARMA

Affliction Delusion Evil Greed Ignorant Mind Passion Poison
You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
BODHIDHARMA

Deceive Hype Long Mena Real
To go from mortal to Buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.
BODHIDHARMA

Accept Awareness Buddha End Karma Mortal Nurture
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.
BODHIDHARMA

Awareness Embark First Focus Path
According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
BODHIDHARMA

Accordingly Bless Deed Evil Good Hardship Result Sutras
People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something, always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons.
BODHIDHARMA

Always Dilute Long People Something Up Wake Wise World
But deluded people don’t realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Develop Keep Mind Own People Realize Search
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
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
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
An Awakened person is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.
BODHIDHARMA

Awake Bad Find Fortune Freedom Person Someone
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
To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion.
BODHIDHARMA

Believe Enter Instruction Live Mean Reason
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.
BODHIDHARMA

Dharma Nothing Perceive See Understand Wa
Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.
BODHIDHARMA

Enlight Million One Only Person Teacher

The mind is always present. You just don’t see it.

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The mind is always present. You just don’t see it.

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