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As long as you’re enthralled by a lifeless form, you’re not free.

Bodhidharma

When you don’t understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
BODHIDHARMA

Depend Reality Understand You
The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.
BODHIDHARMA

Basically Perfect Require Way
People who don’t see their own nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are liars and fools.
BODHIDHARMA

Fool Liar Nature People Practice See Thoughtfulness Time
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
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
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
If your mind is pure, all buddha-lands are pure.
BODHIDHARMA

Buddha Land Mind Pire
Those who worship don’t know, and those who know don’t worship.
BODHIDHARMA

Know Worship
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
Delusion means mortality. And awareness means Buddhahood.
BODHIDHARMA

Awareness Buddhahood Delusion Mean
According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
BODHIDHARMA

Accordingly Bless Deed Evil Good Hardship Result Sutras
When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape.
BODHIDHARMA

Aware Delude Escape Nothing World
As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.
BODHIDHARMA

Condition Morais Ourselves Rule
When mortals are alive, they worry about death. When they’re full, they worry about hunger. Theirs is the Great Uncertainty. But sages don’t consider the past. And they don’t worry about the future. Nor do they cling to the present. And from moment to moment they follow the Way.
BODHIDHARMA

Alive Death Full Hunger Mortal Worry
But this mind isn’t somewhere outside the material body of the four elements. Without this mind we can’t move. The body has no awareness. Like a plant or a stone, the body has no nature. So how does it move? It’s the mind that moves.
BODHIDHARMA

Body Element Four Mind Move Outside Somewhere
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

As long as you’re enthralled by a lifeless form, you’re not free.

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As long as you’re enthralled by a lifeless form, you’re not free.

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