...

Do not pursue the outer conditions
nor dwell in the inner void.
Rest yourself in oneness with things
and all barriers will disappear

~ Seng Ts’an (526-606)

Mind set free in the Dharma-realm,
I sit at the moon-filled window
Watching the mountains with my ears,
Hearing the stream with open eyes.
Each molecule preaches perfect law,
Each moment chants true sutra:
The most fleeting thought is timeless,
A single hair’s enough to stir the sea.

~ Shutaku (14th c)

avert yer eyes dear citizen
my choice of words has crossed the line

If your mind is fixed on a certain spot,
it will be seized by that spot, and
no activities can be performed efficiently.
Not to fix your mind anywhere is essential.
Not fixed anywhere, the mind is everywhere.
The Original Mind is like water which flows freely,
whereas the deluded mind is like ice.
There is a passage in the Diamond Sutra that says:
“The mind should operate without abiding anywhere.”

~ Takuan (1573-1645)


https://www.dailyzen.com/

Do not accept anything simply
Because it has been said
By your teacher,
Or because it has been written
In your sacred book,
Or because it has been
Believed by many,
Or because it has been
Handed down by your
Ancestors.
Accept and live only
According to what will enable
You to see truth face to face.

~ Buddha

Your body sits silently;
Your mind is quiescent, unmoving.
This is genuine effort in practice.
Body and mind are at complete rest.
The mouth is so still that moss
Grows around it.
Grass sprouts from the tongue.
Do this without ceasing,
Cleansing the mind
Until it gains clarity
Of an autumn pool,
Bright as the moon
Illuminating the evening sky.

~ Hung-chih

More from Hung-chih (1091-1157)

Silently and serenely one forgets all words;
Clearly and vividly That appears.
When one realizes it, it is vast and without edges;
In its Essence, one is clearly aware.
Singularly reflecting is this bright awareness,
Full of wonder is this pure reflection.
Dew and moon,
Stars and streams,
Snow on pine trees,
And clouds hovering on the mountain peaks.
In this reflection all intentional efforts vanish.
Serenity is the final word of all the teachings;
Reflection is the response to all manifestations.

I have lived for more than fifty years,
Floating in the sea of birth and death
There is nothing to grasp.

~ Shin’etsu (1639-1696)

From the mountain slope,
Glistening maple leaves
Are here enclosed
When the autumn passes,
Will they be its mementos?

~ Ryokan (1758-1831)

This white and majestic snow mountain
Is beautified by a raiment of white silk
Those seeing this white glacier peak
Have white thoughts and
Delight in the Dharma.
On the valley meadows
In the mountain’s foothills
Wild animals move about at leisure
Chasing one another, gamboling playfully
Watching this, one feels like laughing.

~ Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851)

When the wind blows through the scattered bamboos, they do not hold its sound after it has gone.

When the wild geese fly over a cold lake, it does not retain their shadows after they have passed.

So the mind of the superior person begins to work only when an event occurs; and it becomes a void again when the matter ends.

~ Hung Ying-ming (1596)

If this life buffeted by the wind
Of a thousand sorrows
Is even more precarious than a bubble on water,
It is a miracle, after sleeping,
Breathing in, breathing out, to wake up refreshed!

~ Nagarjuna (1st c.)

Soaring birds disappear over the distant mountains,
Leaves fall continually in the quiet garden.
Lonely autumn breezes.
An old monk in his black robe,
I stand alone.

~ Ryokan (1758-1831)

With red leaves left after frost
That you gathered under the trees
You brew tea, call me in
A most generous thought!
We sit here not speaking;
The mountain window is still,
But pine winds from ten thousand peaks
Stir in the kettle.

~ Gensei (1623-1668)