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.
BODHIDHARMANot suffering another existence is reaching the Way.
More Bodhidharma Quotes
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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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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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Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path.
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Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.
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The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.
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Those who worship don’t know, and those who know don’t worship.
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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?
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You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
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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.
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But deluded people don’t realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.
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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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When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
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I do not need any writing, since I transmit teaching beyond words and ideas.
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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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According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
BODHIDHARMA