Great! thanks for posting this...easier said than done...oops, forget that...oops, forget that...
--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > These verses (passed along from a friend, also a former TMer and TM > teacher) are from the third Ch'an patriach, Seng T'san. Hsin-hsin > Ming is one of the earliest and most influential Zen writings. It > is often referred to as the first Zen poem. - Unc > > > > Verses On the Faith Mind > (translated by Richard B.Clarke) > > > The Great Way is not difficult > for those who have no preferences. > > When love and hate are both absent > everything becomes clear and undisguised. > Make the smallest distinction, however > and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. > > If you wish to see the truth > then hold no opinions for or against anything. > To set up what you like against what you dislike > is the disease of the mind. > When the deep meaning of things is not understood > the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail. > > The Way is perfect like vast space > where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. > Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject > that we do not see the true nature of things. > Live neither in the entanglements of outer things, > nor in inner feelings of emptiness. > Be serene in the oneness of things > and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves. > > When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity > your very effort fills you with activity. > As long as you remain in one extreme or the other > you will never know Oneness. > Those who do not live in the single Way > fail in both activity and passivity, > assertion and denial. > To deny the reality of things > is to miss their reality; > to assert the emptiness of things > is to miss their reality. > The more you talk and think about it, > the further astray you wander from the truth. > Stop talking and thinking, > and there is nothing you will not be able to know. > > To return to the root is to find the meaning, > but to pursue appearances is to miss the source. > At the moment of inner enlightenment > there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness. > The changes that appear to occur in the empty world > we call real only because of our ignorance. > > Do not search for the truth; > only cease to cherish opinions. > Do not remain in the dualistic state > avoid such pursuits carefully. > If there is even a trace > of this and that, of right and wrong, > the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion. > > Although all dualities come from the One, > do not be attached even to this One. > When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, > nothing in the world can offend, > and when a thing can no longer offend, > it ceases to exist in the old way. > When no discriminating thoughts arise, > the old mind ceases to exist. > When thought objects vanish, > the thinking-subject vanishes, > as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish. > > Things are objects because of the subject (mind); > the mind (subject) is such because of things (object). > > Understand the relativity of these two > and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness. > In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable > and each contains in itself the whole world. > If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine > you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion. > > To live in the Great Way > is neither easy nor difficult, > but those with limited views > and fearful and irresolute: > the faster they hurry, the slower they go, > and clinging (attachment) cannot be limited; > even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment > is to go astray. > Just let things be in their own way > and there will be neither coming nor going. > Obey the nature of things (your own nature), > and you will walk freely and undisturbed. > > When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden, > for everything is murky and unclear, > and the burdensome practice of judging > brings annoyance and weariness. > What benefit can be derived > from distinctions and separations? > If you wish to move in the One Way > do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas. > Indeed, to accept them fully > is identical with true Enlightenment. > The wise man strives to no goals > but the foolish man fetters himself. > > This is one Dharma, not many: > distinctions arise > from the clinging needs of the ignorant. > > To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind > is the greatest of all mistakes. > Rest and unrest derive from illusion; > with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking. > All dualities come from ignorant inference. > The are like dreams of flowers in the air: > foolish to try to grasp them. > Gain and loss, right and wrong: > such thoughts must finally be abolished at once. > If the eye never sleeps, > all dreams will naturally cease. > If the mind makes no discriminations, > the ten thousand things > are as they are, of single essence. > > To understand the mystery of this One-essence > is to be released from all entanglements. > When all things are seen equally > the timeless Self-essence is reached. > No comparisons or analogies are possible > in this causeless, relationless state. > Consider movement stationary > and the stationary in motion, > both movement and rest disappear. > When such dualities cease to exist > Oneness itself cannot exist. > To this ultimate finality > no law or description applies. > For the unified mind in accord with the Way > all self-centered straining ceases. > Doubles and irresolution's vanish > and life in true faith is possible. > > With a single stroke we are freed from bondage; > nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing. > All is empty , clear, self-illuminating, > with no exertion of the mind's power. > Here thought, feeling, knowledge, and imagination > are of no value. > In this world of Suchness > there is neither self nor other-than-self. > To come directly into harmony with this reality > just simply say when doubt arises, `Not two.' > In this `no two' nothing is separate, > nothing excluded. > No matter when or where, > enlightenment means entering this truth. > And this truth is beyond extension or > diminution in time or space; > in it a single thought is ten thousand years. > > Emptiness here, Emptiness there, > but the infinite universe stands > always before your eyes. > Infinitely large and infinitely small; > no difference, for definitions have vanished > and no boundaries are seen. > So too with Being and non-Being. > Don't waste time in doubts and arguments > that have nothing to do with this. > One thing, all things: > move among and intermingle, > without distinction. > To live in this realization > is to be without anxiety about non-perfection. > To live in this faith is the road to non-duality, > Because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind. > > Words! > The Way is beyond language, > for in it there is > no yesterday > no tomorrow > no today. 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