All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
BODHIDHARMAAll the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
BODHIDHARMANot thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.
BODHIDHARMAThe Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.
BODHIDHARMATo 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.
BODHIDHARMAThe essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.
BODHIDHARMAThe mind is always present. You just don’t see it.
BODHIDHARMABut 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.
BODHIDHARMAIf we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past.
BODHIDHARMAIf you use your mind to study reality, you won’t understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll understand both.
BODHIDHARMAMany roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.
BODHIDHARMAPeople who don’t see their own nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are liars and fools.
BODHIDHARMATo 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.
BODHIDHARMAOnly one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.
BODHIDHARMABut while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.
BODHIDHARMAStill others commit all sorts of evil deeds, claiming karma doesn’t exist. They erroneously maintain that since everything is empty, committing evil isn’t wrong. Such persons fall into a hell of endless darkness with no hope of release. Those who are wise hold no such conception.
BODHIDHARMALife and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.
BODHIDHARMA